Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't believe that Li Anshi didn't understand the intention behind the offer to make him the Anbu Commander.
But Li Anshi had refused.
Why?
Could it be that the "Will of Fire" Li Anshi had shown before was all a lie?
"Lord Third, the Hokage can't save Konoha..."
"???"
Numerous question marks appeared in the Third Hokage's eyes.
What did he mean?
What did he mean, the Hokage can't save Konoha?
Hadn't the peace Konoha had enjoyed for over a decade been maintained by the Hokage?
The contributions of the First and Second Hokage were well-known to all.
After he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, took office as the Third Hokage, hadn't he also repelled the other three great ninja villages, forcing them to sign either a truce, a letter of surrender, or an alliance agreement?
At the very least, Konoha wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by other ninja villages and entering a state of war for the next ten years.
And that wasn't called saving Konoha?
Well, perhaps that was exaggerating the Hokage's role and downplaying the contributions of the majority of ninjas.
But you had to admit, wasn't it the Hokage's achievement?
"Anshi, then what do you think can save Konoha?"
At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi still asked Li Anshi calmly.
He believed that as long as he communicated properly with Li Anshi, he could surely guide him onto the right path.
Li Anshi was worth the effort!
Now that the First and Second Hokage had both passed away, besides Lady Mito Uzumaki, the strongest person in Konoha was undoubtedly Li Anshi.
This was a point that even Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Third Hokage, had to admit.
After all, even he wouldn't dare to face Li Anshi's flying daggers directly.
If Li Anshi's heart was with Konoha, he could become an even greater deterrent to foreign powers than a Tailed Beast.
Conversely, if Li Anshi was dissatisfied with Konoha, then it was likely the village would have to do everything in its power to eliminate him.
Otherwise…
"Lord Hokage, what do you think a ninja is?"
Seeing Hiruzen's demeanor, Li Anshi didn't answer but instead asked him this serious question first.
He was different from Tsunade.
No matter how precocious Tsunade was, she was still just a seven-year-old girl.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, on the other hand, was currently twenty-five years old, had served as the Second Hokage's Anbu Commander, and was the reigning Third Hokage.
His perspective was far beyond Tsunade's.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi was willing, Li Anshi wouldn't mind setting sail in the ninja world and giving the "ninja" profession a new way of life.
But if Hiruzen couldn't understand, Li Anshi wouldn't go looking for trouble for himself.
"What is a ninja?"
"A ninja is just—"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, about to say, "A ninja is someone who can endure anything and will do whatever it takes to complete a mission."
However, when he met Li Anshi's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say the rest.
He could feel that if he voiced his own definition of a "ninja," and if that answer didn't get Li Anshi's approval, a huge chasm would appear between them. It would be impossible to have a conversation like this again.
"Anshi, before I answer your question, may I know what you believe a ninja to be?"
In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided not to state his own understanding first, but to ask for Li Anshi's.
Then, he could judge from Li Anshi's definition of a "ninja" what kind of differences existed between them and whether the two could coexist.
"Ha, Lord Hokage, you are quite cunning, to turn my own question back on me."
Li Anshi smiled.
He hadn't expected Hiruzen to throw the question back at him.
However, he didn't dislike this approach.
At the very least, from the wisdom Hiruzen displayed, Li Anshi believed he should be able to understand the meaning he was trying to convey.
"Lord Hokage, what I believe a ninja to be is a 'person.' A person who wields power."
Li Anshi's serious words made Hiruzen Sarutobi pause for a moment.
Ninjas were already people who wielded power, weren't they?
What kind of answer was that?
However, Hiruzen's eyes quickly narrowed.
Although within the ninja villages, ninjas were loved and respected by the villagers, and most of the children wanted to become ninjas, to be "heroes" who protected the village.
But outside the ninja villages, the daimyo, nobles, and merchants who came to post missions did not see ninjas as "people," but as "tools" to complete tasks.
Even though ninjas possessed great power, they had no status in front of the daimyo, nobles, and merchants.
It couldn't be helped. Ninjas relied on completing missions for payment to support themselves.
Without missions, most of the ninjas in a village would probably starve to death.
Make no mistake, most ninjas in the ninja world had no other source of income besides completing missions.
All those who came to the village to post missions could be said to be the ninjas' providers.
If a ninja's performance on a mission did not satisfy the client, a single word from them would be enough for the merchant guilds they worked with to tacitly stop posting missions in that village.
In the eyes of these people, were ninjas really "people"?
Previously, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never have thought about these things.
But now that Li Anshi had pointed it out, the things that flashed through his mind in that brief moment were enough to send a chill down his spine.
At the same time, more things appeared in his mind.
He remembered that outside the ninja villages, the common perception of ninjas was that of "terrifying monsters."
