"What do you mean, 'getting thirsty'?! This isn't about whether my mouth is dry or not!"
Little Jiraiya wanted to loudly refute, but Sarutobi Hiruzen pressed a hand onto his head, ruffling his white hair. Leading the boy and a group of other kids, Hiruzen treated them all to cups of chestnut juice from a nearby shop.
"Alright, alright," Hiruzen said with a warm smile as he handed Jiraiya the juice. "I'm a ninja from the village."
"See? No harm done," Hiruzen continued as he gently rubbed Jiraiya's head, chatting casually with the group of children. "You haven't started at the ninja academy yet, right? So, are you still under five years old?"
"I'm already five!" Jiraiya shouted indignantly, clutching his cup of juice. "This year, I'll enroll in the academy, and I'll definitely pass the entrance exams!"
To be fair, Hiruzen was very good with kids.
More than that, Hiruzen wasn't arrogant. He was willing to lower himself to the children's level and bond with them, quickly earning their admiration and respect.
Especially when the kids learned that Hiruzen had spent ten years traveling the ninja world, their eyes sparkled with awe.
"Hmph…"
Shimura Danzo, on the other hand, cast a dismissive glance at Hiruzen.
To Danzo, wasting time entertaining a group of children was pointless. They had a mission to complete—they needed to report to the Hokage as soon as possible, not play house with a bunch of kids.
Thankfully, Hiruzen didn't linger for long.
He used the opportunity to ask the kids a few questions about the village's recent developments. From their chatter, he learned that Konoha was preparing to appoint its Second Hokage, signaling that Hashirama Senju's health was truly deteriorating.
As if on cue, their escorts arrived.
Upon learning that Shigen Emiya and his group had returned to Konoha, Tobirama Senju had immediately sent people to welcome them. However, Tobirama already had a sense of what the group's travels had yielded; he had maintained regular communication with them over the years.
"As expected…"
"Even for Lord Shigen…"
"There was no sign of the Divine Tree's remnants, was there?"
Tobirama's expression showed no great disappointment when he met Shigen Emiya. Over the past ten years, Tobirama had conducted his own private searches for the remnants of the Divine Tree.
Every member of Konoha's Anbu had been assigned missions to locate the remnants, though none of them truly understood what they were searching for. Most returned with bizarre plants and pieces of wood, none of which ever turned out to be the real thing.
Ultimately, their efforts were fruitless.
When faced with repeated failure, even someone as resolute as Tobirama found it difficult to maintain hope.
"It seems the remnants of the Divine Tree were completely eradicated by the Sage of Six Paths…"
Shigen sighed, sharing in Tobirama's disappointment. Though their journey had achieved other important goals, the primary objective remained unmet.
"Then…"
"Is there no other way?"
Tobirama furrowed his brow, waving for others to leave the room. Alone with Shigen, a rare look of heaviness crossed Tobirama's face.
"Lord Shigen, my elder brother's condition has been… unusual lately," Tobirama admitted. "On the surface, he seems more vigorous than ever, brimming with life and energy. But I'm worried his body is nearing its limit. This year, he stopped leaving Konoha to track Madara's whereabouts…"
This behavior was unprecedented.
Normally, Hashirama never stayed in Konoha for long. He was always out in the ninja world, pursuing Madara Uchiha. Even the birth of new generations rarely brought him back.
But this year, Hashirama's actions were oddly different. Since returning to Konoha, he hadn't left the village. Instead, he indulged in gambling—a pastime that might have been forgivable if not for the fact that he often gambled with his granddaughter by his side.
It was unusual, to say the least.
Everyone could sense that something was off.
"His body is like a tree," Shigen remarked calmly. He had anticipated Hashirama's condition. "On the surface, it looks perpetually full of life. Every leaf appears lush and green, radiating vitality."
"But this tree is sustaining its greenery by draining its own life force. Hashirama has been maintaining his peak strength at the cost of burning through his lifespan."
"It's this very process that prevents him from ever returning to a normal state. His unparalleled regenerative abilities make him nearly impossible to kill, yet the uncontrolled growth and division of his cells are rapidly consuming his life."
"A tree may seem evergreen, but it too must wither with time."
"Humans, like trees, can never remain in a state of perpetual flourishing."
"As I've mentioned before, neither the remnants of the Divine Tree nor the power of Yang Release can truly resolve this. Both would merely extend his life force unnaturally, forcing his vitality to persist at unsustainable levels…"
"Is there really no other way?"
Tobirama's gaze darkened.
Over the past ten years, Tobirama had done everything in his power to ensure that Konoha could survive his brother's eventual passing. Yet the thought of losing Hashirama—a brother who had always protected him—was a pain that even Tobirama, with his stoic demeanor, could barely endure.
"…"
Shigen remained silent.
But that silence was telling. Tobirama, ever perceptive, immediately realized that Shigen's lack of response was deliberate.
"Lord Shigen!"
Tobirama's voice grew urgent as he pressed Shigen for an answer. "You must have a solution! If you truly had no options, you would have said so outright. Please—tell me!"
"It's not certain," Shigen replied softly. "And it's not a medical solution."
He hesitated before continuing, his tone heavy. "This is a last resort, with a high probability of failure. I cannot explain it to you. It involves secrets from the Pure Land of the Netherworld—secrets of the dead."
"!!!"
Tobirama's expression shifted dramatically.
As the creator of the Edo Tensei, Tobirama was no stranger to the mysteries surrounding the afterlife. He knew that the souls of the deceased typically returned to the Pure Land.
But…
The Netherworld was not solely inhabited by the dead.
Tobirama's knowledge of the Netherworld came from the Uzumaki Clan, whose members shared a close alliance with the Senju Clan.
Among the Uzumaki's many forbidden techniques was a ritual to summon the power of the Shinigami. This ritual, known as the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, allowed users to seal powerful enemies within the Shinigami's body at the cost of their own souls.
This technique was also the bane of the Edo Tensei.
Since the Dead Demon Consuming Seal trapped souls within the Shinigami, those souls could never be summoned back with the Edo Tensei.
As someone who had studied such forbidden arts, Tobirama's curiosity about the Pure Land and the Netherworld was insatiable.
"If it's the Pure Land…" Tobirama muttered, his voice steady but intense. "Perhaps I could assist. I've studied—"
"No," Shigen interjected firmly, his eyes narrowing.
"Some secrets are better left untold," Shigen said gravely. "In the ten years I've spent in this era, I've seen enough lies and deceit. There are truths that I cannot share."
"I will tell Hashirama. But only him. And only when he stands at death's door."
"Why not tell the living?"
Because this was his final test.
Shigen's eyes held a quiet, somber resolve—a resolve born of confronting the boundary between life and death.
----------
Powerstones?
For 20 advance chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates