[This Chapter Is Sponsored by HADES! Everyone, please thank him in the comment!]
Under the setting sun, the sound of the waves continuously beat against the beach as the chakra beast, exhausted, had already returned.
At this time, on the beach, Uchiha Yoru appeared weak, leaning against a rock. The two shinobi swords that had been in his chest had been removed, and his wounds had already stopped bleeding, but he gave off a sense of being on his last breath.
"You guys!"
Beside him, the young girl Tsunade's complexion was dark, no longer showing her once naive appearance. Her hands emitted a luminescent green chakra of medical ninjutsu as she treated his injuries.
Terumi Mei held the shinobi sword and vigilantly watched the surroundings. At this moment, it seemed all three had revealed their presence.
"Sorry."
Uchiha Yoru, gasping for breath and leaning against the rock, looked at the two with a gaze that seemed to dodge theirs, as if he dared not meet their eyes. The faint two words he spoke made them tremble.
"Irregular heartbeat, myocardial tremors, the muscles around the heart have been severed. In medical ninjutsu terms, the heart's meridian system has been cut, which in layman's terms means the heart's pathways are severed."
Tsunade's pupils shook as she grasped his blood-stained, trembling hands, realizing he was right.
Uchiha Yoru, weakly holding Tsunade's hands that had been continuously treating him, managed a powerless smile, "I didn't expect you to know medical ninjutsu. But the technique is still lacking; remember not to tremble when treating."
Tsunade's hands trembled continuously, and her lack of skill was mistaken; the normally proud girl did not retort at this moment.
"Why!" Terumi Mei, standing guard and trembling at these words, tried to suppress her complex emotions as she crouched beside him and asked in a hoarse voice.
After a bout of coughing, blood flowed from the corners of his mouth. Uchiha Yoru's eyes were filled with weak and ferocious bloodshot lines. At this moment, looking at the two, his eyes only showed ease, and his face even showed a smile.
"I don't know, maybe this is fate. The path of a ninja stained with blood will always have such a day, right? I just didn't expect it to be you two."
Saying this, Uchiha Yoru weakly looked at them, with a self-deprecating smile, "Ninjas are deceivers, and I didn't expect to make such a big mistake."
It seemed he was mocking himself for sacrificing his life for two ordinary people. Uchiha Yoru was clearly ridiculing himself, but there was no regret on his face, only relief.
"Let's formally introduce myself, I am Uchiha Yoru."
With a weak voice, Uchiha Yoru forced a smile looking at them, "I thought my disguise was flawless. When did you notice the flaw? Or are you from the root, and from the beginning, this was all a setup?"
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru's smile seemed to seek an answer before death, yet he did not wish it all to be a setup.
At this time, Terumi Mei and Tsunade were filled with complex emotions.
As a ninja, even though I am not a medical ninja, I am well aware of the consequences of having one's heart meridian severed. (During the anime's short volume street battle, Naruto almost died when his heart meridian was cut.)
Despite the fact that it was the enemy who had brought her to this current state, seeing him at death's door, especially after he had risked danger to save her, filled Terumi Mei with complex emotions.
"The Mist Ninja, Terumi Mei! Now a rogue ninja."
A hoarse voice came from Terumi Mei's mouth, and at this moment, a hint of unresolvable sorrow appeared on her once elegant and gentle cheeks.
Looking at Uchiha Yoru, who was at death's door, Terumi Mei couldn't help but give a self-deprecating smile and a bitter laugh, "I don't know whether to laugh or cry. You've hurt me so badly, yet I find myself feeling sad for you."
Hearing his name, Uchiha Yoru's eyes immediately dimmed, "Terumi Mei!"
Struggling with the name, Terumi Mei bitterly smiled, "That's the unfortunate one who you harmed, almost dying at the hands of his own people, isn't it? Was it really necessary to hold a grudge just because I ambushed you once? You're a grown man; aren't you being a little too petty?"
"Twice on the battlefield you nearly killed me, and yet you still don't let me off the hook, conspiring with Suikazan Fuguki to trap me. Running into you was just bad luck, I've had enough of it. Fortunately, I wasn't killed, but I ended up a rogue ninja."
Speaking of herself, Terumi Mei couldn't help but reveal a sorrowful smile, "I was still thinking of getting revenge on you, and here you are, showing up on your own. You're such an exceptional ninja, why would you do something so foolish! Is it worth it?"
