บท 227: Chapter 226: The Night of Konoha Year 59 (Part 2)
"Fire... the fire is spreading!"
Sae Hyuga, startled, jumped up and started frantically fanning at the distant flames. Realizing his actions were futile, he awkwardly slapped himself, putting his clothes back on.
Despite being only three and a half years old, Sae, as a child of a major shinobi clan, quickly composed himself. He ran to the kitchen, soaked a towel, and covered his mouth and nose before dashing out of the room, heading toward the clan's grounds.
However, the moment his feet touched the stone pathway, Sae tripped and fell to the ground.
"Ouch..."
Rubbing his sore backside, his small face scrunched up in pain. The light from the blazing fire allowed Sae to quickly understand what had tripped him.
It was a twisted severed finger.
His eyes widened in terror, and he tried to step back, only to trip again—this time over a rolling head.
Sae fell hard, lying on the stone slabs, unable to get up for a while. But it was this moment that allowed him to see everything around him clearly.
Blood, nothing but blood.
The Hyuga Clan, which had prospered for thousands of years, was now drenched in an ominous red. The ground was littered with severed limbs, and the signs of battle extended from the main gate all the way to the core of the clan's grounds, wiping out all life in its path.
"Mom..."
Sae staggered to his feet, fear, panic, and worry gnawing at his soul like ants.
The three-and-a-half-year-old boy ran through the burning clan grounds, stumbling as sparks from the fire singed his hair. Yet, Sae seemed oblivious to the searing pain, driven by a desperate, frantic will.
Why had the clan grounds turned into this?
He didn't know.
Who had killed everyone?
He didn't know.
Where was his mother?
He didn't know.
Sae knew nothing. He was simply propelled by a fierce determination.
If nothing else happened, this young boy would have been burned alive in the fire.
But Sae survived.
Because he encountered someone.
From behind a rock formation in the clan grounds, a young man slowly emerged.
He was the kind of person you could never forget once you saw him. His long hair flowed down to his waist, his blood-red kimono contrasted with a handsome face.
"Finally found you..." The young man spoke softly, grabbing Sae. In an instant, they broke through the flames and arrived in front of the main clan hall.
With a click, the beautiful young man triggered a mechanism, revealing a deep underground chamber.
"Go in. Judging by your size, you're definitely shorter than the scroll behind me."
"You're... Yuto-sama! I've seen you in the paintings!" The young boy was smart for his age, clutching at the young man's clothing, urgently pleading, "Can you find my mother? She..."
"Yu Hyuga, right?" The bird in the cage, stained with blood, spoke softly. "She said her child had just turned three years old and would definitely be shorter than this scroll, so she begged me to find you. I accepted her request before I..." He paused, a flash of complex emotions passing through his eyes, "Before I killed her."
Sae was struck by lightning, unable to comprehend the young man's words. 'Killed? Killed who?Yuto-sama is the pride of the branch family, so he must have killed the enemy, right? But from his words...'
"Go in," the young man pushed him gently. "It's dangerous outside with the fire."
Sae, dazed and confused, entered the underground chamber. It wasn't until he was inside that he frantically shouted, "Yuto-sama, can you help me find my mother?"
He received no response.
But just before the chamber door closed, the young man turned to look at the boy.
Unlike the blood-stained vibrant kimono, the expression on the bird in the cage's face was as transparent, yet beneath the resolute intent to erase everything, there flowed an indescribable sadness, like tears on the verge of falling.
For many years afterward, Sae Hyuga would think that unforgettable sadness was a hallucination he had experienced due to the traumatic events of his childhood.
Bang.
The door closed, and the last Hyuga child who met the "survival criteria" entered the chamber.
Sae stood there, staring blankly at the thick, insulated door, before slowly descending the steps.
Cries of despair echoed through the underground chamber. As he approached, Sae saw that the room was filled with children around his age. Apart from the children, there were also pregnant women.
"Yuto Hyuga is a traitor! He... he killed my father and husband!"
"Waaah, Daddy..."
"The clan leader was also killed by him. One day he will burn in hell... The Hokage will avenge the Hyuga Clan!"
"Mommy, I want Mommy..."
"But can anyone really kill him? I heard he slaughtered the entire ANBU!"
"Waaah..."
Cries, curses, and sobs filled the small room, with all the voices converging into the same message—Yuto Hyuga betrayed the village, massacred the clan, and killed everyone except those hiding here!
Sae collapsed to the ground, his face pale, but he didn't cry out like the other children. He just gripped his plush bear's ear tightly, biting his lip.
After what seemed like a long time—maybe two hours, maybe four—the door to the chamber opened again.
"Just as Yuto Hyuga said... The children and pregnant women are all in the chamber. Bring them up. Let's get them to the hospital first."
Konoha shinobi entered, one by one, carrying the Hyuga survivors out.
Sae felt solid ground beneath his feet. By now, the sky had lightened, and the sunlight bathed the vast ruins in gold.
As far as the eye could see, the buildings were collapsed and destroyed. The once grand Hyuga clan grounds had become a thing of the past overnight.
Sae suddenly went wild, breaking free from the nurse and running deep into the ruins, frantically digging through the rubble with his tiny hands.
"Don't do that, child."
Just as Sae's hands were cut and bleeding, an old voice sounded behind him:
"The traitor used the flesh of his kin... Though it might seem callous, the deceased will never return."
Sae's body trembled, but he didn't stop his actions.
The Third Hokage's eyes clouded with sorrow. He took a drag from his pipe and continued to console him:
"Child, in the shinobi world, there is a place called the Pure Land. After death, people enter there and continue to exist in a completely different way."
"They say the dust of the Pure Land reflects in the shinobi world's sky, forming the stars we see at night. Yes, your family is watching over you from the sky."
"Where there are people, the leaves will flutter, and the shadow of the fire will illuminate everything. Yes, child, the departed are always with us..."
Sae suddenly stood up, then fell to the ground with a thud.
Somewhere in the ruins, the boy's voice, lost in despair, mingled with the wind and vanished in an instant, heard only by the world itself.
"But I still want to see you again, Mom."
(End of Chapter)
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