Me and countless me.

Chapter 9: About to set foot on the front line again
Although Li Ke was very happy that the second-generation was willing to teach him ninjutsu, he actually had some opinions about what the second-generation said to him.

That is, the second generation has been avoiding one thing.

That is why Hashirama Senju did not use force to unify the ninja world in one go. All his views start from the idea that it was correct for Hashirama Senju not to unify the ninja world.

So there are still many loopholes.

"But I can probably guess the reason..."

Sitting in the barbecue restaurant, watching Hong grilling meat for him, Li Ke couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

Although Xi Ri Hong has poor ability and family background, she is indeed a good candidate as a wife.

Because Hong, like him, yearns for a stable life.

But now, he still couldn't help but think about men.

"The second generation probably didn't talk about this because he was their eldest brother, the first generation of the village, and... from their point of view, what the first generation did was already very advanced. It is impossible for the ninja clan to have a unified cognition and consciousness, so it is not too strange that it has become such a distorted situation now..."

Li Ke combined the second generation's words with the history of Professor Konoha and the current will of fire, and then looked at it from the perspective of a local, Hashirama Senju's choice was actually very normal.

Because of life span.

During the era of the Ninja Clan, the average lifespan of a ninja was less than thirty years old. Children aged five or six were already considered adults, and forty years old was the end of a ninja's life.

When Hashirama Senju died, he was only 42 years old, but he already had a granddaughter, Tsunade, who was five or six years old and could have fought on the battlefield in the Warring States Period. And Tobirama Senju, who was younger than him, began to use forbidden techniques for a long time, which led to a serious decline in his combat power and condition.

Although Hashirama Senju's cells are incredibly effective, the problem is that he doesn't know how long he can live. So for Hashirama Senju, who grew up in the era of ninja families, after establishing and stabilizing Konoha, he would probably feel that his life is coming to an end.

Because he was just like Tobirama Senju, in order to survive during the chaotic Ninja War period, it was impossible for him not to practice the forbidden technique that would shorten his life!
He may even have practiced more than Tobirama Senju!

So when he notices that people around him are slowly aging and dying in their forties, he may think that he has reached the age where he should hand over his responsibilities to future generations and then enjoy his retirement and wait for death.

Although the ninja world had reached a relative consensus and had a foundation for unification at this time, Hashirama Senju probably no longer wanted to be busy killing his enemies and their children. He probably wanted to calmly tease his grandchildren and then die happily surrounded by his children.

He felt that he had struggled all his life and it was time to take a rest.

Moreover, his power obviously has no one to succeed him. Even if he ruled the world by force, the world would still be divided into its current form because of the lack of consensus.

It is better to maintain the status quo, keep the advantage, and wait for future development.

It’s outrageous, isn’t it? But Li Ke feels that his guess is very likely to be correct.

Because everyone will be troubled by their own cognition, and all of Hashirama Senju's cognition comes from the era of the ninja clan, from that era when the average life expectancy was less than 30 years old and children had to go to the battlefield at the age of five or six.

If you tell him that you can live to be seventy or eighty as long as you want to, he probably won't believe it.

Moreover, they have never experienced great unification, and there has never been such a thing in the history of the ninja world.

There was even a Zhou Dynasty before Qin Shi Huang! There is nothing like that in the ninja world!
and……

The territory of the Land of Fire expanded rapidly only after the emergence of Konoha Village.

"If these inferences are correct, then it is not right to say that we were wrong before, that we should have been led by Uchiha Madara, who was on the right path to rule the ninja world, but instead we are the ones who destroyed the future he created and hoped for..."

So what Uchiha Madara said about Senju Hashirama betraying him was actually not wrong at all.

"But it doesn't matter what the person involved thinks. It's even possible that Senju Hashirama's education level is not even at the university level. Now that the five countries have been fighting in chaos, there is no point in thinking about these things."

For him who was in the pit, it didn't matter how the pit came about.

What's important is how to get out of the pit.

Thinking this, Li Ke lowered his head and ate the meat that Xihihong had picked up. When he looked up, he saw Asuma with a constipated expression on his face.

Eh? Asuma?
Did I meet him today?!
"Asuma? When did you come? How come I didn't notice you?"

