Rui stared at the Elder Tree, waiting for an answer. To him, he couldn't imagine responsibility being anything other than a liability and a limitation. To divert his energy to focus on matters that simply weren't related to his Martial Art or Project Water. To spread his attention and energy wide and thin, reducing the amount of time he spent on Martial Art.
How could this lead to anything other than stagnation, rot, and weakness?
He couldn't imagine it.
His entire life, and even his first life as John Falken, he had eschewed responsibility in pursuit of his ultimate goal, and it had allowed him to accomplish more than anybody else could even fathom doing so, let alone actually coming even close to matching.
He believed that his progress was due to his abandoning everything else in his life and dedicating almost everything to achieving progress to fulfill Project Water.
