Chapter 155 For a Peace
Do you believe in Konoha's future? Hearing this question from Minato Namikaze, the elderly Hyuga Hideki couldn't help but fall into a reminiscence.
As far as I can remember, I once believed it from the bottom of my heart, right?
Yes, I believed it!
He also once personally participated in the war for Konoha despite his family's dissuasion!
When Hyuga Hideki joined the Ninja World War, the young commander in front of him was probably not born yet?
But what is the result?
His best friend, another member of the main family, had sacrificed his life for the village's war!
One of his best friend's Byakugan is still a trophy of Kirigakure, and is being used openly by a Kirigakure jonin named Ao.
However, everything he and his best friends fought for was eventually returned to other villages by Sarutobi Hiruzen at the end of the last Ninja World War!
Just for... that piece of peace.
Perhaps it was from that time that Hinata Hideki changed.
Became a "standard" clan elder.
He would never again impulsively take risks or personally participate in brutal wars.
Wherever he goes now, he is accompanied by a large number of branch family guards.
He began to cherish his life, became numb, and started to talk about family, wealth, bloodline, and inheritance all the time.
His eye roll became more sophisticated day by day, but there was no light in his eyes anymore.
In fact, if the war had developed along the trajectory of the original work, Hyuga Hideki would still support Namikaze Minato even if he was disappointed with the village.
If for no other reason than to leave a good impression in front of the next Hokage who is destined to be very successful, and to strive for a better future for the Hyuga clan.
If the situation continues to go smoothly and victory comes as expected, then even if there is no light in his eyes, Hyuga Hideki will always appear to be a loyal retainer of Konoha who sings the praises of the will of fire.
But the mistake is that victory did not come!
So when Minato Namikaze asked him "Why don't you want to believe in the future of Konoha", Hyuga Hideki just laughed lightly, his laugh was playful and sarcastic.
"I believe, Lord Minato. I have always believed in the future of Konoha. I believe that the war will eventually pass, and Konoha will always stand firm."
"Then why are you still--" Minato Namikaze asked almost without thinking.
But he stopped talking halfway.
Because Minato Namikaze was very smart, he understood what the other party meant after just a brief pause.
Hyuga Hideki had no doubts about Konoha's future, so what he was worried about was naturally the future of his own family, the future of the Hyuga clan...
At that moment, Minato Namikaze clenched his fists.
"Elder Yingshu, your idea is wrong! If every ninja clan is like you and only cares about preserving themselves, then the village will decline and split sooner or later. When the trunk of the big tree falls, every leaf will not be spared!"
But Hyuga Hideki still smiled sarcastically, "Then may I ask, Master Minato, have you told this to the Sarutobi clan? As far as I know, it is not only our Hyuga clan that has made an exception and returned to the village this time, right?"
"..."
At that moment, Minato Namikaze felt his throat dry again and was stunned and unable to speak.
It was not until this moment that he realized what a huge mess the master he once respected had left behind for him!
In the past, Minato Namikaze's attitude towards Sarutobi Hiruzen has always been more of gratitude and admiration.
Although he was aware of some of the old man's mistakes and was disgusted by some of Sarutobi Hiruzen's actions, because his previous experiences had been smooth, he did not really feel the impact of those mistakes.
Until today, when his winning streak on the battlefield was finally broken and he encountered setbacks and failures for the first time, all the contradictions that had been covered up by victories in the past broke out. Only then did Minato feel how terrible the problems accumulated in the village over the years were!
In the end, he could only use his identity as a front-line commander to force the Hyuga clan to send out more teams. Hyuga Hideki also nodded in agreement.
But Minato Namikaze could not get any comfort from this.
Because he knew very well: the problem was not solved, it was just suppressed again.
If there were another battle and they were to be at a disadvantage, the ninja teams under his command would never be able to follow him and fight to the death like the Akatsuki did that day!
Afterwards, he returned to the headquarters in a daze, and finally met two friends with whom he could confide in the evening - his teammates: Akimichi Choza and Aburame Shio.
In the battle a few days ago, the two battlefields in charge of Akimichi Choza and Aburame Shio were the few areas of Konoha that did not completely collapse after being swept by Pain.
At this time, when Minato Namikaze saw his old teammate who had just recovered from injury, a rare sense of comfort emerged in his heart.
In a depressed mood, he finally couldn't help but ask: "Senior Ding Zuo, you participated in the last Ninja World War, right?"
Upon hearing this, Akimichi Choza was stunned, and then he finally put down the potato chips in his hand temporarily, which made Aburame Shio beside him couldn't help but look sideways.
It can be seen how damaging this topic is to Akimichi Choza.
Akimichi Choza is slightly older than Namikaze Minato, and because he was born into a ninja clan, he was promoted and became famous earlier than Minato when he was young, and therefore has more memories of the last Ninja World War than Minato.
After recalling for a while, Ding Zuo finally said, "Yes, I was a teammate with Shikaku and Haiyi at that time, and we also experienced several important battles."
Minato then asked, "Then can you accept the final outcome of the last war?"
This time, Akimichi Choza spent a longer period of silence reminiscing.
After a long while, he said in a somewhat depressed tone: "It's a lie to say that I can accept it. We paid so much at that time, but in the end, it feels like nothing has changed and we have gained nothing.
You know, at the end of the war we couldn't even bring back the body of the Nidaime-sama, because the Kumogakure side never gave in.
And the Sandaime-sama... he finally chose to compromise in order to promote peace, and because of this, Lord Tobirama is still sleeping in the Land of Lightning.
Because of this incident, our Uncle Qufeng has never been willing to fight again."
Akimichi Tofu of the Akimichi family is of the same generation as Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo and others, and is a disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
But now, there has been no news of Qiu Dao taking Feng in the village for a long time.
In the past, Minato Namikaze only knew that this predecessor had retired early, but it was not until today that he learned that there were such reasons and twists and turns behind it.
At that moment, confusion and doubt once again surged in like a tide.
Many images flashed through Minato Namikaze's mind at once.
There was the veiled sarcasm in Hinata Hideki's eyes when they met during the day;
Hinata Hideki asked, "Even if we win, the Land of Grass will still be returned to the enemy in the end, right?"
There are many scenes where the Konoha ninjas are devastated by the war and become numb, hollow, and like zombies.
Finally, it was frozen on that day, when Shiba Kiyokawa loudly questioned him -
"Do you really know the meaning of your fight?"
In the past, he had never been confused about this question. All the battles were definitely for the purpose of protecting Konoha!
But now, even if his determination to protect Konoha is still firm and unwavering! What confuses him is: facing a war that is destined to be unchangeable, how can he convince others to follow him and sacrifice their lives?
"Konoha, is it really wrong?" Minato couldn't help but murmur in his heart.
(End of this chapter)
