Mahjong Parlor Speech

In a corner no one noticed.

The most tender and fragile tip of Konoha's branch quietly ignited itself, blooming into an insignificant spark in the long night.

This subtle light and heat continuously flowed along the branches and leaves, burning towards the oldest and most decayed trunk and roots of this giant tree.

Throughout this entire month.

On the surface, the confrontation between the Advisor Council and the Senju Clan continued.

However, the unity of the Ninja Clans was not entirely without effect.

After Clan Head Inuzuka Gentai was proven innocent and released back to his clan compound, the village's public opinion no longer specifically targeted the obvious clan heads. Instead, it shifted towards the industries that each Ninja Clan considered their cash cows.

Deer antler, medicinal gardens, food streets, forestry, insect feed, steel industry, arms...

Various industries, originally firmly controlled by the Ninja Clans and considered their lifelines, suffered losses of varying degrees in this invisible struggle.

Seemingly insignificant losses, accumulated over a month, amounted to a terrifying sum.

However, even more terrifying than the financial losses was the accumulation of resentment deep within people's hearts.

Neither Shimura Danzo nor Sarutobi Hiruzen realized that their current focus was being intentionally or unintentionally diverted by certain individuals, shifting from the powerful Ninja Clan leaders to the commoners, who had weaker resistance and a quieter voice.

The strength of the elephant was accumulating, little by little.

CRASH.

The crumbling door frame finally smashed onto the charred ground.

A child, only eleven or twelve years old, stared blankly at his family's blacksmith shop, which had been burned to the ground.

The ninja kunai and other various weapons used for display in the warehouse and on the shelves had all been confiscated under the guise of inspection. His father, who had once been a ninja but ended up disabled, was knocked to the ground simply for resisting during the search. Before they left, a Fire Release jutsu was used on the shop.

All that was left for them was a 'search warrant' that had just been signed.

They probably didn't even know where the order came from.

Although no one was injured, this blacksmith shop, which had been operating since he was born, had finally reached its end.

His father sat slumped on the ground, his face full of despair. His leg, which was bound with a wooden stick for support, was caught in a crack in the stone. He was still clutching the nameplate painted with the 'Haruno' surname.

Their Haruno clan was just a small Ninja Clan, struggling for survival generation after generation, never daring to offend anyone else in the village.

How did they end up like this?

"Bastard!"

Haruno Genji pounded the ground fiercely, but he didn't even have the strength to support his own body. This ninja, who had never uttered a sound even with a blade to his throat, couldn't stop the tears from flowing now.

"They're (Konoha expletive)! How did the village become like this!"

"Fa... Father..." Haruno Kizashi's eyes were also red, his fists clenched tightly, his voice choked with tears. "Let's go to the Hokage Building and report them! They... they burned down our home!"

Haruno Genji sat on the ground, his face stiff, and remained silent for a long time.

Seek out the village?

If seeking out the village was useful, why did he only receive one-third of the compensation after losing a leg on the battlefield?

If seeking out the village was useful, why did his wife run off with a foreign merchant while he was on the battlefield, and the Ninja Marriage Law didn't impose any punishment, but instead allowed her to take nearly half of their property after the divorce?

If seeking out the village was useful, how would those guys dressed as Anbu dare...

BANG.

He punched the ground fiercely again.

Haruno Genji looked at the surrounding shopkeepers with their doors tightly shut and sighed deeply.

Finally, he struggled to lean on the wall that hadn't yet collapsed, supporting his body. He put his arm around his son's shoulder, his expression resolute. "We're going to the Disabled Ninja Association."

Haruno Kizashi was stunned by the words.

Although he was still young, because he ran around everywhere, he occasionally heard his friends in the village talking about this organization that had recently been giving speeches in various places. It was mostly made up of injured and disabled middle-aged ninjas, and they talked about things that children like him couldn't understand.

Haruno Genji understood, though.

But for people like them, who had a family, who would casually go near those 'idle', 'ungrateful', and 'very dangerous' people?

What if they did something dangerous one day? He would be fine on his own, but what about his son? His son still had to pass the exams for the Hokage Building's official positions in the future!

Haruno Genji used to think this way and looked down on those who blamed the village for every problem they encountered – he was a man who could be self-reliant no matter what difficulties he faced.

Until, the sparks scattered by certain people accidentally fell on his home as well.

In fact, if you looked down the entire street, only their house was burned, so it didn't seem to have that much impact.

However, a grain of dust from the era, falling on an individual, is a weight too heavy to bear in life.

Even before setting out, Haruno Genji was still uneasy.

What attitude would those dangerous commoners, whom he looked down upon, have towards someone like him, who had a family, came from a Ninja Clan, but had no property?

He couldn't say for sure himself.

But, driven by a certain spirit in the depths of his being, he still thought:

Let's go see.

The unfortunate tend to flock together with other unfortunate people.

The closest gathering spot to their home was a small mahjong parlor that also sold some tea and snacks. However, with the recent economic downturn in the village, fewer people were coming to drink tea and play mahjong.

It had been quiet for a long time since the war started.

But when the Haruno father and son walked into the mahjong parlor, it was bustling with activity.

Standing on a mahjong table was a man who was also disabled, missing an arm. He was shouting passionately at the crowd below:

"Today! We stand here, on the land of Konoha! The land our ancestors watered with blood and dignity!"

