Abstention

"Candidates One and Two, enter the arena!"

Fuyuki and Amayuri stepped into the arena, taking their places to the left and right of Kuga Enji.

"Before the exam begins, I will ask one last time: are there any questions?" Kuga Enji asked sternly.

The moment the words left his lips, Fuyuki raised his hand.

"I have one!"

Kuga Enji nodded. "Speak."

Fuyuki's expression was complex. His gaze swept across the crowd of spectators before finally settling on Yagura.

"I forfeit."

"Forfeit?" Kuga Enji's eyes narrowed. "Why are you forfeiting only now?"

Fuyuki lowered his voice. "I thought it over carefully, and I have absolutely no confidence in a fight against classmate Amayuri, so..."

Kuga Enji fell silent for a moment, then said indifferently, "The forfeit is valid. Amayuri wins."

Beside the second-floor railing, Kanna muttered to himself, "Impressive..."

Someone actually forfeited? Was Jubei's "Talk no Jutsu" really that powerful? Or had something happened that he wasn't aware of?

Furthermore, the reaction of the spectators was something he couldn't quite grasp.

Logically, a forfeit occurring right before an exam should have sparked a flurry of discussion, yet the arena was deathly silent, as if everyone had anticipated this and felt no surprise at all.

Kanna scanned the crowd one by one. He saw that a portion of the people, including his own father, had grim expressions and furrowed brows, while others remained indifferent, looking completely unconcerned.

Kanna couldn't help but think of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the elder Shimura Danzō in Konoha. During the Nine-Tails incident, the plan to destroy Konoha, and Pain's assault on the village, the Root organization led by Danzō had acted just like this: neither betraying their own nor stepping in to help. They simply kept their subordinates under strict restraint, expressing their resistance through "inaction" and their dissatisfaction through cold violence.

Subconsciously glancing at the Third Hokage, Kanna noticed that he still maintained a polite smile. As for what he was truly thinking, Kanna had no way of knowing, but it certainly wasn't a pleasant mood.

Below, the forfeiting Fuyuki kept his head down and left the arena immediately, not even bothering to watch the subsequent matches. Amayuri stared at Fuyuki's retreating back for a moment before returning to the contestants' bench.

"Next is Candidate Three, Kanna, versus Candidate Four, Momochi Zabuza." Kuga Enji continued to guide the proceedings, looking up at Kanna and Zabuza on the second floor. "Will the two of you please enter the arena?"

"I forfeit!" Zabuza didn't even move, stating it flatly.

"Hiss..." Kanna drew a sharp breath. Even Zabuza had been talked into it?

At this point, Kanna's social anxiety flared up. Looking around, everyone remained calm and silent; he felt as if he were caught in a wordless war, completely out of place.

Originally, Kanna had expected to have a proper fight with Zabuza, aiming to return that sword strike from years ago as a form of revenge. But now, the turn of events was completely beyond his expectations. Fuyuki forfeited, Zabuza forfeited—it was as if this exam were a flood or a wild beast that everyone was avoiding.

I just wanted to take a proper exam, damn it! Kanna thought, feeling aggrieved.

Below, Kuga Enji fell silent once more. After a long while, he spoke in that resonant, forceful voice: "Zabuza forfeits. Kanna wins."

At this moment, someone in the spectator stands finally spoke up.

Jubei stood up and said, "Since both matches ended with one person forfeiting, surely classmate Kanna and classmate Amayuri don't need the three days of rest? They could proceed directly to the final showdown, couldn't they?"

Just as Jubei finished, Long countered, "The designated three days are not just for the contestants to rest; they are also for them to prepare specific tactics and ninjutsu. Let's stick to the original plan and hold the exam in three days."

Jubei smiled slightly and looked at Kanna and Amayuri.

"So that's how it is. However, why don't we see what the two candidates choose?"

"No need for such trouble; I shall decide," Kuga Enji interjected, his tone flat. "As the chief examiner for this test, it is within this humble one's authority to determine how the exam proceeds. While the preliminaries have seen some changes, it does not affect the outcome. The finals will still begin in three days."

The Third Hokage clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention, and announced, "Since it is the chief examiner's decision, then, everyone, we shall meet again in three days."

That evening, in Tokiomi's study.

"I don't understand, Father. What are those people fighting over? Money? Power? Since they are ninjas, why should they care about such things?"

In Kanna's view, as a ninja, one should focus entirely on cultivation. Once one reached the point of being invincible under the heavens, what could they not do? What could they not obtain?

Admittedly, many people, due to talent or opportunity, could never reach the peak, but that should not be a reason for them to focus all their energy on scheming and excluding others.

Tokiomi did not answer, silently practicing his calligraphy.

Tenjō tenge yuiga dokuson, Amenominaka-nushi-no-kami, Kokoro no arika.

The meaning of this passage was "Above and below heaven, I alone am honored; Amenominaka-nushi-no-kami, the dwelling place of the heart." Among these, "Above and below heaven, I alone am honored" was Kanna's answer when discussing the Way of the Ninja with Tokiomi, meaning to never forget one's original intent and to always uphold one's own "Way." The latter part, "Amenominaka-nushi-no-kami, the dwelling place of the heart," referenced the title of a deity. The ultimate techniques of the Sharingan were often named after gods, such as Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Izanagi, and Kagutsuchi. Yet, Amenominaka-nushi-no-kami was a deity of an even higher order. Tokiomi writing this likely meant to use "Amenominaka" as a metaphor for the God of the Center—which could be interpreted as one's philosophy or Way of the Ninja—and that these things resided within the human heart.

