The place where Gojo Yoru left the Flying Thunder God formula was a private room specially vacated by Orochimaru.
His arrival didn't alert anyone, including the Sensing and Barrier Squads maintaining the barrier.
Just coming out of the room, Gojo Yoru encountered a ninja wearing a flak jacket.
Before Gojo Yoru could greet him, the ninja, whose identity was at least Chunin, bowed to him with a fervent expression: "Yoru-sama!"
"Uh..."
Gojo Yoru was somewhat taken aback.
In these three days, Gojo Yoru had become accustomed and immune to the address "Yoru-sama," provided it was in front of Konan.
Besides Konan, this was the first time he saw someone call him "sama," and it was a senior with a higher status wearing a flak jacket.
In just a few seconds, Gojo Yoru understood.
This was the benefit of fame!
Jiraiya and Tsunade regarded injuring the Salamander as a feat no one in the Five Great Ninja Villages had achieved, a great honor.
Even the Demigod of the Ninja World personally acknowledged Gojo Yoru's battle achievements and called him the Black Flash, the future of the Ninja World.
In the eyes of smart people like Orochimaru, Hanzo the Salamander was sacrificing his own reputation to kill Gojo Yoru with praise.
But in the eyes of those "idiots" easily influenced by public opinion, Gojo Yoru had achieved a feat the Five Great Ninja Villages couldn't, becoming the only existence in so many years to injure the Salamander and gain the recognition of the Demigod of the Ninja World.
Just as Jiraiya said, in just three days, the name Black Flash Gojo Yoru spread throughout the entire Ninja World, including the distant Land of Water, which wasn't on the Ninja Continent. Everyone knew of such a figure.
In times of war, geniuses and heroes always emerge frequently.
Just as this campaign, destined to be called the Second Great Ninja War in the future, began, the Land of Fire produced a super genius recognized by the pinnacle of the Ninja World and the leader of an enemy country!
Because another piece of intelligence, driven by some unknown force, quickly spread throughout the Ninja World.
Gojo Yoru, who looked at least sixteen in the portrait, was actually only eleven this year.
Learning a Super S-rank Ninjutsu rare in the Ninja World at eleven and becoming the first existence to injure the Salamander since the Demigod of the Ninja World reached the top.
The current Gojo Yoru was a super-enhanced version of Hatake Kakashi from the original work.
In the future, when Hatake Kakashi rose, this teenage genius who became an all-rounder Jonin at twelve and developed an A-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu wouldn't be so shocking.
Before him, there was the even more outrageous Gojo Yoru.
Gojo Yoru didn't know about these later events yet.
Realizing he had become a celebrity and a big shot, Gojo Yoru quickly accepted this change of identity.
He raised his hand in response and asked politely, "Hello, senpai. May I ask if Orochimaru-sensei is still at the base?"
"Orochimaru-sama, Tsunade-sama, and Jiraiya-sama have all left the base."
Gojo Yoru raised an eyebrow: "Did they go to the front line? Did Amegakure's combat units attack?"
"No, something happened to Tsunade-sama's brother." The ninja replied truthfully, "Because of the three-front war, we needed supply replenishment. The support unit transported a batch of supplies here not long ago, and then several squads rotated shifts."
"The support unit is mainly responsible for providing logistics, medical, sensing, and intelligence support."
"Tsunade-sama's brother might have wanted to help the front line spy for intelligence and accidentally stepped on an Explosive Tag Barrier set by the enemy on the way."
Gojo Yoru: "..."
What Can I Say?
If not for the experience of infiltrating Amegakure with Tsunade to get the antidote formula and the incident in the cave causing a slight change in their senior-junior relationship, Gojo Yoru would have wanted to add—MAN!
Even with him, a variable causing the original history to deviate further and further, appearing, Konoha's "Crown Prince" still couldn't live past twelve and was still killed by explosive tags. It could only be said... this is fate!
Before going to Amegakure, Tsunade had mentioned to him that Amegakure ninjas were very skilled at setting up Explosive Tag Barriers.
Having experienced the escape ability of the Water Body Flicker Technique, Gojo Yoru also knew that Explosive Tag Barriers were ineffective against Amegakure ninjas, so they would definitely set up formations everywhere.
This should be common knowledge known to the three major powers. Tsunade, who cared so much about her brother, would definitely tell Nawaki.
