A Way to Achieve Peace?

Compared to Naruto, Sasuke's expression was much more reserved; he simply smiled faintly, as if nothing was wrong.

But beneath those calm, black eyes lay the same unwavering resolve and fighting spirit.

The two boys, one calm as still water and the other fiery as a flame, appeared completely different on the outside, but Sakura Haruno could tell that their thoughts were almost the same.

"Having confidence is a good thing. But don't be careless!"

Sakura Haruno stared into Naruto's eyes and said in a deep voice.

She ruffled the boy's hair. Naruto's hair was cut shorter than before, looking neater and sharper.

Of the three, Naruto has carried out the fewest high-level missions and is the least experienced, which is also what Sakura Haruno is most worried about. Kakashi has always called him the ninja with the highest unpredictability, a title that is both praised and criticized; sometimes this kind of unexpectedness is very useful when facing difficulties, but in such a high-risk mission, Sakura Haruno would rather he be more steady and cause fewer accidents.

It's heartening to see that after training under Jiraiya for over two years, Naruto has become much more composed.

They've grown up.

"I understand." He nodded solemnly.

The dinner that followed was probably the last big, delicious hot meal the three of them would be able to enjoy for a while.

As the saying goes, "Those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those Kirigakure live near water live off the water." Although Kirigakure, located by the sea, is not as resource-rich as Konoha and cannot afford a lavish feast to entertain distinguished guests, its dinners are far from simple. Delicious fish soup, fresh and large prawns, and a plentiful supply of seafood allow the Konoha guests, who are located inland, to enjoy a delicious meal.

"When I came here, I heard from Sakura that Kirigakure was very poor, but it doesn't seem that bad now," Naruto mumbled between large bites of food.

"At least the food was pretty good."

In terms of enduring hardship, he had followed Jiraiya through mountains Jiraiya seas, braving wind and dew, and traversing many remote and impoverished places over the past two years. This was far more arduous than Sakura Haruno and Sasuke, who had always stayed in the village. Although the latter's work was dangerous, Konoha was extremely prosperous, so their daily treatment in Konoha was considered luxurious compared to most other parts of the planet.

"Kirigakure is one of the Five Great Villages, after all. Even if they're poor, they can't be that poor," the girl glanced at him and said casually. "It's just treating us to a seafood meal; they can't even afford that."

"Hmm." Sasuke nodded casually twice, engrossed in dealing with the crab in his hand.

He's also very interested in seafood— the Naka River his door, and he used to eat bonito flakes on rice balls all the time. The seafood feast he's enjoying right now is just what he's looking for.

"The seasonings are so-so, but the ingredients are so fresh that it's delicious even without much dipping sauce." Sasuke sucking the crab roe, calmed down, and began to process the tender, glistening crab meat, commenting with admiration.

He looked up and saw Sakura Haruno sitting upright with a faint smile on her face. The cups and plates were clean and tidy, and her posture was very elegant and composed. You know, when enjoying a seafood feast, no matter how careful you are with your posture, you will inevitably leave a little mess.

Sasuke was slightly taken aback, noticing that among the three, only Sakura barely touched her chopsticks.

"Aren't you going to eat?" the black-haired boy asked while chewing on the crab meat.

"I'm not interested in seafood," Sakura Haruno smiled slightly.

What's amazing is that in her previous life she was born in a coastal area, and neither of her two lives combined could make Sakura Haruno develop a strong appetite for seafood.

Naruto clearly couldn't understand this. In his worldview, even without any seasoning and with only rough preparation, this table of seafood was a top-notch delicacy. He couldn't understand why Sakura, who had a normal sense of taste, wouldn't be interested in these foods, just as he couldn't accept that there were people in the world who liked savory tofu pudding.

"It's delicious, Sakura, you should try some." Naruto enthusiastically handed her the freshly peeled shrimp chips he was holding. "Didn't you say that ninjas can't be picky eaters!"

You see, in the past two years, he's been to many places where ordinary people might never have the chance to eat such food in their entire lives. He felt sorry for those people, but he couldn't help them; and Naruto didn't understand the reason behind it either.

"Uh... thank you." Sakura Haruno raised an eyebrow, then reluctantly ate it.

"I'm not a picky eater. I just don't like certain foods, but that doesn't mean I hate them." After finishing her meal, she shrugged and explained, "If I wanted to eat these, it would just be a matter of using Water Release and a fishing net."

"... Oh yeah." Naruto scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.

"This is no problem at all for Water Release ninjas. During the fishing season, a single trip can yield hundreds of thousands of kilograms of fish!" Sakura sipped her fish soup and continued, "So even if Kirigakure is poor, feeding themselves and entertaining us isn't a problem at all."

This does not include the artificially bred portion.

She paused, then looked at the two of them seriously. "In short... don't mistake Kirigakure for a weak and easily bullied Kirigakure village just because they need our support!"

Sasuke ate his dinner silently, not saying a word, and secretly pursed his lips.

The fox frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly asked, "Since Kirigakure can support itself and isn't afraid of being invaded by other countries, why do they still fight wars?"

"Um...?"

Sasuke put down his chopsticks, Sakura Haruno put down her fish soup; they both looked at Naruto.

It's rare that he would ask such a profound question.

"Yes, why?" The black-haired boy also looked puzzled.

The girl looked somewhat surprised and pursed her lips.

"... What is the root cause of war?" she asked herself.

