The Shadow of Konoha

"Do you know me?"

While saying his own name, Senju Tobirama was also paying attention to the changes in Hanyu's expression. The latter was stunned and surprised when he heard his self-introduction, but hidden in this emotion was a little bit of "as expected" feeling.

"Ah... Anyone who has paid the least attention to the war will naturally know the name of the Hokage of the Land of Fire. For ordinary people like us, you are one of the culprits who caused our life and death, and displacement."

Hanyu immediately restrained his expression. Although the memories that had been sealed in his mind for many years were constantly surging, he must not be too obvious... He was even giving a seemingly reasonable explanation for his momentary abnormality in emotions.

As he spoke, he pointed to the middle, indicating that there was a ninja symbol on the other person's forehead. Although ninja is a very mysterious profession, it is not impossible for ordinary people to recognize the symbol on the other person's forehead... It belongs to a ninja village called "Konoha".

The Land of Fire, Hidden Leaf Village, the Second Hokage, after the other party said his name, it was "reasonable" for a commoner like Hanyu to describe his identity more accurately.

Although for Hanyu, if the other person's face was not half covered with blood and half mud, he should have recognized him long ago, but he absolutely could not show any abnormality in this matter.

"A big shot..."

Hanyu could only pretend to sigh like this. In his mind, comparing it with his own memory, the course of events before his eyes had been outlined in more detail—the dying man in front of him was the Second Hokage, and the two people who had just died in a pile should be Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure.

"War?"

Under normal circumstances, Hanyu's almost accusatory words should have made the other party say something like "War is never a matter of one side, and no one wants to start a war." But for Senju Tobirama at this moment, there was no need to say these things.

Although in the current war, Konoha was indeed the invaded party, their war should be described as a defensive counterattack. But for a homeless child, is it really necessary to care about these?

Even Senju Tobirama believed that he was the "culprit" mentioned by Hanyu.

"How old are you?"

Senju Tobirama asked Hanyu. Maybe it was the last burst of energy after his death, but he seemed to have more strength now.

"13 years old? It should be about that. I can't remember clearly... Is there any problem?"

Hanyu answered subconsciously according to the other party's words.

"No, I just feel that your words and actions are not like those of a child of your age, but... there is no problem."

Whether it is clear speech, calm attitude or logical behavior, Hanyu's behavior does not seem to be what he should do at his age. The most obvious characteristic of a child is emotional words and deeds, which are completely absent in him.

A child of this age, if not a ninja, would be lucky not to scream and shout in fear when facing a dying person like Senju Tobirama, let alone communicate with him calmly.

The Second Hokage was puzzled by Hanyu's "precocity", but this was actually not worthy of praise, boasting, or even special mention.

After all, Hanyu looked young, but this was already his second life. Unfortunately, he seemed to be born in a chaotic world. The only advantage he had was that if he searched his memory, he would be able to find some information about this chaotic world, or the so-called "ninja world".

"With more experience, people will naturally behave more maturely."

Hanyu said ambiguously. At this time, he had sorted out the memories in his mind and focused more on the things at hand.

One is one of the Five Kage who is powerful enough to shake the world, and the other is just a "waif". The gap in status between the two is very small, but the even greater difference in status is that one of them is about to die, while the other has just started his life.

"Can you do me a favor?"

For Senju Tobirama now, there was no time or need to dwell on trivial matters.

"Please take care of my body. People like me carry too many secrets and information, so we must prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy. The best way is to burn me to ashes and completely erase my existence."

"Can't you handle this important matter after your death?"

Hanyu did not expect that the other party would make such a request.

"Originally, I had the strength and means to do this, but after treating your injuries, I no longer have the ability to take care of myself... As you can see, I can't even stand up now; besides, letting a person erase his own body is too inhumane."

At this time, Senju Tobirama rarely showed his black humor side. Yes, black humor.

For ninjas who have to protect secrets, it is a very common thing to dispose of their own bodies when committing suicide.

Without giving Hanyu a chance to refuse, Senju Tobirama continued, "From our conversation just now, I can tell that you are a person who longs for a peaceful life. In the current world, there is no place safer than a ninja village, so if you bring the news about me back to Konoha Village, they will take you in."

The ninja village is naturally relatively stable, but...

"Will the ninja village allow ordinary outsiders to settle down casually, not to mention that it is still a war period..."

