Does He Really Deserve to Die? (Continued)

"Since that's the case, I'd like to hear the wisdom of a smart man like you."

"Sure. Are you hungry?"

Uchiha Shisui froze.

"What?"

"Uchiha Teppan's pancake shop. I can give you the honor of treating me to a meal."

Qianyu headed toward the shop on his own.

"Lord Shisui, that bastard is far too arrogant!"

"Who does he think he is? Isn't he just a rabid dog that bites everyone he sees?!"

Uchiha Shisui shot the two of them a glare.

"Enough."

"Never underestimate that man."

"A man whom the clan head would protect at all costs, even going so far as to confront Lord Hokage head-on, and whom Lord Hokage personally ordered us to warn..."

"How could he possibly be so simple?"

"You two, wait outside the shop."

"...Yes, Lord Shisui."

Uchiha Shisui followed Qianyu into Uchiha Teppan's pancake shop.

The busy old couple, Uchiha Teppan and Uchiha Kashi, both paused in surprise.

"Not only is Lord Qianyu here, but Lord Shisui too?"

"It's really lively today..."

"Lord Qianyu, the usual today?"

"Mm. Sorry for the trouble."

"And Lord Shisui?"

"The same as him."

"Alright."

Uchiha Shisui looked around. He remembered Uchiha Itachi mentioning that he liked this pancake shop as well.

Not only because the food was delicious, but because the old couple had the warmth and human touch of ordinary life.

Now that he saw it for himself, Itachi had indeed been right.

"You come here often too?"

Uchiha Shisui asked.

Before Qianyu could answer, Uchiha Teppan smiled.

"Not exactly a regular, but he is our great benefactor."

"Oh? How so?"

Uchiha Kashi said bitterly, "There used to be a bunch of street thugs who came here every day to cause trouble. Eating without paying was one thing, but they often bullied the other customers too. They fought and made a scene whenever they pleased, breaking tables and chairs every day. Once, they nearly burned down the entire shop!"

"Even after we reported them to the Police Force, they were only arrested and locked up for a few months. Once they got out, they kept causing trouble, even worse than before. When they found out we old folks had reported them, they came to take revenge every day, beating, humiliating, and tormenting us. We simply had no way to go on living..."

Uchiha Teppan continued with a smile.

"Luckily, Lord Qianyu came along..."

"That time, he happened to come into the shop and ran into those thugs. Without a word, he killed every last one of them!"

"Only then did the shop finally return to peace, and business gradually began to improve..."

Still smiling, he carried the pancakes to the table with both hands and placed them before Qianyu.

But Uchiha Shisui frowned.

"They were only street thugs. They were certainly hateful, but..."

"They didn't deserve to die, did they?"

Uchiha Teppan and Uchiha Kashi shuddered, their expressions changing at once.

"Lord Shisui, if those villains didn't deserve to die, did that mean we old folks deserved to die?"

"That's not what I meant..."

"Hmph. We understand what Lord Shisui means. But if everyone thought as you did, arresting those villains only to release them, then arresting them again after they caused more trouble, sooner or later, we old folks would have been tortured to death by them!"

"That's right. They didn't deserve death, but once they had beaten us old folks to death and finally committed crimes worthy of execution, who were we supposed to ask to repay our two lives?"

Uchiha Shisui was left speechless.

The old couple's words gave this young man, who had never experienced the chaos of the world or the treachery of human hearts, nothing to say.

Of course, Uchiha Shisui knew what darkness was.

He had experienced war and witnessed even more brutal slaughter.

He charged into battle and fought valiantly. On the battlefield, he was undoubtedly a gifted young warrior and a hero of Konoha.

Yet when faced with the gray areas of real civilian life, with sins so tangled and unresolved in everyday reality, he knew absolutely nothing and could do nothing.

"Here."

Still irritated, Uchiha Kashi tossed a pancake onto the table in front of Uchiha Shisui.

Qianyu silently ate his pancake and took a large gulp of soup.

Uchiha Shisui, however, fell silent.

Could the man before him truly be doing the right thing?

No, that couldn't be...

Killing enemies on the battlefield was only natural.

But within the village, there had to be gentler ways to solve such problems...

"Qianyu, perhaps your methods have their own reasoning."

"However, I've always believed that unless it is necessary, why act so extremely?"

"Once you kill someone, you cut off every possibility."

"What if you kill the wrong person? What if it is a miscarriage of justice? What if they still have a chance to repent? Who will give them that chance?"

Qianyu chewed his pancake in large bites without even raising his head.

"When you kill enemies on the battlefield, are you this indecisive too?"

Uchiha Shisui shook his head.

"That's different."

"What's different?"

"On the battlefield, there is no right or wrong, only sides. Either you die or I do."

"If I don't kill him, he'll kill me."

"Besides, that is for the sake of protecting the interests of the entire village."

Qianyu gave a mocking laugh.

"In other words, you are doing it to ensure your own survival, or to secure the greater interests of the entire village."

"Then why should your life take precedence over other people's lives?"

"Why should Konoha's interests take precedence over those of other villages?"

Uchiha Shisui considered it for a moment.

"They shouldn't, but as I said, it is a matter of sides."

"People naturally love themselves first, then those around them. Interests differ in scale, and affection differs in closeness."

"My family, relatives, clan, and village naturally matter more to me than other people."

"The same goes for enemies. What both sides protect is the same."

Qianyu said, "So there is no justice, only sides?"

Uchiha Shisui shook his head.

"Actively expanding, actively invading, actively harming the interests of other people and nations—that is naturally unjust. Wars waged to resist such injustice are naturally just wars."

Qianyu said, "Then was Amegakure just or unjust?"

"What?"

Uchiha Shisui looked somewhat confused.

"During the last ninja war, Amegakure was forced to become the battlefield for the three great nations of Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure."

"They did not invade anyone first. But when those three great nations tacitly treated Amegakure as land upon which to pour their flames of war, they never asked Amegakure's opinion. From Amegakure's perspective, was Konoha just?"

"This..."

"But Hanzo of the Salamander once actively declared war on the entire ninja world..."

"That was not a declaration of war. It was forced self-defense."

"If you were Hanzo, and the other great nations all used your country as a battlefield, wantonly pouring war across your land, leaving villagers homeless and innocent civilians dead, what would you do?"

Uchiha Shisui fell silent.

"At its core, your so-called 'no right or wrong, only sides' is merely the arrogant posture of the great nations."

"When Amegakure rose up against the invasion of the great nations, whether Konoha or any other great nation, they all tacitly painted Hanzo as a warmonger, never stopping to consider..."

"Since Konoha was founded, the ninja world has suffered through three all-out wars, and every ninja war was without question started by the Five Great Nations themselves."

"Do you still think there is no right or wrong, only sides?"