Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 488 The Reason for Peace

"...Tsuna's boyfriend."

However, upon hearing this answer, the shock and relief in Hashirama Senju's voice quickly faded, replaced by a gradually spreading negativity.

"Um..." He glanced cautiously at Naruto, "Is the village alright now? Has it been mortgaged or anything?"

"...Of course, it's alright." Uchiha Satsuki frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled by the First Hokage's erratic thought process. "Why ask such a question?"

"Because she's my eldest granddaughter." Hashirama scratched his cheek, his tone tinged with helplessness yet also a hint of doting affection. "She's been spoiled rotten by me since she was little, and as a result, she even picked up my gambling habit. It's just... hahahahahaha!"

He paused for a moment, as if recalling something, and then, because of that memory, laughter burst out without warning. He laughed so hard he was doubled over, completely unaware that the atmosphere around him had become subtle.

In the distance, Hozuki Gengetsu's face was tense, his mustache trembled slightly, and his lips seemed to twitch under the bandages. The Third Raikage remained silent, but the way he crossed his arms was noticeably tighter.

The strongest ninja in the world. The administrator of the Pure Land. A being even more powerful than the legendary Sage of Six Paths in later generations... He is a ninja of Konoha.

These pieces of information, when put together, made the hearts of these Kage from other villages sink. No one could remain indifferent upon learning that the highest administrator of the afterlife was a descendant of a rival ninja village.

but……

Looking at the First Hokage, who was laughing so hard he was slapping his thigh and had no regard for his image, and then at the Second Hokage standing to the side with a blank expression, I could see him completely different.

The God of Ninjas... is quite different from the legends.

Tobirama Senju's brows were furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly; he certainly noticed the subtle changes in the expressions of the outlying village kage. But what bothered him even more was something else entirely.

Is my older brother too lively?

He clearly remembered the last days before Hashirama died.

The battle at the Valley of the End, the pain of killing his best friend with his own hands, the self-blame for "Madara Uchiha becoming like that," all these made Hashirama smile less and less and become more and more silent... until his death from depression.

And now-

He watched Hashirama laugh until tears welled in his eyes, watched him calmly approach Madara Uchiha after being coldly rejected once again, and watched him, like that simple and passionate young man from decades ago before he became Hokage, full of curiosity about every new thing.

No longer do I have to bear the responsibilities of this world, no longer do I have to worry day and night about the survival of the village, no longer do I have to face the wounds left by that rupture that will never heal.

The Hashirama Senju before us is the real Hashirama Senju.

But this is not a reason for him to let his elder brother continue to steer the negotiations astray.

"cough."

A dry cough, neither too loud nor too soft, clearly intended to interrupt.

Just as Hashirama Senju was excitedly preparing to ask, "What does Jiraiya look like?" "Is he good to Tsunade?" "When do they plan to get married?", he felt his collar being pulled by a force.

He turned around and met his brother's expressionless face.

"...Tobirama?"

Tobirama Senju ignored him.

He took a half step forward, his scarlet pupils staring directly at Naruto Uzumaki not far away. Without any unnecessary pleasantries, he cut straight to the point.

"The managers of the Pure Land."

"My elder brother and I both returned to the mortal world in the form of 'reincarnation'."

"What we experienced in the Pure Land at that time was absolute nothingness. There was no perception, no consciousness, no heaven and earth—nothing at all."

His gaze swept across the distant space transformed into grassland, with an artificial sun hanging above it, and the velociraptor guards he had recently seen shuttling between the Cloud Ninja and the Rock Ninja, before finally returning to Naruto.

"And now, all souls are awakening. This world, this order, and that talking dinosaur—you created them all."

"Since you possess such power... what is your purpose in summoning us, the dead?"

Naruto had just opened his mouth, but before he could utter a sound...

"Wait a minute!" A hurried voice cut him off before he could finish speaking.

The one who spoke was a figure wrapped in old bandages from head to toe, the Second Tsuchikage, Wu.

His eyes, peeking out from the gaps in his bandages, were fixed on Naruto Uzumaki, a complex mix of emotions churning deep within his pupils—fear, vigilance, and a reverence for the unknown that he was unwilling to readily admit.

