Unlike the excited Kakashi, Yuzuru watched it all with calm eyes.
He had been an ordinary person to begin with and could not relate to the feelings of those clans and higher-ups. By comparison, he empathized far more with these ordinary villagers.
That tangible grief was the true face behind war.
So-called victory was merely an excuse for consolation. After the brief exhilaration, all that remained was the pain of losing loved ones, a wound that could never be healed in an entire lifetime.
In any war, the suffering always belonged to the people. The higher-ups and politicians merely treated it as a game; losing only meant gaining a little less profit.
Hatake Sakumo spotted his two sons. He was already used to the admiration in Kakashi's eyes, but Yuzuru's eyes were filled with calm. In fact, his gaze had never rested on people like them, but rather...
Sakumo followed Yuzuru's gaze. The ordinary people crying over the loss of their families were the ones Yuzuru cared about.
Afterward, the victory celebration proceeded as usual. Once Yuzuru had attended it, he did not cling to Sakumo's side like Kakashi, but simply watched everything calmly.
Sakumo walked over and gently ruffled Yuzuru's hair.
"What's wrong? You're so young. Don't weigh yourself down with worries."
"Am I? I was just wondering, if the First Hokage hadn't distributed the tailed beasts, hadn't allowed those countries to establish shinobi villages, and hadn't created the position of daimyo, would the Shinobi World be much more peaceful than it is now?"
Yuzuru's startling words made Sakumo stiffen.
"Xiao Xian, why would you think that?"
Sakumo looked at him as he asked. Although he had never treated his two children as ordinary little kids, Yuzuru's thoughts were still far too startling.
"Dad, Yuzuru said in class that his dream was world peace."
Kakashi spoke up from the side.
"World peace?"
Hearing that, Sakumo gave a bitter chuckle beneath his mask.
He did not even dare imagine such a thing.
Two great wars had broken out in the Shinobi World in just forty years. How could there possibly be peace?
Who knew when the next great war would happen? And how many forty-year stretches did a person have in their lifetime?
"Perhaps peace will come once this war ends."
Sakumo offered Yuzuru some comfort.
Of course, even he could hardly believe those words.
"All right, here's the gift I prepared for you. Not long ago, I took the opportunity to visit the Land of Water. Perhaps this will help you."
Sakumo took out a storage scroll and handed it to Yuzuru.
"Dad, where's my gift?"
"Well, Kakashi, how about I treat you both to barbecue?"
Sakumo laughed and hurried to comfort his biological son.
"You're playing favorites."
"Well, well, how about this? I'll teach you one more-no, two more ninjutsu. How does that sound? They'll definitely be very powerful ninjutsu."
"All right, then. It's a promise."
The father and his two sons left the square together.
As promised, Hatake Sakumo took the brothers to the Akimichi Clan's barbecue restaurant for a meal.
Halfway through their meal, the Sannin walked in too.
The Sannin held their senior, Hatake Sakumo, in great respect.
Sakumo then introduced Kakashi and Yuzuru to the three of them.
"Oh? Is this the child from the Yuki Clan you found back then, Sakumo?"
"Yes, and Yuzuru is a genuine genius."
Sakumo stroked Yuzuru's head as he spoke.
"Really? Has Yuzuru awakened Ice Release?"
Jiraiya suddenly asked.
Sakumo looked at Yuzuru. Yuzuru did not hide it either, reaching out and creating a lump of ice out of thin air.
At the sight, all three immediately understood why Sakumo had called Yuzuru a genius.
Awakening a kekkei genkai at five was extremely rare even among kekkei genkai clans.
Tsunade also looked at Yuzuru in surprise. She had not expected a little fellow to awaken his kekkei genkai without help from his clan.
After all, she herself had yet to awaken Wood Release.
They sat together, chatting happily as they ate barbecue and drank.
Unable to get a word in, Kakashi and Yuzuru simply tucked into the food.
Seeing Yuzuru's appetite remain as astonishing as ever left Kakashi speechless.
The others, however, did not find it surprising. A large appetite meant a strong physique, which would also affect chakra reserves.
Members of kekkei genkai clans naturally had better physiques than ordinary shinobi, especially when it came to chakra reserves. After all, genes determined all of this.
Take the Sannin, for example. Although Orochimaru and Jiraiya also had far more chakra than ordinary people, Tsunade, at the same level, far surpassed both of them in physique and chakra alike.
Having a kekkei genkai was simply that unfair.
The same was true of Yuzuru now.
Among shinobi without a kekkei genkai, Kakashi's chakra reserves were absolutely top-tier. Unfortunately, they still fell rather short before Yuzuru.
After dinner, once they returned home, Kakashi immediately pestered Sakumo to teach him ninjutsu, while Yuzuru opened the storage scroll Sakumo had given him. Inside were nothing but ninjutsu scrolls, roughly a dozen in all.
"So many!"
Kakashi stared in surprise at the ninjutsu scrolls on the floor.
Seeing that all these scrolls carried a trace of cold, Yuzuru gave a mischievous grin, picked one up, and held it out to Kakashi.
"Here, have one."
Kakashi took the scroll. The moment he opened it, he saw the words "Ice Release." He immediately closed it and handed it back to Yuzuru, giving him that familiar dead-fish stare along the way.
"Keep it for yourself."
With that, Kakashi returned to Sakumo's side.
"Then, Yuzuru, look through these ninjutsu first. I'm going to teach Kakashi some new ninjutsu."
"Okay."
Yuzuru nodded, then immersed himself in the world of Ice Release.
He had to admit that Sakumo really was capable, having managed to obtain so many Ice Release ninjutsu.
Of course, this also indirectly revealed the conflicts and distrust between Kirigakure's higher-ups and the kekkei genkai clans.
Although the Village of the Bloody Mist had yet to come about, none of this arose without reason. It had to be the result of long-accumulated conflicts erupting under some trigger.
After all, those who led the clans were no fools. Unless they had no other choice, none of them wanted bloodshed.
Since he had obtained these Ice Release techniques, Yuzuru naturally accepted them without hesitation.
An orphan of the Minazuki Family living outside the clan was still part of the Minazuki Family. In a sense, this was returning things to their rightful owner, which was better than leaving them scattered elsewhere.
Ice Release: Ice Senbon
Ice Release: Ice Clone
Ice Release: Ice Blizzard
Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals
Among them were not only Kirigakure's Ice Release techniques, but even Ice Release ninjutsu from the Land of Snow. All he could say was that obtaining things from small shinobi villages was simply too easy for a Kage-level powerhouse like Sakumo.
After reading through these ninjutsu, Yuzuru had no choice but to get serious.
Most kekkei genkai ninjutsu were B-rank or above. Since they were new natures formed by combining two chakra natures, their power increased greatly, and their difficulty was likewise very high.
With so many Ice Release ninjutsu in hand, Yuzuru finally had a goal.
Ice Release held great potential, and he had been lacking ninjutsu to use as references. Now that he finally had them, he could properly develop his kekkei genkai.