About to Return to the Front Lines

Li Ke was glad that the Second Hokage was willing to teach him ninjutsu, but he did have some reservations about what the Second Hokage had told him.

Namely, the Second Hokage kept avoiding one particular question.

Why hadn't Hashirama Senju simply unified the Ninja World by force? The Second Hokage discussed everything from the premise that Hashirama had been right not to unify it.

So there were still plenty of holes in his reasoning.

"But I can probably guess the reason..."

Sitting in the barbecue restaurant and watching Kurenai grill meat for him, Li Ke couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.

Yuhi Kurenai might not be very strong, and her family background wasn't impressive either, but she really was an excellent choice for a wife.

Because, like him, Kurenai longed for a peaceful life.

Still, he couldn't help thinking about the men in his life.

"The Second Hokage probably didn't bring it up because Hashirama was his older brother and the village's First. Besides... from their point of view, the First was already far ahead of his time. The Ninja Clans couldn't possibly have had the idea or awareness of unifying everything under one rule, so it's not too surprising that things ended up as twisted as they are now..."

Li Ke combined the Second Hokage's words with the history taught in Konoha and the current Will of Fire, then considered things from a local's perspective. Hashirama Senju's choice had actually been quite normal.

Because of life expectancy.

Back in the age of the Ninja Clans, the average ninja lived for less than thirty years. Children of five or six were already considered adults, and for a ninja, forty was the end of the road.

Hashirama Senju had been only forty-two when he died, yet he already had a granddaughter, Tsunade, who was five or six years old—old enough to go to war in the Warring States period. Senju Tobirama, who was younger than him, had also begun to suffer a serious decline in strength and condition from years of using forbidden jutsu.

Hashirama Senju's cells might have been miraculously effective, but the problem was that he didn't know how long he would live. So, as someone who had grown up in the age of the Ninja Clans, once he had founded and stabilized Konoha, he must have felt that he was nearing the end of his life.

After all, like Senju Tobirama, he couldn't have avoided training in life-shortening forbidden jutsu during the chaotic wars between the Ninja Clans!

He might even have trained in them more than Senju Tobirama had!

So when he noticed the people around him slowly growing old and dying in their forties, he might well have thought it was time to hand responsibility to the next generation, then retire and wait for death.

By then, the Ninja World had reached a certain degree of consensus and had the foundations for unification. But Hashirama might no longer have wanted to toil away, killing his enemies and their children. Perhaps he wanted to peacefully play with his grandchildren, then die happily surrounded by his children.

He thought he had struggled his whole life and deserved a rest.

Besides, there was clearly no one to inherit his power. Even if he had forcibly ruled the world, it would still have split apart as it was now, since no common understanding had been established.

Maintaining the status quo, holding onto their advantage, and waiting for things to develop might have been the better choice.

It sounded ridiculous, didn't it? But Li Ke thought his guess was probably right.

People were all constrained by their own understanding of the world, and everything Hashirama knew came from the age of the Ninja Clans—a time when the average lifespan was under thirty and children of five or six had to go to war.

If you told him that he could live to be seventy or eighty as long as he wanted to, he probably wouldn't believe you.

Besides, none of them had experienced unification, and the Ninja World had never had anything of the sort in its history.

Even before the First Emperor, there had been the Zhou dynasty! The Ninja World had jack shit!

And besides...

The borders of the Land of Fire had only expanded rapidly after Konoha was established.

"If all these deductions are right, then the one who stepped forward and said they'd been wrong—that they should have ruled the Ninja World and taken the right path—was Madara Uchiha. And yet he was the one who destroyed the future he had created and hoped for..."

So Madara Uchiha had been completely right when he said Hashirama Senju had betrayed him.

"But what the people involved thought doesn't matter anymore. Hashirama Senju might not even have had a college education. The Five Nations are already locked in a chaotic war, and the whole place is a cesspit. There's no point thinking about it."

For someone stuck in a cesspit, it didn't matter how the cesspit had come to be.

What mattered was how to get out.

Thinking this, Li Ke lowered his head and ate the meat Yuhi Kurenai had put on his plate. When he looked up, he saw Asuma wearing an expression like he was constipated.

Huh? Asuma?

Had he even seen him today?!

"Asuma? When did you get here? How did I not notice you?"

Li Ke stared at Asuma's resentful expression, confused. He couldn't remember seeing Asuma at all today!