"...I really didn't expect that Konoha would produce such a powerful ninja in later generations."

It is even a being that surpasses the Sage of Six Paths.

Wu stared intently at Naruto and asked the question that all the other ninja villages were most concerned about at that moment: "So, in the present world—do the other ninja villages still exist?"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

This is not an ordinary question. It is a test of those who possess absolute power, an inquiry into whether annexation and enslavement are hidden beneath the guise of "peace".

Every Shadow present had done their utmost to protect their village during their lifetime, and they knew better than anyone else that when the gap in power is too great to be overcome, existence itself is a luxury that needs to be allowed.

Naruto looked at Mu, his eyes showing no evasion or displeasure at being offended.

"Yes, they all exist."

"I didn't do anything like that—using force, starting a war, or forcing other villages to submit to Konoha... That kind of submission would probably only be superficial. People's hearts can't be truly won over by intimidation."

He paused for a moment, as if pondering the weight of his words. Then he spoke again, his voice even lower than before.

"So... in the wars you've experienced, what price did the other ninja villages pay?"

This is not an interrogation, but an old man who has experienced countless battles and witnessed the rise and fall of too many villages, probing a future he cannot confirm with his own eyes—using the cruelest and most realistic yardstick.

"A war between ninja villages?"

Naruto was slightly confused by the premise of this question. "That kind of thing didn't happen in my time."

"What?!?"

The sound of nothingness has, unusually, cracked, and it's not just nothingness itself.

The mirror in Hozuki Gengetsu's hand snapped shut. The Third Raikage's figure, which had been as immovable as a mountain, leaned forward almost imperceptibly. Even Uchiha Madara, who had been listening indifferently, turned his Rinnegan gaze to Naruto.

"No war?!"

Hashirama Senju practically jumped up. He rushed to Naruto in a few quick steps, his eyes shining, his face filled with unbelievable excitement and eagerness.

"Really? You really did it?!"

He clenched his fist. As the person who personally ended the Warring States period and established the ninja village system, what Hashirama left behind was not "peace," but merely a fragile truce that temporarily contained endless chaos within a container called "ninja village."

He never truly resolved the war, nor did he know that he could, so he merely postponed it, leaving the problem to future generations.

And now, he hears someone say, "There is no war."

"How did you do that?! What methods did you use? Negotiation? Alliance? Or—"

"I concealed my identity."

Naruto's reply was calm. "Using the identity of an organization leader to intimidate the entire ninja world."

"...Deterrence?" Hashirama's smile froze on his lips.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "If any ninja village makes any underhanded moves—like trying to provoke border clashes or secretly expanding its army across the red line—I'll be outside their village."

"Then, I'll demonstrate... the power to destroy a country in an instant."

"..." Hashirama Senju's smile froze completely.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but only unintelligible gasps escaped his throat. The eyes that had been filled with expectation and relief just moments before were now filled with blankness and dazedness.

An eerie silence fell over the hall.

Hozuki Gengetsu and Mu exchanged a glance. There was no fear of intimidation in their eyes; they were already dead, and fear was the privilege of the living—now, they only felt an absurd understanding.

I see. It's not about understanding, it's not about dialogue.

It's because we can't beat them.

The Third Raikage remained silent. But his body, which had been taut like a bowstring, relaxed almost imperceptibly the moment he heard the word "deterrence."

...It was not a massacre.

He thought of himself. He fought against ten thousand men, and died from exhaustion. He never regretted covering the retreat for his men, but he knew clearly that such "sacrifice" was the helplessness of the weak against the strong, the futility of flesh and blood fighting against a torrent of wheels.

And this young man in front of me said...

"I didn't kill anyone. At this point, the other villages have all behaved themselves."

"After my first operation, there were basically no border clashes."

"..."

Madara Uchiha looked away.

Just seconds before, when Mu asked whether other ninja villages still existed, his mind was filled with disdain—he thought this blond kid was just another Hashirama, naive and idealistic, who thought he could bridge the blood-stained chasm between nations with a smile and sincerity.

As it turns out, this is the method they used... Interesting.