Inside the teahouse, rune lamps illuminated the space brightly, casting long and short shadows across the Konoha as night fell. Outside, the night was deep, and a light rain pattered against the blue tiles, but it couldn't drown out the lively discussions that filled the teahouse.
" Konoha is currently at its zenith, and the students who graduated from the Kage Academy are all exceptionally strong. I've heard that powerful figures like Lord Tsunade and Orochimaru can even destroy a country single-handedly. In my opinion, why not just go all out and unify the entire Shinobi World!" A merchant dressed in fine clothes slammed his fist on the table, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism.
As soon as he finished speaking, a young ninja dressed in a dark blue ninja uniform with the insignia of a high-ranking Ninja Academy embroidered on his cuffs slowly shook his head and said, "That's not right. When I was studying at the Ninja Academy, my teachers repeatedly taught us about the Will of Fire. The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, dedicated his life to building a Shinobi World of mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. The ninjas of Konoha should take it upon themselves to protect the common people and the weak, and to eliminate Shinobi World wars. The foundation upon which Konoha has been passed down to this day is precisely this Will of Fire that guides people towards good."
"Hmph!" From a corner, a richly dressed nobleman wearing a jade-inlaid crown sneered, "That sounds nice! But what about when Konoha sent troops to help the Land of Whirlpools destroy the Land of Tea and the Land of Artisans two years ago? Wasn't that a blatant act of aggression, completely contrary to the so-called Will of Fire for good?"
Upon hearing this, the teahouse fell silent. All eyes turned to the Uzumaki Clan sitting in the corner—he wore a deep red robe, a silver hairpin engraved with the Uzumaki Clan emblem adorning his red hair, and his eyes held an unyielding grief and anger.
"Of course it wasn't a war of aggression!" The Uzumaki Clan abruptly stood up, his Chakra subtly fluctuating. "The nobles of the Land of Tea and the Land of Artisans secretly supported the Sky Ninja Village, launching a bloody war against the Land of Whirlpools!" His voice trembled. " The Sky Ninja Village used the weapon of mass destruction, the ' Fire Bomb,' to detonate it over all the cities in the Land of Whirlpools, bombing wherever there were large populations. Over 700,000 civilians in the Land of Whirlpools were killed or wounded—women, children, and the elderly—instantly reduced to ashes! That's the Land of Whirlpools with over two million people! Nearly a third of our people perished in this war!"
The nobleman scoffed, "War is inherently cruel, why play the victim here? Besides, the rule that nobles should not be bullied has been in place for thousands of years, yet you are ruthlessly slaughtering the nobles of the Land of Tea and the Land of Artisans, not even sparing their children. What does such behavior have to do with the benevolence and tolerance of the Will of Fire?"
"Mercy? Tolerance is for humans, but the nobles of these two countries are beasts!" The Uzumaki Clan laughed angrily, his eyes blazing with fury. "Do you know the miserable lives the common people of those two countries lead? The nobles of the Land of Tea and the Land of Artisans forcibly conscript beautiful women from the common people, taking them into their backyards for their pleasure. The common people's wives are discarded after they've had their fill. They force the common people to work day and night, and countless people die from exhaustion and disease. The common people never get a full meal; they live in a living Hell! The Third Hokage, Lord Tsubasa, taught us that the Will of Fire advocates equality for all. After Konoha destroyed those two devils, they confiscated the nobles' land and distributed it to the common people to cultivate, exempting them from taxes for three years; they established schools so that children could study; they set up clinics so that the common people could have a place to receive medical treatment. Now, in the Land of Tea and the Land of Artisans, the common people finally have smiles on their faces and hope in their eyes. This is true humanity!"
"Nonsense! It's been the rule for centuries for commoners to serve nobles!" The nobleman stood up abruptly, the jewels on his crown jingling. "Furthermore, it was a small number of nobles who started the war. To punish the entire noble class with the evil of a few is clearly the act of a mob! Konoha's actions are nothing more than using the guise of justice to carry out hegemonic acts and seize the land of two nations!"
"Do you know what hegemony is? Do you think our Land of Fire practices benevolent governance?" The ninja sighed softly and slowly began, "You probably don't know this, but since taking office, the Third Hokage Lord Tsubasa, has been dedicated to promoting the peace ideals of the Will of Fire. He deeply understands that the corruption and greed of the aristocratic class is one of the root causes of frequent wars. Therefore, on the one hand, he vigorously promotes development and supports the common people, establishing Ninja Academy to provide 'a path for commoners to advance.' As long as one has ability and talent, a commoner can also enter the upper echelons of the Land of Fire and Konoha. On the other hand, he ruthlessly suppresses those rich and unkind nobles who oppress the people, while remaining untouched by the evil and virtuous nobles. You are a nobleman, you should understand this, right? This is called benevolent governance."
"Absolutely absurd!" The nobleman wearing a jade thumb ring slammed his gilded folding fan heavily on the sandalwood table, causing ripples to spread in the Biluochun tea in his cup. "To exterminate all the children of the noble classes of both countries? This is blatant disregard for human life, what kind of benevolent governance is this? They don't even give nobles the dignity they've been entitled to for thousands of years, dragging them out into the streets to be beaten and scolded by commoners. Is this what you call benevolent governance?" The cloud patterns on his brocade robe rippled with his movements, and the nine python patterns embroidered on his cuffs revealed his extraordinary status.
