Sixteen Years Old, The Fourth Generation of Mizukage

The night breeze is slightly cool.

The sea breeze with a slight smell of the ocean blew on the coast of the island. Even if it was blocked by the terrain surrounded by mountains, the continuous sound of the waves could still be vaguely transmitted to the ears of the ninjas with keen hearing.

Jiraiya leaned on the corridor railing of the training hall specially built by Kirigakure to facilitate the exchange team from Konoha Village. He looked at the Kirigakure Village that seemed to be covered with a layer of bright white gauze under the moonlight in a daze. The air he was not so familiar with blew the white hair on his temples.

There was a "squeak" sound, and not far away from him, a door was pushed open from the inside. Tsunade, wearing a very relaxed nightgown, walked to Jiraiya holding two small wine bottles. Ye's side handed one of them towards him.

"Can't sleep?"

"Aren't you the same?"

Jiraiya laughed helplessly. He turned around and took the craft sake he bought from the restaurant where he had dinner. After taking a sip, he slowly exhaled a white breath. .

"How dare you, that kid Kaguya... If there is no difference between Konoha and the Blood Mist that is secretly controlled by Madara Uchiha, there are only guys like him who have something in their heads, Now you can tell it, right?"

"But if you look at it from his perspective, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this, right?"

Tsunade sighed and said in a daze:

"If he hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten what grandpa and the others told me about the Warring States Period..."

"Who says it isn't?"

Jiraiya's expression and tone were equally melancholy and complicated, "The sooner you graduate from the ninja school, the sooner your hands will be stained with blood. But the sooner these children graduate and get promoted early, the easier it will be for them to become despised by the village and family." The objects of high hopes... Even if they understand the value of peace in the later days, it may be difficult for them to realize the problems of this evaluation method on their own, right?"

"Especially when everyone in the ninja world is doing this." Tsunade poured some clear wine into her mouth and said vaguely.

"Yes, everyone is doing this, so naturally no one will think there is anything wrong with it."

After raising his head and drinking again, Jiraiya looked at the half-empty wine bottle in his hand, but his eyes looked particularly clear.

"What are your plans next, Tsunade?"

"Me? I should first follow that brat Mitarashi Anko to see the so-called commercial curse seal that she and the Fourth Mizukage worked on together, and then consider whether to accept the invitation that Kirigakure sent me. Bar."

Tsunade stopped sipping, turned her head slightly, and looked at Jiraiya's face with a look of determination, "What about you, Jiraiya? What are you planning to do again?"

"I want to go to the historical research group organized by Kaguya Rei."

Jiraiya turned around and said firmly:

"Before today, I thought that he studied the history of Uchiha Madara secretly controlling Kirigakure, just to understand the methods used by the other party, improve Kirigakure's experience in dealing with similar incidents, and also apply this method. On top of Kirigakure’s external penetration..."

"What about now? What do you think he wants to do now, Jiraiya?"

"I don't know, but I have a guess."

Jiraiya took a deep breath and looked sternly.

"In order to survive the chaos of the Warring States Period, it is natural to study to the extreme how to tighten the fist to be the most lethal... But studying this matter to the point of obsession, even how to It would be absolutely abnormal if the fist is loosened and the common sense that the fist can be loosened is completely forgotten.”

…

At the same time, Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha were in their rooms.

"Kakashi-senpai, are you asleep?"

"No...is it the same for you, Itachi?"

"Um."

Seeing that neither of them wanted to sleep, the two simply sat up from the bed, turned on the light in the room again, then sat down facing each other and started chatting.

"Kakashi-senpai, do you think... what Mizukage-sama said to us during dinner today was intentional?"

"It must be intentional. The Fourth Mizukage is someone who can make a genius like Uchiha Shisui, who is praised by everyone, risk everything and surrender. No matter how overrated, he has the ability to use words to shake people's hearts. A strength that cannot be overstated." Hatake Kakashi looked at his right hand and said with complicated emotions.

"Kakashi-senpai, how much of those intentional words are worthy of our serious consideration, Kakashi-senpai?" Uchiha Itachi asked with a slightly confused expression, hugging his knees.

"I do not know about this."

Hatake Kakashi smiled bitterly, buried his head in his knees, and then replied in a dull tone:

"Looking at the expressions of Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama, they must have been touched by the words of the Fourth Mizukage, right? But in my opinion, there must still be a strong relationship between Konoha and Kirigakure during the Blood Mist Period. There is a difference...a big, big difference."

"But what Mizukage-sama said about the criteria for evaluating a child's value as a ninja, I... think it seems to be consistent."

Uchiha Itachi pursed his lips, and a big question mark was spinning in his little head, "Children who graduate from ninja school early are better than those who learn all the processes step by step and take several years to graduate. But, If you graduate early and become a ninja, you will inevitably take the lives of others in the process of performing your mission."

“Is there really such a huge difference between taking the life of someone you’ve never met and taking the life of a friend you love?”

"Who can tell clearly?"

Kakashi Hatake turned his face sideways, looked out the window at the starry sky that was obscured by fog with his only remaining right eye, and murmured to himself in the same confused tone:

"Perhaps in that person's view, it is unacceptable for a young child to take the lives of others. But even if it is true as he said, a ninja can only clenched his fists and weapons. A pathetic group of people...what can we do after we loosen our fists?"

Uchiha Itachi didn't know the answer to this question.

But he felt that since Kaguya Rei, who made Uchiha Shisui devoted to him, raised this question, he must have given the answer to this question during the communication with Uchiha Shisui.

So should I take the initiative to seek this answer from him?

Even when you know that the other person cares about you very much?

Uchiha Itachi also didn't know the answer to this question.

I’m not in a good state, I’m writing and deleting

Alas, I originally thought that I would write a chapter during the day and be satisfied with the update, and then continue my efforts at night to pursue the victory.

As I coughed, my brain started to fog up.