Looking at Asma with a resentful look on his face, Li Ke was stunned for a moment, because he had no recollection of seeing Asma today!
Also, when did they get to the BBQ restaurant?!
"I……"

Asuma opened his mouth. He really wanted to say that he came here with Hong, and he really wanted to scold Li Ke for being a bastard who forgot his friends for the sake of beauty. But when he thought that if Hong chose him, he would probably do the same, he could only speak helplessly.

"We're going to pick you up too...right, Anko."

As he spoke, he looked at Hongdou who had walked with them. Because Yuhi Hong gave all the roasted meat to Li Ke, she had no choice but to show off her meatballs.

Li Ke was stunned to see Hongdou, who had to sit together with Hong, making Asuma look as if he was being rejected. He was even more stunned.

"Hongdou, when did you come?!"

Mitarashi Anko, who is still a cute little loli, couldn't help but roll her eyes, and then reluctantly put down the meatball in her mouth.

"I'll pick you up from the hospital as well, okay... I even asked for leave from Orochimaru-sensei for this."

Hongdou was really speechless. Li Ke had been thinking about it since she was discharged from the hospital. It seemed that her best friend really liked this one. The more Li Ke was obsessed with thinking, the more excited she became. Otherwise, she would have advised Hongdou to find a boyfriend who was a ninja who would not be dazed!
But Li Ke has always been like this, liking to think, so she didn't pay much attention to it and asked instead.

"You were in a daze for so long today, were you thinking about something?"

Thinking that the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who established the Konoha Village where we live, was an idiot, that the third Hokage would become a paperhanger in the future because of the fourth Hokage's suicide for love, and that the second Hokage is the only one in the entire Konoha who looks like a human being.

Li Ke really wanted to say this, because no matter how he analyzed it or what perspective he adopted, in the eyes of a person who had been influenced by the idea of ​​great unification, there would only be one conclusion in the end.

Senju Hashirama is an uneducated idiot, while Senju Tobirama is a normal leader.

As for Sarutobi...

Either he is stupid or he is evil, but based on Li Ke's observation of Asma and his personal experience over the years, he can be sure of it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen is not a bad person, he is even a rare good person.

"Hey, you're daydreaming again... What on earth are you thinking about? You're so engrossed."

Hongdou quickly interrupted Li Ke's thoughts and complained.

"I was thinking, why can't we ninjas use ninjutsu to farm and make tools? And with the ninja's physical strength, ninjas can easily complete the heavy work for ordinary people. Compared with the energy and dangers required to become a ninja..."

But he was interrupted by Red Bean before he could finish his words. "Who would like to farm? And if you farm well, those ninjas who were training in ninjutsu while you were farming come to steal your food. How can you possibly defeat them? What will you do then? Isn't that what those artisan ninjas are like? They are robbed all day long and even ask us to protect them."

Mitarashi Anko was even more speechless towards Li Ke. Didn’t she even know such a simple reason?
"And as long as you can become a Chunin or Jonin, you can decide the time and danger level of the mission yourself. Even if you are a Genin, as long as you go on a week-long mission, you can still have a barbecue meal. Chunin even only needs one mission. How can it be as hard as you say?"

As she spoke, she took the meatballs from the plate and started chewing them.

Li Ke smiled. He knew that Hongdou didn't actually understand what he meant. His meaning was very simple, which was to establish a complete system where those with combat capabilities would learn ninjutsu and become professional soldiers, while those without combat talent would specialize in learning production.

But at this time, the voice of Senju Tobirama rang out.

"Doing this will require a lot of money and time, as well as a lot of experiments and manpower. Before we accomplish these things, we will be in serious trouble with the daimyo, and other ninja villages will also attack us... So your idea is beautiful, but it is not realistic."

"What if we use illusion to control the daimyo and those officials?"

"A long time ago, a daimyo suffered a loss like this, so it's not like the daimyo didn't have his own ninjas. They were enough in the ninja clan's era. And it's not like other ninja villages didn't have spies lurking around. It's not like Konoha Village didn't have people who were friendly with the daimyo. The Ino, Shika, and Chou families were actually one of them. As for this era... I don't know the specifics, but there should be other reasons."

Senju Tobirama paused for a moment before continuing.

"Moreover, the Uzushio Village is exactly the type you described. They want to hold the power of both ninja and daimyo in their hands. The number of ninjas they had at the beginning was not much different from that of Konoha Village... I don't know what Monkey is thinking, but the destruction of the Uzushio Village is definitely not just the work of the Water Country."

