"The First Hokage's decision back then was clearly wrong. Human nature might be good at birth, but it was far too easily shaped by what came afterward.
He underestimated his own influence and overestimated everyone else."
Recalling the malice he had felt from those wretched villagers back then, Naruto kept his head down as he leafed through the texts in Kirigakure's secret vault.
The more he learned, the more certain he became that the First Hokage must have felt utterly hopeless in his final years.
The moment the First Hokage died, a Shinobi World War broke out. Clearly, the other four Great Shinobi Villages had been planning it for a long time.
During the Third Shinobi World War, even children only a few years old had to go to the battlefield.
It was far too cruel, and it should never have happened.
This world shouldn't be like this!
Naruto suddenly recalled how Sasuke had cast aside his usual flippancy and turned utterly serious the first time they discussed this.
After that day, the vague concept of peace in Naruto's mind had taken on a much clearer shape.
"Tailed beasts were too weak to provide enough deterrence against the other Shinobi Villages, yet they were also too powerful, drastically escalating the intensity of war."
Shaking his head, Sasuke tucked a Sealing Book text that had clearly been taken from the Land of Whirlpools into his clothes, leaving a copy in its original place on the shelf.
Hashirama Senju had still been far too naive. If he could have lived on and linked the other Shinobi Villages with Konoha during his reign, using his absolute strength to make all five villages develop together, he could have shown the people of the other villages how much they stood to gain from developing together