This is such a sorrowful world.
Endless wars and flicts had pletely reshaped the worldview of everyone in this world.
Faced with three wars that swept across the world in just fifty years, with sutensity that even children uhe age of ten from the five great nations were sent to the battlefield, the devastation was unimaginable. For smaller nations caught in these wars, the suffering was even worse.
Yet, the people of the Naruto World did not refle their situation, did not protest, and no oempted to pave a new path for their nd.
Everyone unanimously accepted it—accepted the sughter devoid of order or humanity—and just as readily turheir bdes toward others.
It was as if all their as were a direct reje of the Sage of Six Paths’ ideals when he gifted chakra to humanity:
To use chakra as a force to ect people, for love and peace.
"What? For love and peace, you want to ect with me? Sure, ect with my kunai first, then we’ll talk."
Link chuckled at the thought that popped into his head but soo a wave of sadness.
When the Sage of Six Paths was alive, there eace. After his death, the world fell into the Warring States period, where the average life expecy of both shinobi and civilians dropped to around thirty years.
The First Hokage, with his unparalleled strength, colborated with Uchiha Madara to establish Konoha, inspiring other nations to follow suit. This ushered in a brief era of peace. But after his death, secutive world wars erupted, with the iy eveer due to the formation e shinobi vilges.
Iure, Naruto and Sasuke would maintain pead development through their unmatched power, usio keep the world in check.
But shinobi are mortal. Even someone as strong as the Sage of Six Paths eventually died. After Naruto and Sasuke's deaths, would there be an even more catastrophic war?
Looking at history, Link couldn't help but feel pessimistic. If the Infisukuyomi weren’t just a lie fabricated by Bck Zetsu, perhaps it would be the best oute for the Naruto world.
How could a single shinobi, even one ruling the entire world, ge the mi of every person?
The more powerful someone was, the more they could impose their version of “peace,” strengthening humanity’s respect for strength and its ination toward violence.
In this world, where harming others for one’s desires was her shameful nor troversial but rather accepted as the norm, it was no wohis society birthed so many psychopaths.
By trast, Konoha, with its many high-morality shinobi upholding the Will of Fire, was often mocked as na?ve.
The fleeting aggression Link had felt after killing the provocative ronin quickly dissipated.
"I just o live my life well. I don’t o be invincible or bend the world to my will. All I want is to live freely..."
As he reflected, the female Sunagakure shinobi watg him from afar noticed the subtle expression of mencholy on his fad smirked.
"As expected, a na?ve brat from Konoha. But that teique earlier—it must belong to the Nara …"
…
Three Hours Later
Nara Ensui emerged from the au hall behind the grumbling Land of Fire mert. He immediately noticed the strange looks directed at his three subordinates and g the corpses of the dead ronin, quickly pieg together what had happened.
“Ensui-sensei, earlier…” On the way back to the hotel, Iris enthusiastically reted the i, adding with excitement, “Boss—uh, I mean, Link—was so cool earlier!”
Teically, bypassing their in superior to report directly to a Jōnin was frowned upon, which was why Ami stayed silent. But Iris, impulsive and thoughtless, had only wao boast about their leader’s performance.
Link, though more thoughtful, wasn’t annoyed ry. He knew his teammates well and wasn’t surprised by their behavior.
Nara Ensui chuckled, patting Iris’s head. “Pack up; we’re preparing to return.”
Turning to Link, he added, “We failed to secure the purchase. The Sunagakure bid too high—far beyond the mine’s actual value.”
He shook his head. “It’s not hard to uand. The mold they produce, the more they is price.”
Due to its post-war dee, the Sunagakure had seen its mission t plummet. Its harsh desert enviro made it resource-poor, and the Land of Wind’s budget cuts left it reliant on the sale of gold dust for survival.
They were willing to outbid others, far exceeding the mine's actual value, because for them, the purchase carried strategic significe beyond the gold itself.
“Does this mean we won’t o fight anymore?” Link couldn’t help but ask.
He’d been prepared for bat, only for things to end so anticlimactically.
“No,” Nara Ensui said, shaking his head. “The Sunagakure is our ally.”
[Does that mean if the mine had goo someone else, we’d resolve it through battle?] Link wondered.
After all, the Amegakure represehe Land of Rain, which was also nominally allied with the Land of Fire, as were merts from the Land of Grass and ions.
Link remained silent, nodding and deg not to press further.
Even in Konoha, the harsh reality of the Naruto world was that power ruled all. As weak as the Sunagakure had bee, it was still far strohan vilges like the Amegakure or Kusagakure.
Besides, this was just a B-rank mission. If they truly inteainst the Sunagakure and seize the mi wouldn’t remain a B-rank mission—it would escate to an A-rank mission, or possibly even S-rank, given how important the mine was to the Sunagakure.
But sihe dispute was limited to ercial iatioween merts, with no io use force, it was cssified as a B-rank mission.
In other words, the Land of Fire mert was just here to show fad see if they could get lucky. No one seriously expected to win the mine.
Realizing this, Li go.
[e to think of it, these merts are incredibly rich—spending tens of thousands of ryō just to make an appearance...]
Hiring shinobi alone cost 150,000 ryō, not to mention the samurai, attendants, and travel expenses, which likely added up to 200,000–300,000 ryō.
Nara Ensui said nothing further. As always, he stayed within five meters of the Land of Fire mert, maintaining vigince.
Link and his teammates resumed their roles, though he couldn’t shake the strange premonition that the matter of the mine wasn’t truly over.
[The Akatsuki… they haven’t acted yet.]
