"That's right. A few years ago, Danzo visited many Ninja Clan and forcibly took away many young ninjas from the Ninja Clan to join Root. However, he couldn't take the two powerful clans Uchiha and Hyūga Clan, by trickery, so he could only resort to these methods!"
Tsunade became increasingly certain of her guess.
While Meikyō was speechless, he couldn't help but nod repeatedly.
If he hadn't known about Uchiha Madara's existence, he probably would have already believed Tsunade's deduction.
All I can say is that you're truly amazing, Danzo! You can perfectly pin all the blame on yourself without it feeling out of place.
"Leave Orochimaru's side to me and Dan to investigate. If it's not Orochimaru, then it must be that Danzo guy!"
"This... Teacher Tsunade, Danzo is indeed a possibility, but is it possible that it was done by other forces or individuals outside the village?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Where else besides Konoha would you find First Hokage's Cells?"
Tsunade shook her head and strode out.
Meikyō:...
For now, let's pin the blame on Danzo. It might actually help us bring Danzo down later.
When Meikyō finished her work and returned to her tent, she found a child, just over a meter tall, waiting at her door.
"Itachi? What are you doing here?"
Meikyō looked at Uchiha Itachi, who was standing at the door, and asked curiously.
"Lord Meikyō, I asked about your residence from Yōsuke Jonin."
Uchiha Itachi bowed slightly respectfully as he spoke.
"Let's come in and talk about it."
Meikyō led Uchiha Itachi into his tent.
"Yes!"
Uchiha Itachi's actions and expressions were very polite, which shows that Fugaku actually had high standards for his personal etiquette.
Because etiquette can cultivate a person's noble bearing, Fugaku, as the head of the Uchiha Clan, naturally attached great importance to it.
After sitting down, Uchiha Itachi quickly glanced at the situation in Meikyō's residence.
A typical minimalist style.
"Speak, what is it?"
Meikyō poured two glasses of water on the table and said to Uchiha Itachi.
There's no tea or anything like that at the front lines; this is all we have to offer to visitors.
"Lord Meikyō, many clansmen say that you are the most outstanding war hero of Konoha in the Shinobi World War, so I would like to know your views on war and those who lost their lives in war."
Uchiha Itachi sat in his seat and spoke respectfully.
Is it because you can't figure something out?
Fortunately, the child is still young, and after overthinking things, he knows to ask someone for help.
In the original timeline, unable to understand, he asked Orochimaru in front of the Memorial Stone. The question made him ponder the meaning of life, but he became even more confused. So he went to ask Shisui, but Shisui, limited by his knowledge and experience, could not give a good enough explanation. As a result, this silly kid was later fooled by the Third Hokage and Danzo.
As for now, it's because of his huge reputation within the clan and village that they've come to ask him questions.
"This doesn't seem like a question that someone your age should be thinking about, or even be able to think about. However, I roughly know it's because of Fugaku's teaching methods. After all, no one would bring their child, who hasn't even attended the Ninja Academy yet, to the battlefield to experience it. But since you asked, I'll share my opinion."
Meikyō shifted to a more comfortable sitting position and said:
"You must understand that wherever there are people, there will inevitably be disputes. This is Eternity theme in human history. War is just one type of dispute. Even in times of peace, there will be disputes."
"So-called war is actually the inevitable result of disputes reaching a certain level. Plunder and anti-plunder, aggression and anti-aggression, oppression and anti-oppression, expansion and anti-expansion—the causes of these wars are all disputes between different people due to the unreasonable distribution of interests."
Uchiha Itachi sat upright in his chair, lost in thought.
Meikyō sat opposite him, picked up her water glass and drank.
"Then, Lord Meikyō, since the outbreak of war is caused by conflict, and the conflict is caused by the unfair distribution of interests, how can the distribution of interests be made fair?"
"So what kind of distribution do you think would be reasonable?"
Meikyō countered with a question to Uchiha Itachi.
"Of course, we should divide the resources according to each person's contribution, so that we can make the most of these resources," Uchiha Itachi replied after a moment of thought.
"Very good, you didn't say anything stupid like equal distribution, because that would mean that everything you thought before was just the meaningless ramblings of a five-year-old. You are indeed different from others in being able to say that it should be divided according to contribution, but that is unrealistic, at least in the current Ninja World, it is impossible to achieve."
"Please enlighten me Lord Meikyō."
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head slightly.
"It's very simple. Let me give you a simple example. Daimyo and nobles do not engage in production. In fact, many of them oppress and destroy the farmers who grow most of the food in the Land of Fire. However, the resources and interests controlled by Daimyo and nobles are the most in the Ninja World. So much so that even Konoha needs to rely on Daimyo to allocate military funds to maintain its development."
"Secondly, you say it should be divided according to contribution, but how can you determine who contributed more and who contributed less? This is something that cannot be quantified. Perhaps you can choose someone with high enough prestige and fairness to judge the contribution and divide the benefits, but you cannot guarantee that he is truly fair enough. Even if he is fair, will he use this power to seek personal gain? In that case, what difference is there between that person and a nobleman?"
Uchiha Itachi nodded, seemingly understanding.
No matter how smart he is, he's still just a five-year-old kid.
"Then, Lord Meikyō, could you tell me how to resolve this situation?"
"It's simple, yet difficult. Like the First Hokage, you can bring temporary peace to the Ninja World, and then establish a system during that time—a system that everyone recognizes and follows, and rely on that system for distribution. It's just a pity that even though the First Hokage ended the Sengoku Period and transcended his own era, he only succeeded halfway."
"Halfway there?"
A question mark appeared above Uchiha Itachi's head.
