[Hokage] Flower Time

The Land of Rain is located at the junction of the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. Because of its special geographical location, it has been fighting continuously all year round, and it was repeatedly ravaged by wars during the war years.Because the sky is always crying like rain, it is named "Rain Country".Every time Huashi came here, all he saw was rain and fog, displaced people, and dilapidated towns.The never-ending rain and the gray sky make up all the colors.

She raised her head and looked at the rainwater falling down the roof, and suddenly felt unreal.

Why is she here?

Following the rain, she caught sight of the man walking in front of her—a black cloak concealed his figure, and she could only see the rain dripping down his clothes, and finally pooled on the ground among the puddles.His footsteps stepped over the shallow puddle of accumulated water, splashing a series of water splashes and crushing the reflection at the same time.

Hua Shi followed behind him dully, pulling the cloak tightly with his hands.

I always feel that I have seen such a scene somewhere.

It was as if a drop of water suddenly fell into a dark pond, quietly making invisible ripples on the surface of the water.

She lowered her eyes, wanting to recall carefully, to capture the thoughts that could not be clearly perceived. Scenes flashed in her mind, but she couldn't grasp them.

——Is it the time when I escaped the scorching heat of Konoha Ninja Village in the summer of one unknown year and sent the client back to his country all the way?Passing through this country where it is always raining, that's why I have this inexplicable sense of familiarity...

While thinking, there was a sudden movement behind him.Without looking back, she reached out and grabbed those sneaky hands.Those were a pair of small and rough hands, and she could easily clasp their wrists.Surprised, she turned her head and found that it was just a six or seven-year-old child.

Maybe it was because she made too much movement when she grabbed someone else's arm, even Uchiha Madara stopped in her tracks, turning her masked face slightly.

The child who looked only six or seven years old was wearing a dirty coat, his face was covered with rain, and his hair was already wet.Just now, she tried to put her hand into Huashi's package, but was caught by Huashi.At this moment, the child showed a look of fear on his face, trying his best to break free from Hua Shi's control.

Hua Shi frowned slightly, and then let go of his hand.

As soon as he was free, the embarrassed child stumbled towards the distance and immediately hid in a dark corner.On the rainy street, only she and Madara were left.

She turned around, took her hand back, and said, "Let's go."

Madara's footsteps did not move, his eyes under the mask slightly closed, and he said: "... There were many such children in the war years. Even if you let them go, they will not be able to survive. Or starve to death , or die from the cold in winter, or die from being involved in the war. If you did it directly just now, it would be a relief to them."

Madara's cold words startled Huashi.

——How could it be a relief to kill a young child directly?

but……

She thought of this country that was always in chaos, of the ubiquitous refugees, and the thin body and frightened expression of the child just now, and suddenly felt that Uchiha Madara's words seemed to have some truth.

God sent life into the world, but only gave them pain.Things like this... are so weird.

"Let's go."

Uchiha Madara said, and walked forward again.

Through this small and dilapidated city, through the messy and water-filled roads, and stepping on a piece of dead yellow grass that has been bent.The abandoned buildings gradually receded behind him, but there was no end to the grass in front of him.The muddy ground is soaked with persistent rain, and occasionally abandoned huts can be seen standing alone in the rain.

"that is……"

Hua Shi frowned.

She saw a few people lying on the land not far away.She used her pupil power to look into the distance, but she was startled when she saw the scene clearly in her heart.

Someone had obviously fought there, and the body that fell on the ground belonged to several ninjas of unknown faction.Bloody weapons were still stuck on their bodies, but the blood on their bodies had been washed away by the rain.I don't know how long they have been lying here, only a vulture who is not afraid of rain is pecking at something nearby in the rain.

This is war.

"The two forces in the Land of Rain are constantly at war... so similar scenes can often be seen. Apart from the Land of Rain, other small countries are also like this. The Ninja Village of the big country is bathed in the sun, but the small country is in constant chaos. , wars are raging. And..."

Madara said, the words paused: "Even the seemingly peaceful five major countries are brewing countless wars. As long as the uneven interests and selfishness of each other still exist, the war will break out again. The Uchiha clan Destruction is precisely because of this."

