Leisurely Doctor Life (5)

Bai Sui nodded to indicate he understood the other man's meaning. "Then let's talk about whether they can obtain opportunities on their own; take this war, for instance—it can be a source of opportunity."

"For example, if a tenant farmer who originally worked under a noble flees to this village, he then has the chance to choose a new profession, doesn't he?"

"No," Kubota Noriyuki said with great confidence this time. "He would still only be able to do his original work, because that is all he knows how to do."

"See, you've identified the crux of the problem. The reason he can only choose his original work is because that is all they know."

"So, what if this person was previously a laborer? A laborer who only relied on carrying goods for nobles. Do you think he would give up if faced with the opportunity to acquire a plot of land to farm for himself? Would he still choose to be a laborer?" Bai Sui inwardly scoffed; he truly didn't know what good examples existed in this world. After all, there was no "Are kings and nobles born with high status?" here, nor was there a founding emperor who started with nothing but a broken bowl.

He knew that in his past life, even in myths and legends, everyone was considered equal. After all, the rivers and earth were formed from the flesh and blood of Pangu after he split the heavens and earth, and since Goddess Nüwa molded humans from clay, everyone could be considered to possess the bloodline of the Great God Pangu in a roundabout way.

However, Bai Sui knew that it was precisely because this world lacked such figures that the theory of bloodline was so deeply rooted.

That was why he avoided the heavy and discussed the light, focusing on opportunities rather than other topics; there simply wasn't a convincing case study to offer.

Especially in his exchanges with Kubota Noriyuki, he had implicitly learned that the man had been crushed by the superhuman power of ninjas.

Although Bai Sui knew that in the Naruto storyline, there was a general of the Land of Iron named Mifune, hailed as a "legendary master of Iaijutsu," whose blade was so fast that he could prevent ninjas from even forming hand seals.

But this was the future, and he couldn't bring it up now. Besides, the story mentioned that the samurai and ninjas of the Land of Iron had signed a peace treaty for hundreds of years, which meant there must be powerful samurai capable of contending with ninjas. Bai Sui just didn't know the specific details and couldn't cite them directly.

Seeing that Kubota Noriyuki did not immediately refute him, but instead poured himself a drink, Bai Sui took the opportunity to ask, "Setting them aside, I see you aren't injured, and you are a samurai—there's no need to hide in this village. Is something the matter?"

Across from him, Kubota Noriyuki sighed. "Do you know about ninjas?"

Bai Sui thought to himself, Just as I suspected, I knew it was because of that. "Yes, I know. Not only do I know, but I have seen a ninja battle with my own eyes."

Kubota Noriyuki glanced at Bai Sui without saying much, unsure of what the other man was thinking. "Since you've seen a ninja battle, it will be easier to understand. Sigh~ I always thought I was quite capable, and I even had a small reputation in the Land of Iron."

"Yet, I never imagined that my nearly thirty years of bitter training would be no match for the ninjutsu of a mere child."

"It wasn't just one; every single one present could perform ninjutsu, regardless of their proficiency. Any one of their offensive ninjutsu could have killed me, and I had to strike their casually raised earth walls with all my might several times just to break them."

"In my interactions with them, I learned that all their clansmen possess the ability to perform ninjutsu once they reach a certain age. Isn't that heaven-sent? How can we, people like us, possibly contend with them? Aren't the so-called war and peace just jokes that they summon and dismiss at will?"

Bai Sui waited for him to finish. "You are right; they do indeed possess bloodline limits passed down through their lineage, but that is because of the efforts of their ancestors. It was their ancestors' own hard work that provided such a choice for their descendants."

"Furthermore, you may have misunderstood the power of a normal ninja. You should know that the Land of Iron has no ninjas; it is protected by samurai, right?"

Kubota Noriyuki nodded. "That is true. The Land of Iron is a neutral country that exists outside of the ninja world and does not participate in their wars."

"Exactly. Have you never wondered why the Land of Iron can remain outside of the war? Is it because those ninjas don't want to occupy that land? I don't think so, do you?" Bai Sui wasn't looking for an answer, but continued anyway.

"If that's the case, why haven't the ninjas conquered this last bastion of the samurai? We won't talk about whether they can do it, but at the very least, ninjas cannot do it easily; they cannot achieve victory as simply as you imagine."

"Have you ever thought about why that is? It proves that samurai have the ability to contend with ninjas."

Kubota Noriyuki was very skeptical. "How is that possible? If there really were such an ability, how could I know nothing about it?"

Bai Sui looked into his eyes. "Then how do you explain that the Land of Iron can remain outside the flames of war? If samurai truly lacked the power to contend with them, why are there still countries that use samurai for defense to this day? That doesn't make sense, does it?"

"This, I, uh..." Kubota Noriyuki stammered.

"And we can analyze why the samurai are based specifically in the Land of Iron. What is different here compared to other countries?" Bai Sui tried to guide him to the answer.

Kubota Noriyuki's eyes lit up, as if he had realized something. "I know! It's iron! The Land of Iron produces iron ore; the samurai have armor, and samurai armor can resist ninjutsu!"

Seeing that the man was indeed thinking along the lines he had guided, Bai Sui nodded inwardly, knowing this topic was nearing its end. "Exactly, it is indeed the armor. Although the defensive effect of the armor is limited, a ninja's chakra is not infinite. How many high-level ninjutsu do you think a ninja can normally perform?"

"After all, ninjas need to form hand seals to use ninjutsu. By relying on the protection of the armor, you can close the distance and force the opponent to have no time to form seals, allowing you to engage them in the taijutsu that samurai are most familiar with."

"I'm not saying you will definitely win, but at the very least, it puts both sides on a level playing field. That is the reason the Land of Iron can stay out of the conflict. What do you think?"

After hearing this, Kubota Noriyuki felt that what Bai Sui said was correct, and it had answered the doubts in his heart, yet he still felt like something was missing.

He took a long, hard drink of his wine and sat there in silence.

Although he didn't say anything, Bai Sui could see from his eyes that he was deep in thought, so he quietly left the outpost.