On the other side, in the ruins of the Sand City, hot wind carrying sand grains whistled through the broken walls and pillars.
Tsunade stood at the edge of a relatively intact high platform, her golden ponytail swaying slightly in the dry wind.
She crossed her arms, her expression grave as she gazed into the distance at the hellish battlefield.
When she saw the One-Tail, covered in purple curse markings, appear, her eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Sunagakure… they even brought the One-Tail's Jinchuriki," Her voice held a trace of astonishment. "It seems Rasa has gone all out this time, even deploying his 'final weapon'."
Shizune, holding the trembling Tonton, quickly came to Tsunade's side, her face also full of shock.
The hateful and savage Chakra of the distant Shukaku, even from this far away, made her feel short of breath.
This was her first time seeing a fully manifested Tailed Beast. Compared to the two even more terrifying Tailed Beasts further away, Shukaku was closer, and its oppressive aura was more intense!
"Tsunade-sama… is that Sunagakure's One-Tail? Its… its Chakra is so terrifying…" Shizune's voice trembled slightly. She subconsciously tightened her grip on Tonton, and the little pig let out an uneasy sound.
"That Shura… facing the One-Tail, will he be in trouble? Although I've heard the One-Tail isn't the strongest among the Tailed Beasts, it's still a Tailed Beast…"
Hearing this, Tsunade let out a soft snort, but her gaze involuntarily turned to the even more distant dark red Nine-Tails, still lying on the Ten-Tails' back, greedily devouring its vast Chakra.
Her eyes were deep, holding a trace of reminiscence and complex emotion.
"Trouble?" Tsunade shook her head, her tone carrying certainty. "Other Tailed Beasts simply cannot be compared to the Nine-Tails. They are on completely different levels."
She paused, pointing towards the Dark Nine-Tails, and continued, "Look over there. If that guy can subdue and control a Nine-Tails in that state and that Ten-Tailed Beast, then a mere One-Tail…"
Before she could finish, Shizune beside her widened her eyes and let out an incredulous gasp. "Tsunade-sama! Look!"
Tsunade immediately shifted her gaze back to the main battlefield.
In the distance, sand and dust filled the air. The One-Tail, which had been so ferocious just moments before, now appeared utterly disheveled!
A massive hole had appeared in its sand-constructed body, as if a terrifying force had brutally torn out a chunk!
Its originally complete head was missing nearly half, sand grains constantly peeling off and flying from the wound.
And around Shukaku's battered form, a black figure wreathed in pale green light was flashing about at a speed difficult for the naked eye to follow!
Each flash was accompanied by a dull, heavy impact and an even more shrill, pained howl from Shukaku.
Fists covered in green light fell like rain, each strike causing a large part of Shukaku's body to crumble. The flying sand and dust almost completely enveloped the area.
This was no evenly matched battle, it was a one-sided, brutal crushing!
"This… this…" Shizune stared, dumbfounded. Tonton in her arms buried its head deeper.
"It's unbelievable… a Tailed Beast…being beaten like a sandbag-"
Tsunade watched this scene in silence. Even for her, it stirred up waves of shock in her heart.
'To confront a Tailed Beast bare-handed and beat it into a state of helplessness… this kind of power surpassed the scope of ordinary Kage-level Ninja.
She subconsciously reached for the flask at her waist, pulled out the stopper, and took a long, hard swig.
The strong liquid slid down her throat but couldn't completely suppress the turmoil within her.
"That guy-" Tsunade put down the flask, wiped her mouth with her sleeve, her gaze fixed tightly on that figure as she muttered to herself, "I always feel… a strangely familiar feeling. Where exactly…"
Her muttering was drowned out by Shukaku's final roar, filled with fear and frustration, in the distance.
The battered, massive body instantly disintegrated, turning into a sky full of flowing sand that rapidly receded downwards, clearly being resealed into the Jinchuriki.
The battle ended abruptly, in a way no one had anticipated.
Not long after, a black figure walked out of the gradually settling dust and landed lightly on the high platform of the ruins.