This question is not so easy to answer. In both the Earth of the past and the Hokage world of this life, war and peace are eternal dilemmas for humanity. Even on Earth, which has a higher level of civilization, large-scale wars still occur from time to time after the smoke of World War II cleared up—in fact, since the end of World War II, humanity has only had 6 days without any war. And in the Hokage world, a new world war is approaching them at a visible speed.

"Most of the laws are born from people's inflated desires... Humans aren't satisfied with just filling their stomachs; every nation and ninja village wants more resources, land, and people. These things can't be obtained through peaceful means..."

Sakura Haruno carefully chose her words and spoke slowly.

"Hmph, the worst aspects of human nature... insatiable greed and boundless desires," Sasuke sneered, offering his comment.

"But just that doesn't seem to get to the heart of the problem; it's a bit superficial," the girl continued.

Some argue that wars stem from population growth and famine... but that's a Malthusian perspective. Or, from a historical materialist viewpoint, wars arise from the sharp conflict between the three classes—ninjas, peasants, and nobles (landlords)—as private ownership develops, leading to oppression and the oppressed.

However, these theories from the previous life will cause problems if they are simply applied to the Hokage world. Just like how applying political propaganda to China requires considering the country's specific circumstances, turning it into a political propaganda with China characteristics... ahem.

Simply put, the social models of the Earth world can often be simplified into a binary opposition: slave-slave owner, peasant-landlord, worker-capitalist, and so on. However, in the Hokage world, ninjas, commoners, and nobles are a triadic opposition, which cannot be simplified further. Forcibly dividing them into a superpowered class (ninjas) and a mortal class (commoners and nobles) or a ruling class (ninjas and nobles) and a ruled class (commoners) for analysis will only lead to a bunch of fallacies. This is because these three are mutually opposed, but in their conflicts, they often cooperate with each other and even fight against a third party; for example, when exploiting the people, commoners... We find that ninjas and nobles are allies, but when ninja villages demand funding from daimyo, the daimyo and nobles feel that the arrogant ninjas, relying on their Chakra, are not of their kind. They seem more agreeable to let the common people bully them. And when a ninja village suffers a defeat and the daimyo withholds funding, the situation is completely different... The relationship between these three groups is intricately complex in different scenarios. From a mathematical perspective, the two-body problem has a clear solution, while the three-body problem is complex and chaotic, generally lacking an analytical solution. Therefore, a deeper analysis reveals that the root cause of war is not so simple.

As for Sakura Haruno herself, she certainly had her own thoughts and ideas, but she wouldn't reveal them to the two of them at this time and place.

So I don't know the answer either.

After a long analysis, Sakura Haruno, a humanities major with poor grades, concluded confidently.

"Anyway... the standard answer is about competing for resources, right?" Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who seemed a little dizzy from listening, and then turned to Sakura.

"Yes!" Naruto finally heard a familiar phrase and quickly echoed, "That's exactly how the Third Lord Hokage was!"

Sakura Haruno shook her head.

"This is the purpose of war, not the root cause of war," she said calmly, stirring the cooled fish soup in front of her and looking at the two of them.

The Sunagakure and the Land of Wind have always longed for rich and rainy land, while the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning envy the vast, flat plains of the Land of Fire. The answer that wars break out over land and expansion space is standard and correct enough, but the girl felt that it did not delve into the essence.

Sasuke and Naruto frowned, exchanged a glance, and simultaneously gave up thinking.

"Alright then..." the black-haired boy sighed, and said, "So what's the correct answer?"

Sakura Haruno smiled faintly.

"I don't know either. But the correct answer isn't important; what's important is learning to think about the problem..."

"I hate using my brain," the fox said, pouting. "Besides, this isn't our place to worry about such things, so let's not even think about it!"

For a hot-blooded idiot like me, this question is way too advanced.

The girl grabbed Naruto's hair hard and glared at him. "Idiot! Don't you want to be Hokage? As Hokage, you have to think about these kinds of things!"

"But all of this is too complicated."

Naruto replied with a pained expression.

"Is there a simpler, more straightforward answer? For example..." He scratched the back of his head and asked, "A method to achieve peace in just a few simple steps?"

What is a simple way to achieve peace?

What a boastful tone. Billions of people in both worlds have longed for peace, yet peace has never truly been achieved.

However, in the world of Hokage...

Sakura Haruno thought for a moment, then chuckled softly, "There is a simple method."

"If only two more ninja of the First Hokage caliber were to appear once more, and join forces to uphold world peace, then wars between ninja villages would cease..."

At least back in the day, when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were alive, no ninja village dared to start a conflict.

Perhaps a powerful being with absolute strength can intimidate the entire world and force people to suppress their restless desires?

The girl was just joking when she said that, but Naruto and Sasuke nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, alright!" Sakura Haruno finally laughed. "Let's think about these things slowly; there's no need to give an answer right now. Let's focus on the mission first!"

Nothing more was said that night.

Early in the morning, Sakura Haruno woke up on time.

After a quick wash, when I stepped out of the room, Naruto and Sasuke were already up and packing their gear for the trip.

"You're awake." Sasuke a bandage between his teeth, carefully wrapped it around his leg, tied a knot tightly, and then raised his hand to greet her in a muffled voice.

"Um."

The girl responded casually, her gaze sweeping over the neatly arranged shuriken, Kunai, and other ninja tools on the table, as well as the already tidied belt and the black Sealing Jutsu on Sasuke's wrist. She nodded.

"Are you all ready too...?"

"Then, let's set off."