Cage Theory!

"Since you're Minato Senior Brother's friend, I'll call you Jin Big Brother!"

After learning about Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze's connection, Yahiko's Trio lowered their guard against Uchiha Jin somewhat.

Uchiha Jin smiled. "Of course you can!"

Yahiko spoke again. "Jin Big Brother, let's put aside Hanzō and Shimura Danzō for now. Can you tell me about your idea for resolving conflicts?"

Although Hanzō the Salamander being controlled by Uchiha Jin with genjutsu was shocking, Yahiko had not forgotten that Uchiha Jin claimed to have a way to resolve conflicts.

After gaining a preliminary understanding of the nature of war, Yahiko was eager to learn how war could be ended.

Even Nagato and Konan looked at Uchiha Jin, equally curious about this.

Uchiha Jin did not beat around the bush. "The method is actually very simple. Just change your position!"

"Change our position? What does that mean?"

Yahiko's Trio was utterly confused.

Uchiha Jin smiled and explained, "The situation in this world is very complicated, so let's simplify it first, then work from small to large!"

"Suppose we remove every other factor and lock two people in a cage, giving them only one steamed bun each day. What do you think is most likely to happen in that cage next?"

"They'll fight over it!" Yahiko answered without hesitation. "One steamed bun isn't enough for two people. If they want to survive, they can only fight over that one and only steamed bun!"

Uchiha Jin nodded. "There is no denying that human nature has many shining qualities, but when faced with the instinct to survive, most people will seize that one and only hope of staying alive!"

"In this scenario, that cage is the world, those two people are competitors, and that steamed bun is a limited resource!"

"Now, let me add another variable. What if the people in the cage are close friends, brothers, or father and son? What would the outcome be then?"

Yahiko's Trio froze and exchanged glances.

Nagato spoke firmly. "If Yahiko and I were locked in that cage, I would leave the steamed bun to Yahiko!"

"Nagato, you..."

Yahiko turned toward Nagato, deeply moved.

Uchiha Jin smiled and said to Yahiko, "I imagine you would leave the steamed bun to Nagato too."

Yahiko nodded without hesitation. "Of course!"

Uchiha Jin continued, "Think about it. How has the situation in the cage changed from before?"

Yahiko hesitated at those words. "Is it because Nagato and I are friends? So we still need to use love to move the other person?"

Uchiha Jin: "..."

Yahiko scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Was I wrong?"

Uchiha Jin gave a dry cough. "On the surface, it is as you said, but fundamentally, it is a change in both sides' positions!"

"At first, the two people in the cage stood on their own respective positions and acted for themselves, which was why conflict arose!"

"But once the people in the cage became you and Nagato, your positions changed. You were standing on the same side!"

"That is why you would yield the steamed bun to each other, and even work together to solve the problem of there not being enough steamed buns!"

Yahiko suddenly realized and slapped the table. "So the best way to resolve conflicts is to put everyone on the same side!"

"Smart!" Uchiha Jin praised. "You have good talent. You understand the moment you're taught!"

"It was because Jin Big Brother explained it so clearly!" Yahiko shook his head, then added, "But changing positions sounds simple. It must be difficult to actually put into practice, right?"

"That is exactly what I will explain next!" Uchiha Jin's smile faded as he asked solemnly, "What do you think a village is?"

"A village? This..."

Yahiko frowned. Although he was from the Land of Rain, he was not from Amegakure.

So when Uchiha Jin suddenly asked what a village was, he found himself unable to answer.

Seeing this, Uchiha Jin did not wait any longer and said directly, "Before the One Country, One Village System was established, this world was in the chaotic Warring States Period. Ninja clans and ninja organizations fought fiercely over resources!"

"It was like placing the cage holding you and Nagato among many other cages holding other people!"

"At that time, you and Nagato shared the same position, making you a clan! The other cages were other clans or forces!"

"And your position toward those other cages became different again!"

"Then, several decades ago, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan stepped forward and joined with other clans to establish the first village!"

"That was equivalent to changing the positions of dozens of cages and unifying them into a single position!"

"As a result, the conflicts between those dozens of cages diminished. They gained mutual restraints and could use certain methods to resolve conflicts, or shift those conflicts outward and unite against external enemies!"

"Just like the beginning of this Third Shinobi World War!"

"The beginning of this war?" Yahiko was stunned and asked doubtfully, "Jin Big Brother, wasn't the Third Shinobi World War triggered by the disappearance of Sunagakure's Third Kazekage?"

Uchiha Jin shook his head. "The disappearance of the Third Kazekage was the fuse of the war, not its true beginning!"

"In fact, Sunagakure's defeat in the previous war, along with certain differences with the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, caused Sunagakure to run a fiscal deficit. Its expenses exceeded its income, leading to major internal conflicts!"

"Those conflicts could not be resolved, so they could only resolve the people who created them!"

"Thus, they used the disappearance of the Third Kazekage as a pretext to unite all of Sunagakure, using a major conflict to conceal smaller ones, shifting the conflict outward, and launching a war!"

"Once the war ended, the village would be devastated and in need of manpower everywhere. Those old minor conflicts would then vanish without a trace!"

"The situations in other villages, such as Iwagakure and Kumogakure, were largely the same, which was why they entered the war one after another!"

"At the end of the day, every war is a major reshuffling of internal interests!"

"That is also an important reason why Sunagakure, clearly the weakest ninja village among the Five Great Nations, would declare war on Konoha, the strongest among them!"

Yahiko's Trio all wore grave expressions upon hearing this.

Yahiko muttered softly, "So such problems were hidden behind war... I had thought about things too simply before!"

Nagato looked at Uchiha Jin and said, "Jin Big Brother, then even if people share the same position, conflicts are still unavoidable."

Uchiha Jin nodded. "That is because even within the same larger position, everyone still has their own smaller positions!"

Nagato frowned. "So true peace is still difficult to achieve?"

"Of course not!" Uchiha Jin smiled. "With a larger shared position in place, conflicts between smaller positions can be eliminated through peaceful means!"

"And a unified larger position is only the first step. The second step is to liberate the productive forces!"