It was Menma, having concluded the battle.
His robe was still neat, as if the fierce battle had never happened.
And in his arms, he now held a sleeping red-haired boy, Gaara.
Tsunade's gaze was immediately drawn to the child in Menma's arms.
She stepped forward, carefully examining Gaara's peaceful sleeping face. The heavy dark circles contrasted sharply with his childish features, making her frown slightly. "This is the One-Tail's Jinchuriki? To think… he's just a child too."
Her tone held a barely perceptible complexity.
She thought of Naruto, the child also sealed with a Tailed Beast, growing up amidst the village's discrimination and isolation.
Although she had left the village years before the Nine-Tails Attack, she knew a little about Naruto's situation.
Menma didn't answer directly. Instead, he gestured to Shizune nearby. "Could you please bring a blanket?"
"Ah? Oh! Sure!" Shizune quickly responded, carefully placing Tonton on the ground and swiftly taking a clean wool blanket from her travel bag, spreading it on a relatively flat stone slab in the corner.
Menma gently placed Gaara on the blanket and covered him.
The little boy curled up unconsciously in his sleep, clutching the worn teddy bear in his arms.
"Shizune-san, could you boil some hot water, please?" Menma continued instructing, his tone calm, as if handling an ordinary matter.
"Yes, right away." Shizune didn't dare delay and immediately sprang into action, taking out some firewood and a pot from a storage scroll to start a fire.
Tonton obediently squatted nearby, its small eyes curiously observing the sleeping Gaara.
After arranging these things, Menma turned to Tsunade, answering her earlier question. "I suppose the commotion caused by the Ten-Tails and Kyu-chan here was too great. It was impossible not to attract Sunagakure's attention. Tailed Beast-level Chakra Fluctuations are the highest level of alert for any Ninja Village. So it's not surprising that Rasa not only led the team personally but also brought the Jinchuriki, the final weapon."
Tsunade stood to the side, arms crossed, watching Menma's composed arrangements, his attitude of having everything under control. She suddenly let out a derisive snort, her smile tinged with coldness.
"Hah… spoken lightly." Her eyes sharpened as she looked at Menma, her tone becoming challenging. "You've practically crippled Sunagakure's elite forces, sent the Fourth Kazekage fleeing in disgrace, and conveniently kidnapped the One-Tail's Jinchuriki. Sunagakure has suffered a major blow this time, but they definitely won't let it go. What do you plan to do next?"
Her voice rose slightly, carrying a note of interrogation. "Are you planning to use this opportunity to formally declare war on the Land of Wind? Like when you annexed Land of Bears, Land of Darkness, those small nations, to slaughter the nobles and Daimyo of the Land of Wind as well?"
Facing Tsunade's sharp gaze and pointed questions, Menma's face showed no ripple of emotion, as if he were listening to something unrelated to him.
He even shook his head slightly, a faint trace of melancholy in his tone:
"To be the granddaughter of the God of Ninja, Senju Hashirama, to have traveled the Ninja World for so many years, to have witnessed countless life and death and darkness… and yet to ask such a naive and shallow question. Truly disappointing."
"What did you say?!" Tsunade's brows instantly furrowed tightly, anger surging in her heart.
No one had ever dared to evaluate her like that!
Menma ignored her anger and continued in that flat yet piercing tone: "So-called nobles, so-called Daimyo, are nothing but a group of parasites living off ordinary people, sucking the marrow from their bones."
"Tsunade-sama, you are no longer that little girl living in the Konoha greenhouse. Tell me, in your years of traveling the Ninja World, among the nobles and Daimyo you have seen, how many have clean hands? How many have not wantonly oppressed and bullied the common people at the bottom? Their mountains of wealth, every coin, every bit, was it not plundered from the blood, sweat, and suffering of countless ordinary people?"
His gaze was icy as he stared directly into Tsunade's eyes. "What is the meaning of their existence? Apart from maintaining their lofty privileges, continuing their corrupt and degenerate bloodlines, have they ever made the slightest contribution to the vast majority of this world?"
