"..."
Standing on what appeared to be a terrace, the armoured man wearing a mask, Hanzo of the Salamander, looked up to the sky under the rooftop.
It was the rain that he contained in his sight, reflecting upon the splices of his images that were reflected on the droplets of rain.
"...War. One after another, they simply won't cease to end."
He muttered solemnly.
"War. How often did I wish for it to be a tangible concept, such that I would be able to crush it by physical force alone. Yet..."
The Second Shinobi World War has come to an end. Having stood in the middle of such an event, Amegakure was in dire need of time to recuperate from the damages it had accumulated.
Hanzo clenched his hand tight.
"...Here I am, as helpless as ever."
And Hanzo thought to himself,
what is it that I managed to protect?
Rather than protecting, he, due to the poison which he emits, was susceptible to harming his closed ones... if he had any left.
Thus, he sent them away. He believed that they were well-protected... until the abrupt rise of the Second Shinobi World War.
Now, there remained nothing but a regret in him.
"The current strongest shinobi in the world—"
Some called him as such. However, as time passed more and more, Hanzo came to think,
"I am not strong enough."
The rage, contempt, and hatred—all sorts of negative emotions swirled in his eyes as he growled.
"If I was stronger... a clown like Shimura Danzo wouldn't have left this place alive. I wouldn't have needed to bow against those five nations. Power... is all that matters in the end."
Ending his remark, Hanzo turned, having felt presence around him.
And as he did so, numerous ninjas—his underlings—blurred in and genuflected in front of him.
"...Hanzo-sama."
"Is it urgent?"
Hanzo frowned, annoyed by the fact that his peace was interrupted.
One of them spoke direly,
"Shimura Danzo... was found dead."
Hanzo froze.
The downpour continued, and no one, including Hanzo, knew when it would end.
__________
"...What?!"
Slamming the table, the third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, spoke in a shaky tone.
"Danzo... he..."
The Black Ops members, genuflecting in front of him, simply lowered their heads even further without any words.
In the middle of them lied a coffin.
Hiruzen's eyes shook in disbelief. Then, they suddenly gained a cold gleam along with the sense of calmness.
"...By whom?"
"..."
Their investigation suggested that the deaths of Danzo and his ROOT members were done by one person only.
And after collecting the information on the nearby villages and combining those pieces together brought them an easy answer—
"A lone ninja who showcases a swordsmanship that resembles that of Kiri ninjas, and has been suggested to have made contact with Maito Dai,"
The leader of Black Ops took out a bounty poster,
"Akashi of the 'Red Blade.'"
Hiruzen turned stoic.
"I suppose it was impossible to conceal it."
'...Jiraiya.'
His fists tightened, and for a moment, Hiruzen's body trembled in that of rage, unable to conceal such a magnitude of emotion from surging within him.
The ninjas within the room winced from the sheer killing intent that was unknowingly emitted by Hiruzen for a split second.
One of the three sannins as well as his disciple, Jiraiya.
He recently seemed to be getting reluctant in partaking his role in this war. Furthermore, but speaking that Maito Dai's case isn't right, he was fuelling the fire named chaos that was overtaking Konohagakure.
In Hiruzen's perspective, Jiraiya was a fool. However, even after all that he's done, Hiruzen couldn't do anything to him at this moment, especially since he was one of the greatest assets that the village had and needed during this war.
Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose. Taking in a deep breath, he quickly regained his cold demeanour and returned to the main topic which he was contemplating.
'...The death of Shimura Danzo is too far to conceal. His death means the great loss of the strength of Konohagakure, and soon after the other hidden villages receive this information, the current state of the war will aggravate.'
His expression darkened.
'Our efforts to invoke a war amongst them may become null at this rate. Iwa's siege on the borders of the Land of Fire is becoming stronger, and Suna and Kumo have already shown an intent to participate in this war—though with cautiousness due to their distrust of each other. If they were to dismiss such distrust and fully invest in attacking us... look what you've done, Jiraiya.'
Hiruzen grimaced. Quickly thinking to an extent where he felt as if his brain was overheating, he eventually took out a solution of his own,
'...What this nation needs right now is an assurance that the will of fire inherits. If Danzo died at someone's hands, that someone must be killed... at the hands of Konoha's hero.'
That 'hero' has to be young and talented. Popularity will bring unification, and unification will hold them tight even during the worst adversity that Konoha has ever faced.