After finishing the passage, Tokiomi shifted his brush and began to write the character for "Heart" (Kokoro). His strokes carried a sense of depth and grandeur, the final dot pressing so hard it seemed to pierce through the paper, making one feel that this was not just a human heart, but the heart and intent of the universe.

"How is your calligraphy?" Tokiomi suddenly set down his brush and asked. "Write something for me to see."

Kanna understood that Tokiomi wanted to see his "heart" and "intent" through his writing. To be honest, he felt this attitude of judging a person by their calligraphy was completely wrong; history was full of examples of people with beautiful handwriting who were complete failures as human beings.

However, since it was his father's request, Kanna obediently picked up the brush, his hand moving like a dragon or a snake, sketching with a single stroke.

Kanna also wrote the character for "Heart," but his calligraphy was different from Tokiomi's. If Tokiomi's writing was vigorous and powerful, with the steady composure of a middle-aged man, then Kanna's was soaring and agile, sharp and exposed, like a sudden storm or a rushing mountain torrent.

Tokiomi looked at Kanna's writing and nodded, offering no critique, but instead returning to the initial topic.

"When different styles of calligraphy are mixed in the same piece, it appears chaotic. Ninjas who hold different philosophies will also display different attitudes when dealing with matters."

Kanna seemed to grasp his meaning. "And so?"

"Trying to forcibly change one's own or another's thoughts..." Tokiomi said, lifting his brush and painting over Kanna's "Heart" character, "...is like trying to forcibly alter a style of calligraphy. No matter how much you use ink to smear over the edges, it will never be perfect."

Kanna looked down and saw that the original character had been painted into something unrecognizable. As layer upon layer of ink was added, it eventually became nothing more than a black blotch.

"The more you try to correct it, the more ink you must expend, until it becomes nothing but a useless, illegible smear!"

Kanna frowned and asked, "Is there truly no way for them to coexist? What if everyone just took a step back?"

"Coexist? Of course they can!" Tokiomi laughed heartily. With a grand sweep of his brush, he pressed the side of the tip heavily onto the ink-blotted 'Heart' character, adding a dot, a vertical stroke, a horizontal stroke, and a hook. The thick, wide ink completely obscured the original stain.

Finally, he added two dots, and a massive 'Heart' character that filled the entire page appeared before Kanna's eyes.

"Make it bigger! Big enough to encompass it!" Tokiomi threw down the brush and pointed at the calligraphy, his expression solemn. "Make that original character a part of you! Only then can true coexistence be achieved!"

Kanna was stunned; this kind of hands-on teaching was truly unforgettable.

Tokiomi had said so much, but it all boiled down to one sentence: those with different paths cannot make plans together. Either you suppress others, or you are suppressed by them; all talk of taking a step back or mutual cooperation is a lie.

If Madara Uchiha and Hashirama could have truly cooperated, the ninja world would have been pacified long ago.

If the Five Great Nations could cooperate, perhaps their borders would have expanded into other dimensions by now.

If Hashirama hadn't set aside his dignity as the God of Shinobi at the Five Kage Summit and kowtowed firmly to everyone, the situation in the ninja world would never have stabilized so quickly.

Even the Sage of Six Paths Brothers and their mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki, fell out due to conflicting ideologies, reaching the point of life-and-death struggle—let alone anyone else. One must remember that these three belonged to the level of the progenitors of ninjas, possessing nearly all the wealth and power in the world, practically omnipotent, yet they still ended up in a total rupture.

As things stood, the Mizukage and the clans were no longer fighting merely for leadership, but for the future development path of Kirigakure. After all, the Third Hokage had been the supreme leader for so many years; he wouldn't cling to the position of Mizukage out of a mere attachment to power.

Should power be centralized or decentralized? Should the right to foreign trade be public or held by the village? How should the next generation of Kirigakure ninjas be trained?

A plan where everyone takes a step back would only result in something ambiguous and nonsensical. Only by suppressing the opposition and allowing the village to resolutely implement one system could it move forward effectively.

(PS: Regarding the topic debated in the book review section: The first question, won't using the Flying Thunder God Technique to fly around Kirigakure be discovered? My answer is: Obito used Kamui to enter and exit Konoha, spying on Minato, Kakashi, and Rin's memorial stone more than once or twice, and he was fine. He isn't Itachi; he doesn't know the passwords for every barrier. The locations where Kanna placed his coordinates are all open areas; if they were restricted zones, he wouldn't be able to get in at all, so nothing would happen. Even if we take a step back and say he was discovered and something went wrong, so what? At worst, he leaves Kirigakure, hides for a few years, and comes back for revenge. The second question, regarding the lack of obvious conflict and the idea that the Third and the clans could fully cooperate: this is only theoretical, just as it is theoretically possible for Country Z and Country M to cooperate. Even Danzo and Hiruzen, who were best friends, couldn't cooperate, let alone others. People today fight for a breath of pride, and ninjas fight for their Ninja Way; how can they cooperate if their Ninja Ways differ? The third question, is it appropriate to give the protagonist so many cheats so early? The so-called cheats are just in terms of ninjutsu, right? Naruto's Nine-Tails is a cheat, Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan is a cheat, Nagato's Rinnegan is a cheat, all Jinchuriki are cheats, and Kekkei Genkai are also cheats. This is nothing; chakra and combat techniques still depend on oneself. Kakashi copied most of the ninjutsu in the ninja world, and we didn't see him become anything special. That is all. If you have opinions, keep posting them in the review section; I read them every day.)