Both Crazy and Stupid

"What is your view on peace? I mean peace in the Shinobi World as a whole, not an endless world war between the Five Great Nations."

Sakura Haruno suddenly raised this profound question.

Sasuke taken aback.

"Such a thing... is impossible, isn't it?" he said somewhat blankly, clearly not having given this kind of question much thought. "The war and hatred between our Five Great Nations have continued since the establishment of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"

"No, it's actually possible." Sakura shook her head.

She stood on the edge of the wall by the platform; one more step forward and she would slip and fall to her death. This position, which would make an ordinary person's heart tremble and their legs go weak, was now child's play for Ying.

As the girl Earth Flow lightly and nimbly through the dangerous area, she continued, "For example, if a ninja as powerful as Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha were to reappear in the world, none of the major powers would be able to withstand his absolute power, and the rules of the game would change because of him. If he desires peace, the major powers would not dare to easily start a war; if he wants war or even the destruction of humanity, the major powers would have no choice but to play along to the end."

"Do you want us to become ninjas like that, and then bring peace to the Shinobi World?" Sasuke frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "Peace forced like this will immediately backfire the moment we die."

"Peace achieved under pressure is better than war," Sakura said with a light laugh. "As for a higher form of peace, I haven't really figured out how to achieve it yet."

The peace in the previous life was partly due to the threat of nuclear bombs causing mutual destruction and restarting Earth's NLINE, which kept the Cold War in place and prevented it from escalating into a hot war... Sakura dared not claim that her intelligence was superior to that of 6 billion people.

She walked around the circle, came to Sasuke's other side, and said.

"But you also agree that, if possible, we should avoid war; at least not be the ones to start it, right?"

"That must be it, you mean..." Sasuke realized what Sakura was thinking at this moment.

"Your Uchiha Clan is contradictory. On one hand, you're building a city that can only be used after peace is achieved, and on the other hand, you intend to start a war!" Sakura jumped down from the wall, walked to Sasuke's side, and said calmly.

If it weren't for Sakura Haruno speaking, and if Sasuke hadn't just witnessed direct evidence of the Uchiha intentions, he might have thought these words were a provocation.

But then he fell silent, a sentence stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.

He had actually sensed some things long ago, especially after joining the Anbu, where he had access to more information and knew more people, but he was simply unwilling to delve deeper into them.

He simply refused to believe that the clan he was so proud of was actually just a bunch of traitors who intended to betray their village and country.

With Sakura Haruno suddenly breaking the ice, Sasuke could no longer run away from the girl's burning gaze and had to face the issue head-on.

"That's impossible..." he said with some difficulty, "No Uchiha with a clear head would do such a thing!"

Sasuke took a deep breath.

"The Uchiha's genealogy records the awakening of the Sharingan for each member. From it, we can see that... before that night, in the last ten years or so, the number of new Sharingan users each year has been decreasing, making those with the Sharingan a rare breed within the clan."

He said slowly, "In the past, during the peak of the clan, there were at least three or four Mangekyō Sharingan, and at least several dozen clan members with Mitsudomoe! But... before that night, including my father, our clan had fewer than twenty members with Mitsudomoe, and not many people had awakened the Sharingan."

"The only person who could be considered a top-tier fighter and had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan after Shisui's suicide was... the one who slaughtered his own clan. If his strength hadn't declined to such a state, how could that person have so easily killed everyone!"

"With such a low level of combat strength, no one with a sound mind would believe that such a person could commit treason!"

Sasuke is no longer the ignorant youth he once was.

Having worked in the Anbu for so long, he knew Konoha's strength very well!

Indeed, Konoha has experienced a gap in high-level combat power; after the Sannin, the middle-aged and younger generations no longer possess top-tier combat power at the level of the "Kage".

However, Konoha is teeming with talented individuals, including the next-ranked Elite Jonin and the next-ranked Jonin and Special Jōnin!

Most of these ninjas serve in the Anbu directly under the Hokage. The top twenty Anbu are all elite teams led by Elite Jonin; the top fifty squads require members to have at least Jonin -level combat power; and after the fiftieth squad, a standard execution team consists of one Jonin and two or three Chunin. Tsunade can assemble dozens of new squads in a short time!

Yes, the Anbu has gathered almost all of Konoha's top combat power!

They usually keep a low profile, carrying out missions quietly. Because they wear masks year-round to conceal their identities, even Konoha ninjas who haven't been to the Anbu would find it difficult to estimate how many of them there are or how terrifying their power is.

These people are the part beneath the surface of Konoha's iceberg.

Even at its peak, the Uchiha didn't possess the strength to contend with the entire Konoha, let alone back then.

"So, people who want to do something like this either have mental problems or intellectual problems, right?" Sakura said sarcastically.

It's either too crazy or too stupid.

Either it's both crazy and stupid.

"Uh...!" Sasuke froze, unable to refute.

The black-haired boy raised his head and gazed at the sky.

He said with a hint of helplessness, "The Uchiha did indeed show signs of betrayal back then. This can be seen in fragments of conversation, both in village records and in our own clan's narratives. But I always thought..."

