Will of Fire

The meeting came to an end. Orochimaru had merely raised the proposal; there was no need for him to personally handle the specific details. Even if any merchants came forward with questions, his subordinates would discuss them with them.

Shinobi were exceptionally skilled at disguise, and some shinobi even made their disguises into genuine performances. As the foremost shinobi village, Konoha naturally had no shortage of shinobi with business talent.

These carefully selected shinobi began discussing the specifics with the merchants. How exactly would Konoha and these major merchants cooperate in this Joint Security Company venture? What investments would the merchants need to make? And what would Konoha accomplish using those investments?

As for this matter, Orochimaru had actually consulted the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage's response was, "Any policy must closely adhere to the Will of Fire."

Orochimaru understood.

Starting from the Will of Fire would allow Konoha to occupy the moral high ground while also giving it greater room to maneuver.

Moreover, the Will of Fire was Konoha's political foundation to begin with. Acting from that basis was only proper.

For major powers, it was essential to speak of "righteousness."

This was the core logic behind political operations. Without it, the cost of maintaining those operations would rise sharply.

"Are you really planning to do this?" Tsunade still felt as though she were dreaming.

On the surface, it seemed like a simple matter: Konohagakure joining forces with major merchants to take responsibility for restoring public order within the Land of Fire.

Yet at its core, this violated the operating logic of the traditional shinobi system.

What were shinobi? Tools for killing. That was the core logic of the profession. Nearly all shinobi accepted this by default and took it for granted.

And now, Konoha's actions were undoubtedly abandoning that operating logic.

Were they still shinobi?

Tsunade was not opposed to it. She simply felt a powerful sense of dissonance, as though common sense itself had been violated.

It was as though no one had ever considered doing such a thing, yet someone now intended to do it—to do something no one else had ever imagined.

After all, shinobi who were tools for killing were now preserving peace and security.

It was far too contradictory.

"We've already begun taking action. Of course we're going to see it through," the Third Hokage said as he smoked.

"Old man, you actually don't object?" Tsunade demanded of him.

In her eyes, the Third Hokage was a stubborn old fossil. How could an old man like him accept such a change? Had he taken the wrong medicine or something?

"Call me Sensei." A smoking pipe struck Tsunade on the head.

Tsunade let out an "Ow," rubbing her head as she glared dissatisfiedly at the old man before her.

"Did you take the wrong medicine?" She voiced the slander in her heart.

The Third Hokage knew that he had to give her an explanation.

Jiraiya was watching him with confusion as well.

He took another puff of smoke.

"Because I have lost too much."

That concise sentence immediately made everyone present think of the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

They thought of the deceased Yondaime, and of the Third Hokage's deceased wife.

"The village has lost too much as well."

The Third Hokage spoke. He looked calm, as though he was not saddened, yet sometimes such calmness made the sorrow all the more palpable.

"I feel that we cannot keep losing things. I thought of Lord First..."

"Grandfather," Tsunade murmured.

"Yes. Lord First gave much for peace, and he truly did bring a brief period of peace. I vaguely remember that the world developed very quickly during that time. Much of the technology we have now was developed in that period. But after Lord First passed away, the world lost its stability, until the Shinobi World War broke out and the human world became sorrowful once more... Even during the intervals after the Shinobi World War ended, shinobi villages were preparing for the next war. Thus, they placed even greater importance on Mission Quotas, because they needed them to gain more sources of funding, and to train their shinobi through them for deployment in the next Shinobi World War."

Upon hearing this, the Konoha Sannin—Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—all fell silent.

Yakushi Nonō, who had accompanied them, also remained silent.

They had all experienced the successive tragedies of the Shinobi World War and understood this deeply.

Having experienced those tragedies, Tsunade believed that she herself had become "weak."

Having experienced those tragedies, Orochimaru had come to understand life's fragility even more keenly.

Having experienced those tragedies, Jiraiya hoped to bring them to an end and continued searching for hope.

Yakushi Nonō, too, did everything she could amid such tragedies to salvage their consequences—the orphans she could not bear to watch struggle hopelessly to survive, or even be abandoned to die.

"I have witnessed too many links in this chain of tragedy. It seemed never to stop, but I remember the beauty of the time when Lord First was alive. Why was it so beautiful then? I have thought about that. What was different about that time and now? What was different between the peace of that era and the brief so-called 'peace' between Shinobi World Wars now?"

"...You mean?" Tsunade seemed to realize something.

"In Lord First's era, the shinobi system and the shinobi village system were still very immature." The Third Hokage took a puff of smoke and said, "Lord First established peace. Everyone had already suffered enough through the chaos of the Warring States, and people longed for stability. There were not so many shinobi causing trouble, either. Everyone consciously maintained order. And the Konoha led by Lord First truly did strive to stabilize that order. At the time, they genuinely eradicated bandits and criminals completely. Some places could not afford to pay, yet Lord First was still willing to lead shinobi there without charge to eliminate them, all for the coming of peace."

"But the peace ended," Orochimaru said.

"Yes, the peace ended. The Shinobi World War came, and the shinobi village system rapidly 'matured.' It no longer naively pursued peace. The current shinobi system even became an obstacle to peace. All of this was because the Shinobi World War caused the shinobi village system to mature rapidly, causing everything to return to the original operating logic of shinobi."

As the Third Hokage spoke, he looked at everyone present.

"The chain of shinobi logic that Lord First had interrupted began operating once more. The reason for all of this lies in the nature of shinobi. If we want to change it all..."

This time, Jiraiya spoke.

"Then we must defy the nature of shinobi, make that nature different from what it was in the past."

"And that is Konoha's inborn responsibility. Because Konoha inherited Lord First's aspirations; we are the inheritors of the Will of Fire. We are the ones most likely to change this nature. We carry the hope of the shinobi world."

After the Third Hokage said this,

Tsunade fell into thought.

Orochimaru pondered.

And in Jiraiya's eyes, a blazing, scorching fire seemed to burn.

That was—

The Will of Fire.