Iwai Yasuharu didn't try to dodge the question. "Yes, Master. Then I'll venture to share my thoughts.
The village's own defensive forces are easy to understand. When danger comes, every force that can be used to resist it counts.
The scale of the village's defensive forces depends on how well the village itself is prepared. The more thorough the preparations, the greater the scale, and the smaller the gap between them and the forces sent by the Feudal Lord. Those are the only two things the village can do.
The efficiency of discovering the village depends on the Feudal Lord's forces. That really isn't up to us.
But I don't understand why you didn't simply say we should compare ourselves with the Feudal Lord's forces. Isn't the danger we face directed at the Feudal Lord? And I still don't quite understand what you mean by an opportunity of the times."
Bai Sui nodded to show that he could continue. "Good. Your thinking is still a little one-sided, but it's impressive that you've managed to think of this much in such a short time. Let me address your questions."
Kubota Noriyuki, seated across from Bai Sui, also looked toward him, waiting for him to continue.
"First, why didn't I simply assume the danger would come from the Feudal Lord? It's simple: the dangers we might face are many and varied. They could come from the Feudal Lord, bandits, a shinobi clan, or even a ninja beast.
"Those are all human-made disasters. They don't even include natural disasters. Wouldn't all of these threaten the village's safety?
"Or do you think none of them could happen? But don't forget: before the Feudal Lord sent samurai to attack the village, did anyone think that was possible? Danger doesn't change course according to what we think. All we can do is strengthen ourselves and meet the unexpected with the unchanging."
Iwai Yasuharu lowered his head in acknowledgment. "I understand, Master. Then what are opportunities of the times? How do they affect the village?"
Bai Sui spoke casually. "You can understand it like this: for example, if the Land of Fire suddenly declared war on the Land of Fields, that would be an opportunity of the times for the village, because the Land of Fields would no longer have the time or energy to pay attention to it.
"Or, say the Land of Iron and the Land of Fields went to war, and the village was discovered by the armies of both countries because it sat on their border. That would also be an opportunity of the times.
"Even if some rare ore or other scarce resource were suddenly discovered near the village, that would be an opportunity of the times for it.
"To put it simply, any major opportunity beyond the village's control can be called an opportunity of the times. These opportunities can be good or bad, but you can only accept them passively; you can't refuse them."
Iwai Yasuharu looked bewildered. "But how could any of that happen? This..."
Bai Sui raised a hand to stop him. "Don't assume it's impossible. Or would you like another example?
"War. The entire Ninja World is engulfed in war right now. But what if the fighting stopped?
"Right now, because of the war, no country is particularly stable, and the number of traveling merchants has surged. That's why a place like the village can still stay hidden. But in peacetime, how would the village obtain the supplies it needed? Would people have to go out and buy them?
"A small amount might go unnoticed, but over time, as the volume grew, the village would still be discovered. And in peacetime, with no other conflicts to tie up the Feudal Lord's forces, he'd have more people to send out, and they'd find the village more quickly. Don't you agree?"
Iwai Yasuharu still couldn't quite believe it. "But, but how could the fighting end so easily? That's only a hypothetical."
Bai Sui glanced at him. "If you say the fighting won't end easily, then tell me: how did it spread in the first place?
"What caused war to spread throughout the entire Ninja World? Even remote corners weren't spared.
"You don't know, do you?
"Look, you haven't even considered why the fighting spread so quickly and so strangely. How can you be sure it won't suddenly stop?
"If it's all speculation, all possibilities, how can you know for certain that it won't happen?
"Besides, ever since the concept of the Ninja World came into being, wars across it have always started and stopped. The fighting often erupts without warning, then ends just as abruptly, over and over again for hundreds of years. Ask some older people about it and they'll know something of the matter, because some of them may have lived through more than two waves of fighting. Think it over."
Kubota Noriyuki, who had been silent until then, spoke up in agreement. "That's right. I've seen it in the records of the Land of Iron. They say that every few decades, the shinobi fight one another. Every clan suffers heavy losses each time, but before long, they recover again.
"Quite a few scholars in the Land of Iron have studied this. I never paid much attention to it before, so I don't know whether they discovered anything."
"I see. Thank you for teaching me." Iwai Yasuharu bowed to the two of them.
"Everything I've said comes down to one thing: Heaven's movement is ever vigorous; thus the superior man must tirelessly strengthen himself. Strengthening oneself is the only unchanging truth. What I previously proposed to the village wasn't necessarily right. I only wanted the village to recognize the danger and start saving itself.
"But you've seen it for yourselves: the village doesn't want to change anything. It leaves everything to fate.
"Of course, leaving things to fate isn't necessarily wrong. After all, people can make plans, but Heaven decides whether they succeed.
"You might make every possible preparation, yet no enemy ever attacks. Or you might do everything perfectly and still fail to withstand a single attack.
"It's just that my personal beliefs don't align with the village's. I'm someone who always wants to keep my fate in my own hands. The disagreement between me and the village is purely ideological, nothing more." After that, Bai Sui no longer discussed anything related to this matter in the village.
Earlier, he had mentioned ninja beasts. He'd discovered one while gathering herbs in the mountains: a hedgehog with chakra flowing through its body.
Bai Sui sensed that the hedgehog had very little chakra, but it was definitely there. Thinking of the summoned beasts from the original story, Bai Sui quickly understood.
He'd originally wanted to find more of them to study, but the hedgehog seemed to be an exception. Bai Sui never found another ninja beast in the mountains.
The hedgehog had some intelligence, but not much, and couldn't communicate with people like the summoned beasts in the story.
It wasn't particularly strong either. In the end, Fukurou dropped it from above and killed it. Just as Fukurou was about to eat it, Bai Sui snatched it away and left a piece of meat in its place.
When Bai Sui examined the dead hedgehog, he found nothing unusual about it. Its meat was just tougher, and its spines harder.