Chapter 82: The World is So Big, I Want to See It (End of Volume)
December 30th, Year 12 of Konoha.
Although the next day was the New Year festival, the entire village of Konoha was shrouded in an atmosphere of grief. Even the sky was gloomy and overcast.
On this day, Konoha Village held the funeral of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
The funeral arrangements were not overly elaborate. In the open space of the Konoha Cemetery, a row of tables was set up. On the tables were white flowers and several white cloths. Behind the tables hung a black-and-white photo of Hashirama, creating a solemn and silent atmosphere.
Dressed entirely in black, Masahiko stood among the mourning villagers and ninjas. He did not stand in the front row with Mito, the family, or the four Elders of Konoha.
At the front, Tobirama personally presided over his brother's funeral, reading the eulogy of Hashirama's life.
From beside him came the sound of sobbing. Masahiko looked closely and realized it was the two girls who, during Kenji-kun's wedding, had discussed how many more years Hashirama could protect Konoha.
Their discussion back then was still vivid in Masahiko's memory. He sighed softly. "Sorry to disappoint you both. Hashirama still didn't manage to outlive me..."
The crowd around him began to surge forward. Masahiko snapped back to reality and realized that Tobirama's speech had ended. The crowd was queuing up, moving forward bit by bit to offer a white flower to Hashirama.
Masahiko shook his head and walked over to Tobirama's side.
"Tobirama, did you cry secretly?"
Tobirama was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
Masahiko sighed. "Your brother was right. You really are bad at lying."
After saying this, Masahiko also took a white flower and walked up to Hashirama's black-and-white photo. He scratched his head. "Why haven't I found anywhere in this world that sells cameras...? A video camera would be even better. I really wanted to record this to show you later. Seeing your own funeral... it would definitely be quite comical, right...?"
The person placing a flower next to him turned out to be Kento-kun. Looking at Masahiko, his eyes were red rimmed.
"Sensei, are you... going to leave us too?"
Masahiko suddenly realized what he had said. His face went dark. "I didn't mean I was going to take the recording down there to show him..." He thought for a moment, realized he couldn't explain it clearly, and turned to leave.
After taking two steps, he turned back to Kento-kun. "After today, I'm going to travel for a while. I want to take a good look at this ninja world. Tell Nanako-chan and Yiko-chan not to miss me..."
After saying this, he noticed Kento-kun's eyes getting even redder, looking like he was about to burst into tears. Masahiko sighed and didn't dare stay any longer.
Walking back, he spotted a familiar group of six in the line of people offering flowers. The six disciples of Hashirama and Tobirama.
"These six are already 21 years old... The future belongs to their era," Masahiko murmured. "I remember in the original story, after the Chunin Exams, Hiruzen also had a funeral like this... But now, I'm afraid you won't have that opportunity. I wonder if you should be happy or regretful about that."
Arriving at Mito's side, seeing the sorrow on her face, Masahiko didn't know how to comfort her.
Her face, which hadn't changed in 30 years, brought Masahiko's thoughts back to the day he escorted her to the Senju clan to be married. The shy young man, the bowl-cut head peeking out from behind the clansmen... The past played back like a movie.
"Great-Uncle, let's go..." Tobirama's voice interrupted Masahiko's thoughts. He realized that lost in his memories, over an hour had passed. The funeral had ended, and the crowd had dispersed.
"As you get older, you just have so many memories..."
Looking around, only Tobirama and Mito remained at the scene. As for Kenji-kun and his wife, they had already taken the exhausted, crying little Tsunade back home.
Masahiko was silent for a while, then slowly shook his head. "I'm not going back."
Tobirama and Mito looked confused. Masahiko continued to explain, "Tomorrow, I'll be 81 years old. I've lived for so many years, yet I've only been to the Land of Wind for half a month. I feel like my life has been a failure..."
"I plan to travel incognito to other countries. I want to see the full picture of the ninja world."
Before Tobirama could speak, Mito took the initiative. "Great-Uncle, then please go and return early... I hope to see you again in my lifetime."
Masahiko's eyes widened. "In your lifetime? Mito, do you think your Great-Uncle can bear to be away for that long?"
"Don't worry. The ninja world isn't peaceful right now. I'll be gathering intelligence while I travel. If there's any sign of trouble, I'll return immediately."
Tobirama was silent for a moment, then said, "Then, Great-Uncle, please be careful..."
Masahiko shook his head. "With Hashirama and Madara gone, no one can threaten me. We need to worry about other countries... Besides, do you think your Great-Uncle is the type to suffer a loss?"
At the mention of Hashirama, the two fell silent again.
Masahiko quickly changed the subject. "I'll be wandering the ninja world under an alias. Who knows, we might meet again sometime. I hope you'll recognize me then." He looked at Tobirama. "Maybe one day I'll suddenly appear in front of you with a different identity and give you a scare..."
Tobirama nodded, then looked puzzled. "Actually, I've always wanted to ask about your age... If it's inconvenient, you don't have to say."
Masahiko hesitated. Just as he was about to make up an excuse, Mito spoke first, explaining to Tobirama: "Great-Uncle can live for 500 years because of certain reasons. As for the specific cause, I'm not too sure either."
Masahiko looked confused. "500 years? When did I tell you I could live for 500 years?"
Mito looked surprised. "Didn't you sing that back then?"
"I sang it?" Masahiko was confused at first, then he remembered. On the way to escort Mito to the Senju clan all those years ago, he had sung an adapted version of "Borrow Another 500 Years from Heaven"...
"So, Mito has believed that all these years?" Masahiko scratched his head and muttered.
"Haha..." Masahiko laughed awkwardly. "Right, right. But not necessarily exactly 500 years. Maybe 400, maybe 300... maybe tomorrow?"
The two clearly didn't believe the "tomorrow" part.
"Fine, I can live for 500 years. Just treat it as me mastering a special jutsu..." Saying this was better than admitting to immortality. Masahiko let out a breath, thinking to himself, 'Why didn't I sing "borrow another 200 years"? That would be closer to a normal human.'
Masahiko sighed, waved his hand, and walked back to the Uzumaki compound alone. He packed a simple bag—really just some money and a few important sealing scrolls—and without saying goodbye to anyone else, he walked straight out of Konoha.
More than ten miles away from Konoha, Masahiko took a deep breath and shouted:
"The world is so big, I want to see it!"
"Er, actually, the Naruto world doesn't seem that big. If I fly, a lap around it won't take long, right?"
Drip.
A drop of water landed on Masahiko's face. He looked up. It was raining...
"See what? I'd better find a place to hide from the rain... My journey has hit a snag right at the start..."
[End of Volume 1]
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