Chapter 168: What Hashirama Senju Couldn't Do
Tsunade had to admit, the vision Uchiha Akira presented—a world where no child was sent to die, where medics were a shield—struck the softest, most persistent, and most painful part of her heart.
It was the dream she had shared with her brother, Nawaki. The dream she had shared with her love, Dan.
A dream that had died twice, buried under a mountain of blood and failure.
"But a dream is not a plan," she said, her voice regaining its professional, sharp edge. She was no longer the broken woman from the alley; she was in the Hokage's office, and this was a topic she knew.
"Have you considered the immense, staggering resources required to achieve this goal?"
"I'm not talking about just building a hospital. I'm talking about logistics, about a supply chain, about years of dedicated research."
"The time, money, and teaching resources needed to train a single qualified, front-line Medical-nin far exceed those required to train an entire squad of regular Chūnin."
She leaned forward, her hands flat on the desk. "And what about the talent?"
"It's not just about will. Medical ninjutsu demands extremely precise, flawless chakra control. Not everyone possesses that talent. In fact, most don't."
"Even if we turned all of Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves) upside down, we wouldn't find that many individuals with the raw aptitude."
"And even if, by some miracle, we actually managed to staff this... this medical corps of yours..."
"Maintaining such a vast system... it would consume an astronomical amount of funds. Annually."
Tsunade's voice was a bit bitter, colored by her own past failures to secure funding from the Third Hokage. "Can the Village's finances truly support it? This is no small sum, Lord Hokage. This is a perpetual black hole of resources."
"Money is not an issue."
Uchiha Akira's reply was understated, yet filled with an undeniable, absolute dominance that silenced her.
He looked at her, his dark eyes flat. "You are thinking about the cost. I am thinking about the value. What I want is results. You will have whatever funds you require."
Tsunade fell silent.
The casual, dismissive way he spoke of "astronomical funds" was more shocking than a boast. He wasn't bragging; he was stating a fact.
She looked at the excessively young Fifth Hokage before her and, for the first time, began to seriously consider his words, not as the ravings of a tyrant, but as the plans of a leader.
"You... why are you doing this?" Tsunade finally asked the question that had been burning in her mind. "Why this obsession with medicine? Is it merely to enhance Konoha's military strength?"
"Increasing strength is only the first step."
Uchiha Akira stood up from the Hokage's desk and walked to the large, floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the entirety of Konoha basking in the afternoon sun.
His voice was calm, measured. "My goal is to make Konohagakure the sole, undisputed voice in the Shinobi World."
He paused, letting the words hang in the silent office.
Tsunade's breath caught. "The... sole voice?"
"To unify the entire Shinobi World."
Boom!
Tsunade's mind instantly went blank, replaced by a roaring static.
"Un... unify... the Shinobi World?!"
Is he insane?!
Tsunade looked at Akira's back as if he were a certified madman.
She even wondered if she was hallucinating, if the stress and humiliation had finally made her crack.
"You... what did you say?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Unify the Shinobi World?"
"Do you have any idea what you are saying?!" Tsunade's voice suddenly rose, cracking with disbelief and a sudden, surging anger.
"Are you crazy?!"
This was, without a doubt, the most insane, most outlandish, most arrogant thing Tsunade had ever heard in her entire life!
Unify the Shinobi World? What kind of childish, impossible concept was that?
It was a feat that even her grandfather, the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama—a man revered by all as the "God of Shinobi" (忍の神, Shinobi no Kami)—had failed to accomplish!
[Inorin's Note: Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi) is the title held by Hashirama Senju, and later Hiruzen Sarutobi, signifying them as the most powerful shinobi of their respective eras.]
"Back then," she spat, "my Grandfather Hashirama, with his own strength, quelled the chaotic Warring States Era! He established this village! He even captured all the Tailed Beasts (尾獣, Bijū)!"
[Inorin's Note: Bijū (Tailed Beasts) are the nine titanic, living forms of chakra created by the Sage of Six Paths.]
"It could be said that at that time, Konoha possessed the absolute, overwhelming power to sweep across the entire Shinobi World!"
"But even then," she slammed her fist on the desk, "my Grandfather ultimately chose to establish peaceful alliances! He shared the Tailed Beasts with the other four great nations! He chose peace over conquest!"
"Because he knew! He knew that unifying the Shinobi World by force was easy to say but as difficult as ascending to heaven to achieve!"
"That would mean becoming an enemy of the entire world! It would only breed hatred and more war!"
