Mind Mentor Online

Why were there so many wars? In truth, that question was very easy to answer.

At least to Habara, it really was not a difficult question at all, though for the people of This World, it might not be so simple.

Having lived through the late stages of the Third Great Ninja War, he naturally knew all too well just how childish and laughable contemporary ninjas' understanding of war truly was.

In the eyes of ninety percent of ninjas, the main cause of war was hatred.

Hatred gathered from all sorts of reasons led to the outbreak of war. Even someone like Jiraiya understood it that way.

Perhaps it was precisely this trend that gave birth to an absurd idea in his mind—

As long as people could understand and communicate with one another, they could eliminate hatred and even eliminate war!

In truth, the first half of that idea was not wrong. Mutual understanding between people could eliminate hatred. The mistake lay in eliminating war.

Because war had never been the product of hatred. Even if hatred was indeed a factor, it was absolutely not the dominant factor.

"War is a heavy topic, Shisui."

Perhaps because of the atmosphere around them, Habara's voice also seemed somewhat low. His gaze remained fixed on the firelight ahead, and suddenly he asked, "In your view, what is the origin of war? Or rather, why does war exist?"

"I..."

Shisui looked somewhat hesitant. In truth, he wanted even more to hear Habara explain it. In his eyes, Habara was someone standing on a higher level, someone with a broader perspective.

And Shisui had already begun quietly questioning many of his own ideas. Right now, he was very lacking in confidence toward his own views and understanding, but after hesitating for a moment, he still spoke.

"Probably... like everyone says, it's because of hatred. Because hatred continues on, it leads to..."

"So I'll say the same thing again. Your vision and thinking are far too narrow."

Habara interrupted Shisui before he could finish. Then he turned around and looked at Shisui seriously. He gave a soft sigh before slowly saying, "You're the same as everyone else. You all see things far too simply. I can tell you very clearly that the outbreak of war has never been because of hatred."

"Not because of hatred?" Although Shisui had already mentally prepared himself, he was still shaken by Habara's "outrageous theory."

Because Habara's wording was far too absolute. Saying it like this practically shattered part of their long-held understanding of the ninja world!

"Yes, never because of hatred. Because hatred has never been more than an excuse."

Habara Nodded at Shisui seriously.

"Because true war is, in essence, the continuation of politics by other means."

"Politics... continuation..." Shisui silently repeated those words. He did not really understand what they meant, yet at the same time, he seemed to have understood something.

"That's right. War emerges under a certain political situation, and it is caused by a certain political motive."

Habara did not give Shisui much time to think. He spoke directly.

"To put it simply, war is merely part of political interaction, and definitely not something independent.

In battles between individuals, perhaps hatred may be involved. But if war breaks out between a country and a ninja village, then it absolutely will not be some matter of hatred.

Because the outbreak of war is actually an extreme method chosen by the Kage of each village for the benefit of their own village, or perhaps for their own benefit.

Let me ask you a question. Since Konoha was founded, three wars have broken out.

We weren't born yet during the first two, so we're not familiar with them. But we both personally experienced the Third Great Ninja War.

And what was the beginning of the Third Great Ninja War? Do you still remember?"

Halfway through speaking, Habara suddenly threw the question to Shisui, and this question made Shisui begin to think seriously.

If it had been before, he definitely would have said it was caused by hatred. But now, he would no longer be so shallow as to only consider the issue of hatred.

Instead, he followed Habara's train of thought and began thinking about deeper things, such as the political factors and interest factors Habara had mentioned.

Although Habara's words had broken his past understanding, he had, after all, stayed in the Anbu for so long, so he could still sense some things to a degree.

Very soon, he seemed to think of something and said with some hesitation, "Was it their own development problem?"

"That's right. Their own development problem was a key point."

Habara smiled and nodded. He had seen all of Shisui's changes along the way.

If he helped Shisui broaden his horizons, then this guy would definitely become his greatest helper, perhaps even one of his strongest sources of Combat Power in the future.

"The Land of Wind is located in a desert region. They don't have enough water sources, nor do they have enough farmland, and this greatly limits their own development.

They can't even achieve self-sufficiency, and can only rely on large amounts of imported grain. Such imports consume the already limited funds they have.

They need an oasis. They need farmland. Only then can they break through their own limitations."

"So, if they wanted to break through such limitations, they could only advance toward the Land of Rivers, and from there attack us, right?"

Shisui instantly understood what Habara meant. And with the different perspective Habara had provided, At This Moment, he sincerely discovered that this was probably the true Origin of the matter!

Compared with the village's interests, hatred seemed truly insignificant. Standing in the position of a Kage, how one should choose was already perfectly clear.

After Understanding Clearly these things, the look in Shisui's eyes as he Looked Towards Habara changed even more intensely.

In these short few days, Habara had continuously shattered his worldview and broken the beliefs he had once held as fixed.

But such shattering had not Made Him lose his way. On the contrary, Habara had given him an even clearer path, a perspective from which he could stand at a higher position to understand and view This World.

Whether it was his judgment of the clan, the demands and principles he said would have to be made clear after becoming Clan Head, or the essence of war he was telling him about now...

All of This had once been vague to him—things he had only dimly imagined, with no concrete logic behind them. But now, he seemed to understand so, so much.

"Yeah. War really isn't what ordinary people like us see. In fact, what we see is probably nothing more than what others want us to see."

At This Moment, Habara smiled. He patted Shisui on the shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"That's why you have to think three times before you act. More than that, you have to see through appearances to the essence. Only by understanding what the essence is will you understand this real world better."

Whether it was thinking three times before acting or seeing through appearances to the essence, both were very basic things Habara had learned from the education in his previous life.

But to Shisui, this was an extremely profound lesson, and those words made him feel deeply ashamed.

Although he had never claimed to be a genius, he had always considered himself very smart. But now he realized that compared to Habara, they were worlds apart.

Never mind the essence of war—he had not even seen clearly the essence of the clan's internal situation.

Let alone understood the essence of why the relationship between the clan and Konoha had become like this.

If Habara had not reminded him, he would probably have continued walking on in confusion.

Thinking of this, the way he looked at Habara began to fill with respect, and even became extremely fervent.