62 Funeral

The Fujimoto had already reached the land of grass, they were exhausted but had to get quickly to the land of earth.

The casualties were many, every clansmen was carrying a dead body, the air was gloomy.

Habiki had a big bandage around his right eye and mud covered his shoulder.

"Habiki, thanks to you, our clansmen were saved today." the running Kentaro said.

"If we kept fighting, not one of us would have survived the attacks of Hashirama. It's good that you have listened to me for once."

The people who saw them passing by got scared, they thought that it was an attack.

The sixty shinobi advanced until they were in front of the border, they stopped and created a little camp.

There was nothing to drink nor to eat, some of them took a little nap while others mounted the guard.

"What are we going to do now, Kentaro?"

"What we'll be doing? First, our brethren have to rest and mourn for the death of their fathers and brothers. Then, we'll strengthen ourselves to finish what we have started"

He was looking at the dead Tetsuo while saying this.

"The elders are going to choose a new clan leader now that the current clan leader is dead."

"I know, Habiki. But who they choose does not matter, as long as it is a strong and capable shinobi."

The sun was setting and Kentaro decided to get moving. Everybody stood up, carried the death, and ran towards the clan's village.

The men entered the vast forest of pillars, they were happy to finally be back, but their happiness was inferior to their sadness.

They entered. The elderly, the women and children came around them.

Seeing all the dead bodies, they knew that things had gone bad. The wives and their children could recognize their dead husbands and fathers.

The bodies were placed on the ground for the families to approach and say their goodbyes to them.

Fumiko, Kentaro's little sister, was looking at him from far away. She was with Yuka and Hatsu.

"Look mommy, Kentaro is there! But, where is father?" the innocent Fumiko asked while pointing her finger towards Kentaro.

Kentaro walked towards them, his heart was beating fast. Yuka understood what had happened, she asked Hatsu to take Fumiko away.

"Take my hand, Fumiko." Fumiko took her hand and the two of them went away.

"Mother, I am sorry.....I have failed as a son. Not even my father I could protect!"

Yuka hugged Kentaro as hard as she could, she wanted to cry so much but she mantained herself.

"Do not say this, my son. The path of the shinobi is filled with danger and death is not uncommon at all. Unfortunately....Tets....Your fathe..."

At the end, she could not control herself. Yuka cried, she cried so hard. She was devastated, she had lost the love of her life.

Kentaro gulped and tried not to cry, he wanted to maintain his composion. His father's word resounded in his mind.

'Kentaro, you do not have the permission to cry when your parents or children die bravely on the battlefield!'

His father had died bravely on the battlefield, like a true shinobi he fought until the end.

'Father has died bravely, but it is unfair that I do not have the permission to cry. Shit.....'

The Elders came on the scene and saw the extent of the damage they had received. On'y sixty had returned and among the deaths was the clan leader.

The next day early in the morning, all the clansmen dressed in all black kimonos. They all walked silently to where they were gonna get buried.

Outside of the village, a couple of meters before entering the forest of pillars, countless holes were made.

The bodies of the dead clansmen were each placed inside of a stone coffin with the clan's crest on it.

They were slowly placed inside of each hole, their people were reluctant to see their husbands, fathers and brothers leave them forever.

The holes were slowly filled with earth, by the second their graves were getting full of earth.

One of the Elders cmae forward and took everyone's attention.

"Do not cry from sadness, cry from happiness, as they have died like true men! They will always be remembered, from today onwards this area will be dedicated for all the clansmen who die with honor and braveness."

The families were happy to hear that their close ones had received such honor from the Elders.

"Now, I ask everyone to march in the forest of pillars under my guidance."

They formed a great line with Kentaro and his family forward. The Elder walked toghter with them, taking them in his embrace.

When he stopped everybody stopped, the other Elders were already there.

"Let the ceremony begin! Tetsuo Fujimoto, clan leader of our respected Fujimoto clan has fallen in battle. At the age of forty-six, he has accomplished many feats and has spread the name of our clan beyond the borders of the land of earth!"

The Elder looked up in the sky and put his two hands high up in the air.

"OOOOOOHHHH, TETSUO! MAY YOU LEAD OUR FALLEN BRETHREN WITH YOU TO THE PURE LAND!"

The other Elders formed hand seals and a large pillar was slowly created. The pillar was thirty meters tall and was hovering in the air under the Elders guidance.

From behind the long line, the clansmen passed Tetsuo's body forward.

His body was wrapped around cloth. His body was finally given to Kentaro as he was in the front.

The Elder motioned Kentaro to walk forward. Kentaro walked slowly, his sadness was only growing bigger.

The pillar came down and stopped before entering the ground. The end of the pillar shifted forms and made place for Tetsuo's body.

Kentaro placed it inside and the pillar entered the ground until it was deep enough.

They stayed there for one minute of silence, to remember Tetsuo.

It was a sad day within the Fujimoto clan.