Chapter 532

Mizunuki Ryosuke was already somewhat accustomed to Hanzo of the Salamander’s behavior of attacking everyone.

He could naturally understand Hanzo; after all, a country like the Land of Rain, located at the intersection of the three major powers, was indeed unique in the ninja world.

Precisely because of this, unlike other small countries that were directly exploited by the great powers, the Land of Rain existed most of the time as a buffer zone and battlefield for the three major powers.

In this case, it was inevitable that Hanzo’s vision was limited.

To this, he just smiled and shook his head, then continued.

"No, it is different."

"The Leaf’s influence on the ninja world far exceeds that of the other four great powers."

"I can even responsibly tell everyone that the current situation of constant war in the ninja world is caused by the very existence of the Leaf."

Mizunuki Ryosuke’s words made Hanzo of the Salamander frown.

In Hanzo’s view, whether it was the Land of Water or the Land of Fire, the great powers were all the same.

If Mizunuki Ryosuke wanted to take action against the Leaf, he should just do it; why bother saying these useless words?

"I know some people must think that what I am saying is just useless empty talk."

"But I want to tell everyone very seriously that it is not."

"I must make it clear to everyone that you and I are sitting here today for the sake of peace in the ninja world; this is not empty talk."

Seemingly seeing the thoughts in Hanzo of the Salamander’s heart, Mizunuki Ryosuke spoke slowly, his tone somewhat distant.

Hearing this, Hanzo of the Salamander relaxed his furrowed brows and looked quietly at Mizunuki Ryosuke, waiting for him to finish.

"I once said to someone present that the peaceful situation in the ninja world was created by the Leaf."

"This seems to contradict what I said today; in fact, it is not."

"The world is impermanent; everything in the ninja world is changing with time."

Mizunuki Ryosuke glanced at Shibuki calmly; clearly, this was referring to what he had said to Shibuki and the Waterfall ninjas when he was negotiating with Shibuki in the Waterfall.

"The root of war, no matter how you say it, is caused by the word 'profit'."

"Senju Hashirama could single-handedly forge peace in the ninja world for many reasons, but the core one was that he could divide the interests of the ninja world in a fair way and make most people satisfied."

"This means of equally distributing interests was the direct reason why the ninja world could be peaceful."

"One country, one village, or the equal distribution of Tailed Beasts, were all ways and means to achieve this goal."

Mizunuki Ryosuke said leisurely. Regarding everything he said, a hint of agreement flashed in the eyes of the Third Raikage.

Even the Third Kazekage, who had never considered this issue, had a flash of deep thought in his eyes after hearing Ryosuke’s words.

For Mifune and others, this completely opened a door to a new world, as they had never thought about these issues from such a macro perspective before.

"The peace created by Senju Hashirama was partly because he distributed the interests of the ninja world equally, so the conflicts arising from interests were temporarily shelved."

"The second aspect was the personal combat power of the God of Shinobi; with his suppression, no one dared to defy the world under the deterrence of the God of Shinobi."

"So to achieve peace, both are indispensable."

What Mizunuki Ryosuke was talking about now was not just a plot routine like the legendary story of the First Hokage, but an exploration and pursuit of the root of peace in the ninja world.

At this moment, except for the Third Raikage and Hanzo of the Salamander whose expressions did not change, everyone else had a look of seriousness on their faces.

The younger generation of ninjas, such as Rasa, Ye Cang, and Terumi Mei, had eyes shining with a thirst for knowledge.

"But as time passed, after Senju Hashirama died, the situation he worked so hard to create was also destroyed."

"And in fact, the one who destroyed the peaceful situation created by Senju Hashirama was the Leaf itself."

As he spoke, Mizunuki Ryosuke stood up and pointed to the ninja world map behind him. Everyone’s gaze followed Mizunuki Ryosuke’s finger to the light blue map behind him, where the dazzling fire color occupying a large area was particularly striking.

"I don't deny that the ninja world has always been about strength; the strong are respected."

"Precisely because of this, the powerful Leaf, in the decades after Senju Hashirama’s death, defeated one competitor after another and expanded its influence into the dozen or so surrounding small countries."

"And this caused the original balanced interest structure of the ninja world to be broken, and the seeds of war began to be nurtured from there."

"The resentment of small countries toward great powers because of exploitation, and the conflicts between great powers due to uneven distribution of interests, triggered one war after another."

"Thus, the peaceful situation that Senju Hashirama worked so hard to build completely vanished."

Hearing Mizunuki Ryosuke’s explanation, everyone present felt a shock, because such a statement had never been proposed before.

The Leaf destroyed the peace it had created itself.

Such a statement sounded like nonsense, but no matter how they analyzed it, they found it seemed to be exactly the case.

Ignoring the shock in everyone’s eyes, Ryosuke continued.

"The lack of suppression by powerful force and the breaking of the balance of interests caused the demise of peace."

"The ninja world has also returned to the law of the jungle where strength speaks."

"And I have gathered you all here today precisely to take advantage of the Ninja World War to break the chaotic situation and restore the ninja world to its former peace."

After Mizunuki Ryosuke’s words, the disapproval in the hearts of the Kazekage, Raikage, and small country forces like Hanzo of the Salamander had all dissipated.

Especially the way they looked at Mizunuki Ryosuke had completely changed.

Before this, the reason everyone was willing to buy Mizunuki Ryosuke’s account and come to participate in this ninja summit was just for their own interests.

Not only that, they also thought that Mizunuki Ryosuke, who organized this meeting, was only trying to seize some kind of interest through the meeting.

But now, everyone’s thoughts had changed.

After listening to Mizunuki Ryosuke’s words, they suddenly felt that the young Mizukage in front of them was definitely not pursuing something as vulgar and cliché as "interest."

Especially the Third Raikage, a powerful ninja who had experienced the era of Senju Hashirama, suddenly saw that familiar light in Mizunuki Ryosuke.

In this rotten ninja world, there would always be people who used seemingly stupid ideals and beliefs to bloom with dazzling brilliance.

Although everyone would mock and despise this ideal on the surface, when they really saw such light, who could remain indifferent?

Senju Hashirama was like this.

Mizunuki Ryosuke was also like this.