Chapter 32: The Future of Iwagakure
"The same as now."
"…Huh?"
Kurotsuchi, who had been believing and even expecting Shiromo to reveal some crucial information, froze for a moment when she heard those words.
They sounded like something a low-level scammer would say, far too vague.
"Your Iwagakure is suffering from a lack of talent right now, isn't it?"
Shiromo didn't care about her expression and continued speaking.
"Hm? You even gathered information like that?"
Kurotsuchi came back to her senses, a little surprised.
If that was the case, then it wasn't vague at all, the other party clearly understood Iwagakure's current situation.
"It's because in the last Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage went berserk and killed too many of your people, right?"
As Shiromo said this, he curled his lips.
In truth, all five great ninja villages had suffered reductions in combat strength.
Only Kumogakure was slightly better off, mainly losing just one Kage.
Kirigakure had its kekkei genkai clans suppressed and wiped out by their own people, and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were beaten into the so-called "Lucky Trio" on the battlefield, causing a massive drop in strength.
Sunagakure was hit by budget cuts and ended up the most miserable of all.
As for Konoha, there was no need to even mention it, it was only holding on by virtue of being a "starving camel still bigger than a horse."
In the future Fourth Great Ninja War, the group of "Down syndrome ninja alliance" standing before the reanimated Second Mizukage, most of those people came from Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure.
"Yeah… so after all this time, Iwagakure still hasn't developed?"
Kurotsuchi's face was full of worry.
"Want to know the reason?" Shiromo asked.
"It must be because I'm too useless. It can't be because of Grandpa, right? He's already that old, how many more years can he live? Sigh…"
Kurotsuchi's tone was filled with self-blame.
She was a very confident person. From childhood to now, she had barely ever suffered setbacks, similar to Konohamaru.
The things that could truly make her feel dejected were very few.
"Actually, Ōnoki lived quite a long life. He was still alive twenty years later."
"…Huh?"
"Then it has to be that Grandpa's fault! That stubborn geezer! I knew it, how could I possibly be the one who caused Iwagakure to…"
When Kurotsuchi heard that Ōnoki was still alive at that time, she instantly shifted the blame, changing her stance as fast as an opera face-change.
"In fact, neither of you was doing particularly well."
"..."
"Could it be that I also turned into a stubborn old fossil? No, even twenty years later, I wouldn't be old yet."
Kurotsuchi started doubting herself again.
"Because of the lack of talent, Ōnoki chose to create 'artificial humans' in order to protect the younger generation of Iwagakure ninjas."
"One of them was an artificial Ōnoki created using his own cells named Kū, who could use Dust Release."
"Another was named Akuta, created using Deidara's cells, and he could use Explosive Clay."
Shiromo described what Ōnoki did in the future.
"What?! That old man dared to defile my art?!"
Deidara, who had been listening on the side and enjoying Kurotsuchi's misfortune, suddenly heard something related to himself, and it involved stealing his cells and his explosive art.
"Don't worry. Those artificial humans quickly went out of control and all died. Ōnoki also perished together with his own Dust Release artificial human."
"Oh."
Once Deidara heard they were all gone, he stopped caring.
As for whether Ōnoki died or not, that didn't matter.
The guy had lived long enough already, it was time to die.
"That's good. Then that artificial human project should have been stopped by my future self, right?"
Kurotsuchi also let out a sigh of relief.
She didn't pay much attention to the news of Ōnoki's death.
"It stopped."
"And you think that's a good thing?"
Shiromo looked at Kurotsuchi and asked calmly.
"Hm? Isn't an artificial human project against ethics and morality?"
Kurotsuchi was immediately puzzled by his question.
"At that time, Konoha also secretly developed scientific ninja tools. And Orochimaru, whom they were supporting, researched clone technology similar to artificial humans."
"Technology itself has no right or wrong. Only the user can be wrong."
"Ōnoki failed because he was old, he had the will, but not the strength to thoroughly inspect everything himself, and so he fell into someone else's trap."
"Kurotsuchi, do you want to know what 'major thing' you did in the future, as Tsuchikage?"
As Shiromo spoke, he took out a scroll he had prepared before setting out. Inside was information related to Kurotsuchi.
"What's that?"
Kurotsuchi asked when she saw the scroll.
"Some things can't be proven by words alone. You need to see evidence."
Shiromo opened the scroll. Inside were several Konoha newspapers and Shinobi World newspapers.
"In the future ninja world, after the Fourth Great Ninja War and before the arrival of new enemies, there was a period of peace. During that time, the five great ninja villages signed a peace agreement."
"However, the daimyō of the Land of Earth wanted to attack a small country, the Land of Flowers."
"He demanded that Iwagakure provide troops. As Tsuchikage, even though you knew this would break the peace agreement, you still chose to obey the daimyō's order."
"In order to occupy the moral high ground as much as possible and avoid being labeled as the one who destroyed the peace, you proactively went to argue with the Hokage of Konoha at the time, accusing them of developing scientific ninja tools."
"The Hokage's strategist noticed something strange about your behavior. After uncovering the truth, he had the daimyō of the Land of Fire convene a daimyō summit."
"The other four daimyōs jointly pressured the daimyō of the Land of Earth. In the end, the Land of Fire returned the territory it had previously seized, and only then was the matter settled."
As Shiromo explained, Kurotsuchi flipped through the newspapers.
The newspapers didn't state things as directly as Shiromo did, but Kurotsuchi didn't doubt him.
As the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, and the future Tsuchikage, she understood how these matters worked.
Some things could not be laid out openly.
There were reports about Ōnoki's death and about artificial humans causing disturbances.
But there was no mention of Ōnoki making mistakes. Presumably, this was to give her grandfather, a venerable hero of the ninja world, a dignified ending.
The same applied to the Land of Earth's daimyō.
There were only reports about disputes between the Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Hokage, about a daimyō summit being convened, and about the Land of Earth's daimyō returning in frustration, without any concrete details.
This was completely normal.
With a ceasefire agreement that had lasted many years, it was impossible to publish news that someone was suddenly preparing to tear it up.
Just like how Ōnoki earlier hoped Shiromo and the others wouldn't tell ordinary ninjas about the "deterrence" plan, it was all to avoid panic.
"Then… what should I do?"
Kurotsuchi returned the newspapers to Shiromo and stared ahead, her eyes filled with confusion.
This wasn't how she had imagined it.
She had thought that by knowing the future, she could make changes, take the initiative, and find a better path.
But now… there was no real choice at all.
Maybe she should just not become the Fourth Tsuchikage after all?
"Are you thinking that even if you know the future now, you can't change anything, so you're starting to feel like you don't want to inherit the position of Tsuchikage anymore?"
Shiromo looked at her and chuckled softly.
"How did you know?"
Kurotsuchi turned to look at Shiromo in surprise. She hadn't expected him to see through her thoughts so easily.
"It's not that there's no way to change things."
Shiromo smiled at Kurotsuchi.
"Then how do I change it? Try to persuade the daimyō?"
Kurotsuchi drooped, her face falling.
"Kill the daimyō."
"…Huh?"
(End of this chapter)