Tsunade opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but found her throat dry.
Countless images flashed rapidly through her mind.
Images she had deliberately tried to numb with alcohol and gambling, to forget.
The arrogance of noble children riding horses through the streets, injuring commoners and riding away… the notices of the Daimyo forcibly increasing taxes to build luxurious palaces, causing countless families to go bankrupt… the desperate eyes of young girls discarded like trash after being toyed with by nobles… commoners rising up against unbearable taxes being brutally suppressed by samurai and Ninja hired by nobles...
She had indeed seen too much. It was just that she had always chosen to turn away, not to look, not to think, as if by closing her eyes, that suffering didn't exist.
At that moment, Shizune carefully approached, carrying a pot of boiled hot water.
Tonton followed at her feet.
Sensing the tense and oppressive atmosphere between Tsunade and Menma, their movements became much lighter, not daring to make a sound.
Menma glanced at the timid Shizune and the perceptive little pig, then turned his gaze back to Tsunade, whose face was shifting through emotions. He continued, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm: "You say that without the rule and management of nobles and Daimyo, the world would fall into chaos?"
Without waiting for Tsunade's answer, he asked and answered himself: "Then, please tell me, within the Land of Stars, where nobles and Daimyo have long been absent, have you heard that it has descended into chaos and misery? On the contrary, the Land of Rain, which you have seen under the 'enlightened' rule of nobles and Daimyo, what kind of living hell was that?"
"The suffering of those people struggling to survive amidst war and harsh governance, is that not the best proof?"
Tsunade instinctively wanted to refute… that it was the system, an order formed over millennia!
She blurted out: "But… but this structure of rule has existed for over a thousand years! It-"
"A thousand years?" Menma interrupted her. "Then, what about before the thousand years? In ancient times, before the concept of 'countries' was born, before the words 'noble' and 'Daimyo' appeared, how did humans live? How was society organized? Was the world plunged into permanent chaos and slaughter without them?"
Tsunade was completely stunned.
Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out.
She had received a Ninja Education since childhood, learning Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, that the mission came first, the Will of Fire.
She had never systematically studied history, let alone thought about the origin and evolution of social structures.
Menma's questions chiseled a crack in her solid cognitive walls, a crack she had never imagined.
Menma looked at the speechless Tsunade, knowing his words had taken effect.
He didn't press further. Instead, he turned his gaze to the ruined, sand-and-stone staircase in a nearby room, his tone softening, carrying a guiding quality:
"Beings like nobles and Daimyo, who rely on bloodline, power, and wealth to divide people into different grades, standing high above… I call them 'classes'."
"Classes?" Tsunade subconsciously repeated the unfamiliar term, her gaze also following Menma's to the ruined staircase.
"Correct, classes." Menma used a vivid analogy. "Look, it's like this staircase. At the very bottom, the most numerous, are the ordinary people. They are the foundation of society, bearing the heaviest labor, yet enjoying the fewest resources and dignity."
His gaze slowly moved upward. "Above them is the Ninja Class. Possessing power, serving employers, making a living through missions and combat. And those who hire them are usually nobles, Daimyo, or other powers. Ordinary people simply don't have the wealth to hire Ninja."
"Further up is the Merchant Class, accumulating wealth through trade and exploitation."
"Then, the Noble Class, relying on bloodline and hereditary status, controlling land, power, and some military force."
"And standing at the very top, the most sparsely populated, is the Daimyo Class, the nominal rulers of a country, possessing the highest power and the most wealth."
His gaze finally settled on the non-existent top of the staircase, his voice cold. "Each class, the higher you go, the fewer the people, yet the more concentrated the resources and wealth they possess. Ultimately, forming a stable… pyramid structure."
Tsunade's eyes, fixed on the staircase symbolizing hierarchy, felt as if thunder had exploded in her mind!
She murmured to herself, "You mean… those most numerous ordinary people… are actually the foundation supporting the entire pyramid?"