And when had they gotten to the barbecue restaurant?!

"I..."

Asuma opened his mouth. He really wanted to say that he had come with Kurenai, and to call Li Ke a heartless bastard who forgot his friends as soon as a pretty girl showed up. But when he considered that if Kurenai had chosen him, he would probably have acted the same way, all he could do was sigh and speak.

"We came to pick you up too... right, Anko?"

As he spoke, he looked at Anko, who had come with them and was now wolfing down dumplings in frustration because Yuhi Kurenai had given all the grilled meat to Li Ke.

Li Ke stared in astonishment at Anko, who had squeezed in beside Kurenai, making Asuma look as though he'd been snubbed. His surprise only grew.

"Anko, when did you get here?!"

Mitaraishi Anko, still an adorable little girl, rolled her eyes and reluctantly lowered the dumpling in her mouth.

"I came to pick you up from the hospital too, remember? I even asked Orochimaru-sensei for time off."

Anko was genuinely speechless. Li Ke had been thinking nonstop ever since leaving the hospital. It was only because her best friend really liked this type that the more absorbed in thought Li Ke became, the more excited Kurenai got. Otherwise, Anko would have long ago advised her to find a ninja boyfriend who didn't space out!

But Li Ke had always been like this, always thinking, so she hadn't paid it much mind. Instead, she asked him outright:

"You've been spacing out for so long today. What are you thinking about?"

I'm thinking about how the First, Hashirama Senju, who founded the village we live in, was an idiot; how the Third Hokage will become a patchwork man after the Fourth Hokage dies with him; and how the Second Hokage is the only Hokage in all of Konoha who seems like a normal person.

Li Ke really wanted to say those words. No matter how he analyzed things or what perspective he took, that was the only conclusion he could reach, as someone who had been taught the idea of unification.

Hashirama Senju had been an ignorant fool. Senju Tobirama was the only one who counted as a normal leader.

As for Hiruzen...

He was either stupid or wicked. But based on Li Ke's observations of Asuma and all his years of personal experience, he could be sure of one thing.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't a bad person. In fact, he was a rare good one.

"Hey, hey, you're spacing out again... What on earth are you thinking about? You're so absorbed."

Anko quickly interrupted Li Ke's thoughts and complained.

"I'm thinking about why we ninjas can't use ninjutsu to farm or make tools. With a ninja's physical abilities, we could easily handle work that ordinary people find exhausting. And compared with the effort and danger it takes to become a ninja..."

But before he could finish, Anko interrupted him.

"Who'd want to farm? And if you grow a good crop, what are you going to do when the ninjas who spent that time training come and take your food? How could you fight them? What would you do then? Isn't that what happens to the artisan ninjas? They're always getting robbed, and even have to ask us to protect them."

Anko was even more speechless with Li Ke. Didn't he know something so obvious?

"And as long as you become a Chunin or Jonin, you can choose the hours you work and how dangerous your missions are. Even a Genin can afford a barbecue meal after a week's worth of missions. A Chunin only needs one mission. It's not as hard as you make it sound."

As she spoke, she took a dumpling from the plate and chewed on it heartily.

Li Ke smiled. He knew Anko hadn't understood what he meant. His point was simple: establish a complete system. Those with combat ability would learn ninjutsu and become professional soldiers, while those without a talent for fighting would specialize in production.

But then Senju Tobirama's voice rang out.

"That would require vast amounts of money and time, as well as a great deal of research and manpower. Before we could get it done, we'd seriously antagonize the Daimyo, and the other ninja villages would attack us. Your idea is admirable, but it isn't practical."

"What if we used genjutsu to control the Daimyo and those officials?"

"A Daimyo suffered from something like that a long time ago, so the Daimyo do have their own ninja. They were enough in the age of the Ninja Clans. Besides, the other ninja villages have spies and the like infiltrating us, and there are people in Konoha who have good relations with the Daimyo. The Ino-Shika-Cho clans are among them. As for this era... I don't know the details, but there must be other reasons."

Senju Tobirama paused, then continued.

"Besides, Uzushio Village was the kind of place you're talking about. They wanted to hold both the ninja's and the Daimyo's power in their own hands. At one point, they had almost as many ninja as Konoha. I don't know what Monkey was thinking, but the Land of Water certainly wasn't the only one responsible for Uzushio Village's destruction."

