Survival

An Actor Prepares is a book that every human being must read.

A look of desolation instantly occupied Uchiha Kei's face. The teenager, currently in the midst of his voice-cracking phase, began to recount the story in a surprisingly low, gravelly tone.

In this day and age, it's not easy for anyone to just put food on the table!

"Oh, you ninjas who yearn to build a legacy! You have long forgotten that this kind of war, regulated within specific boundaries, has only existed for forty-seven years!"

At this point, Kei's tone began to soften, as if he were trying to console himself.

"That's right, forty-seven years is enough for one generation to replace another. The new era has long since ceased to provide a vessel for those decaying relics."

Discussing the past with those old-timers abandoned by the era is the surest way to gain their approval.

At this moment, those retired veteran ninjas stared at Kei in a daze, seemingly hoping to hear echoes of their own tumultuous ninja careers in his words.

However, the newcomers who had survived the battlefield felt uneasy.

"Lord Kei, as far as I know, the ninja wars of today are far larger in scale than the clan-based conflicts of the Warring States period!"

Kei shook his head.

"But to those old men from back then, the wars we are bound by rules today seem like nothing more than children's games—childish and laughable."

"Hey, Kei, stop talking. Life is pretty good these days."

"Indeed. Back then, the way they slaughtered the young and strong, abandoned the elderly, plundered the infants, and violated the women—the way they wiped out one ninja clan to give birth to another—that kind of war had no mercy whatsoever!"

"Children, do you know why ninjas are always full of possibilities?"

Before Kei could continue, those seventy or eighty-year-old ninjas began to recount their pasts to the youngsters around them, their voices filled with a mix of pity and vanity.

"Why is that, my lord?"

"Because you can never imagine if the clan that is currently friendly to you at your back is busy slaughtering your kin while you are fighting another clan."

This statement stunned the young ninjas who prided themselves on justice.

"Ah, why would they do that!"

"For survival, child!"

For a moment, the crowd became noisy again.

"That's right, survival. In the thousand-year history of the ninja world, only these last fifty years or so have been spent fighting for such inexplicable reasons."

"But what is the situation, really? Shouldn't we be fighting to protect the Land of Fire now?"

Kei shook his head, as if his teenage years had already been weathered by the vicissitudes of life.

"Because from the moment ninjas were born, they possessed powerful force, which naturally allowed them to acquire more social resources. This acquisition was not a right granted by the Daimyo, as it was for the nobility."

"As the rulers of the world, the Daimyo clearly did not wish to see the existence of a group of people born to plunder the power from their own hands."

"Therefore, from the moment they were born, ninjas were different from ordinary people—they were a group of people who could not be tolerated by society. The Land of Fire has never considered the ninja collective as its own citizens."

"They only hope that we, this group of anomalies, will perish in wars of mutual slaughter."

The ninjas with lower levels of education were hearing about the origins of ninjas and their relationship with the Daimyo for the first time, and they were clearly very interested.

Kei had no choice but to continue.

"But ninjas are human after all. We didn't just appear out of thin air; we were born among ordinary people. Being human, we naturally have interpersonal relationships and family ties we cannot abandon."

"To control and even eliminate ninjas, the Daimyo of various countries used the emotions of ordinary people as a bond and the supplies needed for survival as a driving force, forcing ninja clan after ninja clan to attack each other for so-called missions, leading to mutual hatred."

"The Daimyo hoped that, in the end, ninjas would eliminate ninjas."

"And so, this went on for thousands of years."

"Unfortunately, even the weakest ninja is not someone an ordinary soldier can contend with. Although the Daimyo used information blockades to keep ninjas from having the time to reflect on the origins of the tragedies unfolding before them, the emotional exhaustion brought about by the long Warring States period made ninjas want to end the war."

"Circumstances create heroes. When this exhaustion became unbearable, all it took was a powerful force for everyone to help break the old world."

"At that time, two powerful figures emerged: Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama."

"And so, the war ended. They used force to stabilize everyone, and the peaceful times gave everyone a chance to breathe and reflect."

"We huddled together for warmth and established ninja villages. The establishment of such villages never had any legal recognition; it was merely a compromise by the Daimyo who, for the moment, could do nothing about us. In the end, we are nothing more than an illegal gang of thugs."

"Ninjas, we have never fought for the Land of Fire in the past, and we certainly won't in the future. If we must sacrifice our lives to fight, it will surely be for the sake of survival."

Kei felt his words were quite persuasive, but not everyone was willing to see the confusion brought about by the loss of the village's moral justification for war.

What Kei didn't expect, however, was that the first person to oppose him would be Uchiha Fugaku.

"Even so, Kei, you cannot deny that ninjas are tools that serve missions."

"Kei, whether you love the village or not, the Daimyo pays us money. For the sake of survival, we must fight for the Daimyo. Please retract your words and do not engage in behavior that brings shame upon ninjas. I can treat what you said as nothing more than a young man's sophistry born of fear of the battlefield."

Uchiha Fugaku was not saying what he truly meant; he was merely trying to affirm his son's words while fearing that Kei might say something even more shocking.

This would only make the Uchiha, who were already out of step with the village, suffer even more. Fugaku wanted Kei to know that no matter what he thought, it was best for a person not to attempt to challenge the secular world.

But clearly, Kei was not prepared to appreciate the gesture.

"Cut the crap, my dear Clan Head. The pittance the Daimyo gives us is just hush money to keep us from causing trouble; calling it 'protection money' wouldn't be an exaggeration."

"How could that little bit of money possibly support such a large ninja village? Or does Lord Fugaku really think that amount is enough to make ninjas fight to the death for him?"

Fugaku fell silent. Some things could be said but not done, while others could be done but not said. He could not fathom why Qi, who had always been cautious, would do something so ill-timed today.

Seeing Fugaku remain silent, Qi tilted his head slightly and continued.

"That's just it. The Land of Fire is the Land of Fire, and Konoha is Konoha. If the Land of Lightning has invaded the Land of Fire, it is the Daimyo who should be anxious. It is fine for him to want us to risk our lives; after all, it is a tradition spanning thousands of years."

"But the prerequisite is that he pays enough. A sum sufficient for us to die in battle while ensuring our families can still survive."

"It is not just a lighthearted word that will make me send my beloved clansmen to the battlefield. I am an elder of the Uchiha Clan, and I must be responsible for my people."

"Survival is the prerequisite for all bloodshed. Without that, there is nothing to discuss."