Even though the First Hokage, who established the ninja village system in Konoha and ushered in an era of peace, has been gone for many years, there are still many people like the Third Hokage who cherish the memory of that peaceful era. But even such a person, according to Meikyō, was only "halfway to success".
Wrong!
Uchiha Itachi asked again:
"But war still exists now. According to this reality, the First Hokage should have failed. So why did you say, Lord Meikyō, that the First Hokage 'succeeded halfway'?"
"Do you know what the world was like before the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan established Konoha?"
Meikyō once again asked Uchiha Itachi a question.
Before he could answer, Meikyō continued:
"You were brought to the battlefield by your father, unlike the others. The other children in the village were still playing at your age. Even if they were a little older, they would spend a few years of peaceful life in the Ninja Academy. Just like me, I only stepped onto the battlefield when I entered the fourth grade and turned ten."
"But in the Sengoku Period, even a child like you, as long as you can refine Chakra and wield a sword, must step onto the battlefield and fight the enemy. The First Hokage's younger brothers, Itama Senju and Kawakama Senju, died in the war when they were only a little older than you Uchiha Madara, who founded Konoha with Hashirama Senju, had all five of his brothers die on the battlefield before Konoha was even founded. Because in the Sengoku Period, war broke out every day!"
"Elder Hane of the clan is over eighty years old. He has been on the battlefield since the time of Uchiha Tajima, before Uchiha Madara. He personally experienced the end of the Sengoku Period and the establishment and development of the ninja village era. You can ask him about these things."
"That's a bit of a tangent. In the Sengoku Period, the intensity of war might not have been as great as it is now, but it was never-ending. However, after the First Hokage established the ninja village system, wars became something that broke out only every so often. Young ninjas would only go to the battlefield after many older ninjas had died."
"The failure to achieve true peace is where the First Hokage failed, but compared to the Sengoku Period, it has made tremendous progress, which is where the First Hokage succeeded."
"The unfinished work of the First Hokage needs to be handed over to us, the descendants of Konoha. But before that, we must use our own methods to bring peace to the Ninja World, and then further reform the system, which is different from that of the ninja villages."
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head and kept muttering to himself.
"Creating peace, establishing systems, using systems to limit disputes, and maintaining peace... But what if we, like the First Hokage, create peace, but the systems we establish cannot sustain that peace in the long run?"
Where do all these questions come from?
No wonder they went astray in the original timeline.
Even though he had read books for more than ten years before his time travel, he still couldn't answer his question.
If you were to give an answer to a ninja who has been taught killing techniques since elementary school, who has stepped onto the Danzo at the age of twelve or thirteen at most, and who has not read more than two books of proper education, and if they were to encounter the Third Hokage and Danzo with ill intentions, plus Uchiha Fugaku with his outrageous teaching methods, it would be strange if they did not go astray!
"Then we should reform the established system to make it more suitable. If we have reformed it to the point where we can't reform it any further, but we still can't achieve our goals, then it means that it's time for a new round of reforms. People need to use revolution to overthrow the old, unreasonable system and establish a system that is more in line with their times."
Meikyō picked up the teacup, dipped the chopsticks into it, and swirled them around, instantly creating an Uzumaki on the surface of the water.
"This is an Uzumaki; it's flat, destined to be trapped in an endless cycle of rebirth."
"Is Lord Meikyō suggesting that the development of history, like this Uzumaki, is trapped in an endless cycle?"
"Uchiha Itachi thought for a moment and then said."
"No, it's not just an Uzumaki."
Meikyō shook his head, put down his water glass, and conjured a Rasengan in his left hand.
"This is Minato Namikaze's signature Ninjutsu, the Rasengan, which was named by his fiancée, Kushina Uzumaki. The name comes from a quote by Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the First Hokage."
"Uzumaki is two-dimensional, but when you stretch Uzumaki to a three-dimensional level, it becomes an upward spiral. Rather than Uzumaki, I prefer to think of history as a constantly rising spiral. What has already happened will inevitably happen again in the future, but overall it is still moving upward."
"Every time the spiral makes a circle in the air, it rises to a new level. Every time a new generation emerges, people with lofty ideals come together and drive the development of history forward one after another."
"The formation of a system is similar. The First Hokage ended the war and ushered in a new era, bringing peace to the Ninja World in his time. Now the spiral of history has turned again. What we need to do is end all the wars of this era in our own way and strive to create a longer-lasting peace. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Uchiha Itachi stood up from his chair and bowed ninety degrees to Meikyō.
"I understand, Lord Meikyō. I have another request, and I hope you can grant it."
"Speak."
"I hope to become your disciple, because only you can answer my many questions. Many clansmen also believe that you are the most outstanding Uchiha. I hope to receive your guidance!"
Meikyō:...
I dare not become your teacher until I'm sure you haven't gone astray!
After all, in another timeline, the Hokage lineage has a tradition of killing one's master, such as Orochimaru killing the Third Hokage, Sasuke killing Orochimaru, and Nagato killing Jiraiya, etc.
"You don't need to do that yet. You're still too young. What you should do is go to the Ninja Academy to learn skills after the war, meet different people, and broaden your experience and abilities. Otherwise, even if you have a lot of questions, it won't make any difference. But if you have any questions in the future, you can come to me for advice."
"I understand, Lord Meikyō. Now, could you answer my other question here? It's the one I asked at the beginning, and the one you just mentioned: what is the meaning of life?"
Uchiha Itachi asked again.
"I can answer your question with a quote from Senior Orochimaru: 'He was a person with a very deep understanding of life.'"
Uchiha Itachi pricked up his ears.
"Living itself has no inherent meaning, but by living, one can find meaningful things, just as you see a flower and I see you."