After Hashirama straightened up, he did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he looked at Arisu, his eyes filled with doubts that had accumulated over all these years.
"Sir... may I ask a few questions?", Senju Hashirama spoke first.
Arisu nodded lightly. "Ask."
Hashirama took a deep breath, and his first question went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Who exactly are you? Why did you save me eight years ago? And why... did you let me live these extra eight years?"
Senju Hashirama could not help asking.
He could feel that his life had been rapidly draining away ever since that battle, but he did not know why some inexplicable force had forcibly stabilized his life.
It had kept him alive for a full eight years.
Arisu said calmly, "I am the one who maintains the reincarnation and order of this world. You can call me an Observer."
"Eight years ago, the Otsutsuki Urashiki who called himself a 'transmigrator' was a variable that should not have appeared on this timeline."
"If he had killed you, the trajectory that followed would have completely collapsed. I used your hand to eliminate him. You got what you needed, and so did I."
"As for giving you eight extra years..."
Arisu paused, and for once, there was a hint of casualness in his tone.
"Consider it a small reward. You helped me get rid of a problem, so I let you spend a little more time looking at the people you care about."
After Arisu finished speaking, Hashirama was silent for a moment before continuing.
"That Urashiki... he said he was a 'transmigrator.' Are there more people like him?"
"Yes."
"This world has attracted too many eyes that should not be here. Some want to come and change fate, some want to prove themselves, and some simply want to destroy things."
"Some of them hide very deeply, while others are as conspicuous as Urashiki. My duty is to do my best to put the tracks that have deviated back where they belong.", Arisu answered without hesitation.
The moment Hashirama heard this, he became somewhat unsettled.
After all, just one Otsutsuki Urashiki had nearly gotten him killed.
What if several more came?
What would happen to Konoha? What would happen to the shinobi world?
Could Tobirama, Mito, Tsunade, and the others deal with them?
To be honest, Senju Hashirama did not think there was anyone among his descendants who could surpass him.
At this thought, concern inevitably rose in Senju Hashirama's heart.
"What about Konoha? What will happen to the village after I die? Tobirama, Mito, Tsunade... will they be safe?"
Senju Hashirama asked worriedly, his brows furrowed.
Arisu glanced at him but did not answer immediately.
Arisu thought for a moment.
Should he tell him that this world was actually a manga world, and that everyone would be reset and revived after some time?
After thinking it over, Arisu still decided not to tell Hashirama the real truth.
Instead, several seconds later, Arisu slowly spoke.
"Konoha will continue to exist. It will go through wars, betrayals, prosperity, and decline. Your younger brother will become the Second Hokage, and your granddaughter will become the Fifth."
"As for everything that happens in between... some things are inevitable costs, while others are simply the result of human nature."
"I cannot, nor will I, tell you everything about the future.", Arisu spoke slowly.
Hashirama's eyes dimmed for a moment, but he still nodded.
However, upon hearing that his granddaughter, little Tsunade, had actually become Hokage, Senju Hashirama was still somewhat comforted.
He knew that some answers only brought more pain once you knew them.
"One last question."
"Where... will I go now?"
Hashirama raised his head, his gaze serious.
Arisu smiled slightly.
"Go where you are supposed to go. Let go of what should be let go; forget what should be forgotten. As for your ties with this world... they end here."
"Of course, perhaps there will still be a chance to return. I won't say more about that...", Arisu spoke meaningfully.
Hashirama quietly looked at him, then finally bowed deeply.
"Thank you, sir, for looking after me all these years. And thank you... for letting me spend eight more years with them."
Arisu said nothing more. He simply raised his hand and waved it lightly.
Hashirama's figure began to turn transparent, as if it were slowly melting away under a gentle light.
At the final moment before disappearing, he looked back toward the end of the void, a relieved smile on his lips.
"Then... goodbye."
The light faded away.
Once again, only Arisu remained in the void.
———
[Several Days Later]
Konoha Village was solemn throughout.
The roads from the Hokage Rock to the Senju compound were already filled with people who had come to see him off.
Some silently lowered their heads, some had red eyes, and some even knelt directly on the ground, pressing their foreheads into the dirt and remaining there for a long time.
Senju Hashirama's funeral was held with the grandest ceremony Konoha had seen since the village was founded.
Black funeral banners swayed gently in the wind. There were no unnecessary decorations on them, only a simple character: "影."
The coffin was made from the finest agarwood. When it was slowly carried out of the Senju residence, the entire street fell completely silent.
Uzumaki Mito walked at the very front.
She wore plain mourning clothes, and her makeup was so light that it was almost impossible to see.
She did not cry out loud. She simply held an old Hokage forehead protector tightly in both hands.
Beside her was little Tsunade.
The four- or five-year-old girl had been dressed in a small black outfit, and her short golden hair had been carefully combed.
She clearly did not yet understand the true meaning of "death." She simply clutched the corner of her grandmother's clothes tightly, her big eyes red as she occasionally let out a quiet sob.
Senju Tobirama walked on the right side of the coffin.
As the man who was about to officially take over as the Second Hokage, he had to keep the situation under control. He could not show the slightest sign of wavering on an occasion like this.
Yet whenever his gaze inadvertently swept over the coffin, his fingers would tighten uncontrollably.
Seito followed slightly behind his father.
The silver-haired boy was already thirteen years old. He had grown quite a bit taller, and his features were increasingly similar to Tobirama's when he was young.
He said nothing and simply walked quietly, but his thoughts were far more complicated than his outward appearance suggested.
Seito did not know that Senju Hashirama had died eight years later than he originally should have, because Seito also did not know how Senju Hashirama had died in the original work.
The memories of a transmigrator made him clearly aware that Hashirama's death was a fixed point in the original story, but seeing this scene with his own eyes still caused an indescribable emptiness to rise in his heart.
The funeral was held in the square at the center of the village.
The coffin was placed on a high platform, surrounded by white flowers. Representatives of the various clans stepped forward one after another to offer flowers and bow.
The Senju, Sarutobi, Ino-Shika-Cho, Aburame, Inuzuka... every person who walked past had genuine grief on their face.
Even the Uchiha, who normally had some friction with the Senju, sent a representative to bow deeply before the coffin.
Uchiha Kagami stood among his clansmen, giving the coffin on the high platform a complicated look before subconsciously looking toward Seito in the distance.
Their eyes met briefly, and both saw heaviness in the other's eyes.
When it was Tobirama's turn to speak, "My elder brother, Senju Hashirama, fought for peace his entire life."
"With his ideals and his own hands, he built this village, and he gave everything he had to protect it. Now he has gone ahead of us, leaving the road ahead to us."
"Konoha will not fall because of his departure. We will inherit his will and continue moving forward."
"Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire shall continue to burn...."