Tsunade's Anger

After returning to Tsunade's home, Feng Xun ignored Tsunade's sulky face and went straight to the kitchen. He simmered the leftover greens from the morning into soup, then paired it with the freshly cooked ramen, making a pot of vegetable ramen.

Feng Xun tapped the soup bowls with the ladle. "Dinner's ready!"

Tsunade came to the table and looked at the food without a trace of oil. She had no appetite at all. "Vegetable ramen? I can't believe you came up with that. I want meat, meat! I don't want vegetables."

Like a child, Tsunade flailed her arms and refused no matter what.

Fury!!!

A throbbing vein popped up on Feng Xun's forehead. He said irritably, "If you want meat, go eat outside. There are only vegetables here."

With that, he ignored Tsunade's furious glare and began eating without a care.

"Slurp... slurp..."

"You little bastard, you'll get what's coming to you someday." As soon as she said that, Tsunade's stomach growled in protest. She picked up her chopsticks and viciously ate the ramen before her, as though the noodles were the hateful brat in front of her.

The atmosphere gradually became heavy. Neither Tsunade nor Feng Xun spoke again, as if this had become an unspoken understanding between them.

Suddenly, Tsunade's hand froze as she ate her ramen.

There was sorrow and confusion in her eyes as she asked in a low voice, "Brat, why do you think people start wars?"

Feng Xun paused before replying, "Probably because of benefits."

"Yes, benefits." Tsunade's voice was somewhat dejected. "But are benefits really that important? If your life is gone, what use are even the greatest benefits before your eyes?"

This time, Feng Xun did not answer. Instead, he put down his chopsticks and asked with a puzzled expression, "What's wrong? You look so down. That's nothing like you. Normally, you should be much fiercer."

"You really dare to say that, you brat!" Tsunade waved her fist as if angry, then continued, "The war is about to begin again."

"Is that so? Then Lord Third summoned you today because of this, right?"

Feng Xun was not too surprised. He had long known that the Second Shinobi World War was far from over. That was also why he had been so eager to graduate from the Ninja Academy.

After all, war was the fastest way to earn points.

Tsunade did not know Feng Xun's true thoughts. She simply wanted to vent what she had been holding inside.

"The old man said Hidden Stone Village has begun provoking Hidden Rain Village along the border. If nothing unexpected happens, it won't be long before it's our turn to go to the battlefield."

Although he did not understand what the war between Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Rain Village had to do with Konoha, Feng Xun hesitated for a moment before asking, "Don't you want war to happen?"

Bang!

Tsunade abruptly rose to her feet. Under Feng Xun's startled gaze, she grabbed him by the collar and shouted furiously, "Who would ever look forward to war? That's war! Victory built by piling up human lives!"

It was the first time Feng Xun had seen Tsunade this angry. He knew his words had hurt her, but he wanted even more to know how the woman before him, and most of the shinobi in this world, viewed this world of endless conflict.

Feng Xun coughed twice, ignored Tsunade's angry glare, and continued, "But war made you a hero. Most of the reason the villagers admire you now comes from the war you hate."

At those words, Tsunade released her clenched hand and collapsed weakly into her chair. A faint self-mocking smile appeared on her face as she said, "If I had a choice, I would rather not be this hero or be admired by the villagers. But what else can I do? Behind me is our village. To protect the village, to protect those innocent people, I can only choose to stain my hands red."

They really were brother and sister, carved from the same mold! Both were willing to sacrifice themselves for others.

Feng Xun fell silent.

Looking at the tears gathering in Tsunade's eyes, Feng Xun found it hard to imagine that she had been the Tsunade so obsessed with gambling just moments ago.

Perhaps she only used gambling to cover the pain in her heart.

He did not continue provoking her. Likewise, he did not comfort the master who had already become like family to him.

He turned his head and looked out at the night sky beyond the window, unable to tell what he was feeling.

Sad?

Feng Xun did not think so. He longed for war and anticipated war. He did not think he had the right to feel sad.

Pity?

If pity could bring everlasting peace to this world, he could pity anyone.

Anger?

Perhaps. But he did not know whom he was angry at. This brutally realistic world? Hanzo, who had killed his parents? Or merely his own helplessness?

He even began considering whether the ideal Nagato and the others had failed to realize in the original story was right or wrong. Perhaps their starting point had been right; it was only that their ideal had been turned into a weapon by conspiracies and ambitious men.

If Nagato and the others' lives had been manipulated, then what about his own?

As an outsider, he did not have to suffer anyone's control. He could become stronger than anyone in this world, but what was his true wish?

If it had been a day ago, Feng Xun could have answered without hesitation: to revive his parents and live together with his older brother, Kushina, and the others.

But after hearing Nawaki and Tsunade's ideals, he felt that even if he could attain happiness through that alone, his parents would not be happy.

Because besides him and Minato, they also cared about everyone in the village. They were true shinobi. As for him, he was nothing but a fraud.

Could it be that I should create a world-cleansing organization like Nagato and the others?

An idea so absurd that even he found it ridiculous suddenly surfaced in Feng Xun's mind.

Feng Xun shook his head. He felt he must have been brainwashed.

After all, if he wanted an organization of his own, the prerequisite was staying away from Konoha. Konoha's higher-ups and the clan heads would never allow an uncontrolled organization to appear within Konoha.

But leaving Konoha meant losing his shelter. And unless he became a rogue shinobi, Konoha would certainly investigate the whereabouts of shinobi who left the village.

So that idea could not possibly work at all.

Coming back to himself, Feng Xun looked at Tsunade, who was still grieving alone. With a silent sigh, he cleared away the remaining ramen from the table.

"Then I'll head back first! Master, you should get some rest too!"

In brightly lit Konoha, Feng Xun walked alone through the bustling streets.

Compared to the noise of the surrounding crowds, he seemed utterly out of place in his solitude.