Chapter 4: Yujin’s Past

Tsunade and Yujin walked towards where Dan’s body should be, engaging in conversation along the way.

The topic of their discussion mainly revolved around how Yujin ended up in an entirely unknown place. While ‘how’ was difficult to speculate, ‘where’ was easy to determine with just a few questions.

Tsunade began to explain patiently, as if talking to a child about basic things they should know about their birthplace. She elaborated on the countries, Hidden Villages, ninjas, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and other related matters.

It felt as if she were talking to her late brother, Nawaki. She used to share many things she learned at the ninja academy with him when she returned home.

Sensing Tsunade’s mood suddenly changing, Yujin fell silent and didn’t speak further. A few minutes later, they finally reached the location, and Dan’s body, along with other ninja corpses, was still nearby.

Upon arrival, Tsunade’s first action was to gaze at Dan for a few minutes. She stood there, watching him, as if wanting to etch that scene into her mind. Yujin gave her the necessary space, counting the bodies in the vicinity. There were 15 bodies wearing the same attire as Tsunade and 22 in different clothes, likely enemies.

While Tsunade remained silent, contemplating something, Yujin decided to do something useful. Though he didn’t know what they would do with the allies’ bodies, he chose to bury the enemies. Gathering the bodies on one side, he began his task.

Using a piece of wood he found on the ground, he started digging 22 graves.

His movements were swift and practiced, as if he had done this hundreds of times before. One by one, he dug the graves with sufficient depth to prevent animals from digging up and feeding on the corpses.

In the midst of his work, Tsunade snapped out of her reverie and noticed Yujin’s actions. Without understanding what he was doing, she inquired about his intentions.

“I’m digging graves for these people. I assume no one will come to take care of the bodies, as no one came after a whole night.”

Tsunade observed the bodies of allies and enemies beside each other and sighed. With a series of hand seals, she used a scroll to seal all the allies’ bodies. She handled Dan’s body with more care, using a different scroll.

When she finished, she simply watched Yujin’s actions in silence. Noticing his concentrated expression, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Why do you care?”

Even after working so much, there was no sweat on Yujin’s body, as if he hadn’t exerted himself properly. Continuing his work, he replied calmly.

“I don’t care; I’m just used to it.”

Tsunade looked at the enemies’ bodies, and a flash of anger appeared on her face, but she said nothing. The feeling quickly disappeared, but Yujin noticed and spoke.

“No matter how much you hate them, they’re already dead. After death, everything that happened or didn’t happen in life doesn’t matter anymore.”

Yujin’s words ignited a flame of anger within Tsunade, who looked at a specific body and gritted her teeth.

“If it were possible, I’d kill them five hundred times over.”

Looking at Yujin then, she frowned and growled.

“You don’t understand how I feel. For what they did to me, they’re lucky I don’t tear them into a million pieces.”

Pausing to observe Tsunade’s resentful expression, he sighed, feeling as if he had seen this before. And he had indeed. Not only had he seen it, but he had also felt it. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, in complete silence. Unmoved, Yujin finally returned to work and began speaking slowly.

“When I was six years old, the village where I lived was attacked by invaders. Before that, it was common to see feudal lord’s soldiers visiting our village and committing many unforgivable acts. It terrified me.”

“When the feudal lord’s soldiers couldn’t hold off the invaders, it was every person for themselves. The villagers fled with all their might, and in the midst of chaos, my parents died trying to help me escape.”

Tsunade remained silent as she listened to the tale. The anger and resentment slowly fading from her face. Hearing Yujin’s story, though she still didn’t understand why he was digging a grave for Dan’s killers, she felt that at least he had a good reason. After all, they both lost important people.

“I managed to escape to a distant village following the refugees. It was in that village that I met my master, who taught me practically everything I know. He provided comfort, food, purpose, skills, knowledge ... Because of him, I managed to forget about the war, about my parents’ deaths, and only remember the good times I spent with them.”