Suddenly, she remembered some of her grandfather's seemingly illogical actions from back then… having the powerful Senju Clan's members conceal their surnames, disperse and integrate into Konoha, blurring clan boundaries... She had previously only vaguely thought this was for village unity, but now she seemed to touch upon a deeper reason.
Menma seemed to see through her thoughts and spoke at the right moment, his tone carrying a trace of regret. "Senju Hashirama... back then, with his extraordinary magnanimity and intuition, he indeed vaguely saw part of the cruel truth of this world. So-called Ninja Clans, to some extent, are they not another 'class' standing above ordinary people? Ninja, relying on power, also occupy more resources and social status."
"Ninja don't compete with ordinary people for anything!" Tsunade retorted almost instinctively, defending the dignity of Ninja. "Ninja have our own way of life and rules! We operate through missions and employment-"
"Then, what have the battles between Ninjas brought to this world?" Menma's voice suddenly turned cold, like an ice spike piercing Tsunade's heart. "You've seen it with your own eyes, experienced it yourself in the Land of Rain! The Second Great Ninja War, the Land of Rain became a battlefield for the great nations' games. The Land of Fire, Wind, Earth, and even other villages were dragged into it. What kind of living hell did it become? Countless commoners lost families, homes were destroyed, corpses lay everywhere from starvation… weren't these caused by Ninjas' battles?"
Tsunade's whole body trembled violently, her face instantly turning pale.
Those memories she had deliberately sealed away surged forth.
Shattered villages, crying children, the smell of smoke and blood, and… the endless grief and despair when Kato Dan and Nawaki died.
She staggered, almost losing her balance.
Tsunade forced herself to stand, using all her strength to say, "So… so Grandfather ended the Warring States Period! He established the Ninja Village System! He brought peace to the Ninja World! Yes, I admit the wars between great nations were larger in scale, but at least… at least within the great nations, aside from the periods of the three Great Ninja Wars, they enjoyed nearly fifty years of peace combined! Isn't that progress?"
She tried to cling to this last belief, defending her grandfather's great achievement, and her own long-held understanding.
Menma watched her quietly, watching the struggling pain and a sliver of hope in her eyes. He was silent for a moment, and finally, let out a long sigh:
"That… is precisely what I regret."
"Regret?" Tsunade was stunned, not understanding. "What do you regret?"
Menma looked up, with a weight that seemed to penetrate history. "What I regret is that Senju Hashirama back then, clearly possessing the absolute power to sweep across the entire Ninja World, to crush all other countries and villages, he failed to… or maybe was unwilling to take that final, most crucial step."
"Why should he have destroyed other countries and villages?!" Tsunade shouted agitatedly. "Wouldn't that also be war? War with the Five Great Nations? That goes against Grandfather's pursuit of peace!"
Menma wasn't swayed by her agitation. He slowly turned his head, his heterochromatic pupils staring at Tsunade, and asked a question she had never considered, or dared to consider deeply:
"Then, Tsunade-sama, please think about it calmly."
"Just as Senju Hashirama ended the internal clan conflicts within the Land of Fire, bringing decades of peace to the Land of Fire."
"If, back then, Senju Hashirama, with his unmatched power, had truly unified the entire Ninja World, integrating all countries, all villages into one, so the entire world had only one country, one village, one unified will…"
His voice wasn't loud, but it reverberated in Tsunade's mind:
"And then, through the efforts of two or three generations, using time to soothe and dissolve the accumulated hatred and barriers between the various clans and nations, then, please tell me."
"Would the subsequent three Great Ninja Wars that swept across the entire Ninja World, causing countless casualties, making countless people, including you, endure heart-wrenching pain… would they have happened?"
"One country, one… village?" Tsunade stood completely still, her pupils trembling violently.
This simple yet never-before-considered concept instantly swept through all her thoughts, shattering her decades of cognition into pieces.
She stared blankly at Menma, her mind a complete blank, only that deafening question echoing incessantly.
'Would the wars have happened?'