Even if Tsunade didn't say it, the Senju clansmen responsible for protecting Nawaki would definitely remind their young master.
Nawaki had many chances to change his fate.
If he hadn't participated in the war, as the grandson of the First Hokage and the future of the Senju of the Forest, Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't have let him participate even for Tsunade's sake, so nothing would have happened.
If he had just stayed at the border base, as a member of the support unit, with Senju clansmen protecting him at all times, nothing would have happened either.
Even... if he had just been a bit cautious, creating a Shadow Clone to scout ahead while traveling, nothing would have happened.
Unfortunately, he missed all these gifts of fate.
When a person avoids so many opportunities and chooses to be willful, they must pay the price for their actions.
Nawaki was obviously the best example.
The grandson of the God of Shinobi, awakened with the Senju bloodline, entered the Ninja Academy at five, mastered the Rasengan at twelve—a life that should have had a bright future, ended by cheap explosive tags, each costing just a bit more than a shuriken, maybe not even as much as a kunai.
And... he didn't even kill a single enemy!
The degree of absurdity and weirdness made Gojo Yoru unable to forget it in two lifetimes, leaving a deep impression to this day.
Even when looking for a time anchor, Gojo Yoru didn't choose Nagato with the Rinnegan, but Nawaki.
Shaking his head helplessly in his heart, Gojo Yoru thought for a moment and decided to go take a look.
"Thank you for the information, senpai. Excuse me."
Raising his hand in response again, Gojo Yoru disappeared into thin air.
Witnessing the Flying Thunder God teleportation, the ninja's eyes were full of admiration: "Is that the legendary Flying Thunder God Technique? Indeed, as rumored, there's no movement trajectory at all. So amazing!"
In the pouring rain, a wooden house stood in a rainforest at the junction of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.
Gojo Yoru's figure appeared at the door of the wooden house without warning.
Beside him was Orochimaru, leaning against the door frame.
"Orochimaru-sensei."
Gojo Yoru greeted softly, and the latter nodded.
Looking inside the house, Tsunade and Jiraiya were both there. The former was kneeling before a corpse covered with a cloth, her eyes empty, her hair and clothes soaked by the rain.
When a person is sad to the extreme, they can't cry.
Tsunade was obviously like this.
Jiraiya might also be seeing Tsunade like this for the first time, not daring to step forward to comfort her, only standing behind and watching helplessly.
Just one glance, and Gojo Yoru knew Nawaki was thoroughly dead.
Only those who died miserably would have their bodies covered with a cloth, leaving the deceased with final dignity.
After confirming that Nawaki still couldn't change his fate, Gojo Yoru turned his gaze to Orochimaru.
In the original work, Nawaki's death was one of the keys to Orochimaru's darkening.
His two major personality changes in the early stages were related to the passing of people close to him.
The passing of his parents made Orochimaru grow up overnight, becoming a genius in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes. Cold and extremely self-centered on the outside, he was actually afraid of his companions getting hurt.
Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's guidance, he became the most perfect backer in Gojo Yoru's eyes.
In the original work, Nawaki's passing not only reminded Orochimaru of his parents but also because he witnessed the scene of Nawaki being blown up by explosive tags with his own eyes.
The disciple he considered incredibly outstanding, who would definitely be able to bear the honor of the Senju of the Forest in the future, didn't die from enemy assassination, nor from fighting enemies and succumbing to heavy injuries.
But... was blown up by cheap explosive tags!
Life... turned out to be so fragile and cheap?
From that moment on, Orochimaru developed the idea of eternal life, gradually developing Orochimaru-style Ninjutsu. Then, bewitched by Shimura Danzo, he chose to join Root as his guard, began researching Hashirama cells and Forbidden Jutsu, and finally attacked the guards of the Forbidden Jutsu library, seizing the Eight Branches Technique and Impure World Reincarnation, conducting human experiments, and embarking on the path of a rogue ninja.
In this life, Orochimaru was no longer Nawaki's teacher. Gojo Yoru was very curious if he would still develop the idea of researching immortality.
Orochimaru didn't enter the house to shelter from the rain but stood at the door in the rain, as if wanting to use the cold rain to extinguish something. His gaze was deep, but not focused on Nawaki and Tsunade at all, lost in thought.
His only reaction was nodding in response when Gojo Yoru appeared.
The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, and Gojo Yoru suddenly regretted coming over.
