Hellhound

Nawaki's sharp remarks about mediocrities and geniuses left the young people present feeling exhilarated. Yeah, why did he have to listen to them? Who said whatever they said was right? Just because they had been born earlier? Young minds might sometimes be immature, but they brimmed with spirit. Old minds might be full of established methods, but they also represented rigidity and backwardness!

Besides, wisdom had no inevitable connection to one's age or state of mind. A rigid old fossil was not necessarily much better than an impulsive, hot-blooded youth, while a mature young person was not necessarily wiser than an old child who retained an innocent heart!

Sure enough, even the Third Raikage could not help shouting his approval. "Well said! Ōnoki always does things so timidly—he's an old turtle! A dirt turtle, at that! Young people ought to have some drive!"

"Pfft..."

Looking at Ōnoki's short, stubby build, Konan felt that "dirt turtle" truly suited him and could not help laughing aloud. Yahiko and Nagato curled their lips into smiles as well. They knew about Nawaki's True Clone Technique, so they were not worried about his life or death and were relatively relaxed.

Han and Deidara, meanwhile, were looking at Ōnoki strangely. Deidara's gaze in particular was full of doubt. As a genius himself, he deeply agreed with Nawaki's words. The more he looked at his teacher, the more he felt that the old man was exactly the mediocre person Nawaki had described, and that his past teachings had all been meant to stifle Deidara's individuality. As an "artist," he absolutely could not tolerate losing his spirit and becoming ordinary. For the first time, he developed a certain resistance toward the old man he had once revered and feared. Han, too, began to wonder whether the Tsuchikage's policies