The difference between the two was that a ninja mastered power, while a woodcarver mastered a craft.
Never mind in a chaotic world like the ninja world; even in times of peace, military force was a guarantee for protecting one's own interests.
Therefore, between these two professions, Li Anshi naturally leaned more towards being a ninja.
In the past three years, based on the materials Tsunade had given him from the Second Hokage's research on the Flying Thunder God Technique, Li Anshi had made some progress.
Although he hadn't yet reached the Second Hokage's level, he had solved the problem of his insufficient number of daggers.
It could be said that the current Li Anshi, before his chakra was completely depleted, did not lack for flying daggers.
As for the problem of chakra, after another three years of nurturing, his physical fitness had once again improved significantly, and his chakra reserves had naturally risen with it.
It was no easy task to exhaust his chakra.
However, besides Tsunade, only Mito Uzumaki had a slight inkling of this.
As for the others, although the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, knew that Li Anshi had obtained the materials for the Flying Thunder God Technique left behind in the Senju clan, he didn't think he could successfully master it.
Sakumo Hatake's claim that his fame could not compare to Li Anshi's was a speculation based on his understanding of him.
"How can it not compare?"
Li Anshi smiled. "Sakumo, you must know, children are the most sensitive and the most admiring of the strong."
"To have the same weapon as a strong person, to play the role of a hero killing enemies in ninja games, is what children love to do most."
"During this time, the sales of the White Fang short sword carvings have surpassed those of the Third Hokage's hat and my flying daggers."
"This means that in the hearts of the children, you, Sakumo, are a stronger ninja than me and the Third Hokage."
"Children are the future of Konoha. If even they think so, then it can't be wrong."
"Stop teasing me."
Hearing Li Anshi's words, Sakumo Hatake smiled wryly.
Others might not know, but how could he not know the gap between himself and Li Anshi?
Within five steps, he was confident he could unleash his strongest slash and perhaps perish together with him.
But if the two were truly enemies, could he get within five steps of him?
Seeing him like this, Li Anshi shook his head.
For him, only strength was real and true.
Fame was just a byproduct of strength.
Never mind Sakumo; even if the Third Hokage were to promote his own son as a super-powerhouse who surpassed both the Little Li Flying Dagger and the White Fang of Konoha, he wouldn't care in the slightest.
He had said so much to Sakumo to remind him that his prestige was too high, and that he had surely become a thorn in the side of certain people.
It was likely that the other party was already plotting against him.
But now, it seemed that Sakumo himself was upright and honorable, his Will of Fire unwavering. Even after carrying out many dark missions in the Anbu, the faith in his heart was untainted, as bright and clean as a mirror.
In his heart, he simply did not believe that Konoha would betray him.
And it was precisely because of this that when he was betrayed, he felt his faith collapse.
The failure of a single mission was clearly not enough to make a powerhouse like him pay with his life.
Never mind him.
Even the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had a record of failed missions.
The most serious one was when he went with the Second Hokage to sign an agreement with the Cloud.
The duty of the Kage's guard was to protect the Kage, to use their own lives to break the deadlock and find a chance for survival.
But in that ambush, Hiruzen and the others, as the Kage's guard, had not fulfilled their duty, failing to help the Second Hokage escape the Cloud's pursuit.
On the contrary, because they were a burden, the Second Hokage had to stay behind and use his own life to hold back the Cloud ninjas, buying time for them to escape.
Even so, the villagers of Konoha had not been overly critical of them.
In fact, they had even supported Hiruzen in becoming the new Hokage.
But Sakumo was different.
He had truly dedicated everything he had to the village, wanting to pass on his "Will of Fire."
Therefore, after feeling his faith had been defiled, he had chosen to die a martyr.
"Congratulations, Sakumo."
Just as Li Anshi was about to say something, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
"Anshi, you're here too."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Li Anshi turned and smiled at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "In Konoha, I don't have many friends."
"Besides Tsunade, only Sakumo is close to me."
"How could I not come for such a joyous occasion as his wedding?"
Since reminding Sakumo had failed, Li Anshi gave up on the idea of telling him directly.
Sakumo's faith was as hard as iron. He probably wouldn't believe it even if Li Anshi told him what Danzo Shimura would do to him in the future.
No!
It wasn't that he wouldn't believe it, but that even if he did, he would be willing to bet that the village would not betray him.
Because that was his faith.
Was Sakumo Hatake, who had abandoned his faith, still Sakumo Hatake?
If that was the case, then Li Anshi decided to take another path.
Coincidentally, under his influence, Hiruzen Sarutobi had much more courage than the one in his memory, and he had not shown much political favoritism towards the Sarutobi clan, despite being from it.
Whether the future Hiruzen would still turn from the "God of Shinobi" to a "Bear of Shinobi," Li Anshi was not sure.
But at least, in the four years since he had become Hokage, Hiruzen had indeed put Konoha in the most important position.
By telling Hiruzen about his relationship with Sakumo, he was also telling him that Sakumo was one of his few bonds in Konoha.
If Konoha wanted to make a move on Sakumo, they would have to consider his position.
Sakumo's pure Will of Fire was the most convenient weapon for any leader.
This weapon could make the many ninjas of Konoha more cohesive. At the same time, they could also hold up the banner of the "Will of Fire" to use him.
Even Danzo Shimura, when he framed him, had never thought of having him killed.
He just wanted to break his "golden body," to pull him down from the position of Hokage candidate, so that he could stand up himself.
Similarly, after becoming the new Hokage of Konoha, Danzo would still have heavily used him.
