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Year 12 of the Hidden Leaf, December 30th.
Although tomorrow marked the New Year's Festival, the entire village of Konoha was shrouded in sorrow, the skies overcast and gloomy.
For on this day, the Hidden Leaf Village held the funeral of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
The setup for the funeral was simple. In an open area of the Konoha Cemetery, a row of tables had been placed, adorned with white flowers and draped with white cloth. Behind the tables hung a black-and-white photo of Hashirama, lending the atmosphere a solemn stillness.
Akio, dressed in black, stood among the villagers and shinobi who had come to pay their respects. Unlike Mito and the four elders of Konoha, he did not stand in the front row.
At the front, Tobirama personally presided over the funeral, reciting the story of Hashirama's life.
Soft sobs could be heard nearby. Akio looked over and recognized two young women—he remembered them from Kenji's wedding, where they had debated how many more years Hashirama could continue protecting Konoha.
Akio sighed, the memory still vivid.
"Sorry to disappoint you two... Hashirama didn't outlive me after all."
The crowd began to stir. Akio blinked, returning to the moment, and realized Tobirama had finished speaking. People were lining up to place a white flower before Hashirama's photo.
Akio shook his head and walked over to Tobirama.
"Tobirama, did you sneak off and cry?"
Tobirama was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
Akio sighed. "Your big brother was right—you really are a terrible liar."
With that, Akio took a white flower and approached the black-and-white portrait of Hashirama. Scratching his head, he muttered,
"I never did find out where people in this world get cameras... A video camera would've been even better. I'd love to record this and show it to you. Your own funeral—what a laugh that would be, huh?"
Next to him, placing a flower, was surprisingly Jitou. His eyes were red as he looked at Akio.
"Sensei... are you leaving us too?"
Akio snapped out of his thoughts, his face darkening. "I said I wanted to show it to him, not—" He trailed off, realizing it was hard to explain. With a huff, he turned and walked away.
After a few steps, he turned back toward Jitou.
"After today, I'll be traveling for a while. I want to see more of the shinobi world. Tell Nanako and Izuko not to worry about me…"
His eyes reddened even more, tears ready to burst. Akio sighed again and quickly walked away before he was forced to linger.
As he passed through the crowd of mourners, he noticed a familiar group of six—the six disciples of Hashirama and Tobirama.
"They should be about 21 now… It's their time to carry the torch." Akio murmured.
"I remember in the original story, Hiruzen had a funeral like this after the Chunin Exams… But now, that might not happen for him. I wonder if he'd be relieved or regretful."
He moved beside Mito, who stood silently in grief. Akio wasn't sure how to comfort her.
Her unchanging youthful face—unchanged for thirty years—brought Akio's thoughts back to the day she married into the Senju clan. That shy boy with the watermelon-like hairstyle peeking out from behind the clan members… the memories played like a movie in his mind.
"Granduncle, it's time to go…" Tobirama's voice pulled him back. Akio realized that his trip down memory lane had lasted over an hour. The funeral was over. The crowd had already dispersed.
"Getting old… all I do is reminisce these days…"
He looked around. Only Tobirama and Mito remained. Kenji and his wife had already left, carrying an exhausted and tear-streaked little Tsunade.
Akio stood in silence for a while before shaking his head.
"I'm not going back."
Tobirama and Mito both looked surprised. Akio elaborated,
"I'll be 81 tomorrow. In all these years, I've only ever spent half a month in the Land of Wind. I feel like I've wasted my life."
"I'm planning to go incognito, travel across the other nations, and get a full picture of the shinobi world."
Before Tobirama could respond, Mito spoke first,
"Granduncle, then… please come back soon. I hope I can still see you again in my lifetime."
Akio widened his eyes. "In your lifetime? Mito, do you really think I could bear to be away for that long?"
"Don't worry. The shinobi world isn't exactly peaceful right now. I'll be gathering intelligence on the way. If anything happens, I'll come back immediately."
Tobirama hesitated, then said, "Then please be careful, Granduncle…"
Akio shook his head, "Hashirama and Madara are gone. There's no one left who can really threaten me. The real concern is the other nations now... And do you really think someone like me would be easy to mess with?"
The mention of Hashirama silenced them again.
Akio quickly changed the subject.
"I'll be traveling under an alias. Who knows, maybe I'll bump into you both someday. I hope you'll recognize me when that happens." He looked at Tobirama.
"Maybe one day I'll show up under a new identity and scare you out of your wits…"
Tobirama nodded, then hesitated.
"I've always wanted to ask… what's the deal with your age, really? If it's a secret, you don't have to answer."
Akio was about to brush it off when Mito interjected,
"Granduncle can live for 500 years due to some special reason. I'm not exactly sure how it works."
Akio blinked. "Five hundred years? When did I tell you that?"
Mito looked surprised too. "Didn't you sing that back then?"
"I sang it?" Akio furrowed his brow, then remembered—he'd once sung a parody version of 'Borrowing 500 More Years from Heaven' on the road to send Mito off to the Senju clan.
"So you've really believed that all these years?" Akio scratched his head, muttering.
"Haha…" He chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah. But it might not be exactly five hundred. Could be four hundred… three hundred… maybe even tomorrow?"
Neither of them seemed convinced…
"Alright, fine. Just assume I've mastered some special technique that lets me live for 500 years." Akio sighed.
"That sounds better than immortality… Why didn't I just ask for 200 more years instead? That would've been more reasonable."
He waved them goodbye and returned to the Uzumaki residence. After packing lightly—some money and a few key sealing scrolls—he left the village without saying farewell to many others.
Several miles from Konoha, Akio took a deep breath and shouted,
"Such a big world—I want to see it all!"
"…Except the shinobi world isn't really that big. I could probably fly around it in no time…"
A drop of rain landed on his face. Akio looked up. It had started to rain.
"…Figures. Guess I'll find a place to take cover. Not the best start to a journey."
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