The Crime of Eating, Perfectly Justified

After hanging up the communication with Orochimaru, Hinata was wide awake even though it was late at night.

Among the Three Great Sage Regions, the Shikkotsu Forest lineage is isolated and weak, and all the little Katsuyu are clones of the Slug Sage. The Toad of Mount Myōboku also seem to be indifferent to worldly affairs, and apart from providing Jiraiya with information about the Child of Prophecy, they basically do not interfere in the affairs of the Shinobi World.

Ryūchi Cave, however, is extremely aggressive. Anyone who goes Ryūchi Cave to cultivate Senjutsu but fails will become their food.

Every time Manda is summoned, he demands that Orochimaru provide him with offerings.

Although the food chain in nature dictates that higher organisms eat lower organisms, Hinata, as a human, still felt somewhat uncomfortable about it.

Humans must eat to live, and eating itself is a form of killing.

In Hinata's previous life, many people advocated the declaration that "humans should love animals," but animals such as pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese continued to appear on human dinner tables, and no one ever spoke out for them.

Cats and dogs are loved by humans as pets because humans need to fill their lonely hearts and need companionship, which is why the term 'pet' came about.

As far as Hinata knew, in ancient times in her previous life, the slaughter of cattle was forbidden. In some dynasties, slaughtering oxen could even break the law and cost one's life.

That's just human nature.

When cattle are needed for plowing, the prohibition against killing cattle will be written into law.

But when humans no longer need cattle, they are raised in herds, slaughtered in groups, and then processed by chefs and served on the dining table for everyone to enjoy.

For humans, the importance of something can be simply categorized as either 'needed' or 'unneeded'.

Treat it as a treasure when you need it, and discard it like trash when you don't.

Pets, protected animals, and rare animals are valued because they are needed. Animals that are not needed are simply ignored and their fate is never considered.

Hinata knew that the snakes of Ryūchi Cave, being different species from humans, considered 'eating people' to be a perfectly normal thing.

However, Hinata, being human, was unable to accept this fact.

The Toad of Mount Myōboku even eat insects. If insects possessed the same intelligence as humans, do you think they would hate the Toad?

Eating is sinful, yet it is also a matter of course... because one will certainly die if one does not eat.

Hinata was very reluctant to convert Chakra Fruit and eat him when they faced Urashiki before, probably because Urashiki's appearance is similar to that of a human!

Even though Hinata knew that the creatures in Ryūchi Cave were no less intelligent than humans, she felt no resistance whatsoever when facing them.

Hinata couldn't sleep because of this.

Hinata was reflecting on whether her previous mental state when facing Urashiki had been somewhat hypocritical.

To be fair, Urashiki, as an alien, is a completely different species from the humans of the Ninja World. In fact, Urashiki might not even consider himself 'human'.

After being transported to the Ninja World, Hinata never shied away from the topic of 'killing'.

Becoming a ninja inevitably means killing.

Hinata once thought that killing people was different from eating people. Hinata could eat all kinds of animals in the world without any psychological burden, but she could not accept eating people.

Hinata loved fried chicken in her previous life, but the thought of tens of thousands of chickens on a farm, destined to be eaten from birth, was unbearable. Humans hatched them from their eggs, raised them, and ultimately served them on their dinner tables.

But as sad as she was, did Hinata stop eating altogether?

In Hinata's previous life, perhaps because life was too good, some people thought that slaughtering animals was very cruel, but they enjoyed eating meat more than anyone else.

"Orochimaru..."

Hinata contacted Orochimaru once again.

Orochimaru: "..."

"I have a very serious question I'd like to ask, about life..."

Hinata cut to the chase, her tone no longer joking, but serious and earnest as she asked, "What do you think all things in this world are? And what are humans?"

"You killed so many people by conducting human experiments. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, every ninja killed people. The Fourth Hokage, who was hailed as a hero by Konoha, killed countless people."

"Is it simply because the meaning and motivation behind killing different that some people can be forgiven and even praised as heroes, while others are labeled as 'evil'?"

Orochimaru was unusually interested; rather than Eight Trigrams with Hinata, Orochimaru preferred to discuss the philosophy of life, especially the meaning of life.

"Hehehehe..."

Orochimaru's hoarse laughter was somewhat sinister, and his tone was playful. "I knew I hadn't misjudged you, Hinata Hyuga... You're different from those people."

Hinata asked again, "Orochimaru, what are your thoughts on these matters?"

Hinata was indeed somewhat confused. Although Hinata had killed many people after Jonin, she didn't hold it against them afterward. But every time she thought back on those things, she felt a little lost.

Orochimaru's snake eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he said in a gloomy tone, "Life itself has no value, but as long as a person is alive, he will definitely find something interesting and fight for it as an ideal for his entire life."

"The reason you have these problems is because your mind is still bound by rules. Those who create rules use rules to constrain you in order to achieve their desired goals."

Hinata retorted, "But if there were no rules in this world, wouldn't it be chaos?"

Orochimaru sneered, his tone disdainful and even mocking. "For people like us, what difference does it make whether the world is at peace or in chaos?"

"The Hokage is responsible for protecting Konoha and the Land of Fire because Hokage enjoys the power, and therefore he has to take on the responsibility of 'protection'."

"And 'responsibility' is something that is imposed on you by others!"

At this point, Orochimaru's tone turned slightly cold, as if he had thought of something unpleasant.

"The young lady of the Hyuga Clan..."

"Having enjoyed the status of the Hyuga Clan's heiress, you have the heart to protect the Hyuga Clan. Perhaps it's a bond, or perhaps it's not wanting to lose the privileges of being the Hyuga Clan's heir..."

"You think it's your responsibility to protect the Hyuga Clan, but for Danzo, it might be his responsibility to control or even destroy the Hyuga Clan."

"Bound by responsibilities and rules... do you really have the courage to break free from them?"

Hinata remained silent for a long time after hearing this. Orochimaru's words seemed unconventional, but they also made some sense.

As long as one is not bound by rules or responsibilities, there is essentially no difference between chaos and peace in the world.

I am still me, and that's enough.

But humans are social animals, and a lonely heart needs something to fill it. Being alone is the most terrifying thing in the world.

Hinata asked curiously, "Orochimaru, are you lonely?"

"Lonely... maybe!"

Under the moonlight, Orochimaru stood quietly in the forest, surrounded by darkness like a ghostly realm. The bright moonlight shone on Orochimaru, making him seem as if he were standing in opposition to the entire world.

There is a huge chasm between people and the world.