Hiruzen's eyes hovered over one profile that lied on his table.
Namikaze Minato.
"Call Homura, Koharu, and Jiraiya immediately."
__________
What is peace?
It was one simple thought that Akashi couldn't answer no matter how many times he contemplated the topic.
Peace through war? Peace through others' sacrifices? Peace through—
Over his journey, Akashi learned a valuable lesson—that peace which he believed in was severely flawed.
'The peace which I pursued for... wasn't the peace, for it was unrealistic in the first place.'
He's learned the joy of being alive. Being able to quench his thirst, satiate his hunger, and repose to attain the energy for the following day.
Change this world?
'...Heh, as if.'
Akashi learned that such a thought was nothing but his stubbornness.
What truly mattered, in the end... was his close ones. Ones which he valued above all, the bonds that he formed. They shaped him into who he is today.
He learned that he doesn't care about peace as much as he thought he would.
Because, even if his close ones were to be in the wrong, he would side with them.
And because he too was a human who values his close ones above all, wars and fights are inevitable.
"Huff... huff..."
Therefore, he would change—not the world, but his environment, such that they, those whom he gave his heart to, would live in peace. He was sure that this was the essence that the unknown shinobi who saved him was seeking for.
For this purpose, Akashi walked.
Tattered and burned attires. Broken bones and wounds that were forcibly sealed by scorching fire. blurry vision and fuzzy mind—it wouldn't be surprising for one within this state to succumb to death within mere minutes.
Nonetheless, he treads forth.
Was he driven by the momentum? Such must be the only possible explanation, for by no means should he be able to move at his state.
The forest of raging fire was no more in his sight, and he had no idea how much time had passed since he's begun his walk.
Plop.
At last, he stopped walking. Slowly, he looked up to the sky.
Plop.
A droplet of water sparkled as it fell right onto his hair. Raising his hand, he felt it, the cool sensation of...
...rain.
It was a downpour, soaking him from head to toe and taking away the excessive heat that his body had built up.
...For how long has it been since he's met a rain this heavy?
Akashi felt tears forming in his eye as he closed them and focused on the sensation of the rain.
Opening it back up, he then gazed at the cloudy sky.
It was bright. Hinting the existence of the sun beyond it, the cloud shone in brilliant orange, generating what he considered a nostalgic view.
Long in the past, he used to feel suffocated under the rain. After all, he's lost many things within this rainy land.
However, as he travelled, he learned what it meant to rain.
It meant to wetten and give life to the withering nature.
And because he knew this, he could confidently say,
"...I am home."
He felt his sight getting blurry. His body, unable to carry forth any longer, has shut down,
Thud.
Though the world was yet in a state of chaos and about to worsen, at this moment, Akashi seemed to be at peace as he entered the slumber, unaware of the fact that the slip of paper given by Jiraiya within his pouch was glowing dimly.
And eventually, three shadows loom over Akashi's fallen figure, and one among them whispers in a mix of disbelief and delight,
"...Akashi."
To some, it was a devastating day. To some others, however, it was the most joyful day, one that was worth celebrating for.
Even then, the rain continues, emptying the clouds it gathered from everywhere into the village hidden in the rain.
__________
Akashi's eye opened, and the first thing he saw was a wooden ceiling.
Then his sense of hearing registered the pleasant sound of rainfall just outside.
'Where am I—'
His mind naturally reacted against the slightest noise of a footstep by the door of the room in which he was situated. However, reacting didn't mean it could produce an acknowledgeable movement.
Completely drained and damaged from the battle against Shimura Danzo, Akashi's body, fully bandaged, needed to rest.
Upon the twitch of his arm, Akashi felt an intense pain penetrating through his nerves. Groaning silently, he watched as the paper-made door slid open, and,
"...Huh?"
found his eye widened as he came to see the familiar face, one that he so yearned to see again.
"...Konan?"
Konan, who was holding onto a fresh batch of towels, dropped them in shock. Her eyes widened, reciprocating Akashi's own.
"You're awake."
Quickly approaching Akashi, the first thing Konan did was hug him tightly, washing away all the longing that lingered within her for years.
It was a warm reunion.
...Followed by,
"U-Ugh..."
the crushing grip of Konan that caused an unspeakable agony all over Akashi's body.
Foaming, he fainted again.