“It’s really dark.”

"This is the world of ninjas, but what comforts me is that children in the new world can grow up to adulthood at the age of twelve before going to the battlefield. The efforts of me and my elder brother have not been in vain."

Twelve years old, adult, only.

No matter how Li Ke looked at these three words, he felt they were weird.

“Isn’t that good enough?”

Feeling Li Ke's emotions, Senju Tobirama was a little confused.

A twelve-year-old ninja should be preparing to have children.

Li Ke: “…………”

The case was solved. The reason why the ninja world was not unified was really because Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju felt that "this was enough."

Damn...

Li Ke thought of his hellish experience and couldn't help but want to say something, but since the second generation had said so, what else could he say?
What should he do if he suddenly understands Uchiha Madara?

But at this moment, Asuma spoke.

"Qingtan, what you think is probably not as simple as Hongdou said, right? But, have you ever thought about one thing?"

There was a serious look in Asuma's eyes.

"Shouldn't the jade that should really be protected by countless people be those who protect more civilians and more innocent people?"

Li Ke's scalp tingled after hearing this. He knew that Asuma was a good person and it was normal for him to feel sympathy for the civilians outside Konoha Village. However, these words were undoubtedly blatantly saying that the Daimyo was a person who should be protected more than the Hokage!
"Asuma, we are ninjas, born and raised in Konoha Village. Our powerful strength is also to protect our families and our partners... Why do you think so?"

Li Ke's words made Asuma frown. He glanced at Li Ke's right eye and the bandaged right arm.

"But we didn't manage to protect anything in the end, did we? Even now, countless Konohagakure ninjas and innocent civilians are still dying on the battlefield of Kirigakure, and the Daimyo is no longer willing to support us. How can we..."

Li Ke couldn't listen any longer and immediately covered Asma's mouth. The reason was very simple.

The fact that the daimyo was unwilling to provide support was a top secret no matter how you looked at it!!
It shouldn't have been said at all!

They are still fighting a bloody battle with Kirigakure. If the news of the logistics cut gets out, it will be a big disaster!

Even the Senju Tobirama in his body couldn't help but curse.

"Damn it... How could this little monkey tell everything? Luckily no one around heard it!"

Li Ke immediately looked around, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that what the second-generation said was true, then looked seriously at Yuhi Kurenai and Asuma.

"Asuma, you can't talk about this. Hong, Hongdou, you should also be careful, otherwise it will be troublesome."

Both girls knew the seriousness of the problem, but there was worry between their brows.

Because Kirigakure is not an easy guy to deal with.

Asuma was silent. He looked at the sky, his eyes filled with his father's indifference to the Konoha civilians who were harmed by the Konoha ninjas, and his indifference to the Konoha ninjas who died.

I begged him for Li Ke, but he said something like, "All Konoha ninjas are the same. Even if you have the same injury as Murata Kiyotan, I can't break the rules and save your arm!", "Murata Kiyotan became like this for the sake of the village. You are insulting his consciousness and honor!"

In the end, he had to ask his uncle to save his best friend's arm...

Seeing him like this, Li Ke sighed.

"I know you are sad for those innocent civilians who died, but Asuma, we are Konoha ninjas first, and citizens of the Land of Fire second."

Li Ke's words made Asuma sneer, but before he could say anything, the next moment, an Anbu appeared in front of them.

"Jounin Murata Kiyotan, Chunin Sarutobi Asuma, Genin Yuhi Kurenai, report to the First Support Unit immediately! Your troops will be there to support the front line in an hour!"

After saying that, the Anbu handed a scroll to Li Ke. Li Ke was surprised that he had been promoted to a jonin, but he was even more surprised that he had to go to the front line just after he got out of the hospital.

But he reacted immediately.

"It seems that the Sandaime intends to keep Asuma's backdoor request for me a secret and to show fairness... It seems that this mission will not be too dangerous."

But the naive Asuma obviously didn't think of this.

"You bastard old man!"

Asuma opened his eyes wide and stood up angrily. He couldn't believe that his father was going to send their team to fight at the front line of Kirigakure just because he asked his uncle for help!
"I'll go find him!!"

(End of this chapter)