It was similar to how ninjas viewed the Tailed Beasts.
Before, Hiruzen would have thought this was normal.
After all, people always feared things that could easily erase them.
But now, with his mind opened, Hiruzen could see the deeper core of the matter.
It was a joke. Even for ninjas from the number one village, Konoha, if it weren't for the Great Ninja War and the use of Jinchuriki by other villages, how many would even know of the "Tailed Beasts'" existence?
Besides, to prevent ninja wars from affecting others, ninjas usually fought in remote, uninhabited places.
Very few ninjas would fight in front of ordinary people.
For most ordinary people in the ninja world, "ninjas" were figures of legend.
The ninja world was vast, and the number of ninjas, even if you counted all of them, was probably less than a hundred thousand.
Barring any accidents, many ordinary people would probably only hear the word "ninja" in their entire lives, without ever seeing one in person.
And yet, in the world of ordinary people, the topic of "ninjas" had never ceased.
To say there wasn't a driving force behind this, Hiruzen Sarutobi refused to believe it.
And the purpose of doing so…
A dark look crossed Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
Quickly, he forcefully cut off his train of thought.
He couldn't think about it anymore!
If he kept thinking, Konoha would probably become the enemy of the entire world.
However, the look he now gave Li Anshi was tinged with a bit of dread.
Li Anshi was a villager born and raised in Konoha, born after the First Hokage established the village, with a clean and proper background.
Hiruzen could never have imagined that something he, the Hokage, had never thought of, Li Anshi had already seen through at such a young age.
Seeing Hiruzen's reaction, Li Anshi knew he must have guessed what he was trying to express.
"Lord Hokage, as long as ninjas are still 'tools' in the eyes of those people, a war that affects the entire ninja world will occur every so often."
"I have no interest in being a 'tool'."
"So, compared to being the Anbu Commander, I would rather live as the owner of a carving shop."
"Of course, if you have the heart for reform, Lord Third, I would be happy to contribute my strength to Konoha."
"Other than that, unless Konoha is in a crisis that endangers its very existence, I probably won't act easily."
"Alright, I understand."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. The pride he felt from winning the war and restoring peace to Konoha instantly deflated, and he felt mentally exhausted.
If he hadn't seen through the deeper darkness of this world, Hiruzen could have easily maintained and developed Konoha according to the policies set by the First and Second Hokage.
But knowing this, whatever decisions he made in the future, he would have to consider what those who saw ninjas as tools would think, and whether his decisions would cause them to do something that could affect Konoha.
What made Hiruzen feel powerless was that he had no way to counter their actions.
Should he use military force to kill all the daimyo, nobles, and merchants?
When this thought appeared in his mind, Hiruzen felt a great tremor in his heart.
Did Li Anshi also have such thoughts?
Shaking his head, Hiruzen finally let out a sigh.
If simply killing the daimyo, nobles, and other existences that could control the lifelines of ninjas could change their situation, then Hiruzen had no doubt that Li Anshi would directly kill these people.
But, as Li Anshi had said, as long as the nature of being a ninja didn't change, Konoha would be controlled by others.
Even Hiruzen, who had seen through it all, felt helpless when he thought about how easily the daimyo and nobles could use the resources in their hands to control Konoha's lifeline.
What was the way out for ninjas?
After leaving the Hokage's building, Li Anshi looked back at the office, as if he could see Hiruzen's struggle.
Shaking his head, Li Anshi stopped thinking about other things.
He didn't consider himself a saint; he had no intention of leading the ninjas out of their professional fate.
But if someone truly stood up and wanted to change something, Li Anshi wouldn't mind lending a hand.
After all, as a wielder of power, Li Anshi didn't want incompetent people pointing fingers at him.
Moreover, for Li Anshi, only when these ninjas genuinely wanted to change their own situation from the bottom of their hearts would they be worth saving.
It made no difference whether it was Hiruzen Sarutobi or Tsunade.
In fact, Li Anshi even hoped it would be Hiruzen.
After all, Tsunade was still too young. Li Anshi didn't want her to carry such a burden.
This was also why he hadn't told Tsunade the real reason he still ran the carving shop when she asked why he bothered when a single mission paid more than a year's income from the shop.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was in his prime. The battles with the Cloud and the Stone had showcased his formidable power.
"The Professor" was the title other villages had for him.
And from their recent interactions, Li Anshi also felt that the current Hiruzen was indeed a competent Hokage.
If Hiruzen had the courage to initiate reform, it would be even better for Tsunade to reap the benefits.
If they didn't even want to change themselves, why should Li Anshi go through the trouble of helping them?
Perhaps, in the end, all he would get in return was a mocking "Who needed your help anyway?"
Respect the fate of others, and let go of the need to help.