Time crept forward, bit by bit. It seemed the memory of Emiya Shirou would never truly fade. Because that man, who had once truly existed, would forever be remembered by the ninjas of Konoha. And whenever people might start to forget, he would reappear.
For example, in the medical ninja courses. No student could avoid his name. The treatment for any conceivable disease could be found in the case file scrolls he left behind.
Tsunade grew up. She became an excellent medical ninja. Over the years, she, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru formed a squad, carrying out countless missions for Konoha.
Her strength grew, and grew, and grew. To put it bluntly, she was likely the strongest in the squad. She could be the frontline tank, the backline healer, and even an excellent sensory ninja, all at once.
She aspired to be like him. For years, she had been searching for slugs, because the bedtime stories of her childhood had convinced her that a proper medical ninja should have a slug on their shoulder. She finally found the legendary Shikkotsu Forest.
The only problem was, this slug wasn't very small. Although Katsuyu's voice was cute and soft, its body was a terrifying, endless mountain range. Fortunately, Katsuyu acted very kindly.
At least, as kindly as in the fairy tales. This immediately eased Tsunade's tense mood.
"So, you're a medical ninja?" Katsuyu's voice was soft and pleasant. It seemed worried the blonde girl was afraid, so it proactively split off a small slug from its body.
"Yes," Tsunade's heart finally relaxed. This little slug was much cuter.
"Then let me see if your medical ninjutsu is..." Katsuyu's voice suddenly stopped. It sensed the diamond-shaped mark on Tsunade's brow. It was divided into two triangles, one half-black, one half-purple. It was exceptionally peculiar, yet it didn't look out of place. In fact, it accentuated her beauty.
"That mark is..." Katsuyu's voice suddenly became a little excited.
"This is..." Tsunade subconsciously wanted to avoid the question. Now that she was a qualified ninja, her instinct was to keep secrets, especially when it came to him. But she quickly realized that Katsuyu would surely know him.
"Maybe I'm mistaken," Katsuyu even tried to avoid the question itself. Because that lord's plan had always been a secret. For that unknown plan, he had left behind a pair of his eyes and a crystal coffin, asking it to keep them safe.
The crystal coffin had been its companion for over a thousand years. It didn't know why only half a body was left—if a whole body had been left, he should have been able to revive faster—but it always obediently trusted that lord.
He had once said they would meet again, on a day when his life was no longer limited by lifespan. At that time, it would return that pair of eyes to him.
Katsuyu didn't know how to make a human immortal, but the person who raised it said so, so it had been obediently waiting.
A thousand years had passed, but that day had not yet come. It could only stare at the side profile in the crystal coffin in a daze every day, recalling its childhood.
That lord had also once mentioned that if you don't want the long passage of time to become boring, you need to do something meaningful, so you can use the remaining time to savor that meaningful past.
But this time was really too long. Its only beautiful childhood memory was so short compared to a thousand years, making it feel that the more it savored it, the longer time felt.
"Let's test your medical ninjutsu first," Katsuyu said in a soft, gentle voice. "If you can satisfy me, you can sign a summoning contract."
-----
Tsunade passed with ease. Katsuyu's clone lay on her shoulder as she signed the blood contract. "Your medical ninjutsu is excellent," it praised her in a slow voice. "If one day your medical ninjutsu can become even more excellent, there will be a special gift for you~"
"What's the standard?" Tsunade asked.
"It is the ability to store chakra normally, and through extremely fine chakra control, keep the body's functions in a peak state," Katsuyu's clone said seriously, as this was what that lord had instructed.
Tsunade was silent for a moment. She slowly raised her head and touched the lower half of the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead. This was a jutsu she had researched herself. It was also a jutsu that person had mentioned.
The upper half of the mark was a Cursed Seal, allowing her to fight using natural energy. The lower half was the Yin Seal, which could be used to practice chakra control and be released during battle.
"Is it this?" she asked, a bit embarrassed. "Although I've only just managed to successfully cultivate it in recent years, it sounds like it should be this."
