"You know me?"
As Senju Tobirama spoke his name, he carefully observed the changes in Yuusuke Ame's expression. When Yuusuke heard the self-introduction, his face showed clear surprise and shock—yet buried within those emotions was a faint trace of "just as I thought."
"Ah… anyone who's paid even the slightest attention to the Great War would naturally know the Hokage of the Land of Fire," Yuusuke replied at once, quickly composing himself. "For ordinary people like us, you're one of the culprits responsible for families being torn apart, for lives reduced to endless wandering."
As he spoke, Yuusuke raised a hand and pointed toward the center of Tobirama's forehead, indicating the ninja emblem there. Although ninjas were an extremely mysterious profession, it wasn't impossible for ordinary people to recognize the symbol on a forehead protector—it belonged to a ninja village known as Konoha.
The Land of Fire. Konohagakure. The Second Hokage.
After Tobirama revealed his name, it was entirely "reasonable" for a civilian like Yuusuke to accurately describe his identity.
Of course, for Yuusuke himself, if Tobirama's face hadn't been half-covered in blood and half-smeared with mud, he would have recognized him long ago—but such awareness was something he absolutely could not reveal.
"A real big shot…" Yuusuke murmured, feigning simple awe.
In his mind, however, memories long sealed away were rapidly assembling the full picture. The dying man before him was the Second Hokage, and the two bodies that had been reduced to unrecognizable heaps earlier must have been Kinkaku and Ginkaku of Kumogakure.
"War, huh?"
Under normal circumstances, such an almost accusatory remark would have drawn a response like "War is never one-sided; no one wants to start a war." But for Senju Tobirama in his current state, there was no need to say such things.
Although Konoha had indeed been the invaded party in this conflict, and the war could be described as a defensive counteroffensive, did any of that truly matter to a homeless child?
Even Tobirama himself acknowledged that he was one of the "culprits" Yuusuke had mentioned.
"How old are you?" Tobirama asked.
Perhaps it was a final burst of strength before his oil was completely spent, but he seemed slightly more energetic as he spoke.
"Thirteen… probably? I don't remember exactly," Yuusuke answered instinctively. "Is there a problem?"
"No. It's just that your words and behavior don't seem like those of a child your age. But… it's not really an issue."
Whether it was his clear speech, calm demeanor, or logical actions, Yuusuke didn't resemble someone his age at all. The most obvious trait of children—emotional impulsiveness—was completely absent in him.
A child of that age, unless they were a ninja, would already be screaming in terror at the sight of a dying man like Tobirama. Calm conversation should have been impossible.
The Second Hokage found Yuusuke's "precociousness" puzzling. Yet it wasn't something worth praising, boasting about, or even dwelling on.
After all, Yuusuke might look young—but this was already his second life.
Unfortunately, he seemed to have been born into an era of chaos. His only advantage lay in the fact that, if he searched deeply enough through his memories, he could uncover fragments of information about this turbulent world—the so-called ninja world.
"When someone experiences enough," Yuusuke replied ambiguously, "they naturally become more mature."
By now, he had sorted through his memories and focused his attention fully on the present.
One of them was one of the Five Kage, a man capable of shaking the world itself. The other was nothing more than a wandering vagrant. The disparity in their status was immense—but far greater than that was the fact that one stood on the brink of death, while the other was only just beginning his life.
"Can you do me a favor?"
For Senju Tobirama, there was no longer any time or reason to dwell on trivial matters.
"When the time comes, please deal with my remains. Someone like me carries far too many secrets and intelligence. They must not fall into enemy hands. The best way is to burn me completely—to erase my existence without leaving a trace."
Yuusuke hadn't expected such a request.
"This… kind of thing," he said slowly, "isn't it something you should handle yourself?"
"I originally had the strength and means to do it," Tobirama replied. "But after treating your injuries, I no longer can. As you can see, I can't even stand anymore. Besides, asking someone to erase their own remains—no matter how you put it—is far too inhumane."
At a moment like this, Senju Tobirama unexpectedly revealed a touch of dark humor.
Yes—dark humor.
For ninjas tasked with protecting secrets, destroying their own bodies during suicide was, in fact, a common practice.
Without giving Yuusuke a chance to refuse, Tobirama continued.
"From our conversation, I can tell that you long for a peaceful life. In this world, there's no place safer than a ninja village. If you bring news of me back to Konoha, they will take you in."
A ninja village was certainly more stable than the outside world, but—
"Would a ninja village really allow an ordinary outsider to settle there?" Yuusuke asked. "Especially during wartime?"
He was tempted, but also deeply uncertain.
"Konoha will take you in," Tobirama said firmly. "As long as you're not a spy from another village. Give them this, and everything will be fine."
As he spoke, he placed a sheet of paper on his knee.
