Ōnoki slowly landed in front of Iwa Ninja. The two giants who looked like gods were their enemies at the moment.
Is this the end of...Iwagakure?
In a desperate situation, looking at such a giant, even Ōnoki can hardly think of resisting.
Dilemma is like a hungry beast, biting at the will of everyone at Iwagakure.
Ōnoki is almost giving up resistance.
At this moment, Kitsuchi stood up and put his father on his shoulders.
"Dad, do we want to continue fighting?"
Yes, do you want to continue fighting?
This question is like an ant bite, tormenting Ōnoki's heart.
As Tsuchikage, he is unwilling to bow to the enemy.
But as Tsuchikage, he should consider the young people around him.
In a trance, Ōnoki saw his grandfather, First, Tsuchikage, Ishikawa.
At that time, I was only more than ten years old, just like the two Young Naruto girls in front of me.
At that time, Ōnoki was wiping the stone enshrined by Iwagakure.
"The left side is still a little dirty. Wipe it carefully. Remember to use force every time."
Ishikawa slowly floated in front of Ōnoki.
Ōnoki did not wipe the sweat from his face, but continued to wipe the stone, and asked his grandfather about the long-standing questions in his heart.
"Whether this thing is a symbol of the village or something else, it looks like a broken stone no matter how you look at it? It looks like a carved Yanyan like Konoha!"
He looked at his grandfather and complained, "Our Lord Tsuchikage is really good at saving money."
However, Ishikawa did not respond directly to Sun Tzu's question, nor did he get angry because of his complaints.
As the shadow of First, he is already old, and very old.
He suffered a lot of injuries in the process of imitating Hashirama Senju and unifying Land of Earth with Ninja, but in the end he won and became one of the Five Kages who calmed down the troubled times.
"Ōnoki, I am the best at looking at rocks."
Ishikawa turned around and stopped looking at his grandson.
"Just by looking at the stone, I can tell what value it will have. This stone is a symbol of our village's strong will."
Saying this, Ishikawa raised his right fist.
Ōnoki stopped wiping at this time, thinking that his grandfather was telling some unfunny jokes to fool him again like before.
He didn't understand why the symbol of Iwagakure was so ordinary, cheap and ubiquitous, even though it was the symbol of the village!
"Even the symbol is made up of cold jokes, a far-fetched stingy guy."
Ishikawa frowned when he heard what his grandson said.
He reached out and picked up the stone in front of Ōnoki.
"But, this is indeed just an ordinary stone."
With that said, he casually threw the stone, which symbolized Iwagakure's firm will, into the pool below the platform.
There are countless stones in the pool. If one stone falls, it will be hard to tell which one is the one Ishikawa just threw.
Ōnoki was angry, but the other person was his grandfather. He suppressed his anger and looked at the pool.
"You... what are you doing, stinky old man? I can't even find which piece it is!"
The material Ishikawa showed another stone. The stone was still ordinary, but it was obviously different from the previous one.
"Look, if you replace it with a new one, no one will notice it."
"Eh?"
A squinting Ishikawa opened his eyes, and Ōnoki swore that that was the most serious time he had ever seen his grandfather.
To this day, more than fifty years later, when he recalled that conversation, he still remembered that look.
"The most important thing is never the symbol, but the will in your heart."
"As a person like me, as long as I can see that person's will, I can also know how valuable his will is."
"Ōnoki, your will contains the power to change the world. But if you don't pay more attention, this rare will may disappear."
"Disappear..."
Yes, when did your own will disappear?
Was it when you were facing the man named Madara Uchiha?
Recalling that he was instantly killed by the opponent after just one confrontation, Ōnoki also heard his grandfather's last words in his mind.
"Hitting a wall can easily make a person abandon his will, make excuses for himself, and replace the missing will with hatred."
"Listen up, Ōnoki. Never abandon your will, hold on to it!"
In the memory, Ōnoki faced the powerful Madara Uchiha and picked up a stone in front of him, then stood up and faced the fear in his heart.
"Do you still want to continue dancing? But unfortunately, you are too weak."
Sharingan's red light flooded his vision, the stone slipped from his palm, and his will at that moment fell to pieces.
"Hey! Stinky old man, what are you doing?"
The crisp shout suddenly brought him back to reality.
It's Kurotsuchi.
She was covered in dust, but she held a stone high in her palm, and her eyes were as bright as burning stars.
"Look! I brought our Iwagakure symbol here!"
The stone was rough and uneven and inconspicuous on the dim battlefield.
But when Ōnoki looked at it, a surge of heat suddenly surged through his dry eyes.
That wasn't sadness, it was something deeper and harder, re-emerging from the depths of his shattered will.
He took the stone.
Very light yet very heavy.
All confusion, fear, and compromise were crushed into powder the moment the palm of your hand touched the stone surface.
He cried, he flew up, he took the stone and held it high.
He has found his will!
Will of Stone!
Walk on your own path, even if you hit the wall and get a bloody head! Never give up!
Will requires perseverance, and Will of Stone is the will to persevere.
When a person has persistence and a firm idea to break through the southern wall, he has the power to change the world!
Will of Stone is not born strong, but chooses to still get up after every fall.
It's not that I'm not afraid, it's that even if my knees are shaking, I still have to keep going on the path I've set, even if I hit the wall, even if I get a bloody head.
"Iwagakure Zongren!"
His voice is like thunder rolling over the mountains,
"The stone will be rounded and broken into pieces!
However, we will never give up!
Here today, let the enemy see what it means...Will of Stone!"
The earth seemed to respond to his call, faintly shaking.
In all Iwa Ninja's eyes, the fear faded away inch by inch, replaced by a silent, almost stubborn light.
That is not hope, it is something harder than hope.
It is the determination to persevere even though you know you may lose.
What is the strongest thing in the world?
Today, Ōnoki can give the answer.
The hardest stone in the world is human will!
Will of Stone, never disappeared.
It just sleeps in every seemingly ordinary stone, waiting for a trembling but firm hand to lift it high into the sky again.