"On what grounds," she demanded, her voice shaking with rage, "do you, Uchiha Akira, believe you can unify the Shinobi World? Because you're strong? Because you beat me?"
"Wishful thinking!" Tsunade instinctively retorted. "Do you know what that means? It would ignite a war that would engulf the entire world! How many people would die? How many more Nawakis and Dans?! Have you thought about it?!"
"War, from the moment the Ninja Villages were established, has never truly ceased."
Uchiha Akira's voice was chillingly calm, cutting through her hysterical rage.
"What I am doing... is simply ending it. Permanently."
"You..." Tsunade was left speechless by his cold, brutal reasoning.
"Tsunade."
Jiraiya, who had been silent in the corner, finally spoke. His expression was more serious than Tsunade had ever seen it.
"You should have experienced Akira's strength as well."
Jiraiya's words were the trigger.
Instantly, the memory of that desolate plain, of the absolute, crushing helplessness, of the sound of the impact and the burning sting of humiliation... it all flashed in her mind.
An uncontrollable, scalding blush crept up her neck and consumed her cheeks.
She instinctively, unconsciously, squeezed her legs together, as if to ward off the phantom sensation. Her gaze shattered, becoming evasive, and she no longer dared to look at Uchiha Akira.
Damn him! Damn him!
"Hmph!"
Tsunade abruptly turned her head away, using a tsundere, indignant tone to mask her profound guilt and shame.
"Don't... don't think you're impressive just because you have some strength!"
"Unifying the Shinobi World isn't that simple!"
"What you'll face is the resistance of the entire world! Being strong alone is useless! You can't rule over ashes!"
"You're right."
Akira's simple agreement shocked her back to silence.
He turned from the window, his gaze locking onto hers.
"Relying solely on me is indeed not enough."
"Individual military might, even my own," he conceded, "can be used for deterrence. It can be used for clearing obstacles. But it cannot, and should not, be used for governance."
"A world forcibly conquered by one man's military might is unstable. It is prone to constant rebellion the moment that man shows the slightest weakness."
"What I want," he said, his voice low, "is not a tattered and hatred-filled Shinobi World, held together by my power alone."
Akira's gaze once again turned towards the window, towards the future.
"Therefore, although I possess the power to sweep away everything, I have not done so."
"I have chosen another path."
He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Tsunade, his eyes filled with an unassailable air of looking down on the world.
"I will transform Konoha into an absolute holy land. A civilization so far above all other Ninja Villages that they cannot even comprehend resisting it."
"In terms of economy, in terms of culture, and in terms of military strength, we must far surpass them."
"When Konoha's strength becomes so formidable that everyone can only look up to it... when even the thought of resistance becomes futile..."
"Konoha will then possess the qualification to unify the Shinobi World."
"At that time, unification will be a natural consequence. They will come to us."
"And the medical system you establish, Tsunade, is a crucial, vital link in this grand plan."
His eyes seemed to pierce through her, seeing the dream she still held.
"It will not only greatly increase the survival rate of Konoha shinobi and enhance the Village's war potential... it is a powerful form of cultural and humanitarian output."
"Imagine," he said, painting a picture she couldn't ignore. "While shinobi from Iwagakure or Kirigakure are still trembling with fear that a minor, infected injury could be fatal..."
"Our Konoha ninja will enjoy the most advanced medical care in the world. They will return to the field in days, not months."
"When Daimyō and wealthy nobles from other Lands contract incurable diseases and can only await a slow, painful death... whom will they seek help from?"
"They will come to us. To Konoha. On their knees, begging for your techniques."
"By then, Konoha will not be a conqueror. It will be the paradise everyone in this broken world yearns for. The only place where life is truly valued."
Tsunade was completely, utterly stunned.
She stared blankly at Uchiha Akira, her heart churning with turbulent, disbelieving waves.
So... this was his true objective!
What he wanted to do was not just conquer by force, like Madara.
He wanted to assimilate the entire world. To use absolute, unquestionable strength as a backing, and an irresistible 'civilization'—a better quality of life—to fundamentally change the entire landscape of the Shinobi World!
This... this was an ambition that dwarfed her grandfather's.
"What your grandfather, Senju Hashirama, could not accomplish..."
Uchiha Akira looked at Tsunade, his voice low, steady, and filled with an unassailable confidence and ambition.
"I can."
Tsunade's heart was in turmoil.
The arrogance of his words was staggering. It was a direct insult to the God of Shinobi.
And yet... she found that she was, horrifyingly... starting to agree with Uchiha Akira's ideas.
[Inorin Note:
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