Conflict

He slept like the dead.

By the time he woke, the sun was already high in the sky.

Shiraishi Yoshijo rubbed his bleary eyes, yawned, and got up to wash.

After eating, he leisurely made his way to the Takemoto Clan.

Today was the day he joined the Anbu.

But before heading to the Anbu, he still had to tell Takemoto Shuichi about it.

When he saw Takemoto Shuichi, Shiraishi Yoshijo told him he was joining the Anbu.

Takemoto Shuichi's expression turned a little odd.

"Joining the Anbu is fine, but I'd rather you joined the regular forces."

"You should understand your responsibilities. Study hard in the Anbu and work to improve your strength."

"Once you're strong enough, we'll support you even if you want to become Hokage one day."

There it was again. Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed and shrugged, gave him a couple of halfhearted replies, then left the Takemoto Clan.

Takemoto Masamasa came out and watched Shiraishi Yoshijo's retreating figure. "Father, you can see he has no interest in that at all."

"Silly boy, when you were little, you ate from a small bowl. When you grew up, you ate from a big bowl. Do you know why?"

"Of course! Because I grew up and ate more!"

Takemoto Masamasa smiled. "Right now, he's still eating from a small bowl. If you talk to him about becoming Hokage, he'll surely think it's unrealistic."

"Once he's eating from a big bowl, even if he doesn't want to become Hokage, he won't have a choice. The times will push him forward."

"Struggle is human nature. As long as he isn't destroyed by it, he'll emerge from his cocoon as a butterfly."

"Even if he's a dog, as long as he dares to fight, he can become a wolf."

On the way to the Anbu, Shiraishi Yoshijo ran into the person he least wanted to see.

Shimura Danzō.

Shiraishi Yoshijo began to lament his miserable fate.

When he was born, he'd thought he'd landed in a good family. But before he'd enjoyed many good days, his clan was on the verge of disappearing.

So what if his clan was gone? Shiraishi Yoshijo figured that as long as he didn't get himself killed, he could still get by.

Who could've guessed he'd become a thorn in Danzō's side, with Danzō watching him without even blinking?

Danzō had tried every which way to control him. Now that Shiraishi Yoshijo was growing up, Danzō had probably started sharpening his knives.

He'd dodged and kept his head down, hoping to grow in secret.

But then he'd caught the attention of Mei, that inhuman creature.

She'd given him a pile of benefits, then planned to use him as a tool.

Why was it so hard to live in peace?

Had some great responsibility really fallen to him?

Give me a break. He felt like a walking jinx, with misfortune clinging to him. He could always manage to survive, but never in peace.

He lived in constant fear, treading on thin ice—worse off than an ordinary civilian.

Shaking his head, Shiraishi Yoshijo looked at Danzō and said irritably, "What are you plotting this time, Lord Danzō? Can't you just leave me alone?"

Danzō's expression darkened. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just want you to tell me one thing: how did you know Yakushi Nonō's identity?"

Danzō had had a terrible couple of days. After Yakushi Nonō's identity was exposed, he'd argued with Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Before he'd even cooled off, people had surrounded his home and demanded that he hand over the brat in front of him.

Danzō wasn't stupid. Even if he wanted to kill the brat, he wouldn't do it in the village.

Unfortunately, nobody believed him.

Just as he was preparing to make a move, someone reported that the brat had already gone home.

The people surrounding him quickly left, leaving Danzō standing there in utter confusion.

He felt as if someone had made a fool of him.

How could Danzō, whose ambitions reached for the heavens, endure such mockery? That was why he'd come here.

"Lord Danzō says he doesn't know what I'm talking about, so why ask me about Yakushi Nonō? I don't know what you're talking about either."

Danzō fixed Shiraishi Yoshijo with a cold stare. After a moment, he spat out two words.

"Very well."

"I'm doing just fine. You, on the other hand, don't seem to be. Let's not waste each other's time. A good dog doesn't block the road."

The veins bulged on Danzō's forehead. Shiraishi Yoshijo's hand began moving toward his ninja tool pouch.

In the end, Danzō didn't attack. He knew that if he did, things would spiral beyond recovery.

"I'll keep watching you from the shadows. I hope you don't do anything out of line. If you do, don't blame me for showing no mercy."