"On the mountain behind me, the statue of Lord Hashirama Senju is carved!"

"He is the light of the world!"

"He said that in Konoha, the elderly should be cared for, the young should be nurtured, and children should not have to go to the battlefield!"

"But now? I, you, us! All of us! We lost limbs on the battlefield, our children lost their lives on the battlefield, and after the war, we lost our dignity—up until now, have any of us who came from civilian backgrounds received a single medal, a word of praise, or even a single cent of postwar compensation?"

"Perhaps some of you will say: Ida-kun, I don't care about honor. As long as the village gives me, a man who lost an arm on the battlefield, a piece of bread, I will already be very grateful."

"Yes, you are right, the issue of survival is too important! But I want to tell you, there are things more important than life in this world, and that is dignity! That is rules!"

"The First Hokage established the village, the Second Hokage set the laws—those who contribute to the village should be supported by the village. This is a rule that anyone who becomes Hokage should abide by!"

"What we need is not just a piece of bread, but a living space built by rules! A living space belonging to those who sacrificed for Konoha!"

"This living space is not achieved through pleading and charity! It is achieved through iron and blood!"

Haruno Genji listened blankly. These speeches, which had sounded like mere noisy bird calls when he was well-fed and comfortable, had never resonated with him as they did today.

And it wasn't just him.

Everyone present, every single person who had voluntarily come into this mahjong parlor, was listening quietly.

Just like Little Xier had once said.

What drew the Germans to him was never his speeches, but the tyrannical tax collectors, bread costing half a million marks a loaf, loan sharking Squid People, and children who could starve to death even after their parents spent everything they had to buy food.

Only when they truly became victims did Haruno Genji truly realize how hot the flame in their hearts burned.

Standing on the mahjong table, Ida Masaya was responding with a high-pitched voice to that fervent heart and fervent gaze.

Just as he had done a month ago, when he was in the open space below the Hokage Rock, listening to Lord Sahara Mizu speak from the stage.

He firmly believed, just as Sahara Mizu had said!

Only Lord Tsunade, who possessed the bloodline of the Senju Clan, could bring them a more just Konoha!

However, before the speech could continue much longer, a sudden commotion came from outside.

"Disperse! Disperse!"

"Everyone inside, come out!"

The narrow mahjong parlor immediately fell into chaos.

Everyone realized that the Uchiha Police Force had arrived.

But Haruno Genji saw with his own eyes a small group of disabled Ninja, led by Ida Masaya and others, calmly get down from the mahjong table, supporting each other, and walk to the entrance surrounded by the crowd.

As soon as they exited the door, they were roughly pushed to the ground by the Uchiha and had shackles locked on them.

It looked very undignified.

However, in the eyes of victims like Haruno Genji, the moment they were shackled, they seemed to be emitting a strange, unique light of pioneers.

Haruno Genji suddenly turned his head instinctively to look at the people crowded inside the mahjong parlor.

Among them were civilians, some small Ninja Clans with unfamiliar clan crests embroidered on their clothes, and some who were physically disabled or poorly dressed.

These people were ordered to leave the mahjong parlor, but each of them held their heads high, staring intently at the Uchiha Police Force Ninja who had been sent to arrest them.

Everyone's eyes seemed to be filled with fire.

Haruno Genji lowered his head, looking at the son who was following him step by step, and then at the burnt corner of his own clothes.

At some point, a mahjong tile with a chipped corner, a Red Dragon, had appeared in his hand.

He couldn't even say what reason made him, a man who had been honest his whole life, suddenly burst out with such great courage.

Standing in the crowd, Haruno Genji suddenly raised his head and cursed loudly:

"To hell with it (Konoha expletive)!"

With a whoosh, the mahjong tile flew like a Shuriken, hitting the back of an Uchiha in the front row with a bang.

This small action immediately ignited the "crowd" like dynamite, causing an uproar. Their courage seemed to be ignited by the sparks, all at once.

In front of the mahjong parlor, various stones, mahjong tiles, wooden chopsticks, and table legs flew everywhere. A few of the more impulsive ones even charged into the group of arrested people led by Ida Masaya.

The Uchiha Police Force members present were instantly stunned.

But no one stopped. As if receiving some signal in this unified bravery, they howled and swarmed towards the mere six Uchiha Police Force members outside, a chaotic mess of wailing and crying.

However, reality didn't have that much unity, and Ninja were still Ninja. Any single one could take down dozens of them. Even more people were actually using this opportunity to constantly run outwards, to places where these Uchiha couldn't catch them, and then darting into the alleys.

Soon, Haruno Genji and the other twenty or so individuals who were the instigators were pinned to the ground.

As for those who seemed cowardly, they were like even hotter embers, silently flowing in all directions.

Thanks to book friends 20170401085049439, 20180703031814507, Youkli, 20181128165442216, Tenshi of Gensokyo, Shu Ou 20231111122158799, Author Get Up and Update, Maple of the End, Somewhere, book friend 151028203730881, Northern Territory God of War Ye Waizui, Bully Cockroach, and book friend 20180905185032500 for the monthly votes!

This chapter is 3.5k characters. There's one more update, which will be a bit later. I'll try to finish this section completely.

Everyone can just read it when they wake up tomorrow morning.