"I really missed this place."
Raizen stood on the surface of the sea lake, letting the breeze ruffle his hair. The lake stretched beside the Amamiya Clan residence, a quiet expanse he had spent countless hours training over the past year. Returning now stirred something he couldn't quite name—nostalgia mixed with the sharp edge of ambition.
"Hurry back!"
Shaking off the moment, Raizen walked toward the family residence. Not far from the compound, two Amamiya clan ninjas spotted him emerging from the trees.
"Huh? You… you're Duoren?"
The guards stiffened, hands hovering over their weapons. Recognition dawned as they processed the figure before them. "Yes. That's me."
Relieved, their tension melted into smiles. The two young ninjas, now seeing Raizen as a true prodigy of the new generation, chatted with him briefly before escorting him past the family checkpoint.
"Finally home." Raizen exhaled, eyes sweeping over the familiar, modest buildings of the Amamiya estate.
"Brother Duoren?"
A timid voice broke through the moment. Raizen turned to see a five-year-old boy peering at him, uncertainty written in his small features.
"Shinnosuke… so you've become a ninja already?" Raizen asked, suppressing a smirk. He remembered the boy as a snot-nosed little brat, and now… well, Shinnosuke had grown, at least a little.
"Brother Duoren is back!"
Shinnosuke's cry set off a chain reaction. Children of the clan, once mere toddlers when Raizen left, now ran to greet him, surrounding him with excited chatter.
"Wait… you all became ninjas in just one year?" Raizen muttered. Older children were now competent Genin, younger ones already showing the spark of talent.
"And Shinnosuke… only five years old and a Genin?" His brow furrowed. Usually, clan ninjas didn't see the battlefield until ten, and even then, they were eased in gradually. Five-year-old Genin meant either intense training or—Raizen's gut tightened—preparations for war.
Sorting the children into groups, Raizen made his way to the patriarch's quarters. Amamiya Gen was already waiting.
"You've made impressive progress this year," Amamiya Gen said, nodding at Raizen, now seven. The sharpness of five-year-old Duoren had mellowed into a calm, confident presence.
"Patriarch… is the clan going to war again?" Raizen asked, keeping his tone measured despite the familiar churn of unease in his chest.
"Hmm? How do you know?" Amamiya Gen raised an eyebrow.
"I saw Shinnosuke, only five years old, already a Genin." Raizen's eyes narrowed. "That's… not normal."
"Yes…" The patriarch sighed, a weight settling on his shoulders. "The clan hasn't been quiet these days. The Ueshi Clan… they are rising again. After a year of consolidation, they've regained strength. Their feuds haven't changed—they're already pressing on our borders. A war between our clans seems inevitable."
"The Ueshi Clan…" Raizen's chest tightened. His eyes darkened. In this body, his father had fallen to the Ueshi. The grudge had been personal, lethal, and etched into his memory. Rage simmered beneath the surface, sharp and icy.
"Not if I can help it," he muttered under his breath, fingers brushing the hilt of his blade. This was a battle he wouldn't let the Ueshi win—not again.