"In the entire Land of Tea, ninety percent of the land belongs to the nobles, and commoners are enslaved for generations." A commoner ninja from the Land of Artisans of Crafts, who disliked the nobles, spoke with a growing chill in his voice. "During spring planting, the nobles chain farmers to their plows; after the autumn harvest, they take everything except the husks. I've personally witnessed a woman nine months pregnant being hung on the city gate for three days and three nights because she couldn't pay her land rent..." He suddenly ripped open his collar, revealing a tattoo of the character "slave" next to the mark branded on his chest. "This is a 'gift' from the nobles of the Land of Artisans; all commoner males over the age of Jūni must have this mark tattooed on them!"
The nobleman wearing the jade thumb ring's expression changed drastically. "Slander! Nobles are the pillars of the nation, how could they..."
"A pillar of the nation?" The young ninja from Konoha abruptly stood up, his Ninja Academy badge gleaming coldly in the candlelight. "Are you aware of Her Majesty the Queen's ' Land Distribution Decree '? When Konoha Ninja set foot in the Land of Tea, they found the nobles' granaries piled high with stale rice, while the mass graves outside the city were filled with new civilian corpses every day. Those noble children, dressed in finery, were enjoying their aristocratic lives, stepping over the bones of commoner children. Of course, you nobles want to remain nobles forever, forever high above others. When war comes, it's only commoners and ninjas who die!"
" The Lord Hokage said that evil forces must be eradicated with all our might. For example, a few years ago, some nobles secretly colluded with missing-nin, attempting to overthrow the Land of Fire's government. Queen Tian Flying Swallow of the Land of Fire personally led an expedition, capturing all the nobles involved and confiscating their property. Half of it was used to aid the common people, and the other half was used for military expenses. Those law-abiding nobles were left untouched. Afterwards, she gave a speech at the Hokage Rock, reiterating the core of the Third's Will of Fire —uniting all those who do good and eliminating all those who do evil!"
"You only see Konoha's tough measures against the evil nobles, but you don't see that the conflict between commoners and nobles in Konoha has greatly eased. Commoners have hope for upward mobility, and nobles dare not act recklessly. This is the change brought about by the Will of Fire."
An eerie silence suddenly fell over the teahouse. Outside the window, the evening breeze carried the scent of freshly turned earth, mingling with the suffocating aroma of tea rising from the room.
" The Will of Fire is not just empty talk." The Uzumaki Clan crushed a piece of bran in his palm. " The First Hokage pursued peace and the elimination of war, ensuring every child could eat their fill and grow up safely; the Third Hokage implemented the ' Fairness Decree ' and the Land Distribution Decree, requiring nobles to pay the same taxes as commoners; and the ' Education Decree ' was unprecedented, allowing commoners' children to enter the ninja academy." He grabbed a teacup from the table and poured the scalding tea onto the ground. "Look at this water! If the world is unjust, the Will of Fire should be like this boiling water, cleansing away all decay!"
"Well said!" A thunderous cheer suddenly erupted. All the Konoha ninjas stood up, slamming their fists on the table. A commoner ninja's hand, as strong as an iron clamp, shook the table violently. "My son passed the entrance exam for the Ninja Academy two years ago! In the past, nobles trampled on ninja clans, and even the dogs of those clans could trample on our heads. Now?" He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a brand-new Forehead Protector on his arm, "My son A Tie, says he wants to be a hero who protects the village and upholds the Will of Fire!"
The nobleman with the jade thumb ring, his face ashen, grabbed his fox fur cloak and prepared to leave. But then he heard a cold laugh from the Uzumaki Clan behind him, "Does Your Excellency know why Konoha divided the noble lands equally among everyone after destroying the two countries? Because the true Will of Fire is to let the sunlight shine into every corner!"
The nobleman opened his mouth, about to retort, but was stopped by the old man beside him. "Enough, enough. I have been to the Land of Tea and witnessed the changes there firsthand. Before, the people didn't dare to raise their heads when they saw nobles; now, they can stand tall and work happily in the fields. Perhaps, this Will of Fire can truly bring peace to the Shinobi World..."
As the crowd dispersed and the last light went out, the teahouse owner wiped the tea stains from the table. Moonlight streamed through the carved window lattices, casting a silvery edge on the Hokage portrait. Gazing at the brightly lit ninja academy in the distance, he suddenly recalled the coup that changed Konoha's fate before the Third Hokage took office—back then, commoners huddled in slums, and even ninja pensions were embezzled; now, their children, the commoners, were holding torches, illuminating the path to the Mirai.
"With these bright-eyed young people around, the village's future is bright." The owner hung a wooden sign that read "Lean pork porridge available tomorrow" on the lintel. As the bamboo curtain swayed, the moonlight and the distant Hokage Rock reflected each other, and his Tsubasa smile seemed to pierce through the years, gazing upon this newborn land.