The Culprits Behind the Ninja World War

Ideals?

When Tsunade heard that word, she could not help but sneer. She casually said to Hyuga Mirai, "Kid, you're only ten years old. What do you know about ideals? I'm one of the Sannin. Countless people would love to become my disciple, yet you, a little kid, actually turned me down!"

"Being ten doesn't mean I can't have ideals. It's fine if I ask you about some training-related matters, but if I became your disciple, we would inevitably part ways in the future. Tsunade-sama, you're too emotional. That's exactly why you're thinking of leaving Konoha immediately."

Hyuga Mirai paused, then continued speaking to Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, let's discuss this. Who do you think caused the Ninja World Wars to be so frequent?"

Tsunade's expression froze when she heard the question. This was far beyond anything she had ever considered.

Though she had once worked toward peace, she had never thought about who caused wars.

Tsunade had participated in the Second Shinobi World War, and her impression of that war was exceptionally deep.

Was it Hanzo the Salamander, the Demi-God? Or Suna-nin?

But Konoha had been the one to invade the Rain Country. Tsunade remembered it clearly. To avoid fighting on their own soil, Konoha had directly chosen to battle the Suna-nin in the Rain Country, dragging Amegakure into the war at the same time.

Though it had been to defend the village, and the Suna-nin had already shown intentions of attacking, Konoha had still been the one to initiate the war.

"Why not hear my thoughts first, Tsunade-sama?" Hyuga Mirai paused before saying, "I think it was the Sage of Six Paths and your grandfather, the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju."

"Kid, what did you say!?"

"Tsunade-sama, don't be in such a hurry. You can get angry after you've heard me out."

As Tsunade clenched her fist and shouted, Hyuga Mirai hurriedly waved his hand at her. This was not a Shadow Clone. If he got punched by accident, he could just give up on the mission and lie in bed for half a month.

"Fine. Let's see what kind of twisted logic you have!"

Tsunade slammed the table in anger, then folded her arms and stared coldly at Hyuga Mirai. In her heart, her grandfather had always been the legendary Ninja who pacified an age of chaos. Tsunade had always been proud of him. Nor was that view hers alone; everyone in Konoha thought so. Even Ninja Academy textbooks recorded the God of Shinobi's achievements, though not as extensively as those of the current Hokage, and with quite a bit of embellishment.

"Tsunade-sama, how many people can an ordinary person kill?"

Tsunade replied irritably, "How would I know?"

Hyuga Mirai did not mind and continued, "Let's assume the other side fights back. Even in one-on-one combat, based on an ordinary person's stamina, they would be exhausted after killing more than ten people. If you gave them a weapon, that number would rise somewhat—perhaps to around thirty to fifty people."

"But if you replace the weapon with Chakra, even a Genin can easily kill dozens of ordinary people. If they can use Ninjutsu, the efficiency would be even greater."

"One could say that Chakra is more efficient than any weapon. Even Samurai have begun learning Chakra because it makes them stronger. And the source of Chakra's widespread dissemination should have been the Sage of Six Paths, who founded Ninshu. It is said that he spread Chakra to connect people's hearts, right?"

Tsunade did not refute that, whether regarding Chakra or the Sage of Six Paths' deeds.

Hyuga Mirai asked again, "Then, Tsunade-sama, would you be willing to let me connect with your heart? To see through everything you're thinking?"

"What kind of joke is that, White-eyed Kid!?"

Was that not the Yamanaka Clan's Ninjutsu interrogation? How could Tsunade possibly agree to such a thing?

Hyuga Mirai shook his head. "It seems the Sage of Six Paths' idea failed. Yet Chakra spread far and wide. By now, there are more than a hundred thousand people who possess Chakra."

"When Samurai under the Daimyo fought one another, casualties in a single war numbered only in the dozens. But after they were replaced by Ninja, casualties numbered in the hundreds at the slightest provocation."

"This was the Sage of Six Paths' original purpose in spreading Chakra. His idea was quite good, and while he was alive, he could make it work. But once the Sage of Six Paths died, his ideas and plans gradually vanished. Just like Tsunade-sama's grandfather: while he was alive, he could pacify an age of chaos through his overwhelming strength, but after the First Lord died..."

Hyuga Mirai slowly explained his thoughts. If one were to summarize the Sage of Six Paths' actions, he simply had not thought far enough ahead. With overwhelming strength, he could naturally make others follow his ideals, but once he died, everything changed.

The root of the conflict could even be traced back to Asura and Indra, though Black Zetsu bore half the blame.

"If Chakra had not spread so widely and had instead remained in the hands of only a small number of people, then even if fighting still existed today, at most it would be hundreds of people wielding swords and spears, fighting for a while before negotiating after half an hour. The casualties would be far fewer than those caused by Ninja battles."

"If the Sage of Six Paths merely made a poor start, then I truly cannot understand Hashirama Senju's actions."

Hyuga Mirai directly complained to Tsunade.

"How did he come up with the idea of distributing Tailed Beasts? To balance the strength between nations and make war less likely to break out? Then why didn't he give away all of Konoha's Ninjutsu scrolls? Now, once war begins, Konoha Ninja will have to face the seven Tailed Beasts he handed out back then."

Tsunade retorted, "Kid, the power of Tailed Beasts is not so easily controlled. Sending them away back then was also a decision made after much consideration."

Hyuga Mirai said, "But the current outcome is completely opposite to Hashirama Senju's intentions. If ordinary Ninja encountered Kumogakure's Jinchuriki on the battlefield, they would probably be scared out of their wits."

Kumogakure had found a way to cultivate Perfect Jinchuriki. Kirigakure was also training Jinchuriki. Though Iwa-nin's Four-Tails Jinchuriki was not very sociable, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki was already capable of taking the battlefield.

Besides, Tobirama Senju, that great inventor, had been around back then. He could even create Ninjutsu that summoned the dead. Hyuga Mirai refused to believe Tobirama Senju could not have developed a method to control Tailed Beasts.

Put bluntly, they had read too little and seen too little. They thought they were striving toward peace, when in fact they had been moving in the opposite direction all along.

"You little brat!!"

"I'll be leaving now, Tsunade-sama."

Seeing that the veins on Tsunade's face were about to burst, Hyuga Mirai immediately took his leave. Before leaving, however, he still left Tsunade with one final remark.

"Tsunade-sama, I may not necessarily be right, but you can treat it as a reference. If you have other ideas, you're welcome to discuss them with me."

Hyuga Mirai disavowed everything he had just said the moment he stepped outside. Even if Tsunade asked him again, saying such things once was enough. If Tsunade could not figure it out, there would be no need for further conversation in the future.

In any case, he had asked about nearly all the Sealing Technique and Medical Ninjutsu knowledge he needed. Although Tsunade had not taught him any specific Ninjutsu, Hyuga Mirai already understood the principles behind those two S-rank Ninjutsu. In the future, he planned to create S-rank Ninjutsu that belonged solely to him.

Everything Hyuga Mirai did now was to increase his strength. Even researching the Caged Bird Seal was for the sake of eliminating the fatal weakness on his body.

After leaving Konoha Hospital, Hyuga Mirai kept thinking as he walked home.

Why hadn't Orochimaru come looking for him yet? Should I release more information about Cell Gene research...?

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