At these words, Uchiha Yoru showed a smile, "Sorry, but on the battlefield, everyone must follow their own master. Our allegiances differ, I owe you an apology, but I am not wrong, and neither are you. The fault lies with this world that wages wars."
"I say, if! If I were just an ordinary person, and so were you, and we met like this."
Uchiha Yoru seemed to think of something, suddenly gave a self-mocking smile, shook his head, and didn't finish his sentence, leaving Terumi Mei to give a disappointed smile.
Slowly taking out the sachet that he had given her, Terumi Mei's tears fell as she smiled through her tears.
"It's all just a script, fake! Yet knowing this, you still fall deep into it."
It seems to be a complaint against the other as well as against herself; if both could treat all this as fake, then there wouldn't be any heartache.
Slowly taking a ring out of the sachet, Terumi Mei smiled at the sight, gently placing the ring in his hand. Under his dim gaze, she showed a gentle smile, which would be better if not for the tears in her eyes.
"Now I am Mei Ming, and you are Kobe Yoru."
Hearing this, Uchiha Yoru showed a weak smile, his trembling hand slowly placing the ring on Terumi Mei's ring finger, "I really wish to see you in a wedding dress, Mei. You would look so beautiful."
The moment the ring was placed on her finger, two lines of tears flowed down Terumi Mei's green eyes.
"It's all fake, yet I took it seriously, damn it!"
It's uncertain when she became involved from being an outsider.
"Your hands have stopped shaking." At this moment, Uchiha Yoru turned his weak gaze toward the girl Tsunade, feeling her once trembling hand on his chest now still.
The innocent smile previously on girl Tsunade's face had disappeared, replaced by an expression cold as frost, as she looked indifferently at the other.
"You're close to death and still flirting; you really haven't changed," she said.
As Tsunade's trembling hands ceased, the blood's true color started to become clear in her sight. At this moment, she was no longer afraid or shaking.
It seemed that her hemophobia had left her, but there was no joy in her heart. She was supposed to be an outsider, just watching, but everything happened too quickly!
This brat had activated the Sharingan for her and had even stepped in front of them in an instant. Damn it! "The way you were before was cuter."
Faced with the girl's icy demeanor, Uchiha Yoru weakly smiled, reaching out his hand to caress her cheek. Tsunade wanted to dodge, but the dim look in his eyes froze her in place.
"I came for profit, not expecting you to be so reckless with your life."
At this moment, Tsunade revealed her true character, stubborn and unyielding, her words as cold and cutting as her stare.
Yet, upon hearing this, Uchiha Yoru simply smiled. His weak palm caressed her cheek, his fingers eventually touching her lips, trying to pry them open, but her face remained cold as ice.
Eventually, he gave up, weakly chuckling. "The Root should really not... After all, you're still a child. Our Uchiha clan, along with the Senju, founded Konoha so children wouldn't have to battle, yet now children are the main force on the battlefield."
Clearly, Uchiha Yoru had been trying to see if the girl's tongue had the mark of the Root, suspecting her of being a spy arranged from the start.
With her mouth shut and a gloomy face, he felt a sense of loss which seemed to confirm her identity to him.
A misunderstanding!
Under such a misunderstanding, Uchiha Yoru mistook her for a spy trained by the Root. At that moment, Tsunade's face showed sadness, her heart filled with frustration.
Was she supposed to reveal her true identity? What child, she was already forty, it was he who was actually the child.
In the comic contrast of this misunderstanding, Tsunade fell silent for a moment, confused and afraid to reveal her identity, fearing it would only drive him to greater despair at the end.
Perhaps a misunderstanding was also correct.
Coughing up blood, Uchiha Yoru weakly watched the sunset on the coastline, with a sad Tsunade and another person, Terumi Mei, feeling as if their hearts were filled with a tumult of emotions.
"Go to the Land of Rice, take this Kusanagi Sword to find Orochimaru, my teacher."
Leaning weakly against a rock, feeling his life ebbing away, he spoke first to the girl.
"The 'Tongue-Tied Root Seal,' my teacher will release you from it. You've cried. A tool with emotions is unqualified. The Root is not for you."
Fingers gently wiped the tears from the corner of the girl's eyes, yet Tsunade remained silent. She had been treated as a spy from the beginning, but now, at the last moments of life, they were considering her well-being.
"Mei, I've hurt you unintentionally so much, I'm sorry. Take the Samehada with you, but listen to me, don't go back to the Hidden Mist Village. Perhaps becoming a rogue ninja is the right thing for you, go far away."
