When Tsunade learned of her younger brother's death, she collapsed to the ground, her mind overwhelmed by intense terror and remorse.
She struggled to get up, wanting to rush into the mortuary to see her brother, but Jiraiya stopped her the next moment.
"Don't look..."
Nawaki had died horribly, to the point of being unrecognizable.
If not for the half-torn clothing and Orochimaru's confirmation, Jiraiya wouldn't have dared to believe it was the cheerful, lively younger brother from his memories...
"It doesn't matter... Whether you look or not makes no difference, since you can't recognize him anyway." Orochimaru murmured softly.
"Enough, Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted sharply.
In the original story, he would have said something like, "Because it's war, no one can avoid death." But after his earlier promise to Mito Uzumaki, he couldn't bring himself to say such words...
Tsunade unusually didn't blame Orochimaru, because she was the one most afraid of facing her grandmother. She was the one who blamed herself the most.
Staring at the horrifying, mutilated corpse before her and recalling her earlier heated argument with her grandmother... Tsunade suddenly found it hard to breathe. The surroundings began to spin, and she fainted on the spot.
Jiraiya quickly picked her up. As he passed the corridor entrance, he paused and glanced at Orochimaru, who stood silently with his head lowered.
Then he walked straight out of this place of sorrow.
News of Nawaki's death reached Konoha on the second day of the official war between the two nations.
The death of this "young master" enraged the entire village and caused a massive uproar in the Land of Fire.
Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately ordered the troops in the Land of Rain to launch a full-scale attack, sparing no effort to make the Rain-nin pay a heavy price.
A brutal, all-out war erupted between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain. Both sides fought with bloodshot eyes, turning the Land of Rain battlefield into a giant meat grinder. In just one day, both sides suffered horrifying casualties.
While the war raged outside, Ryun paid little attention to it.
He continued his physical training routine without fail every day.
"Ryun, come with me to the Senju compound quickly. Grandma Mito wants to see you..."
One day, Kushina rushed to the riverside training ground to find Ryun.
Her eyes were red from crying. Ryun quickly asked her what had happened.
"Nawaki... is dead!"
Hearing this, Ryun's pupils contracted sharply, and his face paled slightly.
'In the end, I still couldn't save him...'
"Grandma Mito still let him go to the Land of Rain, right..."
Ryun spoke softly. Standing by the riverbank, he watched the flowing water, not in a hurry to see Mito Uzumaki—or perhaps unwilling to face her.
"Just come with me first... She's been crying and blaming herself. I'm afraid she might do something reckless..." Kushina tugged at his hand, her expression urgent.
"I know why she wants to see me. As for doing something reckless? That's impossible..."
"First, tell me about Nawaki going to the Land of Rain. I haven't decided whether to see her yet..."
Ryun's words left Kushina stunned.
She felt Ryun seemed to have already anticipated Nawaki's death. His reaction and attitude were strange.
Moreover, he even knew why Mito Uzumaki wanted to see him. Clearly, the two of them were hiding something from her.
Kushina took a deep breath, suppressing her urgency, and explained how Nawaki had insisted on going to the Land of Rain.
"Given his personality, I knew it would turn out like this..."
Ryun sighed softly.
"A warning couldn't save his life. Instead... it only added pain for everyone!"
"I... was wrong..."
Kushina looked confused.
"What do you mean by that?"
She didn't understand how Nawaki's death was related to Ryun. Why was he admitting fault?
Ryun shook his head slightly and didn't answer.
After a moment, he looked up at the dark, overcast sky.
He felt as though an invisible force governed the fate of everyone.
Despite his interference, Nawaki had still died!
The manner of death, the timing—everything was the same. If he hadn't interfered, perhaps the Sannin and Mito Uzumaki wouldn't have blamed themselves so much or suffered such pain...
This was his first attempt to change someone else's fate, but the result was undeniably a failure. And the cost seemed even greater!
Those who loved Nawaki endured more pain than before.
This outcome left Ryun feeling defeated, but as time passed, that defeat turned into anger.
"My fate, and the fate of those I cherish... will be decided by us alone. No one else can control it!"
At this moment, Ryun's crimson eyes burned with determination.
As his words fell, several thunderclaps echoed in the sky. The sporadic raindrops soon turned into a downpour.
When Kushina returned to the Senju compound, she saw Mito Uzumaki standing dazed in the heavy rain, letting the water soak her aged body.
"Grandma Mito, please go inside! You'll get sick like this..."
Kushina cried as she tried to pull Mito inside, but the latter stood motionless, like a lifeless shell.
Her husband was dead. Her son and daughter-in-law were dead. Now, even her grandson was gone... At this moment, she felt an unprecedented loneliness and despair.
People said longevity was a blessing, but she believed it was the most terrifying curse in the world.
If not for the last shred of rationality reminding her she couldn't die yet—that the Nine-Tails hadn't been transferred from her—Mito Uzumaki would have already lost the will to live.
Kushina was now the only reason she kept going.
At the very least, she had to buy more time for this girl who called her "Grandma."
Tap... tap... tap...
Ryun stepped through the puddles and slowly approached Mito Uzumaki.
Though he hadn't decided how to face her, he had come anyway.
"I'm here... Didn't Grandma Mito want to see me? Then let's talk inside..."
Hearing Ryun's voice, Mito Uzumaki's dull eyes instantly turned into beast-like slits.
A surge of crimson chakra erupted from her body.
In the next moment, she stepped forward, appearing right in front of Ryun in an instant. Her claw-like, withered hands gripped his shoulders as she demanded coldly:
"Tell me, who killed Nawaki... Who was it!"
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