Jiraiya's mouth twitched. His head lowered slightly, the weight of disappointment settling on his shoulders.
"Jiraiya-senpai," Uchiha Gen said evenly, "the biggest flaw in your ideology lies right there."
"To tell those who've been hurt to abandon their hatred, it sounds simple, but it's as hard as ascending to heaven."
"The human heart may be fickle, but it's also the most stubborn thing in the world."
"What if someone simply refuses to let go?"
"Do you keep persuading them? Begging them?" He let out a short, humorless laugh. "That's not compassion. That's naivety. It's weak and pathetic."
"I believe only absolute military might can truly awe the world. Only overwhelming strength can enforce order that cannot be violated."
"Not everyone needs to obey," he continued. "But if most people follow order, peace will naturally come."
"As for those who don't obey, or worse, those who try to destroy that order…" His voice dropped to a chilling calm. "Compared to lecturing them about ideals, it's much easier to erase them."
"When they're gone, the only ones left will be those who obey."
Uchiha Gen turned his head slightly, his expression unreadable.
Jiraiya was silent for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and hoarse. "There's… some truth in what you said. But absolute power always breeds corruption, just like the nobility."
"And a peace maintained through violence, is that even real peace?"
He frowned suddenly. Something about that line sounded familiar.
Right—Shisui had said something similar once.
Gen's lips curved faintly. "And tell me, Jiraiya-senpai, is peace achieved by letting go of hatred and seeking understanding any more 'real'?"
"Maybe the two approaches are different in principle, but for the common people who just want to live in peace, there's no difference at all."
"So long as they can live safely and happily, they don't care how that peace is achieved."
"As for corruption…" His eyes narrowed. "When it appears, cut it out like poisoned flesh. Replace the rotten with the clean."
He paused, his tone sharpening. "But there's one thing I have to make clear."
"You can believe in your ideals all you want, but if you ever stand in my way, I will kill you. No hesitation. No exceptions."
"Whoever dares block my path... dies."
Gen turned around, face expressionless, the scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan spinning in his eyes. The killing intent that poured out of him was suffocating, sharp enough to make the air itself freeze.
He wasn't bluffing. If Jiraiya truly stood against him, Gen would not hesitate.
If someone refused to coexist, to seek common ground while accepting differences, and instead tried to force their ideology on others, then what was the point of letting them live?
The temperature dropped like a stone.
Tsunade's expression hardened. Shizune hugged herself, trembling.
Jiraiya bore the full weight of Gen's killing intent. His skin tingled, his breath quickened, and a crushing pressure settled over him like a boulder.
Hiss… What terrifying killing intent. How many people has he killed?
Wasn't he supposed to be staying in Konoha most of the time?
He didn't know that through Gen's "Conscience Envoys," countless people had died indirectly by his hand over the years, a number terrifying beyond imagination.
Sensing the escalating tension, Tsunade quickly stepped forward. "Enough, Gen. Jiraiya isn't that narrow-minded."
"He'll walk his own path, but he won't stand in yours."
Gen glanced at her, then slowly retracted his killing intent, giving her that much face.
"Tsunade is right," Jiraiya said at last, his tone steady but firm. "But if your actions ever endanger Konoha, if you lead the village into despair, I will stop you, even if it costs me my life."
His voice was calm, his eyes resolute.
Death, to Jiraiya, was never something to fear.
If the situation demanded it, he would face death with clear eyes and an unshakable heart. That was one of the reasons he was called a hero.
Gen didn't mock him for it. Though their beliefs diverged, he respected that kind of resolve.
To sacrifice one's life, whether for Konoha, for one's ideals, or for love, was something Gen himself could never do.
And precisely because he couldn't, he respected those who could.
To him, life came first. Only by living could one hope for endless possibilities, to change, to rebuild, to reach new heights.
Facing death with calm courage was admirable, but surviving humiliation to live another day… wasn't necessarily weakness.
"Time will tell whose ideology is right," Gen said quietly.
Naruto had brought peace to the ninja world, but was it really through the ideal of "letting go of hatred"?
No. In the end, it was the overwhelming military might of Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and others during the Fourth Great Ninja War that forced the world to submit.
Without that power, who would've listened?
After a long silence, Jiraiya finally asked, "How confident are you that you can achieve everything you've said?"
"If you fail, Konoha will be destroyed and countless innocents will suffer."
"This path of yours… it's all or nothing. Success or destruction."
"It's too dangerous."
Gen clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze distant. "Gain and risk are two sides of the same coin. The greater the ambition, the greater the danger."
"How can something unprecedented come without risk?"
"As for confidence…" A faint smile appeared. "If no one hinders me, if everyone in Konoha works together, then I'm one hundred percent certain."
Tsunade's eyes widened. "Hey, don't go jinxing yourself with that kind of talk."
"I don't boast," he said flatly. "If the plan proceeds smoothly, it will succeed. Even if there are setbacks, as long as the key points hold, I'm still over ninety percent confident."
"And if something goes wrong at those key points?" Tsunade pressed.
"Then it'll be troublesome," Gen admitted. "But I still have seventy percent confidence."
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a look, half disbelief, half unease.
Had Gen grown arrogant because of the Eternal Mangekyō's power?
After a moment, Tsunade asked, "When do you plan to make your move?"
"No rush. I'm not fully prepared yet, and I won't act until I am."
"When I don't move, I don't move. But when I strike…" His eyes glimmered with quiet menace. "I strike like thunder."
"When that time comes, I'll crush the major resistance forces in the ninja world before they have the chance to unite. Once they're scattered, the rest will be easy."
He looked at them both calmly. "Don't mistake my composure for arrogance. I'm clearer now than ever before."
"If the timing isn't right, I won't even let the world suspect Konoha's ambitions."
Jiraiya and Tsunade both let out faint sighs of relief. At least he wasn't blinded by power.
Gen's gaze softened slightly. "I know that when you two return to the village, you'll report everything I've said to the Third Hokage."
"That's fine. But tell him this, he'd better not try anything foolish. Otherwise, I won't hold back."
"Don't assume that just because I haven't seized power, you can control me."
He paused, his tone turning cold again. "That goes for both of you as well."
"If either of you makes a wrong move, I'll show no mercy the next time we meet."
"Consider yourselves warned."
Shizune froze, her face pale.
What… what did he just say?
Could Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya-senpai really lose to him even if they fought together?
No… impossible. I must've misheard.
She glanced at them, searching for denial, some reassurance. But Tsunade and Jiraiya said nothing. They simply stared out into the distance, faces expressionless.
And in that silence, Shizune's heart sank.
It seemed she hadn't misheard at all.