Two days later, in the Land of Waterfalls.
"War is endless; as long as there is a conflict of interest, war will break out..."
Konan kept muttering to herself, the power of Naoki Senju's Talk no Jutsu seemed a bit outrageous, directly shattering Konan's illusions about a peaceful world.
As long as conflicts of interest exist, war and death are unavoidable. But how can these conflicts of interest be avoided?
Conflicts of interest can range from minor to major. The smallest conflict can be a dispute between neighbors, such as a single person being unable to stand the nightly revelry of the couple next door... the scheming of the grocery store auntie and the vendor... or even a probabilistic event like stepping on someone's foot.
The biggest conflicts are, of course, between nations and between ninja villages. For example, Iwagakure complains that Konoha stole their mission orders, Sunagakure is envious of Konoha's natural resources and superior environment, Kirigakure is unhappy with Kumogakure's repeated imposition of tariffs...
These conflicts of interest are irreconcilable and unavoidable. When these conflicts accumulate to a certain extent, war will break out. Nagato's proposed Tailed Beast Weapon Plan can only postpone the outbreak of war, and will also cause unavoidable deaths...
Naoki Senju understood that Konan had fallen into a cognitive trap, a barrier that was destined to remain insurmountable, because war and civilization have always been inextricably linked.
But at least Konan won't be thinking about reuniting with Nagato and Yahiko all the time anymore; Naoki Senju's Talk no Jutsu successfully preserved this gain.
Having tested his skills, Naoki Senju decided to press his advantage, hoping to inspire Konan to develop her own will instead of blindly following in the footsteps of Yahiko and Nagato.
"While permanent peace is impossible, what about maintaining the existing peace?"
Konan paused for a moment, then continued on her way. Now she only wanted to think about Yahiko and Nagato's peace ideals on her own. Naoki Senju's words were too sharp and would greatly affect her thinking ability.
Although he failed to convince Konan to accept his Talk no Jutsu, Naoki Senju continued, saying to himself:
"During the time when the First Hokage founded Konoha, the Shinobi World ushered in true peace. Although it was short-lived, none of the other four great ninja villages dared to start a war, nor did they dare to reveal their intention to do so. Hanzo of the Salamander... no, it was during the time when the Akatsuki controlled Amegakure that Amegakure also had an opportunity to develop, wasn't it?"
Upon hearing the name Hanzo of the Salamander, a name that was both familiar and deeply repulsive to Konan, she finally slowed down.
"So what do you mean? Military deterrence? But how is this different from Nagato's Tailed Beast Weapon Plan?"
At this point, Naoki Senju and Konan's argument went beyond just the right or wrong of the Tailed Beast Weapon Plan; it also stemmed from their differing views on the concept of peace.
"Of course... there's no difference. Both individual martial prowess and Tailed Beast weapons use violence to threaten others and forcibly achieve peace. The difference is that weapons can be copied and stolen, but individual martial prowess cannot be stolen. However, powerful individuals will inevitably age and die, which is why other major powers are willing to maintain temporary peace."
Konan understood even more why Naoki Senju Naoki Senju denied the Tailed Beast Weapon Plan, and also why he wanted to become Jinchūriki, and specifically the Jinchūriki of three Tailed Beast!
"You also want to emulate the First Hokage, using your personal strength to intimidate the Shinobi World and achieve temporary peace?"
Konan's expression suddenly turned grim, not because of Naoki Senju, but because the Akatsuki had followed the same path as Hanzo of the Salamander —sacrificing others to achieve their goals.
The Akatsuki was solely focused on capturing Jinchūriki and Tailed Beast for their Tailed Beast Weapon Plan, without caring about the Jinchūriki's feelings—just like Hanzō back then...
Naoki Senju smiled with satisfaction. It seemed that Konan had shaken off the influence of the Tailed Beast Weapon Plan and would no longer stubbornly believe that there was only one way to achieve peace.
But saying he imitated the First Hokage... don't mistake him for a saint...
"Partly, yes, but my path is destined to be different from that of the First Hokage, because time has proven that the peace brought by the First Hokage was too short-lived—so short that the First Shinobi World War broke out right after his death."
Naoki Senju skipped over the topic of the First Hokage with little interest. Although he admired him, he didn't quite agree with the First Hokage's ideals. The Second Hokage was also influenced by the First Hokage to some extent, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to Kumogakure to sign the ceasefire agreement.
He then excitedly said, "Since the Akatsuki has planned to capture Nine Tailed Beasts, they must know a lot about Takigakure and the Seven-Tails, right?"
A map was handed to Konan by Naoki Senju. Seeing Konan's questioning gaze, Naoki Senju said somewhat embarrassedly:
"The location of Takigakure... cannot be found..."
Just like finding Sunagakure in the desert, finding Takigakure in the jungle is not much easier. Fortunately, the jungle has no shortage of water, and ordinary poisonous insects and beasts are only good for food, so there is no survival pressure like in the desert.
Konan silently took the map and pointed to a location not far away, about thirty kilometers as the crow flies. But if we go back a little further in time, Takigakure was just where they had passed, no more than ten kilometers away...
Kakuzu of the Akatsuki was missing-nin from Takigakure. Considering the need for accurate information about its members, the location of Takigakure is already common knowledge.
" The Seven-Tails of Takigakure, do you really think you can continue sealing the Tailed Beast?"
Konan finally couldn't contain her curiosity and asked the question that had been nagging at her: sealing multiple Tailed Beast was already absurd enough, so how could a fourth Tailed Beast be sealed?
"Of course, but only I can do it in the entire Shinobi World, so this world is destined to be saved by me!"
Konan ignored Senju Naoki's Naoki Senju, assuming he simply didn't want to explain. His strength was already enough to intimidate the other ninja villages, so why hadn't he truly revealed it?
The battles between Senju Naoki and the Fourth Raikage Killer B lacked witnesses from Kumogakure, leading many Kumogakure ninjas to stubbornly believe that Senju Naoki defeated the Fourth Raikage and Killer B through a despicable Naoki Senju attack, and that he, like Minato Namikaze, was the type who dared not engage in direct combat.
Only Darui, who witnessed some of the battle details, remained silent. Sometimes not knowing the truth might be a good thing, at least it won't dampen the fighting spirit of the Kumogakure.
Not to mention Iwagakure, who had never witnessed Naoki Senju's strength firsthand, even the Akatsuki was deceived by false information.
As Konan was lost in thought, a blade of wind grazed Konan clothes and cleaved the jungle in two. The speed was so fast that Konan barely had time to react, although part of the reason was that she was distracted.
"Stop the Seven-Tails! Don't let it escape from Takigakure!"
"There's no way to stop them; we have to use Barrier Ninjutsu."
"Wait! Stop right there! Who are you people?!"
The Takigakure ninja, who had chased them all the way from the village, discovered their suspicious movements and secretly approached Naoki Senju and Konan from Takigakure.