My Hidden Road

Doing as the Romans do, Naoto sat in the old man's home and listened to him talk about some things.

Generation after generation, people became ninjas and were sent into this world of cannibalism. In the end, only some dying old people were left in the village. Their only wish was to see the children who walked out of the village come back, just to see them.

These old people who have experienced the turbulent times of the Warring States Period and several ninja wars should have been able to return to dust or rain in this world, but they came back to support themselves in order to see one more child. Day after day, they are used to seeing the rain in the Land of Rain.

Jing, I just hope to have a few more children back, this kind of sadness is heartbreaking.

The old man introduced to Naoto that there were no young children in the village now, and they were all elderly people. Several old people on crutches gathered outside the door while they were talking, and each of them looked at Naoto kindly, as if they were looking at themselves.

The same as the juniors.

"Master Yushan, whose child is this? Could you please ask Shinta why that boy hasn't come back yet?" asked an old woman in her dying years.

"Oops! The child just came back and let him have a rest. Please don't disturb him."

The old man seems to have a very high status here, and he is one of the most respected people. As soon as he said this, no one asked. The old people just whispered, saying that Naoto looked like someone's child, and they talked as if Naoto was this village.

The children inside had noses and eyes and talked about Naoto's childhood in a very serious way.

"Nobuta?" Naoto was stunned for a moment with a bright smile on his face: "I know Nobuta-senpai. He is my captain and is very important."

The old woman secretly rejoiced: "Really, that boy Shinta hasn't come back to visit for a long time. I thought he had an accident."

"Child, do you know how Jian Er is doing?"

"My Ouzhong and Fuxiang left the village together."

"······"

Mr. Youshan held his cane and hit the floor hard. The noisy sound disappeared immediately, and Youshan was seen to be very serious, like an old-fashioned clan elder.

"The child has come back from a long journey. Please don't bother him first and let him have a good rest. Why don't you listen? Everyone go back and let the child have a good rest. You can leave as long as you like."

Raising his crutches, Youshan drove away a group of old people who were also using crutches. Those old people were smiling happily when they left, and they didn't know what to be happy about. Naoto was a little restless, and he wanted to escape from this place.

Yushan held Naoto's hand and walked to a bedroom. The clean and simple bedroom was spotless. It seemed that Mr. Yushan cleaned it frequently. Naoto turned his attention to several old photos hanging on the wall. The photos were a little yellowed.

One photo shows Mr. Yushan and a young couple. Mr. Yushan is sitting on a chair with a baby in his arms. The photo has turned yellow. The other photo shows a young man and Mr. Yushan. At this time,

Mr. Yushan had already bent down, but the boy was smiling happily.

There is another photo in this photo. The boy is holding another photo. Naoto quickly found the photo on the wall that the boy was holding. It was a young couple, who should be the boy's parents. The last photo is

The boy and several peers were in front of the Aegakure Hanzo base.

Mr. Youshan reached out to touch the photo with kind eyes and said, "This is Lao Cheng's son and daughter-in-law. This young man is Lao Cheng's grandson. Perhaps you may have met him. His name is Wu Yu."

"I am sorry."

"Hey! You're welcome."

Mr. Youshan said with relief: "Xiaoyu passed away a long time ago. I heard that he found a girlfriend in Yuyin Village, but she passed away before she could bring him to meet me. Later, the girl came to the village and she was very nice.

It’s a pity that I haven’t seen her since.”

"Never come again?"

"No more." Mr. Yushan took out the quilt from the cabinet and said, "This is Kiriyu's room. If you don't mind it, you can rest here. I'll get some food for you."

"Trouble."

After lying in bed for a night's rest, Naoto rarely got a good night's sleep after being bumpy for several days. The night in the small mountain village was quiet, and Naoto had a very comfortable sleep. He had not been so completely relaxed for a long time.

The next morning.

Mr. Yushan, who was sitting in front of the door and watching the rain, saw Naoto getting up and walking over with a cane: "Wait a moment, I will prepare breakfast for you."

Naoto stretched out his hand and grabbed Mr. Yushan's wrist: "No, I will be leaving soon. I'm really sorry to trouble you."

"It's so fast. Can't you rest for two more days?"

"I'm really sorry. I have some important matters to deal with. I will definitely come to visit you if I have the opportunity in the future."

Mr. Youshan couldn't help but be disappointed: "It's always like this. It comes and goes in a hurry. I really don't know what makes you so busy. You said you would come back in the future, but no one has come back."

Listening to Mr. Yushan's complaints, Naoto looked at the photos on the wall carefully. I'm really sorry Kirisame, I'm not a child of this village, but I will still come to visit Mr. Yushan if I have the chance.

Naoto was stopped when he was about to leave the room, and Mr. Yushan came over holding a piece of clothing.

"Really, you don't know how young people are today even if their clothes are in tatters!"

Mr. Youshan put the clothes on the bed and said: "I see your clothes are ruined, and there are blood stains on them that can't be washed away. These are Xiaoyu's clothes, try to see if you can put them on. After all, you can't wear them out once you come back."

Clothes go."

Facing the very enthusiastic Mr. Yuyama, Naoto prepared to take off Naoto's shirt with trembling hands before he even thought about changing it into him. However, Naoto had no choice but to put it on.

After taking off his old clothes, Naoto's wounds were healed, but the skin burned by Kakuzu's fire escape was peeling off, and a small part of his face was burned.

Mr. Yushan gently stroked the burned skin with his rough hands: "My child, does it hurt? You don't know how to tell me after being injured like this. Do you want to be patient and do stupid things as much as you like?"

"I'm sorry for making you worry, I have no problem."

"How can you say there is no problem?"

Mr. Yushan walked out of the room chattering, and when he reappeared he was holding some kind of animal fat in his hand, which he carefully smeared on Naoto's burned skin. Naoto just let Mr. Yushan do it, and burned his face, chest, and back.

Apply grease to the area and a refreshing and cooling feeling will come over you.

After applying unknown animal fat, Naoto chose to say goodbye. It was better not to disturb these old people. Instead of telling them the truth, it would be better to disappear and let them not know whether their relatives far away in Yuyin Village were still alive.

When we reached the entrance of the village, Mr. Yushan saw us off.

It is difficult for Naoto to say a word: "Um, actually I..."

"Have a safe journey." Mr. Yushan said encouragingly.

"You know."

“Have a safe journey.”

Naoto let out a long sigh. It seemed that Mr. Yushan knew that he was not a child of this village, so he did not ask who he was from the beginning of the meeting. He even deliberately did not ask his name.

What else can be done, Naoto can only have a safe journey.