Yuusuke was certainly no spy, but he couldn't understand why the Second Hokage would trust a complete stranger.
"If you're really such an important figure in Konoha," Yuusuke asked, "wouldn't handing you over to another village bring enormous benefits?"
"No," Tobirama replied. "You wouldn't do that."
"Why?"
"This place is much closer to the border of the Land of Fire than to any other country."
"I see…"
Even from a purely safety-oriented perspective, Yuusuke wouldn't choose the longer, more dangerous route.
"Then everything is settled for me," Tobirama sighed deeply. Whether it was regret or relief was impossible to tell.
After that, he spoke no more.
Yuusuke simply sat there in silence. For now, he wasn't thinking about Hokage or the future—only about suppressing the pain and slowly recovering his strength.
"Hey."
About two hours later, he tried calling out again.
There was no response. The tree hollow was completely silent.
Yuusuke knew it was time to act.
He struggled to his feet and walked over, first picking up the paper. It was covered in coded writing he couldn't understand. Without paying attention to its contents, he carefully tucked it into his clothes.
Then he reached out and checked Tobirama's breathing.
There was none.
Given Yuusuke's injuries, it should have been impossible for him to move so freely so soon—yet he could. That alone proved that Tobirama had indeed treated him in some way.
The tree hollow was filled with fallen leaves and thin, dry branches. Yuusuke didn't move the body. Instead, he piled the materials around it, then stepped back outside into the drizzle, searching for damp yet still flammable firewood.
After going back and forth for most of the day, he finally filled more than half the hollow with fuel.
Starting a fire posed no difficulty for someone used to wandering. But before lighting it, Yuusuke paused briefly. Then he walked back to Tobirama and removed the man's forehead protector.
Only then did he light the fire.
After confirming the flames had taken hold, Yuusuke quickly withdrew from the hollow.
Smoke spread rapidly, and the chill brought by the autumn rain was driven away by the heat. Still, because it was raining and the fuel was only wood, Yuusuke couldn't help wondering whether the fire would truly fulfill Tobirama's demand—to burn him completely to ash.
That doubt vanished the next moment.
With several popping sounds from within the flames, the fire surged as if a massive can of gasoline had been thrown into it. In moments, it engulfed the entire tree.
It seemed the fire had ignited something Tobirama had been carrying, triggering a chain reaction.
To avoid being swallowed by the inferno, Yuusuke retreated further.
A tree so massive it would take ten people to encircle—something that had taken decades, perhaps centuries, to grow—had become a blazing torch in just a few breaths.
Death was always shorter and more violent than growth.
Under the intense heat, the fine rain evaporated instantly, rising into thick mist that shrouded the surroundings.
Whether this would spark a forest fire didn't seem important to Yuusuke. What mattered was that it appeared he could fulfill his promise.
Thinking that, he glanced back into the flames.
What he saw made his hair stand on end.
Within the fire, Tobirama's figure flickered in and out of view. And at that moment, Yuusuke clearly saw one of Tobirama's hands raised—his thumb extended upward.
It was as if he were praising Yuusuke for keeping his word.
In other words, even while engulfed in flames—even now—Senju Tobirama was not only alive, but conscious.
"Truly worthy of being called… a ninja."
Ninjas never trusted others easily—especially not someone like the Second Hokage.
Faced with this scene, Yuusuke had no idea how to describe what he felt.
Born of an era of war, following his elder brother to quell chaos; unmatched in intellect, ruthless in strategy, always assuming the worst of his enemies; merciless, hands stained with blood; waging countless wars abroad, ruling with iron pressure at home—Senju Tobirama's life had been steeped in slaughter.
Yet even for such a man, killing was merely a means to an end, never the end itself.
His willingness to save the accidentally injured Yuusuke wasn't kindness—it was proof of a simple truth:
He was the Hokage of Konoha, not a bloodthirsty criminal or an inhuman terrorist.
In the sixteenth year since Konoha's founding, the First Shinobi World War had reached a strategic stalemate. Konoha had even prepared to form a peace alliance with its primary enemy, Kumogakure.
But during the alliance ceremony, rogue Kumogakure ninja launched a surprise attack, assassinating both the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage—shattering every effort both sides had made throughout the war.
The figure within the flames soon vanished. The "torch" continued burning into the night.
By then, Yuusuke was already gone.
Soon, dawn approached, and the rain finally stopped. Pale morning light illuminated the clear blue sky left behind by the storm.
Yuusuke looked back toward the place he had stayed the night before. Rolling hills and dense vegetation blocked his view; whatever remained there was no longer visible.
But as far as his eyes could see, the world after the rain was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Konoha…"
Compared to endless wandering, Konoha might be a better choice.
One rain ended here. Another would fall beyond the horizon.