Scenes of parting by death, even if unrelated to oneself, still affect emotions.
Thus, Gojo Yoru imitated Orochimaru, leaning against the other side of the door frame, standing in the rain, listening to the rain, not looking inside.
Time passed unknown, the rain curtain turned from thick to thin, then from misty drizzle to pouring rain... Since the sky was always covered by dark clouds, pitch black, it was unknown how many hours had passed.
Until a poof sounded in his ears, Gojo Yoru turned his gaze back inside the house.
What entered his eyes was white smoke, and then Tsunade, who looked extremely wretched despite not having experienced any battle, walked out of the smoke holding a storage scroll.
She didn't even look at Jiraiya beside her or Orochimaru at the door frame but said hoarsely to Gojo Yoru: "Send me, and... Nawaki, home."
Not even using a title showed the extent of her suppressed emotions.
Gojo Yoru exchanged a glance with Orochimaru, who turned to look at him, then nodded. He placed his hand on Tsunade's shoulder, and the two disappeared into thin air.
In a few teleports, the two appeared at the abandoned training ground.
This was still the core area of Konoha, where the Hokage Rock could be seen.
Tsunade didn't use Body Flicker to disappear but walked heavily towards her home, her back looking lost and soulless.
Gojo Yoru didn't go home either but followed Tsunade, arriving at the Senju mansion for the first time.
It was afternoon. Uzumaki Kushina, who had advanced to the sixth grade, should still be at the Ninja Academy.
Plus, with Nawaki going to the border, there were no servants in the mansion.
As soon as Tsunade entered, she headed towards the ancestral hall.
This time, Gojo Yoru didn't follow but sat on the veranda in the courtyard.
Not long after, Gojo Yoru faintly heard crying and apologies.
"Grandfather, Grandmother... I'm sorry, I couldn't protect Nawaki... now I'm the only one left!"
The last sentence was full of sadness and fragility.
In just two short years, two closest relatives left successively. In the original work, not long after finding love, her lover also died in battle, with his internal organs hollowed out. No wonder Tsunade developed hemophobia.
With these successive encounters, not collapsing was already impressive.
Just like with Konan, Gojo Yoru didn't go to comfort Tsunade.
This kind of thing couldn't be solved by the words "my condolences"; the person involved needed to walk out of it themselves.
All he could do was wait for Tsunade to recover on her own.
"Yoru, when did you come back?"
After an unknown amount of time, Gojo Yoru suddenly heard a voice full of surprise.
Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw Uzumaki Kushina trotting over with a happy face.
Gojo Yoru greeted her with a smile: "Kushina, school's out?"
"Mhm... Yoru, why are you here?"
Just after nodding, Uzumaki Kushina suddenly reacted, curious why Gojo Yoru appeared here.
After all, since they met, she had never brought Gojo Yoru here.
Gojo Yoru pointed towards the ancestral hall: "I brought Tsunade-sama back."
Hearing the crying from the ancestral hall, Uzumaki Kushina's heart skipped a beat, her voice trembling imperceptibly: "Did... did something happen?"
Gojo Yoru didn't know Uzumaki Kushina's relationship with Nawaki, but he patted her shoulder and said, "Senior Nawaki sacrificed himself."
"You're lying..."
Uzumaki Kushina's pupils constricted. She covered her mouth with her hand, looking at Gojo Yoru in disbelief.
Seeing Gojo Yoru nod, a layer of mist instantly appeared in her eyes, and her emotions fluctuated violently.
Sadness was definitely there, but perhaps more was hearing the news of someone close passing away again.
Among the few people more miserable than Tsunade was Uzumaki Kushina.
First losing her country and clan, finally integrating into the "new family" she stayed with, the matriarch who was also a clansman ended her life because of her. The next year, the "brother" in the family was gone too.
The originally lively mansion would become even more desolate.
If not for Uzumaki Mito's remaining Chakra not having disappeared yet, Uzumaki Kushina's current state of mind would definitely be a good opportunity for the Nine-Tails to launch a sneak attack.
"Go in and check on Tsunade-sama. She might need your help the most right now."
Gojo Yoru also didn't comfort her but persuaded.
"Mhm."
Uzumaki Kushina walked towards the ancestral hall in a trance.
With Uzumaki Kushina, who shared a similar fate, guarding her, Gojo Yoru finally didn't stay but went to the Hokage Building to report to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
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