Uchiha Madara's unwavering words made her clenched her hand involuntarily.

——Is that really the case?

When she was still worrying about the ninja regulations in the school, when Yang Tou was still complaining that the D-level missions were not exciting enough, the children in other places were tossing and wandering because of the war...

"You who have never been in contact with this kind of thing, I'm afraid you don't know that even the ninjas of the five major countries are fighting each other. As long as the ninja system still exists, there will be pain and war in this world.  … ...Innocent children are the ones that are not needed by this world."

His words were as cold as rain falling on the ground, but they instantly recalled her to that night full of blood and despair.

"I'm not a child." She said with a cold tone, "I'm not innocent either."

After going through that night, if she was still as naive and ignorant as before, hiding under the protection of others without realizing it, then, in the end, she might not even have a place to be buried.

Uchiha Madara raised his head slightly towards the dark sky, and said: "The rain is going to be heavier, and the river has washed away the bridge. Let's stop here first."

He stepped slowly through the stagnant water and stood under the eaves of an abandoned house.

Hua Shi walked towards his standing place, and asked as he walked, "You... What did you bring me here for?"

She remembered that the purpose of Uchiha Madara's containment was to control her eyes.That being the case, why bring her to such a place?

"Let you know what a 'war' is." Madara stood in the same place, and said slowly: "And... I don't think that you, whose body is gradually recovering and whose strength has grown, will really follow what I said. Yan, stay there obediently."

Uchiha Madara's words made Huatoki frowned secretly, she stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the rough and ugly scar on her chest through the skirt, with inexplicable anger and frustration in her heart.

——Indeed, as her strength increased and her old injuries recovered, her mind was no longer as simple as before.The reason why she agreed to follow Uchiha Madara at the beginning was because she was seriously injured and weak at that time, and had nowhere to go. When all thoughts were lost, she agreed to his request as if she had been bewitched.

pat.

The rainwater kept falling from the eaves, forming raindrops in series in the air, and finally hitting the ground, splashing in broken waves.Those scattered drops of water refract the light, the sky, and her magnified face.

It seemed that something was pouring into her mind, and at this moment, her brain went blank.

In what year did it suddenly rain in summer?

On which day was she avoiding the sudden rain?

The heavy rain in the memory fell from the sky of Konoha Ninja Village, covering everything with a gray coat.Those mountains, rivers and landscapes, those once bright buildings, those veins and textures engraved on the leaves, are all like a dusty photo frame being suddenly polished, and suddenly flash in the memory.

The sound of rain falling reached her ears, and she subconsciously turned her head slightly, wanting to look at the people around her.

——It should be a tall man, right?This year's brother... should be 19 years old, right?He is taller than everyone else, and every time the team gathers, he is always the tallest person in the team, and she can see Zhishui's face at a glance.Shisui's hair is sometimes straight, and sometimes the ends are curled. If you don't use your fingers to curl it secretly at night, it will become not cute at all...

However, there was no figure of the boy wearing the Konoha forehead protector in front of him.

She was wearing a water-stopping forehead protector, and the boy in the black top who was always laughing and teasing him was not here.The man standing in front of her was wearing a black cloak, and his black hair, which was always slightly raised, was drooping obediently because of the rain.A drop of water dripped down the back of his neck and into the collar.

A long time ago, she thought about what it would be like when she grew up and could barely stand side by side with her brother on tiptoe?

Is it a ninja as powerful as Mr. Guolinan?Or an ordinary ninja?

No one thought that she had become what she is now.

and……

She couldn't help stretching out her hand slightly to her side, wanting to touch the very silent man.Such a small move caught his attention, and he turned his masked face sideways and looked at her sideways: "What do you want to do?"

"...No, it's nothing." She said, retracting her hand.

The rain was still falling unstoppably, and the damp and cold tide enveloped the whole body.For a while, apart from the sound of rainwater beating on the muddy ground and the iron roof, there was no other sound.

After a long time, she suddenly asked in a low voice: "...Are you really Uchiha Madara?"

No one answered, only the soft sound of rain.