The Problem with Danzo

"Don't worry, Third Hokage. I'll become an excellent ninja and protect the village and my comrades. That's my way of the ninja!"

"Is that so? As expected of a descendant of the First Hokage. You've truly inherited the Will of Fire!" Sarutobi smiled approvingly, then turned to the people beside him. "Everyone, this is my new young disciple, Senju Nawaki. I'm sure you've all heard his name. For certain reasons, I haven't formally taken him on as my student and announced it to the world, but we've already established our master-disciple relationship." To protect Nawaki from attracting the attention of other countries too soon, the Third Hokage couldn't publicly take him on as his student yet. But establishing their relationship in front of the High Command would benefit both Nawaki and him.

Nawaki bowed gracefully. "Senju Nawaki greets all of you esteemed elders."

"What a polite child!"

"And a genius, too!"

Some of the Konoha High Command smiled and nodded in greeting, while others praised him outright. They were all showing their goodwill.

"Nawaki, how do you think we should protect the village and our comrades? Should we eliminate our enemies or passively defend ourselves?" Shimura Danzo stared at Nawaki as he asked.

Everyone fell silent at his question, eager to hear Nawaki's answer.

Nawaki pondered for a moment, then answered seriously, "I think we should... cultivate ourselves when poor, and help the world when prosperous! The greater our abilities, the greater our responsibility!"

"Oh? An interesting way of putting it. What do you mean, specifically?"

"For example, Konoha doesn't currently have an overwhelming advantage over the rest of the Shinobi World. So our main task is to protect the village and the Land of Fire while gradually strengthening ourselves. That's what I mean by cultivating ourselves when poor."

"And what should Konoha do once its strength is great enough to surpass the rest of the Shinobi World?"

"Then we should help the world when prosperous. Konoha should shoulder the responsibility of being the foremost shinobi village and use its strength to preserve world peace, just as the First Hokage did!"

"And how would we preserve it? After all, the Shinobi World fell into war again after the First Hokage died," Danzo asked with a frown.

"If possible, we should help the Daimyo of the Land of Fire unify all the countries. There would be sacrifices, but it would also make lasting peace more likely. Under the rule of overwhelming power, war could be prevented!"

Hearing Nawaki's answer, the Third Hokage couldn't help asking, "Nawaki, are you saying Konoha should start a war once it has enough strength? War isn't child's play. Once it begins, it's hard to stop. Even the First and Second Hokage couldn't defeat the combined armies of the great nations. This could very well drag the world into an abyss!"

Nawaki shook his head. "Teacher Sarutobi, you've misunderstood me. I never said we should unify the countries by starting a war!"

"What other way is there to unify the Shinobi World besides war?" the Third Hokage and Danzo asked in unison. No wonder they were such close "buddies."

Nawaki smiled confidently. "The struggles between countries drag on for a long time; they can't be settled overnight. Besides the Shinobi Army, economics and diplomacy are also crucial factors. Sometimes, they're even more important than the Shinobi Army!"

The High Command had all handled government affairs for years, so they naturally understood this. They all nodded in agreement.

In the Naruto world, there were many powerful fighters—some could take on ten thousand opponents or even destroy the world. Yet since the Sage of Six Paths founded the Ninja Sect, no one had managed to unify the Shinobi World through personal strength alone. Even Kaguya Otsutsuki had placed her hopes in Infinite Tsukuyomi to forcibly control the world, and in the end, she still couldn't escape being sealed.

No matter how powerful a ninja was, he always had weaknesses, and there were always other powerful fighters who could stand against him. They were merely warriors wielding the power of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons on Earth could also destroy the world, so why could the great nations maintain peace while the Naruto world was constantly at war? Because the shinobi villages were the actual rulers of each country's military power, and the leaders of the villages thought like soldiers, not politicians. Meanwhile, the Daimyo, who did have political acumen, couldn't control the Shinobi Army. This left every country militaristic—and if the whole world was made up of militaristic countries, war was inevitable!

"For a long time, the great nations have followed the one-country, one-village system. The shinobi villages protect their countries, while the Daimyo manage the countries' economies and provide the villages with resources and funding. The countries and shinobi villages support each other, yet remain relatively independent. The Daimyo even have the power to choose the Hokage, while the shinobi in the villages don't produce anything themselves and can only earn money by completing missions. As a result, the villages control the countries' overwhelming military strength but hold an inferior position politically, nominally having to obey the Daimyo. That's because the Daimyo control the villages' economic lifelines!"

The Konoha High Command nodded repeatedly as they listened to Nawaki's analysis. They knew all too well how it felt. No one in a position of power wanted someone else—especially someone weaker—to have leverage over them. It left them choking with frustration. Even the easygoing Sarutobi was no exception. He was the Hokage; his position naturally shaped his perspective.

A glint flashed in Danzo's eyes. "So you want to control the Daimyo and seize power over the entire country?"

From Danzo's expression, Nawaki could tell he was about to do something reckless again, so he hurriedly shook his head to disabuse him of the idea. "That's impossible! The Daimyo have their own dignity and pride. They wouldn't submit to threats or control from others. Otherwise, the shinobi villages would have taken control of the Daimyo long ago! Even if we killed the current Daimyo, the country would choose another. And a ninja could never become the Daimyo! Ordinary people make up the vast majority of the population, and they would never accept being ruled by the vastly outnumbered ninja. In their eyes, even though ninja have power, they're not one of them.

"Some extremists even regard ninja as a different species, as monsters. That's also why the samurai class hasn't completely disappeared. Most commoners see samurai as people like themselves, while ninja who use chakra and ninjutsu belong to another group.

"Take Konoha, for example. The Land of Fire has a population of over a hundred million, yet only a few hundred thousand are willing to live in the village and accept the protection and rule of ninja. There are only a little over eighty thousand ninja—fewer than a hundred thousand in all!"

The Third Hokage nodded in agreement. "Nawaki is right. Ordinary civilians would never all accept being ruled by ninja. Forcing them to do so would only bring disaster to the country and give other nations a chance to invade! Danzo, don't act rashly!" As his close "buddy," he knew Danzo's personality well.

Nawaki's point was easy to understand. It was like how mutants couldn't rule the Earth in the Marvel universe. Fortunately, the civilians in the Naruto world had no advanced weapons technology and were no match for ninja. Otherwise, the ninja might have ended up like the mutants.

Danzo knew there was no way forward, so he could only say coldly, "Hmph! Those ignorant civilians refuse to accept ninja rule. They're utterly foolish!"