I'm a genius

Are you... lecturing me?

Ban frowned unhappily, his one purple and one red eye gleaming heavily in the afterglow.

Kou shook his head and said frankly:

"I'm not saying I'm just stating my opinion."

"Hmph, your viewpoint is quite boring. Do you really still have any hope for this hopeless reality?"

Madara said dismissively, shifting his gaze from Kokoro's face to look towards the distant Hokage Rock.

The setting sun cast a deep orange-red hue over the silhouette of the stone statue, making the face Hashirama appear exceptionally clear in the afterglow.

Ban's gaze lingered on the stone face for a moment, then slowly moved away, landing on the sky tinged with twilight.

"I was once like you, harboring the idea of changing all of this, and naively hoping for it."

I hope that the Konoha I built with Hashirama will bring peace to the Ninja World and bring an end to this endless chaos.

But as you know, we... failed.

Ban stared at the rock shadows Hashirama, a mocking smile creeping onto his lips, yet tinged with a hint of bitterness and weariness.

"The establishment of the Konoha and Ninja Village system did not eliminate war; on the contrary, it expanded the scale of war, turning it from small-scale, frequent wars between clans into major wars between nations."

The three consecutive Ninja World War were larger in scale than the last.

The root cause of all these tragedies lies in the human heart.

Ban turned his head and looked at Kou beside him.

Although he was looking at Kou at eye level, his gaze seemed to be looking down from above, casting Kou's entire body in shadow.

"Everyone has things they believe in, and for these beliefs, they desire to gain something or protect something."

When people's views and interests clash, war can break out.

... Just like Hashirama and I once were."

Ban scrutinized the silent Kou before him, his tone calm and resolute.

The river flowed quietly behind them, carrying the shimmering light, like fragments of gold, into the distance.

Even Hashirama, who is always a kind-hearted person and has a naive belief in mutual understanding between people, would choose to abandon me, his best friend, and do such a foolish thing that puts the cart before the horse in order to protect Konoha, the Hashirama where he has placed his dreams.

What makes you so sure that people's hearts can be changed?

After all, the vast majority of people in this Ninja World are nothing more than short-sighted, self-proclaimed righteous fools who cause chaos—"

"Pfft... Hahaha!!"

Before Ban could finish speaking, Kou burst into laughter.

Ban's face immediately darkened:

"Why are you laughing?"

"No, haha, I just remembered something funny."

Kou waved his hand, meeting Ban's deep gaze, and the smile on his lips faded slightly:

"Hey, Madara, have you ever thought about something?"

"If you and the First hadn't limited yourselves to establishing Konoha in the Land of Fire, but instead set your sights on the entire Ninja World Ninja World, unifying it like you unified the various clans, what would the Ninja World be like today?"

"Why are you asking this? It seems to have gone off-topic."

"Don't ask. Don't forget you're the loser now; you have no right to ask questions."

He looked at Ban with a hint of amusement in his voice, but the light in his Six-Tomoe Rinnegan was subtly serious:

"You just need to listen to me and think it over carefully."

"Tsk..."

Ban clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Although he was quite unhappy, he still lowered his head and began to unfold the idea that Kou had just proposed in his mind...

After a long pause, Ban's pupils contracted.

"Hmm? It seems you already have the answer in your heart."

Kou looked meaningfully at the spotted figure before him and slowly spoke:

"With your and the First's power, even without a large-scale war, you could easily quell all dissenting voices and unify the entire Ninja World."

With the Second Hokage's intellect, designing a management system that adapts to the current state of the Ninja World wouldn't be difficult.

If everything proceeds according to this plan, you and the First could live for at least another forty or fifty years, enough for several generations to grow up in a unified Ninja World.

"Will the Ninja World at that time still be plagued by frequent wars as it is now?"

Ban remained silent for a moment.

"Are you trying to say that I'm no different from most people in the Ninja World, just a short-sighted fool?"

"Well, it might sound harsh, but if that's how you interpret it, then it's fine."

"You brat!!"

Ban said angrily, instinctively wanting to argue something, but ultimately said nothing.

He couldn't refute it.

It must be admitted that if Hashirama and I had actually done what we had just envisioned, the future of the Ninja World would definitely be much better than it is now.

This is tantamount to agreeing with Kou's previous statement.

Tragedy is not inevitable; everything can potentially become better.

However... although they had the ability and ambition, they lacked the vision to match them.

Thinking of this, a sense of resentment welled up in Ban's heart.

He admitted that in terms of vision, the young man in front of him was indeed several times better than himself, Hashirama, and even the cunning Tobirama.

After all, knocking on him changed the Uchiha, which he had previously considered beyond redemption...

"It seems you've figured it out."

Kou spoke calmly, picking up a pebble from beside his feet and examining it closely.

The pebble gleamed with a warm light in the afterglow of the setting sun, its edges smoothed and rounded by the river.

"People are like pebbles. Even if they are the same at the beginning, they will be shaped into different forms due to different environments and experiences, and thus develop different perspectives."

Even if you grew up in the Warring States Period and your thinking is unconventional, you are still ultimately limited by the times.

The First limitations imposed on the village were just like that, and so are your hopes for the Eye of the Moon Plan.

He glanced at Ban, who was deep in thought, and a faint smile appeared on his lips:

"Perhaps it's just as you said, people's hearts are unpredictable, and desires are insatiable."

But ultimately, people's hearts are shaped by their environment and experiences.

If someone can create a sufficiently good environment, even if it cannot satisfy everyone, it can still bring happiness to the vast majority of people.

"And I possess that ability, the vision to match this ideal, and most importantly—"

As he spoke, he threw the pebble in his hand onto the river.

The pebble skimmed across the water's surface, creating delicate ripples before finally landing steadily in the grass on the opposite bank.

"Unwavering... determination!"

He looked up at Ban, raised his chest, and said confidently:

"I want to build a paradise where there is no more war, where all those who, like me, yearn for peace, can live happily!!"

Ban stared into Kou's confident eyes, and a wave of emotion surged within him.

"Just like what you did in Mist Village?"

"Ah."

He looked at the spots, smiled, and nodded, his expression open and relaxed.

Ban remained silent, seemingly lost in a long silence.

He couldn't help but recall the various surprises he had felt from Kou.

A child clumsily practicing Shuriken on the Training Ground.

A boy who vomited uncontrollably after killing someone for the first time on the battlefield.

A young man who spent countless nights studying Ninjutsu alone, gradually understanding the knowledge and ultimately making it his own power...

He spoke of those visions that were ahead of their time, and of everything he had changed.

Uchiha, Mist Village, and... himself Uchiha Madara.

After a long while, Madara slowly raised his head, and a strange look appeared in his eyes as he looked at Koko:

"I've wanted to ask this for a long time."

You little rascal, how do you come up with so many unexpected ideas?

Why are you always able to do things that everyone else thinks are impossible?

Well...

Kou murmured thoughtfully, shifting his gaze from the spotted face to the distant sky dyed orange-red by the setting sun.

He gazed at the sunset, as if recalling something, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

The smile was faint, but it was more genuine than any smile I had ever had along the way.

"Probably because I'm a genius."

A genius who grew up standing on the shoulders of giants.

The dramatic scenes involving debates about willpower are too mentally taxing; I feel like I'm about to collapse.

I've been busy with my graduation project and civil service exam these past few days, plus I've been spending a lot of time brainstorming the ending, so updates haven't been very consistent.

But it's pretty much done now, and I'll try to keep updating it consistently from now on.

That said, what do you all think of this part? I personally feel like I'm not very good at writing this kind of thing...