"How dark."

"That's the ninja world for you. Still, I'm glad that in this new world, children can grow up until they're twelve before going to war as adults. My efforts and my elder brother's weren't wasted."

Twelve. Adults. Before.

The three words sounded more and more sinister to Li Ke.

"Isn't that good enough?"

Noticing Li Ke's reaction, Senju Tobirama looked puzzled.

A twelve-year-old ninja should already be preparing to have children, after all.

Li Ke: "..."

Mystery solved. The Ninja World had never been unified because Hashirama Senju and Senju Tobirama thought, This is good enough.

Damn it...

Li Ke thought of his own hellish experience and couldn't help wanting to say something. But what could he say when the Second Hokage had put it that way?

What was he supposed to do now that he suddenly understood Madara Uchiha?

But just then, Asuma spoke.

"Qingtan, you're not thinking about something as simple as what Anko said, are you? But have you ever considered one thing?"

His eyes glinted with seriousness.

"Shouldn't the jade that countless people ought to protect be the people who protect even more civilians, even more innocent people?"

Li Ke's scalp went numb when he heard that. He knew Asuma was a good person and that it was only natural he felt compassion for civilians outside Konoha. But there was no doubt that he was asking, point-blank, whether the Daimyo deserved more protection than the Hokage!

"Asuma, we're ninja. We were born and raised in Konoha, and our strength is meant to protect our families and comrades... Why would you think that?"

Asuma furrowed his brows. His gaze drifted toward Li Ke's right eye and the bandages wrapped around his right arm.

"But we haven't protected anything at all, have we? Even now, countless Konoha ninja and innocent civilians are still dying on the Kirigakure front. And the Daimyo isn't willing to give us support anymore. How are we supposed to..."

Li Ke couldn't listen any longer. He immediately covered Asuma's mouth, for one very simple reason.

The Daimyo's refusal to provide support was clearly top secret!

It absolutely shouldn't be said out loud!

They were still fighting Kirigakure tooth and nail. If word got out that their supplies had been cut off, it would cause a disaster!

Even Senju Tobirama inside him couldn't help cursing.

"Damn it... Why does this little Monkey say everything out loud?! At least no one nearby heard him!"

Li Ke immediately looked around. Only after confirming the Second Hokage was right did he breathe a sigh of relief. Then he turned to Yuhi Kurenai and Asuma with a stern expression.

"Asuma, you can't talk about this carelessly. Kurenai, Anko, you two need to be careful too, or it'll cause trouble."

Both girls knew how serious the situation was, but worry appeared on their faces all the same.

Kirigakure wasn't an easy opponent.

Asuma fell silent. He looked at the sky, his mind full of memories of his father's indifference toward Konoha civilians harmed by Konoha ninja, and his apathy toward fallen Konoha ninja.

When Asuma had asked him to help Li Ke, his father had said things like, "All Konoha ninja are the same. Even if you had the same injuries as Murata Seitan, I couldn't break the rules and save your arm!" and "Murata Qingtan ended up like this for the sake of the village. You're insulting his resolve and honor!"

In the end, he'd had to ask his clan uncle to save his friend's arm...

Seeing Asuma like this, Li Ke sighed.

"I know you're sad for the innocent civilians who died, but Asuma, we're Konoha ninja first and citizens of the Land of Fire second."

Asuma gave a derisive laugh at Li Ke's words, but before he could say anything, an Anbu appeared in front of them.

"Jonin Murata Qingtan, Chunin Asuma Sarutobi, Genin Yuhi Kurenai, report to the First Support Unit at once! Your unit will deploy to reinforce the front lines in one hour!"

After speaking, the Anbu handed a scroll to Li Ke. Li Ke was stunned to learn that he'd been promoted to Jonin, but even more shocked that he'd just gotten out of the hospital and was already being sent to the front lines.

But he immediately understood.

"Looks like the Third Hokage doesn't want anyone to accuse him of playing favorites by letting Asuma ask for a special favor for me. He also wants to show he's being fair... This mission probably won't be too dangerous."

But the naive Asuma clearly hadn't thought of that.

"Damn old man!"

Asuma's eyes widened as he stood up in fury, unable to believe that his father would send their team to fight on the Kirigakure front just because Asuma had asked their clan uncle for help!

"I'm going to see him!!"