Hanyu was interested, but also confused.

"Konoha will take you in. As long as you are not a spy from another village, give this to them and everything will be fine."

Senju Tobirama said confidently, placing a piece of paper on his knees.

Of course, Hanyu was not a spy, but he didn't understand why the other party would trust a stranger like him. You have to know that the man in front of him is the Second Hokage, so he couldn't help but ask, "If you are really a big shot in Konoha Ninja Village, wouldn't it be a lot of benefits to hand you over to other villages?"

"No, you won't."

"Why do you say that?"

"This place is closer to the border of the Fire Nation than other countries."

"Understood..."

Even if it is just for safety reasons, Hanyu would not go far away.

"Then everything for me is arranged."

Senju Tobirama sighed, and it was unknown whether he felt regret or relief. After saying this, he never spoke again.

Hanyu just sat there quietly. He didn't have the mind to think about the Hokage for the time being. He was just trying to suppress his pain and slowly recover his strength.

"Hello."

About two hours later, he tried calling the other person. There was no reply, and there was no sound in the tree hole. So Hanyu knew it was time for him to get started.

He barely stood up and walked to the other side. He first picked up the paper and found that it was written with a code that he couldn't understand. He didn't care about the content and put it carefully in his arms.

Then he reached out and felt Senju Tobirama's breath and found that he was indeed no longer breathing. Given Hanyu's injuries, it would normally be impossible for him to regain his mobility so quickly, but he is currently able to walk freely, so it can be imagined that the person in front of him did use some method to treat him.

The tree hole was filled with fallen leaves and small dry firewood. Hanyu did not move the other party's body but piled all these things around him.

Then he turned and walked out of the hole, looking for wet but still flammable firewood in the drizzle. It took him most of the day to go back and forth, and he finally filled most of the tree hole with combustibles.

Making a fire was not a problem for someone like Hanyu who was used to wandering. However, before lighting the fire, he was silent for a while, then walked towards Senju Tobirama again, and then he reached out and took off the other's forehead protector.

Then, he finally lit the fire, and after confirming that the fire was burning, he quickly withdrew from the tree hole.

The smoke spread rapidly, and the chill brought by the autumn rain was dispelled by the scorching flames. However, it was in the rain after all, and the fuel was only wood, so Hanyu still doubted whether such a fire could meet the other party's requirement of "burning himself completely to ashes."

But the next moment, his worries disappeared because, with a few popping sounds coming from the flames, the fire rolled up like a large can of gasoline was thrown into it, and in a moment, it burned along with the big tree.

Hanyu thought the flames burned something the ninja was carrying, causing a chain reaction. In order to avoid being caught in the flames, Hanyu had to retreat again.

The huge tree before him, which required ten people to hug together, must have grown for decades or even hundreds of years to form, but in just a few breaths, it had turned into a huge burning torch.

Death is always shorter and more violent than growth.

Under the scorching heat, the drizzle falling from the sky quickly turned into steaming mist, making the surroundings hazy.

He didn't know if it would cause a forest fire, but this didn't seem to be a big concern for Hanyu. What he cared about was that it seemed that he could fulfill his promise with the other party.

While thinking this, he looked into the flames again... and the scene he saw made his hair stand on end.

The figure of Senju Tobirama in the flames was looming, but at this moment, Hanyu saw very clearly that one of the other's hands was raising a thumb. It seemed to be praising Hanyu for fulfilling his promise.

In other words, when his body was burning in the flames, even until this moment, Senju Tobirama not only did not die but even maintained his consciousness.

"As expected of you... a ninja."

Ninjas never trust others easily, let alone a ninja like the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.

Seeing this scene, Hanyu really didn't know how to describe his feelings. Coming from the war-torn era, he followed his brother to pacify the troubled times. He was unparalleled in wisdom and strategy and did not hesitate to use conspiracies and tricks.

He always speculated about his enemies with the most sinister ideas. He was ruthless, with his hands stained with blood. He fought several wars abroad and killed countless people. He also ruled with high pressure at home, with a tough and gloomy style.

Senju Tobirama spent his whole life in killing. But even for such a person, killing was only a means to achieve a goal, not the goal itself.

He was willing to save the accidentally injured Hanyu, not out of kindness, but simply to illustrate a simple fact: he was the Hokage of Konoha, not a bloodthirsty criminal or anti-human terrorist.