Chapter 998: ...precious things

Mizunuki Ryosuke had also become somewhat accustomed to Hanzo of the Salamander's direct "map-cannon" behavior.

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

It is precisely because of this that, unlike other small countries that are directly exploited by major powers, the Land of Rain exists most of the time as a buffer zone and battlefield for the three major powers.

Under these circumstances, it is inevitable that Hanzo's vision is limited.

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

"No, it's different."

"Konoha's influence on the ninja world far exceeds that of the other four major 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 Konoha."

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

In Hanzo's view, whether it is the Land of Water or the Land of Fire, major powers are all the same.

If Mizunuki Ryosuke wants to take action against Konoha, he should just do it; why bother saying these useless empty words?

"I know some people must think that what I said 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."

Seeming to see Hanzo of the Salamander's inner thoughts, Mizunuki Ryosuke spoke slowly, his tone somewhat ethereal.

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

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

"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 Takigakure ninjas when he was negotiating with Shibuki in Takigakure earlier.

"The root of war, no matter how you say it, always comes down to the two words 'profit'."

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

"This means of evenly distributing benefits is the direct reason why the ninja world was once able to be peaceful."

"Whether it is one country, one village, or the even distribution of Tailed Beasts, they are all ways and means to achieve this goal."

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

Even the Third Kazekage, who had never considered this issue, felt a hint of deep thought after hearing Ryosuke's words.

For Mifune and others, this completely opened a door to a new world, because 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 evenly, so the conflicts arising from interests were temporarily shelved."

"The second aspect is the personal martial 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 if you want to get peace, both are indispensable."

What Mizunuki Ryosuke is talking about now is 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, a hint of seriousness flashed on everyone else's faces.

The younger generation of ninjas, such as Rasa, Pakura, and Terumi Mei, had a luster of thirst for knowledge in their eyes.

"It's just that with the passage of time, after Senju Hashirama died, the situation he worked so hard to create was also destroyed."

"And in fact, the one who single-handedly destroyed the peaceful situation created by Senju Hashirama was Konoha itself."

As he spoke, Mizunuki Ryosuke stood up and pointed to the ninja world map behind him. Everyone's eyes followed Mizunuki Ryosuke's finger and moved to the light blue map behind him, and the dazzling fire color occupying a large position in it was particularly eye-catching.

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

"It is precisely because of this that Konoha, with its powerful strength, defeated one competitor after another in the decades after Senju Hashirama's death, expanding its influence to more than a dozen small countries in the surrounding area."

"And this also caused the originally balanced interest pattern of the ninja world to be broken, and the seeds of war began to be nurtured from this."

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

"And so, the peaceful pattern that Senju Hashirama worked so hard to build has completely vanished."

Hearing Mizunuki Ryosuke's statement, a hint of shock flashed in the eyes of everyone in the room, because such a statement had never been proposed before.

Konoha destroyed the peace it had created itself.

Such a statement sounds like nonsense, but no matter how they analyzed it, they finally found that it seemed to be really the case.

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

"The lack of suppression by powerful martial 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 gathered everyone here today precisely to take advantage of the opportunity of the Ninja World War to break the chaotic situation and restore the ninja world to the peace of the past."

After Mizunuki Ryosuke's words, the disapproval in the hearts of everyone, whether it was the Kazekage, Raikage, or small country forces like Hanzo of the Salamander, had completely dissipated.

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

Before this, the reason why everyone was willing to buy Mizunuki Ryosuke's account and come to participate in this ninja world talk was just for the interests they each plotted.

Not only that, they also thought that Mizunuki Ryosuke, who organized this talk, was just trying to extract some kind of benefit through the talk.

But now, everyone's thoughts have 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 "profit."

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

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

Although everyone will mock and despise this ideal on the surface, when they really see such light, who can remain indifferent to it?

Senju Hashirama was like this.

Mizunuki Ryosuke is also like this. ===== CHAPTER 1000 =====