What Nonsense Are You Spouting?!

Bzzzt~

Water Release Mastery had just been activated when a faint buzzing sound echoed through Yamanaka Kei's mind.

A vast amount of training memories and Ninjutsu experience surged in at once, flooding into the Memory Palace.

The immense amount of memories he received in such a short time made his head swell, and an involuntary, suppressed groan escaped his lips.

"Urgh—cough~"

"Kei, um... I remember you saying that it's never too late to pull back from the brink, and that admitting your mistakes and changing for the better is the greatest good..."

Namikaze Minato's voice came from outside the tottering shack door.

???

"Fuck! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"

Yamanaka Kei froze for a moment.

Then he immediately realized that Minato, that innocent little ray of sunshine, had truly been led astray by Jiraiya—that old bastard whose head was full of R18 garbage!

What the hell was he even talking about?!

Did he think something saucy had happened between Kei and Pakura in the room?

Damn it!

Pakura was indeed quite beautiful, and her figure was top-notch as well.

That smooth, jade-like back of hers added a few more touches of sexiness and allure.

She could be considered one of the notable beauties in the ninja world.

But Yamanaka Kei wasn't that desperate, was he?!

So...

Jiraiya!

You fucking deserve to die!

Yamanaka Kei flung open the battered door and dragged Namikaze Minato straight into the shack.

And after Namikaze Minato realized he had misunderstood.

Faced with his close friend's look of exasperation, the still-thin-skinned Minato blushed all the way down his neck.

With a stiff expression, he hurriedly tried to change the subject.

"Um... well... everything's been taken care of, right?"

"What do you think?"

Yamanaka Kei replied through gritted teeth.

If this incident hadn't been entirely caused by his spur-of-the-moment decision to seize the Great Sword Samehada.

And if he hadn't needed Minato to help cover for him in their mission report after returning to the village, concealing what had happened today.

He would have demanded to know something.

Had Minato stood guard for that old bastard while Jiraiya was fooling around with the ladies of Kabukicho?

Otherwise, he had only let out a muffled groan.

How had Minato jumped straight to something so indecent?

"Mmngh~"

A somewhat pained groan came from the unconscious Pakura.

The flush on Namikaze Minato's face, which had only just faded after changing the subject, turned dark red again.

Yamanaka Kei rolled his eyes.

He made a gesture, signaling that they should quietly slip away.

Namikaze Minato could no longer spare any thought for his embarrassment. He hurried after his friend, and the two vanished from the shack in an instant.

Not long after the two left, Pakura struggled awake from her nightmare.

Rubbing her faintly aching head, she warily surveyed her surroundings. Remembering the scene before she had lost consciousness, she rushed out of the nearly collapsed shack.

As she looked at the battlefield littered with the corpses of her companions and Hidden Mist Ninja.

She stood there in a daze for a long while.

Only when civilians gradually began returning, cautiously checking the area after seeing that the battle was over.

Did she finally stagger forward, immersed in grief, and begin collecting the bodies of her fallen comrades.

"Ah..."

Leaning over the railing of the Three-Masted Sailing Ship returning to Konoha.

Namikaze Minato let out a long sigh.

Perhaps it was empathy born from seeing another's suffering, or perhaps Pakura's grief at the time had simply been too profound and moving.

Whenever he recalled the scene he had witnessed before leaving.

He could always feel a faint heaviness lingering in his chest, leaving him stifled and irritated.

"Still thinking about Pakura?"

Seeing Namikaze Minato sighing again and again.

Yamanaka Kei walked over to his side, half leaning against the railing as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the sea breeze caressing his face.

"...Kei, what do ninja even exist for?"

"Conflict."

"You really aren't afraid of discouraging me at all."

Namikaze Minato looked speechlessly at his friend's carefree, unconcerned expression.

He knew very well.

Though his friend's words sounded cruel, they were the truth.

No matter how ninja had first appeared in this world.

Throughout a thousand years of inheritance, conflict had remained the eternal theme of ninja.

Money, beauty, land, hatred, affection, greed...

All desires bred conflict, and conflict brought clashes, violence, bloodshed, and slaughter!

The reason ninja had continued to grow and prosper throughout the course of history, replacing professions such as samurai, strongmen, priestesses, monks, and onmyoji to become this world's mainstream.

Wasn't it because ninja were better at fighting others?

"Don't dwell on all that pointless stuff. You think Pakura is pitiful, but aren't the civilians who died in their battle pitiful too? Aren't the innocent passersby whose homes were destroyed pitiful too?"

Yamanaka Kei gave a lazy yawn.

Even though he had lived in this world for nineteen years, with a soul from the modern age.

He still found it difficult to empathize with ninja.

At the end of the day, ninja villages looked more like a combination of mercenary groups and terrorist organizations to him.

They possessed immense military power, disregarded life, and were cruel and bloody!

At the age of five, children had to enter the Ninja School to be indoctrinated and learn all kinds of killing methods. By eleven or twelve, they had to graduate and carry out missions, spilling blood under the guidance of their squad leader.

What regular military in his previous life could do something so utterly insane?

"Ninja..."

Namikaze Minato let out another long sigh. Rather than feeling comforted, he looked even more dejected.

A long time ago, he had asked Yamanaka Kei.

How could the world achieve peace?

Yamanaka Kei had given him a straightforward answer.

Provided that society's productive capacity could meet most people's basic survival and material needs.

There were only three scenarios that could bring a period of relative peace.

First, possess power like Hashirama Senju's and forcibly deter everyone, achieving a brief peace.

Second, wage a war of unification, merging all nations and ninja villages into one, standardizing writing, infrastructure, education, and culture.

Third, the emergence of an enemy that threatened the survival of the entire ninja world, shifting internal conflicts outward.

Namikaze Minato considered himself something of a genius, but possessing strength like Hashirama Senju's was something he truly did not even dare to imagine.

As for a war of unification...

Among Konoha's higher-ups, Shimura Danzo was probably the only one who might harbor such ambitions.

But putting aside the fact that Minato also detested Shimura Danzo, Konoha's current strength simply could not accomplish such a thing.

Only this final option remained...

"If only Madara Uchiha were still alive. A man capable of rivaling the First Hokage should possess the power to threaten the survival of the entire ninja world, shouldn't he?!"

"???!!!"

Yamanaka Kei felt awful the instant he heard Minato's words.

Holy shit!

Bro!

What kind of nonsense are you saying?!

That old bastard Madara Uchiha really is still alive!

We're all still in our growth phase. Isn't it great to just develop steadily in our low-tier matchups against people our own age?

Don't go stirring things up!

What if you provoke that old bastard into wanting to dance, and he drops a Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star to give you a little spiritual shock?

Believe it or not, I'll put on a live performance of dropping dead on the spot?