In fact, it was not impossible for him to become a "Hokage candidate" again.
In Danzo's view, it wasn't that Sakumo couldn't become Hokage, but that he couldn't become Hokage before him.
After all, Danzo was the same age as Hiruzen.
Sakumo was a dozen or so years younger than them.
If Sakumo became Hokage, Danzo didn't think he would live to see the election of the next one.
To realize his dream of becoming the Hokage who would lead Konoha to its peak, Danzo could do anything!
Even if these things might cause harm to Konoha, he would not hesitate.
Because he felt that no matter how great the losses Konoha suffered, as long as he became Hokage, he could completely make up for them.
Li Anshi didn't know where he got this confidence.
But this was indeed his true thought.
Ever since the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had asked who was willing to stay behind and cover the retreat, Danzo's life had been stuck there, never moving forward.
Everything he did afterward seemed to be just to prove to Tobirama that he was not afraid of death, but had just been a little slower to speak up than Hiruzen.
In Li Anshi's memory, the trap Danzo had set for Sakumo was when Kakashi Hatake was six years old.
But now, because of his stimulation, Sakumo's strength had reached its peak several years early. At the same time, with the covert promotion of the major ninja clans, his prestige had also reached its peak.
The Third Hokage was Hiruzen Sarutobi, but at least seventy percent of the ninjas believed that Sakumo would be the future Fourth Hokage.
Therefore, Li Anshi was not sure if Danzo would set a trap for him ahead of schedule.
By putting his relationship with Sakumo out in the open, he had also become part of his backing.
At that time, if Hiruzen were to side with Danzo in the matter of Sakumo, he would have to consider Li Anshi's attitude.
That's right. In Li Anshi's view, Sakumo would definitely fall for the trap Danzo had set for him.
Compared to completing the mission, the lives of his comrades were insignificant.
No, it should be said that he carried out missions to save more comrades.
If a mission required abandoning his comrades to complete, then for him, it was a wrong mission.
Even if it violated the rules of a ninja, he would abide by his "will" and put the protection of his comrades' lives first.
Therefore, as long as Danzo's side began to move, Sakumo would inevitably be caught.
"A ninja must be someone who abides by the rules. Those who violate the rules will be regarded as 'trash' by everyone. But those who don't cherish their comrades are even worse than trash!"
This was the principle that Sakumo's son, Kakashi Hatake, would follow in the future, after understanding the meaning of his father's suicide with the help of Obito Uchiha.
This was also Kakashi's ninja way.
Later, after practicing this "ninja way" with his own will, Kakashi had also entered the ranks of the Kage-level powerhouses.
"Haha, this is a good thing."
Hearing Li Anshi's words, Hiruzen also smiled.
As the strongest person in Konoha at the moment, second only to Mito Uzumaki, Hiruzen's tolerance for him was very high.
Even though he had said that he would rather be a woodcarving shop owner than a ninja, Hiruzen had still kept his ninja registration number.
What he was most worried about was that he had no bonds in Konoha, which made him not care so much about the village.
First there was Tsunade, and now there was Sakumo. How could Hiruzen not be happy?
Moreover, in his view, all three of them—Li Anshi, Sakumo, and Tsunade—were ninjas with the mindset of a "Kage."
Needless to say, if it weren't for the fact that the ninja world in Li Anshi's heart was too appalling, making Hiruzen not dare to bet on him, the position of Anbu Commander would not have belonged to Sakumo.
As for Tsunade, that went without saying.
Her grandfather was the creator of Konoha, and her great-granduncle was the Second Hokage. Her lineage was pure and proper.
It could be said that in the future, when she grew up, as long as she said she wanted to become Hokage, Hiruzen would have to make way for her.
As for Sakumo…
Even Hiruzen felt that in terms of the "Will of Fire," the one in Sakumo's heart was purer and firmer than his own.
No matter what, Hiruzen still had the mark of the Sarutobi clan on him.
Even if he didn't deliberately favor the Sarutobi clan in his administration, the other clans would, by default, classify some things under the Sarutobi's influence.
It was just that, in his view, the "light" on Sakumo was too dazzling, making his actions seem a bit naive.
If Sakumo could not accommodate darkness, then letting him take over as the next Hokage might put Konoha at a disadvantage in diplomacy, causing the village's interests to be harmed.
During this time, Hiruzen had also been considering whether to let him experience some darkness, to see if he could grow and become a better successor to the Hokage.
But now, Li Anshi's statement had made Hiruzen dismiss this idea.
What a joke. With his support, which other village would dare to let Konoha suffer a loss?
Hadn't he seen how, a few years ago, even after the Cloud had withdrawn their troops, he had beaten them to their village gates, slaughtering them until they were forced to pay war reparations?
To this day, the Cloud still had two years left to pay off the reparations in full.
Of course, in the official language of the ninja world, this was the Cloud's "humanitarian aid" to Konoha.
Yes, the many ninjas of the Cloud worked desperately to complete missions, and then used a portion of the rewards to support the families of the Konoha ninjas who had died in the First Great Ninja War.
It was precisely because of this compensation from the Cloud that Konoha not only quickly recovered from the war but also stimulated more support for the village from its ninjas.
No one wanted to die on the battlefield protecting the village, only to have their families and friends fare worse after their loss.
Now, Konoha had used facts to tell all its ninjas—
For any ninja who died for Konoha, their families would receive a large pension and be given priority for easy and low-risk jobs.
If their descendants had ninja talent, they would receive more training.
Upon entering the Ninja Academy, they would be assigned to better classes.
After graduation, they would also be assigned to a more suitable squad leader.