Watching the two, it was clear that all three had been outsiders from the beginning, yet in the end, they all became insiders, even Uchiha Yoru had played himself into the scenario.
The highest realm of acting is to become the character, to live as the character within the play.
Lies will eventually be exposed, and the final flaw was Uchiha Yoru himself. However, when he completely lived out the character, the flaw disappeared.
"The sunset is so beautiful."
Looking at the sunset, Uchiha Yoru showed a trace of sentimentality and, holding the hands of the two, slowly fell into weakness, saying faintly, "If only there were no wars in this world, with my Uchiha identity, I would definitely take you back to our clan, to watch the sunset every day..."
His voice grew weaker, and Uchiha Yoru slowly took out a test tube from his blade bag, weakly speaking to the girl, "After lifting the seal, if you want to go back to the village, give this to the Third Hokage, he won't pursue you. This is the First Hokage's cells, also part of human experimentation."
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru seemed to be making his last arrangements, securing their future path thoroughly before his hand relaxed, his eyes blurred looking at the sunset.
"Go now, leave my body for those who follow, they won't track you. I've prepared a small boat over there."
His palm slowly dropped powerlessly, his eyes gradually closing, Uchiha Yoru fell into darkness. Witnessing this, Tsunade's pupils shrank, she opened her mouth wanting to say something but found herself unable to make a sound, as if her throat was blocked.
"Damn Uchiha, if only you weren't so petty, then we wouldn't have met. I was doing fine in the Hidden Mist, but you had to doggedly pursue me."
Terumi Mei, feeling incredibly foolish, was crying over an enemy, and not just any enemy, but one who nearly killed her twice and caused her to become a rogue ninja.
"No! Don't die!"
As Uchiha Yoru closed his eyes, Tsunade completely broke down, her facade of coldness melted away instantly, and tears kept falling from her cheeks, but the boy had no response.
The heartbeat was fading, growing weaker and slower, she frantically used all she had learned, begging him not to leave.
"Brat! Don't die! Why, why do you all have to die!"
She thought she wouldn't be heartbroken, but it was only at the last moment that she realized she had taken it to heart.
It wasn't just the kid who was serious—she was serious too!
"You take care of Yoru, I'll be right back."
In this moment, Terumi Mei wipes away her tears and reveals a stark killing intent, staring at the distant forest. The pursuers from Konoha are approaching, and she is determined to eliminate them all.
Suddenly, a wild chakra explodes beneath her feet, and Terumi Mei's figure charges madly towards the pursuers behind her.
Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu
Boil Release: Skilled Mist Jutsu
In an instant, under the powerful chakra of Terumi Mei, especially within the gloomy and damp forest, a thick fog appears first, confusing the enemy's sight, followed by Boil Release.
Boil Release combines water and fire attributes chakra, releasing from the mouth a powerful corrosive acid mist. The practitioner can adjust the acidity of the clever mist by controlling the amount of chakra, which can even dissolve Susanoo.
Particularly under the initial cover of the Hidden Mist Jutsu, the pursuing Anbu ninjas thought it was just mist. By the time they realized it was actually corrosive, it was too late.
The forest echoes with their agonizing screams; the unprepared Anbu are instantly corroded, especially when they inhale it without any protection.
In an instant, their respiratory tracts are corroded and burned, emitting waves of even more pitiful sounds.
Meanwhile, Tsunade sheds tears of regret on a distant beach, looking at the handsome face of the young man. Although his hair is no longer the cold, proud silver of their first meeting, the blue crescent moon mark on his forehead and the red stripes on his cheeks remain unwashed.
Flashes of memory surface in Tsunade's mind, and it is at this moment she realizes that she, who thought herself an outsider, had unknowingly become involved.
"Heh, I never thought that the Uchiha brat would activate the Mangekyō Sharingan for me. If Grandpa and the Second Grandpa knew, they'd probably laugh at how the Uchiha have fallen."
Tsunade sadly wipes the tears from her eyes, looking at the test tube in her hand, she scoffs at herself, "Greed is the root of the wars in this world."
She crushes the test tube containing the First Hokage's cells in her hand, and as the liquid splashes onto Uchiha Yoru's body and wounds, Tsunade slowly stands up. She turns her head towards the forest from where screams are emanating and reveals a hint of killing intent.
"The village that Senju and Uchiha created together is not a place for a pack of hyenas to bark at!"
With a roar, Tsunade unleashes the formidable combat power of the Sannin.