The moment Mingye finished speaking, Fujiwara Muneyoshi cried out in horror, "This is slaughter!"
Mingye nodded. "A blood feud this deep can never be reconciled!"
"Why, Mingye?!" Fujiwara Muneyoshi looked at him. Mingye was completely calm, as though they were not discussing something that concerned him, as though he were not one of those involved. And when faced with Fujiwara Muneyoshi's question, Mingye actually laughed.
"Do you remember what I told you? Once Konoha formed a system, the other four nations beyond the Five Great Nations would absolutely rush to imitate it, because this was the fastest path to greater strength. It might be infringement, but it was something even the courts could not punish by law, wasn't it?"
Not even a devil would smile at such a moment, because even the cruelest being would not laugh when recalling such a scene. Fujiwara Muneyoshi suddenly felt sick enough to vomit. He did not dare imagine that scene, because it was not war.
"More than three thousand people! They weren't three thousand livestock—they were people!"
Mingye nodded again, calmly explaining.
"I know! I know very well. When they had all died, when I looked at the corpses covering the ground, do you know that my heart hurt terribly too? It was tearing me apart. Why? Why couldn't they have lived properly? Why? Why did they have to suffer the turmoil and pain of war? Why? Why couldn't they have been part of our Konoha?"
That report-like indifference was more than Fujiwara Muneyoshi could bear. He angrily rebuked him, rose to his feet, and turned to leave.
"You're insane!"
"I never denied it, did I? Sit down! I'm not finished!"
Fujiwara Muneyoshi had not drunk the tea Mingye had offered with both hands. He had merely smelled it before setting it aside.