Seisui slowly turned his head, gazing at everyone before him.
"People can never truly understand one another."
"The path to real peace should not—and cannot—be built on that illusion."
Hearing this, Jiraiya couldn't help but object. "Only through understanding between people can peace truly last!"
Yahiko nodded vigorously in agreement, looking to Seisui for a response.
Seisui chuckled softly and met Jiraiya's gaze. "But tell me, how can people truly understand each other?"
"Through communication—through knowing one another!" Jiraiya said firmly.
"When bridges of understanding are built between people, peace will naturally follow!"
"No," Seisui replied flatly, his tone decisive. "People can never truly understand one another!"
"A starving peasant spends the entire year toiling in the fields, only to hand over his harvest as tax—and even then, what's left might not last him through the winter."
"But a wealthy merchant dines on rich food every day, wasting what others would die for. Tell me—how can they possibly understand each other?"
"The commoner will never grasp a life he's never seen or lived!"
Seisui's eyes swept across the group. "The peace you speak of will never exist in this world."
"Mutual understanding among people is an illusion—peace built on it is doomed to fail!"
"Then why talk about peace at all?" Minato asked, unable to hold back.
"Hahaha!" Seisui burst into laughter. "If that kind of peace can't exist—then we must create another kind!"
"Is ending war peace?"
"Is living simply—rising with the sun, resting with the moon—peace?"
"Is ending hunger and cold peace?"
"Of course it is," Jiraiya said after a pause, starting to understand Seisui's line of thought.
"If people no longer starve, if war no longer plagues them, that is peace," Seisui agreed. "But tell me—how can there be no more wars?"
That question left everyone silent.
After a long pause, Nagato hesitated and said, "Use military might—to deter them?"
"No," Yahiko countered. "We should let people experience peace for themselves, so they won't want to start wars again."
Konan tilted her head slightly as she watched them. She didn't care much about peace or war—all she wanted was to stay by their side.
Jiraiya fell deep into thought. He, too, couldn't find an answer. Having grown up in this distorted world, his ideals were already shaped by its limits.
Minato and Uchiha Haru remained silent, simply listening.
Minato had no grand vision of peace; he only wanted to become Hokage and protect the village.
Haru cared even less—peace or war, none of it had anything to do with her.
"Wrong," Seisui said sternly after listening to Nagato and Yahiko. "Completely wrong."
"The deterrence of force only brings temporary peace—brief and fragile."
"And Yahiko's belief in showing people the beauty of peace? Even more mistaken!"
"The ROOT of human conflict lies in daily life."
"A man raises a chicken. Someone kills it, thinking it's wild, and brings it home for dinner."
"When the man finds out, he demands compensation. The other man refuses, claiming it wasn't his fault. The two start fighting."
"That's war between two individuals—small and controllable."
"Now, between nations, it's the same—but stretched over time. Conflicts build and fester until one side can no longer endure, and war inevitably erupts."
Jiraiya stared at him, dumbfounded.
He never imagined that the student he thought least human would speak words so profound.
And yet, he had the uneasy sense that what came next would be even more shocking.
Seeing everyone deep in thought, Seisui smiled faintly and glanced at Yahiko.
You want to debate ideals with me, kid? You think I wasted all those years on the internet in my last life for nothing?
Time to let you witness the power of my idol's words.
"To unify all nations," Seisui declared, "to erase the borders that divide them—to establish one set of fair, complete laws!"
"To build a world without war, where the elderly are cared for, the young are taught, the poor are supported, the sick are helped, and even the lonely and disabled are not forgotten!"
"That—is true peace!"
"Once unity is achieved, all boundaries will be gone. Conflict will return to the level of individuals—and with perfect laws, even those will be judged fairly."
"When no one lacks food or shelter, when no more wars exist, when there are no so-called nobles—"
"That will be peace!"
"I will unify the shinobi world!" Seisui's eyes burned with conviction. "I will crush every nation beneath one banner!"
"When there are no more borders between lands, no separation of countries, no cause for war—that will be the true paradise!"
"I will forge a true nation—a true home!"
Jiraiya's lips moved unconsciously as he whispered the words:
"The elderly cared for, the young taught, the poor supported, the sick aided, the lonely and disabled sheltered…"
Then his expression hardened. "But Seisui—wouldn't that require war? To destroy all nations… even more people will die than in the Great Ninja Wars!"
"Then let them die," Seisui said without hesitation. "War, recovery, then war again—that's the current shinobi world!"
"Each conflict kills fewer people at first—but as they repeat, the number only grows."
He looked straight into Jiraiya's eyes. "Teacher, have you ever heard of the 'theory of the soft knife'?"
Jiraiya blinked and shook his head.
Of course he hadn't—how could anyone here know that concept from another world?
"It means harming and corrupting someone slowly, without them realizing it—until they're completely destroyed."
"And every Great Ninja War," Seisui said coldly, "is a slow cut from a soft knife."
Everyone fell silent.
Yahiko's face went pale, his whole world seeming to collapse. He slumped to the ground. "So… people really can't understand each other? But in war… so many will die."
"If unification kills people, then what about these endless wars?" Seisui said calmly. He knew Yahiko's ideals were beginning to shatter.
"My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror—everything I do is for justice."
"On the road to peace, there will always be those who die."
"Some will fall before the journey begins. Others will fall just before dawn breaks."
"But all of them will be remembered by history—honored by those who come after."
"My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror—everything I do is for justice."
Murmuring those words, Yahiko's eyes grew firm again.
"Master Seisui… can unification truly bring peace?"
"Will there really be no more wars in the future?"
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