Seisui and Asuma smoked in silence, watching Konoha in the distance together.
Asuma drew hard on his cigarette, as though every puff could expel the bitterness in his heart. His brow remained tightly furrowed.
Seisui, meanwhile, simply let the cigarette in his hand burn. Looking at Asuma, he was reminded of a famous Uchiha.
His name was Itachi Uchiha...
Except that right now, he was probably still in Mikoto Uchiha's womb...
At four years old, Itachi Uchiha had been taken to the battlefield by Fugaku Uchiha. From then on, he began contemplating the meaning of life and peace.
After being asked to become a double agent, he became even more obsessed with the Will of Fire. He came to believe that the Uchiha Clan was an evil clan, and in the end, he raised his blade against his clansmen, his lover, and his parents.
Put simply, he was a stubborn child who, after being provoked, was brainwashed by the enemy and turned into a monster who recognized neither kin nor friend.
Asuma and Itachi Uchiha were alike in some ways.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was not as absurd as Fugaku Uchiha, he had still failed to do what he should have. He allowed the intelligent and attentive Asuma to catch traces of the village's dark side and begin questioning his own origins.
All one could say was that ninjas who had only been taught how to kill since childhood were born to serve as blades.
And if a stubborn blade began to think, then whether it would cut down enemies or allies became hard to say...
After all, what could a blade possibly think of that was right?
In the Shinobi World, there were only a handful of ninjas with sound minds. It was not just the Uchiha Clan; most ninjas were frighteningly stubborn.
As for Itachi Uchiha, he had come into contact with Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō in his childhood, then betrayed the Uchiha Clan.
Asuma, on the other hand, had been well protected because he was the Third Hokage's son. He had merely wandered about and squandered his youth.
But things were different now. Asuma had found Seisui.
Seisui could be both a sharp blade and the one who wielded it...
"Asuma, since you distrust the Will of Fire so much and still have doubts about the village, why did you come to me?"
Seisui gazed at Hokage Rock in the distance, looking at Tobirama Senju's face as he slowly said,
"You think I am deeply versed in the Will of Fire. Shouldn't that make you stay farther away from me?"
Asuma shook his head, his eyes filling with recollection.
"I never thought the Will of Fire was bad... I just think that the people interpreting it now are too hypocritical. What they say and what they do are completely different."
"Seisui, I can call you that, right?"
After receiving Seisui's approval, Asuma seemed to feel a little better and continued,
"To me, you are the true practitioner of the Will of Fire—strong, humble, and eager to help others. Even though you are an Uchiha, your existence and your story have inspired many students."
"Especially when I saw you helping Kojiro Inada that day, I couldn't help wanting to talk with you."
"You didn't keep encouraging him to become a ninja. Instead, you helped him open a shop he liked. What I saw in his eyes was a smile from the bottom of his heart..."
"But even I, or any ordinary ninja academy teacher, even if we wanted to help him, our first thought would be how to help him become a ninja..."
"From that moment on, I knew you were special, Seisui."
Asuma turned to look at Seisui seriously and said in a low voice, "That is why I came to find you."
Seisui nodded in understanding and posed a question.
"Asuma, do you think it is worth sacrificing the happiness of some people in Konoha in exchange for the happiness of others?"
"Like those friends of yours who joined Root. Some of them may have wanted to walk in the light, while others may have simply wanted to open a little shop like Kojiro Inada, but they all entered Root."
"They sacrificed their lives, but in exchange, Konoha's defenses grew stronger..."
Asuma narrowed his eyes. After a moment, he shook his head firmly.
"My friends didn't volunteer to do that! Even if Konoha became stronger that way, that kind of strength is not right. I don't think it can last, either."
"The First Hokage once said that Konoha was founded so that a group of people could unite and resist invasions from other hidden villages..."
"But I absolutely cannot agree with someone like Shimura Danzō, who uses resistance against other hidden villages as an excuse to strike at his own people first!!"
Asuma clenched his fists tightly as he spoke, his voice sounding almost like a growl.
Seisui smiled and slowly said, "If that is the case, Asuma, then let me ask you another question..."
"Suppose the Third Shinobi World War broke out and Konoha fell into a disadvantage. At that point, an enemy hidden village proposed that if Konoha handed over several ninjas who were not particularly strong, a Peace Treaty could be reached. If you were Hokage, would you agree?"
Asuma was just about to speak.
Seisui gestured for him not to rush, then continued adding conditions.
"If the war continued, hundreds or thousands of Konoha ninjas would die. But if you agreed, the enemy would cease hostilities for at least ten years, ushering in a relatively long period of peace."
"Think carefully about the trade-off, then tell me—what would you choose?"
Asuma clearly hesitated and began thinking.
Tobirama Senju narrowed his eyes. Unlike the hesitant Asuma, his answer came readily.
"What a pointless question. If any Konoha higher-up handed over ninjas from the village because of a ceasefire agreement, I would be the first to kill him! Monkey and Danzo may make some minor mistakes, but they could not possibly be foolish enough to go that far..."
"This is not a matter of how many Konoha ninjas die. It concerns a village's integrity and will!"
"If Konoha does not even have the backbone to fight for its comrades against its enemies, then it has no reason to exist!"
Seisui studied Tobirama Senju with interest and asked with a smile,
"What if the same question had arisen during the First Shinobi World War, and the hostages the enemy demanded in exchange were Uchiha?"
"Kid, who do you take me for?"
Tobirama Senju sneered disdainfully.
"It is true that I am prejudiced against the Uchiha Clan, but that is because I monitor every source of unrest within and outside the village."
"But that does not mean I would resolve Konoha's internal conflicts beyond its borders."
"If I did that, I would not deserve to be the Second Hokage!"
Seisui applauded Tobirama Senju and softly said, "I believe you, Tobirama."
And at that moment.
Asuma, who had been troubled by Seisui's far-reaching question, finally made his decision amid his struggle. As though he truly were the Hokage, he said each word distinctly,
"Seisui, I will not hand over Konoha's ninjas, not even a single Genin!"
There was a meeting this morning. Xiao Fan was afraid he would not have time to slack off, so he wrote a chapter in advance!
Also, let me recommend a friend's book:
Direct link and synopsis below:
Is your company even legitimate? How come you do games, film, and music all at once?
Lin Yuan: Making games is just like that!
Before you continue