Shiraishi Yoshijo raised an eyebrow. "There's something I hope you understand, Lord Danzō. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered."

Danzō snorted and turned away.

Only after Danzō had disappeared from view did Shiraishi Yoshijo relax.

He knew that winning or losing a verbal exchange didn't matter. It was just that he'd been nursing anger for the past few days.

Or rather, he'd been holding it in ever since Shiraishi Eizawa died.

After what had happened in Butterfly Habitat Valley, the fire inside him had burned even hotter.

For Danzō to show up in front of him now was just asking for trouble.

He was certain Danzō wouldn't attack him in the village. He'd only been on guard because Danzō put too much pressure on him.

Danzō was undoubtedly at the peak of his strength right now, nothing like the later version who used the strange technique Izanagi.

Shiraishi Yoshijo could sense that Danzō had already gathered a huge amount of Chakra inside his body.

The pressure of Danzō's presence had forced Shiraishi Yoshijo to prepare to defend himself.

Luckily, Danzō hadn't attacked. Otherwise, he'd have had no choice but to call for help.

"Come out, Captain."

Hatake Sakumo stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

"Lord Danzō is a senior figure in the village, after all. Was it really wise to treat him like that?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo shrugged. "People surrounded him yesterday. We've already fallen out. Why bother worrying about something so trivial?"

Trivial? Hatake Sakumo gave a bitter smile.

He knew a little about what was going on in the village. It was all maneuvering between the great ninja clans.

For a man like him, following the Hokage was the only path forward.

At least his blade was fast.

After helping Shiraishi Yoshijo complete his enrollment, Hatake Sakumo took him to the Hokage Office.

"The village has been tense these past couple of days because of you. You should explain things to Lord Hokage."

There wasn't much to explain. Shiraishi Yoshijo simply said he'd encountered a bit of trouble at the summoning grounds, and the Third Hokage let him go.

Of course, Hiruzen still made him promise to do his best to prevent anything like that from happening again.

Hatake Sakumo then took him to the training ground reserved for the Anbu.

After leaving the Hokage Office, Shiraishi Yoshijo began thinking about Mei.

He'd more or less formed a theory about her.

Mei was probably the first ninja in the clan to begin using a Secret Technique.

Thinking of the evolution Jo had told him about, Shiraishi Yoshijo was certain Mei had become something like an immortal.

The Shi-Die Clan raised butterflies with their bodies, and the butterflies drained their life force. Some of that life force nourished the Butterfly Seeds, while the rest nourished Mei.

To get more life force, Mei had even concocted a lie to deceive the Shi-Die Clan, telling them that Ninja Butterflies were the spirits of their loved ones.

Only the clan leader should have known the truth, and the clan leader would never reveal it.

In a world torn by war, living without power was worse than being dead.

Giving up only a little life force in exchange for great strength was a bargain by any measure.

Mei was clever, too. Or perhaps she already thought like a human, with a mind closer to theirs.

Life force was something she always needed.

She could suppress her hunger and slowly drain the clan members' life force, turning the entire Shi-Die Clan into her personal source of income.

To put it plainly, their clan was food Mei had raised, like pigs in a pen.

When people ran out of money, they killed pigs—but they didn't kill sows, because sows could give birth to piglets.

Pigs bred pigs, money made money, people begot people. An endless stream of life force flowed into Mei.

Now there was only one Shi-Die left: him. His life force surely couldn't sustain Mei, so she'd come up with a new plan.

She'd start over and cultivate a new Shi-Die Clan that could supply her with life force indefinitely. Perhaps Mei had done this before. After all, they Shi-Die had the surname Shiraishi.

Other families used their surnames to identify themselves, but their clan used butterflies as codenames.

Could there have been other Shi-Die families in the past?

It wasn't impossible. The thought made Shiraishi Yoshijo inwardly groan.

Mei had told him to spread the Butterfly Seeds. If he really did, she might discard him the moment she no longer needed him.

But if he didn't, Mei would kill him and search for a new Shi-Die Clan herself.

So what was he supposed to do?

"I think you're overthinking it. Lady Mei wouldn't do that."

Shiraishi Yoshijo froze, then entered the Consciousness Space.

Another version of himself stood there, waiting for him.