"You mean… after true peace arrives, the descendants of ninja should no longer continue becoming ninja?"
Hashirama Senju frowned and, in as calm a tone as possible, asked the question that most needed an answer among the many things he could not understand in Rei Kaguya's words.
"Then do you believe ninja, who survive through intelligence work, assassination, and accepting war commissions, are a profession born for the sake of peace?"
Rei Kaguya threw the question back at Hashirama Senju with an unceremonious counter-question.
"Uh… that, perhaps, indeed, has a little problem…"
Hashirama Senju was not a pure hot-blooded fool.
As an elder with rich life experience, after thinking for only a moment, he realized the fundamental contradiction hidden within that question.
The professional nature and work content of ninja determined that they were not a profession capable of adapting to a peaceful environment.
Expelling wild beasts for people, finding pets, handling miscellaneous chores and similar tasks—even among genin, only rookies who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and still needed to accumulate mission records would actively accept such work. As for higher-level ninja, how many would be willing to lower themselves to do low-level missions with pitifully small rewards?
And if they were unwilling to do tedious and boring low-level missions, every major shinobi village would inevitably face a new problem.
When the world was at peace, when public security in every country greatly improved, and when the diplomatic relationships between countries entered a honeymoon period, it would no longer be possible to generate high-difficulty missions and commissions sufficient to support so many high-level ninja as they did in the era when countries opposed one another.
At the same time, because the consumption caused by war had disappeared, the number of mid- and high-level ninja in every country would certainly continue increasing compared to the era of constant warfare.
Then came the question.
When mission resources became limited, would ninja who had lived by this profession from childhood to adulthood truly be willing to become poor for the sake of enjoying peace?
"They would not."
Hashirama Senju murmured his own answer.
"They would only think of every possible way to pressure the village and demand that the village solve the sharp decline in their quality of life…"
As if he had completely seen through Hashirama Senju's thoughts, Rei Kaguya naturally continued.
"Then here is the question. Under the constant protests of ninja inside the village, how would a group of leaders who insist on never shaking the ninja system solve their internal contradictions?"
"There is only one answer. Start a war again and transfer domestic problems overseas."
"But the problem is that in that spacetime, the person who held the greatest violence was a clumsy but absolute pacifist and idealist. The only person who could rival him had also been influenced by his bonds and friendship and would not raise objections to his thoughts…"
"Although, by relying on the existence of the Ōtsutsuki clan, foreign enemies who had once threatened the entire world, they could barely make those who had experienced the Infinite Tsukuyomi incident put aside their prejudices and join hands against the returning Ōtsutsuki, in the end, the only people in that spacetime capable of directly opposing the Ōtsutsuki were the two of them in the past, the two of them in the present, and in the future, only they and the descendants who inherited their bloodlines."
"There are terrifying external enemies outside. Yet the greatest conservative force obstructing internal reform is also the only existence capable of opposing those external enemies. What kind of future do you think such a world would ultimately move toward?"
After Rei Kaguya finished speaking, Hashirama Senju had already closed his eyes and begun shaking his head in an extremely resigned manner.
"I do not know. I cannot think of it."
"That is not quite appropriate of you."
Looking at the resigned Hashirama Senju, Rei Kaguya pressed his brow with some speechlessness.
"They are, in that spacetime, the orthodox successors who inherited the mantle of you and Madara Uchiha from soul to will…"
"That was the choice made by the me in that spacetime. Oh no, it cannot even be called a choice I made, because I had long since been dead."
Hashirama Senju sighed, spread both hands helplessly, and spoke openly.
"To put it plainly, even now, when I am speaking to you across space and time, I am still a dead man who cannot and should not influence the present world. There is nothing wrong with chatting with you about the past and helping you understand how the people of our era thought and how we made our decisions. But if you want to condemn me because of the mistakes made by people in the future, then there is no need for that…"
"That is true."
Rei Kaguya nodded, accepting Hashirama Senju's statement.
Then he turned his head and prepared to pour more dirty water onto Jiraiya, who had already reached the critical point of self-doubt, helping him rein in his horse at the edge of the cliff as soon as possible, break free from the ideological branding of the Will of Fire and the ninja way, and become the only important helper under his command capable of independently studying humanities and social sciences—
Then Hashirama Senju interrupted his train of thought.
"However… from the way you speak, Fourth Mizukage, it seems you believe Kekkei Genkai—or rather, power that can be continuously inherited through bloodlines—is not a very good thing. Why is that?"
While thoughtfully asking this question on behalf of Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya, who were present, Hashirama Senju also cast his gaze toward Orochimaru, who raised his brows from the side.
"And you also said before that the fact that I did not pass Wood Release down as a stable Kekkei Genkai was my success as a ninja… Do you dislike Kekkei Genkai that much?"
"I do not dislike them. After all, I also relied on the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai, the Dead Bone Pulse, to obtain my current strength and achievements."
Rei Kaguya shook his head and said in a deep voice, "However, for the world of mutual understanding between people that you mentioned, Kekkei Genkai are an issue that absolutely cannot be avoided… Even for the future I wish to build, they are still a troublesome problem that must be addressed as early as possible."
"Why?"
"How do you think an ordinary ninja without a Kekkei Genkai can achieve mutual understanding with vested beneficiaries like us, who became living gods of the present age by relying on Kekkei Genkai?"
Rei Kaguya sighed, his expression somewhat emotional.
"Kekkei Genkai are privileges independent from the class known as ninja. Powerful Kekkei Genkai that directly originate from the Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, are privileges among privileges."
"Under the premise that we know future enemies from the Ōtsutsuki clan will descend upon this world, choosing to elevate ninja who inherited Kekkei Genkai capable of opposing them into positions of leadership is an inevitable choice… But are they truly the leaders most suited for the shinobi world? I do not think so."
"As I said earlier, I do not think those two people in that spacetime were qualified leaders. But the only ones capable of opposing enemies from the Ōtsutsuki clan were those two, and the descendants who inherited their bloodlines… As long as the shinobi world cannot eliminate the external threat of the Ōtsutsuki clan, the position of supreme leader in the shinobi world will forever belong only to the Uzumaki, Hyuga, and Uchiha clans."
"Privilege brings pride. Privilege among privileges inevitably invites corruption… Even if, one day in the future, the descendants of these three clans truly solve the external enemy called the Ōtsutsuki, will they be willing to return the wartime privileges they have already grown accustomed to back to the people of the shinobi world?"
Join my Patreon to read public release chapters and get 1 chapter ahead for free.
Unlock 60 chapters ahead + daily advanced chapter updates with just $10 Premium Access membership.
Continue reading here
patreon.com/Inkveil_