The Road Ahead

"Lord Hokage, Ido, who lives within Yakumo, was born from the darkness in her heart. You could say Ido is another Yakumo. In my view, whether it's Ido's emergence or the Kurama Clan Head and the others' actions, it all comes down to the same thing: they never talked it through!"

Ueno Kei spoke each word carefully.

"Humans are strange creatures. Sometimes, things that don't even exist can take shape in our wild imaginings. Groundless suspicion is the most terrifying thing. Distrust and misunderstanding give rise to hostility between people, and as those feelings deepen, hatred gradually takes root, and killing follows."

As Ueno Kei spoke, his head slowly drooped. The Third Hokage listened quietly beside him, without saying a word. He only watched Ueno Kei with an increasingly complicated expression.

Ueno Kei continued speaking to himself. He had already said so much, and by now he had cast aside his final reservations. Some things truly didn't need to be overthought. Besides, the Third Hokage couldn't possibly be that kind of person.

Slowly, Ueno Kei also told him about what had happened between him and Kurama Yakumo, about Yakumo's remorse and his own hesitation, and about the connection between the chance circumstances and the inevitability of what had happened.

The story stirred something in the Third Hokage. He didn't know what feelings the two children had harbored toward each other back then.

In the Third Hokage's eyes, life had been far too harsh and unfair to Ueno Kei and Kurama Yakumo, who were both only ten years old.

Perhaps that was also why they were less innocent and simple than other children, and a little more mature.

Quietly, the Third Hokage had originally only wanted to learn a little about Ueno Kei's feelings.

Whether it was what had happened between him and her, or the things Ueno Kei had told him, the Third Hokage hadn't originally intended to do anything.

But now, the Third Hokage felt that if he didn't say or do something, the burden on this boy might become too heavy and lead to something terrible in the future.

The Third Hokage's gaze gradually grew distant.

Back then, there had been a boy, dressed in white, just as clever, just as mature and composed. Compared with Ueno Kei, that boy had possessed the greatest talent for ninjutsu the Third Hokage had ever seen.

Yet the two of them had shared the same experience: both their parents had died, and they had faced death far too often at a young age.

The Third Hokage blamed himself. Back then, he hadn't noticed the boy's change. Just as Ueno Kei had said, humans were strange creatures, and no one could truly fathom the complexity of the human heart.

The Third Hokage had already allowed one boy to go astray. He didn't want the same thing to happen a second time.

Especially not to the boy before him—Ueno Kei. The Third Hokage had brought him back to the village himself. He believed it was his duty, and that he had the ability, to keep this child from following the same path as that boy in white.

That, too, was one of his responsibilities as Hokage. At that moment, the faint thought in the Third Hokage's heart suddenly swelled, becoming harder and harder to suppress.

"Kei, humans are indeed complicated creatures, but the bonds between people are far from what you imagine. People may become strangers and grow hostile because they don't communicate or understand one another. But as long as we try to understand and trust one another, I believe that feeling of estrangement and hostility will surely disappear."

The Third Hokage spoke slowly and gently.

Ueno Kei's eyes shifted slightly. Remembering the more than twenty years of his previous life and the more than ten years of this one, a hint of sadness crossed his face. He seemed unmoved by the Third Hokage's words.

To Ueno Kei, his life was real and tangible. It wasn't realistic to think that a few weightless words from the Third Hokage could change the way he saw things.

The truth was, Ueno Kei had no clear path through life or into the future, whether in the past or now. The only things he kept in his heart were his mother's final cry—Live!—and his desire to avenge his parents.

That was why he had kept on living like a person.

Before avenging his parents, Ueno Kei wouldn't allow himself to die easily. But what about after the revenge? He had never considered it, never given it any thought.

And yet, a dreadful outcome was possible: he might spend his days mechanically, like a walking corpse.

It was plain to see. Aside from Naruto, Ueno Kei had no one else in Konoha he could talk to. People disliked Naruto and were somewhat reluctant to associate with Ueno Kei because he spent time with him.

But they didn't reject Ueno Kei the way they rejected Naruto.

Everyone in Konoha had known for the past three years that Ueno Kei was an orphan. Unlike Naruto, he was treated with a fair amount of tolerance and sympathy.

Under those circumstances, it wouldn't have been hard for Ueno Kei to make some friends if he had taken the initiative. But had anyone ever seen him do so? No.

On top of that, he gave off an aloof air that kept people at a distance.

What Ueno Kei didn't realize was that the Third Hokage had occasionally kept an eye on him over the past three years. The Third Hokage hadn't personally brought many children back to the village, and he wasn't the sort of person who helped everyone indiscriminately. In the end, it came down to whether he felt a connection with them.

The Third Hokage had made a point of understanding Ueno Kei's circumstances over the past three years.

Otherwise, the mere fact that an orphan from outside the village had gotten close to Uzumaki Naruto would have been enough for the Konoha Anbu to summon Ueno Kei for a little talk about life and ideals.

It was only because of the Third Hokage that Ueno Kei had remained safe and sound to this day.

After all, no matter how powerful Konoha's institutions were, they couldn't suspect that someone brought into the village by the Hokage himself was a spy.

After what they had just gone through, and given the special relationship between Ueno Kei and Kurama Yakumo, the Third Hokage had no choice but to keep a closer eye on the boy before him.

"Kei, conflict is inevitable. Everyone has something they want to protect. Yet when they fight to protect what they treasure most, they have no choice but to struggle and kill one another, even to the point of starting a Ninja World War!"

The Third Hokage spoke calmly.

"Kei, mutual understanding between people may be difficult, perhaps even impossible to achieve, but I still believe that it will come. The First founded Konoha, and the Will of Fire has been passed down ever since. It is a spirit, an ideal! Kei, people fight because they want to protect what matters to them. That is very important. But one day, people will surely overcome the barriers between them, understand one another, and trust one another. I firmly believe that such an era will come, as long as we work steadily, step by step, to bring it about."

"This is what the Will of Fire means!" the Third Hokage said, slowly and with conviction.