"Brother!"
"Hashirama!"
"Father!"
"Grandpa! Grandpa!"
The people present were overcome with panic and fear.
Even though they had anticipated this moment, seeing Senju Hashirama collapse in front of them was still a heartbreaking experience. They hurriedly moved to lift his body.
The only one who remained frozen was little Tsunade, who stood nearby. The sudden fall of her beloved grandpa had left her in stunned silence, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched the others lift him.
"Don't be scared, Tsuna..."
Hashirama, feeling the final embers of his life flicker out, still wore his ever-kind smile, attempting to comfort his most cherished granddaughter. "I just played for too long today and got tired. I think I'll take a little nap..."
Tsunade.
She was the child he adored the most, the one who had inherited his childhood dream.
Since returning to Konoha to raise her, Hashirama had spent all his time with her, even exhausting his energy to prepare a gift—a treasure meant to stay by her side in his stead.
The gem on the pendant...
It contained Hashirama's Wood Release chakra.
"Take her away," Emiya Shigen's calm voice commanded.
"I'm not leaving!"
Tsunade clung tightly to Hashirama's arm, her voice breaking as she cried. "Lord Shigen, don't send me away. I want to stay with Grandpa..."
Tsunade was starting to understand.
Her grandpa wasn't just tired.
Shigen's tone reminded her of what she had heard at the Konoha Hospital when doctors tried to save those at death's door. Her grandpa was one of those patients now.
Even though...
Lord Shigen was the greatest medical ninja in the world.
Even though he could cure countless diseases...
He couldn't save everyone.
Tsunade had seen elderly patients on their deathbeds and heard the heart-wrenching cries of their families. She still didn't fully understand why Emiya Shigen couldn't save them.
His response had been something she struggled to grasp: their lives were reaching their natural end.
Death.
It wasn't a disease.
No matter how skilled a medical ninja was, no one could grant eternal life. Learning to witness death was something every medical ninja had to accept.
But...
Tsunade still couldn't understand.
What she did understand was the grief of the families who cried uncontrollably. Now, she finally realized why they felt such immense pain.
Clutching Hashirama's arm tightly, her face stained with tears, Tsunade refused to let go. Even as Uzumaki Mito tried to pick her up, she struggled fiercely.
"I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving..."
"Lord Shigen..."
Senju Tobirama clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as he suppressed his own grief. His voice, though steady, was tinged with anguish. "Let Tsunade stay. If my brother... if this really is the end, at least let someone be by his side."
"After all..."
"He loves her the most..."
"He might want to say a few words to her..."
Tobirama's voice wavered slightly as he spoke, recalling the words Hashirama had said earlier that afternoon.
That afternoon.
Hashirama had gathered his family.
The First Hokage had shared his final wishes, asking them to accept his death with grace. However, he deliberately omitted mentioning Tsunade, who had been taken elsewhere by Shigen.
Hashirama believed he could hold on until the evening, wanting to reserve his last moments for his most beloved grandchild.
During that meeting, Tobirama and Hashirama had made an agreement.
At the moment of Hashirama's death, only Emiya Shigen would remain at his side. Shigen would reveal the secrets of the Pure Land and attempt a final effort to save him.
Although Hashirama had accepted his fate, Tobirama's persuasion had swayed him to make one last attempt.
Now...
Tobirama saw an opportunity.
If Tsunade stayed, perhaps she could also learn the secrets of the Pure Land.
If he could uncover those secrets, it might lead to saving his brother's life. And even if the worst came to pass, those secrets might help him develop more forbidden techniques to defend against the inevitable return of Uchiha Madara.
"No," Shigen replied after a brief pause. His gaze fell on the tearful Tsunade as he spoke with deliberate calm, "Tsunade is the least suited to stay."
For Shigen...
Tsunade was perhaps the most suited to stay.
If she learned the secrets of the Pure Land, she could become a powerful pawn in his plans—or worse, a pawn for Black Zetsu.
However...
For a child, the truth of the world could be unbearably cruel. Her still-developing worldview might collapse, pushing her toward darkness.
"I want to stay with Grandpa..."
Tsunade continued to cry, clutching Hashirama's arm with all her strength, her voice breaking into sobs. "Lord Shigen... please don't make me leave... I promise I won't disturb you while you're saving him..."
"Lord Shigen..."
Hashirama's eyes softened with a pleading look.
In his final moments, he couldn't bear to see his granddaughter so heartbroken. He didn't want this to be their last time together.
"Then let her stay," Shigen finally relented after a long silence.
He raised his hand, and a black seal appeared on Tsunade's forehead, forming a small, diamond-shaped mark.
The seal contained an enormous amount of natural energy, so vast that Tsunade's small body couldn't fully bear it. She fell asleep in Hashirama's arms.
"Tsunade is fine."
Tobirama stepped forward, stopping the others from rushing over.
He trusted Shigen implicitly and knew the seal would benefit Tsunade's future growth.
"Tsunade isn't suited? Then who is?"
Tobirama narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flashing across them as he asked, "Who, then, is most suited to stay?"
"If you're willing to bear it..."
Shigen replied after less than a second, his voice even, "You can stay."
"..."
Tobirama's expression shifted before he nodded.
"Sister-in-law," Tobirama turned to Uzumaki Mito, his voice filled with unspoken regret. "I leave the rest to you."
"I understand."
Mito nodded solemnly.
Raising her hand, Mito activated her chakra, her body glowing with the golden light of the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
This had been part of the plan Tobirama and Mito had discussed earlier.
To maintain secrecy, the house would be guarded by Mito and Konoha's sensory unit.
As a wife, not being at her husband's deathbed was a painful burden, but Mito had already bid farewell to Hashirama earlier.
The house emptied.
Only Hashirama, lying on the bed; Tobirama, standing beside him; and the sleeping Tsunade remained inside.
"This is the greatest secret of the Pure Land," Shigen began, his tone heavy.
"If others learned of this, they might lose their fear of death and stop valuing their fleeting lives."
"Shinobi don't seem to fear death much," Hashirama said with a faint smile, finding Shigen's reasoning peculiar.
"But..."
"What if they stopped cherishing emotion?"
Shigen's words made Hashirama's expression change.
"What if people no longer treasured life in the present? What if they no longer valued their loved ones, because the existence of the Pure Land turned them into monsters who ignored time, life, and feelings? Would the world still have meaning then?"
"..."
Hashirama's face darkened.
"The Pure Land is a unique existence," Shigen continued, his voice calm but laced with an eerie indifference.
"It is a void, where no matter what a soul does, it leaves no mark. Souls exist in a fixed state, incapable of perceiving time."
"For some, centuries might pass in an instant. For others, a moment in the Pure Land might stretch into a millennium."
"But the soul..."
"The soul cannot perceive this."
"Time..."
"In the Pure Land, it is an extravagant concept. Only those with power beyond imagination can grasp time there and understand the eternal nature of the Pure Land."
"Such beings..."
"Transcend the concept of life and death."
"In legends, these beings are often called gods."
"Six Paths Sage..."
Tobirama muttered gravely.
The figure Shigen described could only be the one hailed as a god in the past: the Sage of Six Paths.
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Powerstones?
For 20 advance Chapters: /michaeltranslates