The Land of Lightning,
Hidden Cloud Village,
The villagers inside were going about their daily lives in harmony, busy with their own affairs.
Yet atop a nearby mountain,
Several uninvited guests had appeared.
Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shisui instantly entered combat mode.
Uchiha Itachi, however, was a step slower.
Just as he reached for his kunai, he looked down at the peaceful and harmonious Hidden Cloud Village below.
For a moment,
He found himself unable to grip the weapon at all.
Seeing this, Kakashi quickly whispered,
"Itachi, what are you doing? Get into battle mode already. There are still a bunch of people watching from behind."
"I know. But I don't understand. Do we really have to destroy the peace and tranquility of this village? If we hadn't come, wouldn't they be living happily?"
After Itachi spoke,
Shisui's eyes shifted slightly, as though he agreed.
Or perhaps he had always thought the same way and simply kept it buried deep inside.
"What are you talking about? A mission is a mission. A ninja's job is to complete missions. Don't mix your personal feelings into them!"
No wonder Kakashi was a natural-born ninja.
He was simply too outstanding.
As for why Guy wasn't here?
Because Guy's brain operated on an entirely different dimension from theirs.
At this moment, he was busy shouting,
"YOUTH!!"
Naturally, the adults nearby had heard the conversation between Itachi and Kakashi.
Smack.
Uchiha Kamito covered his face with one hand in exasperation.
"Give me a moment. I need to go educate the cotton ball of our Uchiha clan."
The others struggled to suppress their laughter.
It had been a long time since they'd seen Kamito like this.
Uchiha Kamito slowly walked over.
In the Uchiha clan, every one of them was a battle maniac who wanted to kill heaven and earth alike. They only feared their enemies weren't strong enough, never that there weren't enough of them.
And now?
A saint who worried his enemies weren't living well enough had somehow appeared.
Wasn't this the equivalent of a pure white cotton ball suddenly popping out of a muddy ditch?
Oh.
Not one.
Two.
As Kamito approached,
He sensed that his disciple Shisui was also struggling internally.
"Well, my dear nephew, tell me. What's the problem? Your uncle's reputation is taking a serious hit here."
Kamito arrived beside Itachi.
His left hand immediately began ruffling Itachi's smooth hair as he vented his dissatisfaction.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just some random thoughts."
"Go ahead and say it. If I don't clear this up for you, you'll end up unconsciously resenting Konoha when it's time to act."
How could Kamito dare let Itachi continue thinking on his own?
What if he came up with some nonsense like, "For the sake of peace in the ninja world, even sacrificing Konoha is acceptable"?
Then Clan-Slayer Itachi would upgrade into Village-Slayer Itachi.
Wouldn't Kamito be dumbfounded?
At that point, would he really have done a worse job teaching than Uchiha Fugaku?
Seeing his uncle refuse to let the matter go,
Itachi finally voiced the thoughts in his heart.
"Uncle, look at how happy the people of Hidden Cloud Village are. Why do we have to destroy someone else's happy life?"
"Fine. Then tell me, how are the people of Konoha living?"
"Of course they're even happier."
"So you can't bear to destroy the happiness of another village's people, but you're willing to destroy the happiness of Konoha's people?"
"No. That's different. There's no direct connection between the two."
"No connection? Resources in the ninja world are limited. If the total amount stays the same, then when one side gains more, the other side naturally gets less. Let me give you an example. Suppose you and Sasuke each receive ten thousand ryo in New Year's money. Because you want Sasuke to be happy, you give him one thousand. Now Sasuke has eleven thousand. Do you still have ten thousand?"
Itachi fell into thought.
Kamito said nothing,
Simply waiting for his answer.
Compared to Hidden Cloud Village,
Educating his dear nephew—and his eldest disciple as well—was far more important.
"But if it makes Sasuke happy, I'd be willing to do it."
"Fine. You can choose to do that yourself. But what if we're talking about Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village instead? Why should the people of Konoha give their one thousand ryo to Hidden Cloud Village?"
Itachi fell silent again.
The question was far beyond his current level.
"If one thousand ryo could buy peace, I think most people in Konoha would agree."
Kamito helplessly walked over to the person who had spoken.
Apparently the bigger genius was standing right here.
Honestly, you two really were the Uchiha clan's pair of prodigies.
"You earn hundreds of thousands of ryo a year, so naturally it doesn't seem like much to you. But do you know how many people in Konoha are already struggling with everything they have just to secure three meals a day for the year? And now you want to take another thousand ryo from them?"
"I can pay it for them."
"Wonderful. Shisui truly is a great saint. Thanks to your kindness and Itachi's, Hidden Cloud Village receives a massive sum of money. How many people are there in Konoha? One thousand ryo per person. Calculate it yourselves. Now here's the question: what will Hidden Cloud Village do with all that money? If they discover that getting money from Konoha is this easy..."
Kamito paused before continuing.
"Wouldn't they ask for more? And why would it necessarily happen only once a year? Couldn't it become once every six months? Once a month? Or even once a day?"
"Impossible. Konoha would never agree to such an absurd demand."
"Good. If Konoha won't agree later, then why agree in the first place?"
Shisui also fell silent.
At that moment, Kamito kindly delivered the finishing blow.
"My dear Saint Shisui, there's another possibility. Hidden Cloud Village uses the massive funds gifted by Konoha to expand its military. After becoming stronger, tell me—would they target the barren Land of Earth, the distant Land of Water across the sea, or the faraway Land of Wind? Oh, and there's also a rich neighboring country right beside them—the Land of Fire. Which one do you think they'd choose?"
Shisui had already become lost in his imagination.
It was as though he had personally created a powerful enemy for the Land of Fire and Konoha.
And before his eyes,
The Land of Fire seemed engulfed in war, rivers of blood flowing everywhere.
"No... impossible. It wouldn't happen like that."
"Shisui, every person who dies in the Land of Fire, every Konoha ninja who falls in battle—they all die because of the money you gave Hidden Cloud Village. Your kindness saved Hidden Cloud Village, but doomed the Land of Fire and Konoha."
"Ahhh! Impossible! Impossible!"
Shisui grabbed his head and lowered it.
Again and again he muttered,
"Impossible... impossible... How could I become Konoha's sinner? The Land of Fire's sinner? I only wanted everyone to live well. How did it become like this? How?"
"Dear nephew, would you like me to explain it to you too?"
"No need! No need!"
Itachi shook his head frantically.
He was still a child.
He didn't need to think about such complicated issues.
Besides, he would never betray Konoha or the Land of Fire.
He definitely wouldn't become an idiot like Shisui.