Glug... glug...
"Cough! Ptooey!"
Ren Uchiha choked on several mouthfuls of water before finally breaking the surface.
Unbeknownst to him, the lake created by the Great Water Shockwave was rapidly receding. The surface of this miniature "ocean" had already dropped to the level of the second floor.
In the distance, the civilians of Yunokage City had already begun desperate rescue operations amidst the wreckage. Young men scaled ladders and paddled skiffs to rescue women and children from rooftops. Others groaned with exertion, veins bulging on their foreheads as they pried open drainage channels.
Takigakure ninjas leapt across the water, serving as messengers to report the disaster's scale. Meanwhile, disheveled, bloated aristocrats barked orders, trying to divert the shinobi to save their private estates first.
Destruction and rebirth, hope and agony—they marched hand in hand.
Watching these scenes, Ren fell into a heavy silence. He had truly calmed down.
The mad impulse to use the Zero-Tails' power to "enforce justice" for the commoners was suppressed. The Zero-Tails was no champion of the people; it was the very definition of darkness. Drawing out the extreme emotions of an entire city would require Ren to get close to the victims, which would inevitably catch them in the crossfire of his own battle.
If he did that, he would become the very "butcher" he despised. He would be no different from the Hunter-nin or the Third Mizukage.
"Are you still alive?"
Mei Terumi knelt on the water's surface, poking Ren's cheek with a wooden stick.
"Whew..." Ren exhaled a long breath and gave a helpless smile as he looked up at her. "This time, it's really goodbye."
Behind Mei stood the prestigious Elder Genji and the Kekkei Genkai clans. Behind Mangetsu stood the Hidden Mist's secret technique families. With war on the horizon, Yagura would take them both back. Mei had always acted for the sake of the Mist's future.
Ren hesitated for a moment, then reached into his robes. He pulled out an object wrapped in oil paper.
It was the cherry blossom cake (Sakura Mochi) Mei had bought for him. Despite the fierce battle, though wet and crushed into a single remaining piece, it had survived.
"It's a bit cold... but do you still want to eat it?" Ren scratched his head, feeling a bit sheepish as he held out the soggy paper.
Mei's gaze fell upon the distorted, blood-stained pastry. A complex emotion flickered in her emerald eyes.
After this, Ren would return to the Leaf, and she would return to the Mist. They would both sprint down their respective paths as shinobi. This single cake was perhaps the last time their paths would ever cross.
"Pfft..."
Looking at the boy floating in the water like an idiot, she suddenly broke into a radiant smile—like a hibiscus blooming in the spring breeze.
"I'm eating it!"
She reached out and took the blood-soaked cake, tucking it away with the solemnity of a girl receiving a wedding ring. She stood up, taking one last look at Ren. She wanted to say more, to make a promise, to set a date.
But she couldn't.
For the girl who would eventually sacrifice her youth and her marriage prospects to revitalize the Mist, being a shinobi meant enduring such feelings. It meant swallowing the bitterness and moving forward.
"Next time, I won't go easy on you."
Her voice was firm, yet laced with a hidden sorrow. "We'll meet again... on the battlefield."
Ren remained silent, unable to find the words. He simply nodded. "Fine."
Mangetsu Hozuki shot him one final, vicious glare. When Ren looked back, the swordsman huffed and turned his head away, leaving Ren wondering what his problem was.
Under Yagura's lead, the Mist group vanished swiftly from the ruins of the battlefield.
"You still have things to do."
Ryoma Aburame, who had stood beside Ren like a ghost, finally spoke. "I'll give you half an hour. I'll be waiting outside the city."
"This concerns your transfer orders, your new mission, and—"
Ryoma paused, his sunglasses reflecting the setting sun. "Your new identity within Root."
Ren frowned but nodded. Ryoma didn't waste words; he and his subordinates flickered away in a body flicker technique. Ryoma needed time to organize his intel. The boy's actual combat power and the anomalies he showed didn't match the Root records at all.
Weak Genin? Just lucky to be Orochimaru's disciple? Ryoma looked down at the wasteland that looked like it had been hit by a category-eight hurricane. He decided that once he returned, the Root ninjas responsible for Uchiha intelligence were going to have a very bad time.
After bidding a brief farewell to Seiichiro—who was currently dealing with a massive headache involving the underground market's losses and sending a bill to Fugaku Uchiha—Ren prepared to leave.
Seiichiro's final words to him were: "Get lost. Looking at you pisses me off. Just don't die. Also, when you get to Orochimaru, say hi to Shisui for me."
Ren's face twitched. He wanted to ask how Seiichiro knew he was going to the Land of Rain, but then he remembered the man ran the underground black market. Seiichiro was a heavyweight in his own right.
Ren made one last request: for Seiichiro to save the "younger brother" Hidan, who was still buried somewhere under the ruins of the red-light district.
With a look of pure disgust, Seiichiro agreed to look into it.
Ren knew Hidan probably had a thousand questions. Questions about immortality, about the future, about how his "Big Brother" was going to save the Land of Hot Water.
But Ren's mind was a mess. He didn't have the energy to play the role of a mentor. He needed to get to the Land of Rain to see just how much he had broken the Third Great Ninja War.
He packed his gear and set his sights on the horizon.
Bathed in the fading, amber glow of the sunset, he walked toward the city gates.
Outside the city, near a hot spring inn, he found Ryoma Aburame standing alone, his back to the twilight. The steam from the springs mingled with the golden light, creating a surreal, hazy atmosphere.
Ryoma turned his head slightly. "You've arrived?"
"I'm here," Ren replied.
Ryoma didn't look back. He tossed a token toward Ren with a flick of his wrist.
"Good. From this day forward, you are a ninja of the Root."
"You have no name. No feelings. No past. No future."
"You are the 'Root' that supports the great tree of Konoha from the darkness of the earth."
"Remember your codename—"
"Asura."
Ren blinked, thinking to himself: Does this guy practice these rhymes in his spare time?
His expression twisted slightly as he watched Ryoma climb the steps of the hot spring inn. The older man pushed up his sunglasses with a flair of "coolness" and spoke coldly.
"Asura, what are you standing there for? Follow me."
"It's time for your first mission—"
"Scrub your superior's back!"