This World

Tsunade was right about one thing: such tragedies happened far too often in the Land of Fire and throughout the entire Hokage world, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't possibly control them all.

Even compared to regions that have experienced war and been ravaged and destroyed by ninjas, the northwestern region, where parasitic diseases are prevalent, has a lower mortality rate! Due to extreme poverty, ninja villages, missing-nin, and bandits do not pay attention to such areas, which makes life there less miserable for the people.

How ironic.

This is why Orochimaru was able to easily amass a large number of subordinates who deeply revered him... The reason is simple: even if Orochimaru was used as an experimental subject and quietly died in the dark, sunless underground, at least they had a few good meals before dying, and were fattened up by Orochimaru, which was far better than a life of despair, Jonin and slowly dying on the surface. Not to mention the children who were given Ninjutsu by Orochimaru, who believed they had gained a secure future, and naturally would be extremely grateful to Orochimaru, even to the point of being utterly devoted...

Shifting their focus from the towns frequented by ninjas to the vast rural areas of the Land of Fire, Sakura Haruno, having access to increasingly more materials, deeply understands the meaning of "prosperity brings suffering to the people; ruin brings suffering to the people." War, along with the exorbitant taxes and levies maintained to support it, and low productivity, can drain the last drop of blood from the common people. The reason for the endless wars between major powers and the frequent outbreak of the Shinobi World War is insufficient resources, necessitating external expansion; but where does the root of this resource shortage lie?

The problem is that they can no longer extract any profit from ordinary people.

If this happened on Earth in her previous life, Sakura would probably be sitting on pins and needles, feeling like there's a powder keg lying beneath her feet that could explode at any moment. But in the Hokage world, the sad thing is, even if all the ordinary people in the country couldn't survive and formed a peasant army to rebel, probably—

She could suppress them all by herself.

Upon careful consideration, a world possessing extraordinary powers might be extremely unfriendly to ordinary people and the development of human society. The previous nation took two thousand years to escape the vicious cycle of order and chaos; what about this world? From one lifetime to ten thousand lifetimes to infinity—such a bold statement might not be just empty words.

So, isn't it time for a change to this binary structure of Kage-Daimyo and Ninja Village-Daimyo government? Sakura Haruno thought to herself.

She's like that too.

Compared to her previous life, the world of Hokage is purer, so she doesn't hesitate to express her thoughts—even some bold ones. Commenting on the system established by the First and Second isn't taboo, especially since Sakura is a top-tier ninja and the Fifth Hokage's student; having her own ideas isn't dangerous.

Tsunade was probably quite pleased.

The Fifth Hokage may have harbored the idea of making Sakura Haruno Hokage as well; according to Konoha's rules for Hokage succession, she was fully qualified. In terms of strength, status, reputation, and appearance, Sakura Haruno had been honed to perfection by Tsunade. With further training in her political abilities, she could be officially appointed in the future.

Of course, she's still a long way from that point.

"I know what you mean," Tsunade said, patting her shoulder to stop her from speaking.

The landlord class exploits peasants through traditional Eastern feudal methods, while ninjas and ninja villages exploit landlords through missions and wars, thus forming a stable pyramid-shaped hierarchical social structure. This is the essence of the Land of Fire, and it is largely the same in the entire Hokage world. Having been a ninja for so many years and wandering away from her village for many more, Tsunade's understanding of this world is far deeper than that of Sakura Haruno, who has just moved beyond simply reciting political concepts and begun to combine theory with practice.

"You believe that in a world dominated by ninjas, the daimyo and noble governments are unnecessary, completely superfluous, and detrimental to social development. I don't deny that you have some merit," she said calmly. "Aside from bullying men and women and exploiting the people, the Land of Fire government seems to have done nothing good. So what then?"

"And then—?" Sakura answered matter-of-factly, "Of course, it's about abolishing them, reducing intermediate levels, and having the ninjas directly rule the Land of Fire!"

Just like that brainwashing advertising slogan. "No middlemen taking a cut," with fewer lazy, pleasure-seeking noble parasites, the ninja village will obviously receive more funding, and the common people will have their burdens reduced considerably.

She couldn't believe Tsunade wouldn't see such obvious benefits.

Tsunade shook her head and sighed.

"That's a great idea."

It's a very bold idea. And it also shows a considerable understanding of the ills of the real world. However, it also makes many of the naive mistakes that young people often make: only thinking about the wonderful outcome, without considering the process of achieving it, or whether it's just a pipe dream.

It's like many people hope for world peace and a harmonious world, and then they think that ninjas and ninja villages are the source of war, so they believe that the world would be peaceful without ninjas... Is that even possible?

No, Earthlings can tell them it will be much worse. It'll be a brutal beating—brainwashing, shit-splattering.

Tsunade showed no mercy to her disciple, giving him a scathing critique.

"Let me give you an example. Let's assume that when we purge the Daimyo's government, its forces—including the Twelve Guardian Ninja Shinobi—are completely defenseless. Let's also assume that neighboring countries won't take advantage of the Land of Fire's internal turmoil to attack us," Tsunade said slowly. "Let's assume that we launch a revolution and very easily arrest, dismiss, sentence, or execute all the government officials in the Land of Fire. What would we do next to rule the Land of Fire?"

"Resigning ninjas who know nothing about politics to become government officials, handling official documents and governing local areas? Okay, even if every ninja could suddenly learn how to be an official, our ninja numbers wouldn't be enough to fill all the vacancies in the Land of Fire's officials; even if you managed to fill the vacancies by all means, we would still be vulnerable to invasions from other countries because our ninja forces are scattered throughout the country, and then we would be defeated one by one, ultimately leading to the destruction of our country and the annihilation of our villages."

"I'm sorry, no matter how I think about it, I can't see any feasibility in your idea."

Although Tsunade's words were somewhat harsh, Sakura had to admit that they made a lot of sense.

The reality is that ninjas max out their combat skills but neglect their internal affairs skills.

In an environment where nations are either at war or preparing for war, if a certain ninja village wants to make some major changes or add a few things to its internal affairs, its enemies will not give it any time or opportunity to make those changes. Sakura is aware of this, which is why she feels quite frustrated.

I have an urge to flip the table.

"Alright, stop thinking about such depressing things." Tsunade smiled. "That's just how the world is. If you want to change this world, wait until you become Hokage!"

"So we're just going to do nothing?" Sakura asked in a low voice, her brow still furrowed. "Just because we see difficulties, does that mean we should give up?"

Tsunade remained silent for a moment.

She suddenly realized that young people may have many shortcomings—frivolity, superficiality, instability, immaturity—but they possess the most important vitality. Adults may be mature, their edges worn down by reality, but they have lost the courage to change the world.

"At least not now," Tsunade said slowly. "At least... until you've grown up."

"As for now, you should go back and get some rest, and don't think too much about it!"

She gave Sakura a deep look, patted her shoulder, and escorted Sakura Haruno and Shiro out of the hospital.

[I forgot to mention in the previous chapter, Tsunade, in her youth, used the Yin Seal extensively, and the side effect resulted in her having a washboard.]