Protect the Ninja World? Protect my Ninja World?
These matters, to Konan, were actually not that important.
Ultimately, the reason she had stepped forward, wanting to unify the Ninja World and achieve world peace, was on one hand because of Yahiko's ideal.
On the other hand, there was also the reason of wanting to carry the Ninja World to new heights.
Only by turning everyone's Ninja World into her own Ninja World could Konan openly allow this world to enjoy the dividends of her rapid progress.
Otherwise, if it were a simple investment, wouldn't the flames of war in this world burn even more fiercely?
Therefore, if she wanted to carry the world forward, consolidating the world's jurisdiction into her own hands was a necessity.
However, if Yahiko remained so naive—naive to the point of stupidity, or even to the point of being loathsome—then she would no longer waste time and effort on the Ninja World.
Wouldn't it be better to leave the Ninja World and go to those worlds with even broader development prospects?
She had helped Yahiko and Nagato so much already, so much that it had almost dragged down her own development.
Ultimately, achieving world peace was not a necessity for her—
You couldn't expect an orphan like her, who had crawled out of a pile of corpses and hadn't even experienced a proper education, to have such noble and steadfast ideals.
Yahiko's way of thinking was the exception among exceptions.
Nagato Uzumaki looked at Yahiko, then at Konan, his brow furrowing slightly.
Despite his role as the quiet one in this small group of three, his intelligence had always been high, and he was aware of the increasingly mounting contradictions.
Compared to his noble ideals, Yahiko's fragile, even childish thinking was extremely mismatched.
Meanwhile, Konan—someone whose ideological convictions weren't firm, but who possessed both the ability and the matching drive—was still striving hard for Yahiko's ideal.
This extreme imbalance brought about a sense of tearing between ideal and reality.
During this period, Nagato had seen it very clearly.
To be frank.
Compared to his two companions, Nagato Uzumaki and Konan, who were like chosen ones, Yahiko appeared quite mediocre.
Yet this most mediocre person was always unwilling to be lonely and had already seriously dragged down his two companions.
"Fine, let's make everything clear."
In truth, deep down, Nagato also felt some dissatisfaction regarding Yahiko's actions during this time.
It was just that, compared to his desire for world peace, he actually cared more about his two companions.
He possessed the legendary Eyes of Deliverance, but that didn't mean he had to struggle tirelessly for the sake of saving the world.
Yahiko fell silent for a moment and could only nod.
"Yahiko, you should know that neither Nagato nor I have a particularly strong will to achieve peace in the Ninja World."
Konan's voice at this moment was calmer than ever before, as she spoke flatly: "The three of us are all orphans who lost our families at a young age, scavengers from the piles of the dead."
"Later, we met, supported each other, struggled to survive, and viewed each other as the most important family members in our lives..."
Hearing this, Yahiko and Nagato Uzumaki both nodded silently in agreement.
The relationship between the three of them had long surpassed ordinary familial ties; it could even be called a community of shared destiny.
"Afterward, we met Jiraiya-sensei. Influenced by him, you, Yahiko, conceived the path of chasing peace. Nagato's and my will were also slightly influenced, and we weren't averse to it."
"If we had the spare capacity, neither Nagato nor I would mind protecting the Land of Rain, the homeland where we were born, or even contributing our part to world peace."
Konan's calm voice became increasingly indifferent:
"This is normal. As the saying goes, 'When poor, attend to your own virtue; when successful, benefit the whole world.' Since we have the strength and the will, now is precisely the time to achieve peace in the Ninja World and save hundreds of millions of civilians from the dire straits of war and chaos."
"Our current strength is already sufficient, and it far exceeds common sense. Even the God of the Ninja World, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha back then were far inferior to us in strength!"
At this point, the way Konan looked at Yahiko became increasingly estranged, as if she had never truly known her companion's heart: "But what about you? What did you do?!"
"You shout the slogans of chasing peace the loudest, but what did you do?"
"I wanted to send troops to suppress the ninjas from the Great Nations' hidden villages who were using the Land of Rain as a battlefield, but you stopped us, saying you wanted to make them back down through negotiations?"
"Did you ever consider the lives of the civilians in the Land of Rain?!"
"Yahiko, the Land of Rain is our home, and the Rain Village honors us as leaders, so we have the obligation and responsibility to protect the Land of Rain!!"
"But what did you do?"
"During this time, the actions of Konoha's Anbu have become increasingly brazen. Their spies in the Land of Rain are almost acting in the open. What did you do?"
"Protests! Negotiations! Consultations!"
Speaking to this point, Konan was almost furious. She grabbed the intelligence documents on the table and slammed them into Yahiko's face.
Then, her voice was like a cold blade, piercing directly through Yahiko's heart: "This time, I seized the moral high ground and held justice in my hands, letting Nagato prepare to seize the momentum to crush and suppress Konoha—the monkey that's jumping the most joyfully—to finally achieve the great cause of world peace..."
"And you still held Nagato back!!"
"Yahiko!!"
"I can no longer endure it!"
"Now, I only want to ask you one thing: are those landlords, officials, and ninjas who control most of the Ninja World's resources more important, or are the hundreds of millions of helpless civilians more important?"
"For whom are you fighting, and for whom does your blade dance?!!"
Clearly, as long as they killed those vested interests who obstructed peace and suppressed the entire Ninja World like the God of the Ninja World did back then, peace could arrive in an instant.
And the three of them possessed long enough lifespans to consolidate the fruits of victory... Yahiko, are you truly naive, or just completely stupid?
So naive and stupid that you've become a pest obstructing world peace... Let me see exactly what choice you will make!
Hearing this, Nagato Uzumaki silently walked to Konan's side and cast his gaze toward the companion who shouted about achieving world peace all day long.
As the wielder of the Rinnegan, he had never had a clear will since childhood. He simply followed behind Yahiko and protected their common sister, the apple of their eye, Konan.
And now, he also wanted to see clearly: how would Yahiko choose?
"Konan, Nagato..."
Konan's bone-chilling words made Yahiko's face turn deathly pale.
Are the powerful and noble more important, or are the civilians more important?
This single sentence completely stripped away the cloak of Yahiko's ideal and thoroughly shattered the beautiful dream of world peace that his teacher, Jiraiya, had woven for him.
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