He had tried to convince himself that it was just the discontent of his people, that they only thought about it but dared not act on it; but after seeing the warehouse, some things could no longer be denied.

Storing a small amount of strategic resources is normal family behavior; collecting a certain amount of strategic resources can also be considered commercial activity; but for a family filled with resentment towards Konoha to spend a huge amount of its wealth to purchase enough strategic resources to wage a war...

Adding to other information, it's clear that the Uchiha rebellion had been in the works for a long time!

No matter how much Sasuke to defend it, he can't forcefully insult his own intelligence...

The black-haired boy's mind was in turmoil.

He clenched his fist.

My subconscious instinct was to refute it and find a loophole.

"This can't be! Isn't there a single sane person in the clan?!" Sasuke said through gritted teeth, his emotions running high. "There must be more to this than meets the eye!"

The black-haired boy suddenly turned around, placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes. "Sakura, have you seen anything about the Uchiha lately?!"

"Don't get agitated," Sakura Haruno sighed.

Sakura helped the boy down, looked back at Sasuke, and said, "There are some things I've only recently come to understand, but I'm not entirely sure yet. So I can't tell you too much right now. All I can say is that the secrets hidden behind this are beyond our imagination..."

"The only thing I'm certain of is that, besides Shisui who committed suicide and Uchiha Itachi, there's one other person in this world who possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Besides you and Uchiha Itachi, there is one other survivor from your Uchiha Clan!"

"He is extremely powerful, wears an orange mask, hides in the darkness, and is weaving some kind of conspiracy... He was there on the night of the massacre..."

"I have a feeling we'll run into him sooner or later!"

Sasuke so shocked he couldn't speak.

By the time I returned to the village, the holiday was basically over.

Sakura Haruno has returned to her daily routine of doing missions and training.

Because of her frequent periods of rest and recuperation, the Fourteenth Squad has become increasingly isolated and practically defunct.

Yugao is giving birth, and her belly is quite noticeable now. Shino and Sakura have visited her several times. The baby is gradually taking shape in the mother's womb. Yugao Uzuki her belly protruding, strokes her abdomen with a happy expression, and the sharpness that belongs to a swordswoman seems to have completely disappeared. This is very surprising to Shino and Sakura, who are used to Yugao's strong woman temperament.

"I never expected Yugao to make that kind of expression..." Shino with some emotion as he left Yugao's house.

"Do you really think Yugao was wielding a sword, looking serious, and training during her pregnancy?" Sakura Haruno retorted. "By the way, Captain, when are you getting married!"

"We're already engaged, hehehehe..." The Anbu Captain revealed a smug expression, his smile looking rather lewd. "We'll get married at a suitable time!"

"Are you ready for the wedding?" Sakura looked at Shino's figure; he hadn't gained much weight. Sigh, young people are so impatient!

"By the way, don't make any rash promises..."

"You're great in every way except for being a bit superstitious, which you need to change." The captain shook his head, Earth Flow briskly ahead, keeping a distance, and seemed quite cheerful. "Remember to come and support us!"

"Yeah, Sakura, you're about to become a Jonin too! Keep up the good work! See you later!"

See you later!

According to Shino, Sakura Haruno's promotion to Jonin is indeed imminent.

At a recent high-level meeting, Tsunade overruled objections and reached a resolution to promote a group of outstanding ninjas to Jonin status through a simplified procedure. Sakura Haruno's name was prominently listed among them.

The examination for Jonin is far more rigorous than that for Chunin. In addition to requiring exceptional combat skills, Jonin are also required to possess intelligence gathering and analysis abilities, as well as team leadership and command skills.

After all, once she becomes Jonin, she could potentially become a team leader.

Such an assessment cannot be passed with just one or two short tests; the village will evaluate a ninja's performance in completing missions over a long period of time to determine whether they meet the standards for promotion.

The number of tasks, the task level, and the quality of task completion will be key factors.

At the same time, she also needs to demonstrate her leadership skills—something that Sakura actually lacks; she has almost no experience leading a team to complete tasks through teamwork.

Konoha, Hokage's office.

"You've been working hard lately, doing a lot of missions." Tsunade handed a mission briefing to Sakura, crossing her legs as she said, "Even with the procedures and requirements simplified for you, you've completed far too few missions. The requirements aren't met."

After all, she had only been in the Anbu for less than a year, and it had only taken her half a year to be promoted to Special Jōnin.

I've done quite a few high-level and super-high-level missions. The problem is that Konoha doesn't have SS or SSS-level missions: missions to search for Orochimaru's whereabouts and missions to fight Orochimaru are of the same level.

Normally, a ninja in a peaceful era needs at least a year and a half to prove himself; there won't be a case like Kakashi, who was promoted during a major war.

Even Sakura Haruno, who has recently risen to fame, can only take care of so much. Some hard requirements still have to be met.

"Yes, Master."

The girl took the rather thick task sheet, her face darkening slightly.

So much!

"By the way, how's your training going lately?" Tsunade asked again.

"It's alright, the third stage of the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals can only be done slowly; as for the Yin Seal, a lot of preparations have already been made for the second stage..."

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