"What do you think?"
Homura Mitokado cast a disdainful glance at Jiraiya.
This kid was good in every way, except that he was far too naive and immature!
"Impossible! There's no way my teacher could be that kind of person! Have you been deceiving him?"
Jiraiya's eyes were bloodshot, his gaze crimson.
It was his teacher who had taught him the Will of Fire. His Will of Fire had always come from that old man. Now, he couldn't believe that his teacher had actually betrayed his own faith!
"Jiraiya, things have come to this, so I can't be bothered to hide anything from you anymore."
Homura thought about how the two of them had planned behind his back to leave him behind as a scapegoat. Since that was the case, he couldn't be bothered to hide anything anymore.
It was impossible to relocate and withdraw now. All they could do was cooperate with Jiraiya in the present and pray that war would not come—or that they would win if it did.
"Your teacher had no choice, and neither did we. Do you think he might not know about these things? He knew, and he knew very well!"
"We were all people who had not feared sacrifice during the war years. We followed the Second Hokage, and you could say that the Will of Fire within us was the strongest and deepest!"
"Back then, we were filled with reckless courage and feared no sacrifice, because the war was constantly taking our relatives and comrades from us. If we didn't sacrifice ourselves, someone else would!"
Remembering those difficult years, a trace of reminiscence appeared in Homura's eyes.
"Wars always end eventually. After peace came, we also wanted to develop Konoha Village into a thriving place."
"But you can't keep everything perfectly balanced!