Bai Sui nodded to show he understood. "Then let's talk about whether they can seize opportunities for themselves. Take war, for example. It can give people a chance.
"Say a tenant farmer working for a noble flees to the village. He'd have a chance to choose a new profession, wouldn't he?"
"No." This time, Kubota Noriyuki sounded quite confident. "He'd still have to do his old job, because that's all he knows."
"See? You've found the heart of the problem. He can only choose his old job because that's all he knows.
"What if he used to be a laborer? Someone who only carried goods for nobles.
"If he got the chance to own a plot of land and farm it himself, do you think he'd turn it down? Would he keep working as a laborer?" Bai Sui grumbled inwardly. He really couldn't think of any good examples from this world. After all, it had no saying like, "Are kings and generals born to their station?" nor an Emperor Hongwu who started out with nothing but a broken bowl.
Back in his previous life, even in myths and legends, everyone had been equal. Pangu's flesh and blood had become the rivers and land after he split the heavens from the earth, and Empress Nuwa had molded people from clay. In a way, that meant everyone had Pangu's blood in their veins.
But Bai Sui knew that precisely because this world had no such figures, its belief in bloodlines had become so deeply rooted.
That was why he had steered the conversation toward opportunity, rather than other topics. There really weren't any examples that people would find convincing.
Especially since, from his conversation with Kubota Noriyuki, he'd gathered that the man had been shaken by the superhuman strength of the ninja.
Bai Sui also knew that, in the Naruto story, there was Mifune, the great general of the Land of Iron, hailed as "the legendary iaijutsu master." His swordsmanship was so swift that ninja had no time to form Hand Seals.
But Mifune belonged to the future; he couldn't use him as an example now. And the story said that the samurai of the Land of Iron had signed a peace treaty with the ninja that had lasted for over a hundred years. That meant there had to be powerful samurai capable of standing against the ninja. Bai Sui simply didn't know enough about them to offer a specific example.
Kubota Noriyuki didn't immediately argue back. Instead, he took a swig of his drink. Seizing the chance, Bai Sui asked, "We've been talking about them, but you don't look injured, and you're a samurai. There's no reason you'd have to hide in this village. Is something going on?"
Kubota Noriyuki sighed. "Do you know about ninja?"
Bai Sui thought, Just as I thought. This is because of that. "Yes, I do. More than that, I've seen ninja fight with my own eyes."
Kubota Noriyuki glanced at Bai Sui but said nothing. Bai Sui had no idea what the other man was thinking now. "If you've seen ninja fight, then you'll understand all the better. Sigh... I always thought I was pretty capable. I even had a bit of a reputation in the Land of Iron.
"Never imagined that nearly thirty years of hard training wouldn't measure up to the ninjutsu of some random child.
"Not just one child, either. Every one of them there could use ninjutsu, whether they were skilled or not. Any one of their offensive techniques could have killed me. Even the earthen walls they casually raised took several full-strength strikes from me to bring down.
"And from talking with them, I learned that every member of their clan could use ninjutsu once they came of age. Isn't that just destiny?
"How can people like us possibly stand against them? Aren't war and peace just games they start and stop whenever they please?"
Bai Sui waited for him to finish. "You're right. Their bloodlines do pass down certain kekkei genkai. But that's because of the efforts of their ancestors. They worked hard to give their descendants that option.
"And you may also have misunderstood how strong an ordinary ninja is. The Land of Iron has no ninja, after all. It's protected by samurai, right?"
Kubota Noriyuki nodded. "That's true. The Land of Iron is a neutral country, separate from the ninja world. It doesn't take part in their wars."
"Exactly. Have you ever wondered why the Land of Iron can stay out of the wars? Is it because the ninja don't want to set foot on its land? I don't think so. What do you think?" Bai Sui wasn't expecting him to answer; he continued straight on.
"If that's the case, why haven't the ninja conquered the samurai's last stronghold? We don't need to argue over whether they could do it at all. The point is, they can't do it easily—not as simply as you imagine. Have you ever wondered why? It shows that the samurai have the ability to stand against the ninja."
Kubota Noriyuki clearly didn't believe him. "How could that be? If we really had that kind of ability, how could I not know about it?"
Bai Sui met his gaze. "Then how do you explain the fact that the Land of Iron has stayed out of the wars? If the samurai truly had no strength to stand against them, why are there still countries that arm their forces with samurai? It doesn't add up, does it?"
"Well, I... uh..." Kubota Noriyuki stammered.
"And we can think about why samurai have only established themselves in the Land of Iron. What's different about it compared to other countries?" Bai Sui tried to lead him toward the answer.
Kubota Noriyuki's eyes lit up as if he'd realized something. "I know! It's iron. The Land of Iron produces iron ore, and samurai have armor. Their armor can defend against ninjutsu!"
Seeing that Kubota Noriyuki had indeed followed the line of thought Bai Sui had laid out, he nodded to himself. This topic was about to run its course. "Exactly. It's the armor. Its defensive effect is limited, of course, but a ninja's chakra isn't infinite either. How many powerful techniques do you think a ninja can normally use?
"Ninja need to form Hand Seals to use ninjutsu. If you rely on armor for protection, close the distance, and force your opponent to fight without time to form Hand Seals, you can pit yourself against them using the Taijutsu samurai know best.
"I'm not saying you'd definitely win, but at least you'd put both sides on equal footing. That's how the Land of Iron can stay out of the conflict. What do you think?"
After hearing all that, Kubota Noriyuki felt that Bai Sui made sense and had answered the questions he'd been wrestling with. Yet he still felt that something was off, though he couldn't put his finger on what.
So he took a long swig of his drink, then sat there without saying a word.
He didn't say anything, but Bai Sui could tell from his eyes that his mind was turning the matter over. Bai Sui quietly left the outpost.