Katsuyu's clone's tentacle touched the mark. It subconsciously wanted to touch the upper half, which felt strangely familiar. But it obediently attended to business first.
It sensed her Yin Seal, and its body couldn't help but stiffen.
Yes, this is it.
What that lord had mentioned. Only those who had cultivated to this stage were qualified to receive the crystal coffin. It had asked if they could be reunited then.
He had laughed and said they probably could, and if something went wrong, at least the coffin could be used to advance medical science. The sound of that laughter had made Katsuyu very sad.
Now... is it time? A thousand years is long enough, right?
"Wait a moment, I'll go get the gift," the clone quickly retracted its tentacle.
"Okay," Tsunade was a bit confused, still guessing what the gift might be. She just hoped it wasn't another case file scroll. She could already find those all over Konoha.
Just as she was muttering to herself, the ground beneath her feet began to collapse. Shikkotsu Forest seemed to tremble as if a mountain were falling.
Katsuyu's massive body split apart into countless small slugs, as numerous as drops of water in a river. They lifted up an object, moving it bit by bit towards Tsunade.
Her eyesight was good. Precisely because her eyesight was good, she could see what they were carrying. It was a crystal coffin, decorated with extremely exquisite patterns. But her gaze was drawn not to its magnificence, but to the familiar side profile within.
The legendary medical ninja of the ancient era, Emiya Shirou, had left behind two crystal coffins. One was with the Senju clan, and the other's whereabouts had always been unknown. No wonder. It had been here all along. This was the last crystal coffin in the world, the last bit of his physical tissue left.
"It's for you," the Katsuyu clone on her shoulder said in a small voice. A group of other clones climbed onto the coffin, unwilling to leave. "This is a person's crystal coffin," the clone on her shoulder whispered, as if afraid of waking the half-body sleeping inside. "I don't know if you've heard his name..."
"Emiya... Shirou." Tsunade reached out and touched the crystal coffin.
She looked at the familiar profile, and suddenly, tears began to fall. "I know his name." She had even seen him before. That was already more than ten years ago. To this day, the ninja world still circulated his stories. He left so many treasures for this world, but he did not leave himself.
"Can I take it?" her heart pounded. She had personally seen him before, and she also knew how to resurrect him with half a body. But that forbidden jutsu had long been permanently sealed away by Konoha.
"Of course... you can," the Katsuyu clone sounded a bit wronged. A group of small clones slowly fell off the coffin.
"If you have time," Tsunade said, seeing the clone's reluctance, "Katsuyu, I will summon you. You can also see him when you have time. In all the stories, he also had a small slug on his shoulder, just like we do now."
"Eh?" the clone slug was surprised.
Now... are there still stories about him?
"Actually," Tsunade mentioned her childhood with some embarrassment, "Lord Emiya once returned to this world."
"Lord Wei Yuan came back?" the clone's form of address was different. The whole ninja world would call him Lord Emiya.
Katsuyu was shocked.
The entire forest began to shake as the countless small clones reconvened into their borderless main body.
"Lord Wei Yuan?" This was the first time Tsunade had heard this name.
"Because I was raised by Lord Wei Yuan," Katsuyu's main body's voice was almost identical to its clone's. It even mentioned its past happily. "He let me call him that."
No, the address wasn't important. What was important was that it finally had news of him! He had said they would be reunited one day! "Where is Lord Wei Yuan now?" it asked with great curiosity.
"He... died again," Tsunade was suddenly annoyed. He had left without saying goodbye back then, and she never thought it would be a final farewell.
"Oh," Katsuyu said no more. The matter of resurrection was a secret that absolutely could not be mentioned. Their past could not be spoken of.
"Forget it. Let his soul rest in peace in the Pure Land," Tsunade sighed, looking at the profile in the coffin. "Now I also know, he actually never liked this era."
Katsuyu did not answer.
Actually, Lord Wei Yuan certainly didn't like resting in peace. He liked this vibrant, colorful world.
He wanted to live, to live in this world forever. But these things could not be said. However, now there was finally hope.
Perhaps this crystal coffin could really bring him back.