Once people had nothing to do, they started thinking. Think too much, and they began making some rather unhealthy assessments of themselves.
For example: What was I thinking back then?
Oh, right. I was thinking, "I just need to block it head-on. Didn't Grandpa Hashirama always face everything head-on when he was young?"
Now he realized he was not Hashirama Senju.
"Want the truth?" Amamiya Maki asked calmly.
"Go ahead."
"You really aren't cut out to be a shinobi."
"But you're cut out for something else."
"...What else?"
"The first shinobi in the Senju Clan training to become a samurai.
"Shinobi spend every day throwing shuriken at each other from dark corners. Samurai left the stage of history ages ago."
"But you? You took a Rasengan to the face. Back in the Warring States Period, you'd have been a daimyō's personal bodyguard at the very least."
"Shinobi would turn tail the moment they saw you, cursing, 'What the hell is wrong with this bastard? Why's he still charging?'"
[Detected: Host has inflicted mental pressure on "Senju Nawaki"] [Pressure points +50]
Nawaki opened and closed his mouth twice.
He wanted to argue, but couldn't find the words.
He wanted to laugh, but that didn't seem quite appropriate.
"...That's a seriously mean way to put it."
"Mean or not, just tell me whether you feel a little better after hearing it."
Nawaki thought for three seconds. "I do."
"What a masochist!"
"Anyway," Amamiya Maki said, changing tack.
"You do look pretty weak here in Konoha."
[Detected: Host has inflicted mental pressure on "Senju Nawaki"] [Pressure points +30]
"..."
"You only look weak in Konoha because there are too many freaks here.
"Orochimaru could lead experimental research at twelve, and Tsunade could mend broken bones with the Mystical Palm Technique at twelve.
"Jiraiya had found his way to Mount Myōboku by fourteen or fifteen.
"By your age, your sister could already smash the Third's desk with one punch.
"Of course you look weak next to those monsters."
Nawaki fell silent for a moment. "I know every single one of those monsters you just listed."
"Exactly. So your problem isn't that you're weak. You're using the wrong benchmarks."
Amamiya Maki's tone suddenly grew a little more serious.
"You need to get out more. You look weak in Konoha because everyone you're comparing yourself to is practically a god."
"You're right, Maki! What if I'm really strong against people outside the village?"
Uh, where did this spinning top come from?
"Actually, it's more likely you'll leave Konoha and get blown up by an explosive tag.
"Your sister won't be able to save you even with the Mystical Palm Technique. Then Konoha will put up a monument for you with four words on it."
Nawaki didn't want to ask what those four words were, but his mouth moved faster than his brain. "...What four words?"
"No intact corpse recovered."
[Detected: Host has inflicted mental pressure on "Senju Nawaki"] [Pressure points +80] [Vitality fragment ×3]
Nawaki's expression shattered.
He was caught in the complicated state of "You make so much sense that I can't argue, but holy shit, that hurts."
Amamiya Maki mentally gave today's Nawaki a score.
His tolerance for pressure had improved considerably since last time, when he had nearly cried after Maki pointed out that he was imitating Hashirama.
This time, he had taken three rounds of jabs and still remained reasonably stable.
Significant improvement.
"All right."
He stood up and changed the subject.
"Let's talk business. Master Orochimaru came to see me. Your sister mentioned it to you, right?"
"She did. The reconnaissance mission to the Land of Whirlpools." Nawaki stood up too, his expression shifting from stunned by the insults back to normal.
"My sister said, 'Stick with Maki. If he tells you to run, run. Only fight when he tells you to.'"
Those words carried considerable weight coming from Tsunade.
Under normal circumstances, having a member of the Senju Clan take orders from an outsider would have been unthinkable.
But this was not Tsunade under normal circumstances.
She was an older sister who had watched her little brother get knocked flat by a Rasengan.
She hadn't said it aloud, but her actions had already entrusted Nawaki's life to the very person who had injured him.
There was no helping it. The kid really was devious.
Amamiya Maki made no comment on that detail.
He changed the subject again.
"Do you know Kushina?"
"I've met her a few times, but I haven't seen much of her since I moved out. I hear she's tiny, with a huge temper."
"Lady Mito brought her to the clan grounds and said she was a distant relative from the Uzumaki Clan. My sister told me not to bully her."
"I said, 'Why would I bully a little kid?' And my sister said, 'You're a little kid too.'"
"Where is she now?"
"Probably in the rear courtyard of the clan grounds. Lady Mito arranged a separate place for her to stay."
Kushina Uzumaki crouched beside the pond in the rear courtyard of the clan grounds, poking the water with a twig.
Several koi lived in the pond, and her poking sent them darting in every direction.
She wore an ill-fitting dark red shirt, its sleeves rolled twice and its loose neckline hanging over her collarbones.
Her red hair was tied into two short ponytails, slightly tousled by the evening breeze, with a few stray strands clinging to her cheeks.
"What's wrong, Maki?"
"Didn't Lady Mito tell you?"
"She did, but I wanted to hear you tell me again."
In the end, Maki had no choice but to briefly explain the situation again.
"So your take on this is..."
"Why should I save them? Let those wretched ingrates die in the Land of Whirlpools!"
"...???"
Who swapped his red-hearted tomato for a black-hearted one?!
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat with his brow deeply furrowed, silent for a long time.
Countless unidentified forces were secretly harassing the borders of the Land of Whirlpools.
How he should reply to this plea for aid from the Land of Whirlpools-and whether he could reply at all-depended on one person.
But the more closely Hiruzen Sarutobi read its contents, the heavier his heart grew.
Hanzō of Amegakure stood poised to strike, while a host of small nations secretly banded together and lay low. The shadow of a shinobi world war already hung over the entire land.
Konoha itself was riddled with hidden dangers.
At last, he made up his mind. Mito Uzumaki had to be informed of this.
Mito's residence.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed the door open and entered, Mito Uzumaki's gaze settled on the distinctive letter in his hand.
"Lady Mito."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke softly.
Without any preamble, he handed over the plea for aid.
Mito Uzumaki took it. After reading the final line, she remained silent for a long time.
"With the situation as it stands, can Konoha... truly send troops to help?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly shook his head, his voice heavy with helplessness.
"It would be very difficult."
"The small nations are secretly joining forces, Amegakure is plotting war, and undercurrents are surging throughout the Shinobi World."
"We can't afford the cost of winning, nor can we afford to gamble."
He paused, then voiced the cruelest truth-and the most practical concern.
"More importantly, the other great nations are undoubtedly watching from the shadows, waiting to pounce."
No one could afford the price of staking Konoha's very survival on an ally already on the brink of destruction.
Mito Uzumaki stared at the letter for a long time before finally choosing to tear it up.
"I've lived in Konoha for a very long time. This is my home now."
After saying those words, Mito Uzumaki closed her eyes heavily.
Hiruzen Sarutobi left shortly afterward.
Mito Uzumaki sat alone beside her bed, memories of her past with Hashirama playing over and over in her mind.
It wasn't that the Land of Whirlpools mattered more than Konoha, but that Hashirama and everything he had left behind mattered more than the Land of Whirlpools.
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