Naruto: In Konoha Village, I awakened Wood Release at the start.

Leaf.

Hokage Building.

Chiba sat behind his desk, flipping through a stack of reports.

Sunlight streamed through the French windows, casting a dazzling golden glow on him.

Just then.

The office door was pushed open.

Jiraiya appeared in the office.

"What's wrong?"

"So you really dared to climb out of the wine vat?"

Chiba didn't even look up, her voice carrying a hint of nonchalance.

He had already sensed Jiraiya's chakra, so naturally he didn't take it to heart.

Chiba.

"I want to ask you, what exactly is your view on peace?"

Jiraiya walked to the desk.

He stared at that excessively young face and asked with a serious expression.

Chiba's fingers, which were turning the pages of the report, stopped.

He lifted his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over Jiraiya's tired face.

What's your opinion?

"In the entire ninja world, there can only be one voice, one will."

"No ninja village can hold onto its military power, and no daimyo can claim territory and rule as king."

"Wherever I point, the ninja world will follow."

"This is the peace I want."

next moment.

Chiba threw the report on the table.

He leaned back in his chair and answered, word by word.

Jiraiya's pupils suddenly contracted.

He guessed that Chiba had great ambitions.

But hearing these outrageous remarks with my own ears still felt absurd.

"You're insane!"

"This is outright dictatorship!"

"To rule the entire ninja world alone, trampling everyone's fate under one's feet—that's called tyranny!"

"Without a foundation of mutual understanding, this peace forced by force can collapse at any moment!"

Chiba looked at Jiraiya.

His eyes were like he was looking at a clown jumping around.

There was no anger, no rebuttal, only pure pity.

That arrogant attitude stung Jiraiya's nerves.

"What kind of look is that?"

Jiraiya gritted his teeth.

Chiba slightly twitched the corner of her lips.

"I'm looking at an idiot."

Jiraiya clenched his fist tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Say it again.

Chiba completely ignored his anger.

"Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, the Toad Sage, a hero."

"He has quite a few titles."

"But in my eyes, you've always been a complete joke."

"I even despise you from the bottom of my heart."

These words struck Jiraiya's chest like a heavy hammer.

He can tolerate others questioning his abilities, but he cannot tolerate others trampling on his beliefs.

"What do you know!"

"I've traveled to so many places in my search for the prophesied child who will bring peace to the ninja world!"

"I have witnessed so much war and suffering!"

Jiraiya slammed his fist on the table.

Upon hearing this...

Chiba burst out laughing.

His laughter was full of undisguised mockery.

"War? Suffering?"

"You saw it, and then what?"

Chiba stood up.

He placed his hands on the table, staring coldly at Jiraiya.

"You are a ninja from a commoner background."

"In theory, you should know best what ordinary people at the bottom of society are thinking."

"But do you understand?"

Chiba suddenly waved his hand, pointing to the Konoha streets outside the window.

"When you were a child, you accidentally went to Mount Myōboku through reverse spiritual communication."

"After signing the contract and learning immortal techniques, I transformed into a third-generation disciple."

"From that day on, you were no longer part of the common people."

"You enjoy the best resources in Konoha and have the halo of being a member of the Hokage lineage."

"so……"

Have you ever worked in the fields?

Have you ever grown grains?

Do you know what it feels like to be hungry?

"Do you know that a family would sell their daughter to a wandering samurai for half a bag of moldy brown rice?!"

"..."

Chiba's words pierced Jiraiya's heart like a knife.

Jiraiya's face was deathly pale.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"you do not know."

Chiba coldly drew his conclusion.

"You run around the ninja world with the title of hero."

"They call it searching for the child of prophecy, but they're just using it as material to write your cheesy, smutty erotic novels."

Have you ever done anything truly beneficial for ordinary people?

"Have you helped them cultivate an acre of wasteland, or helped them build an irrigation ditch?"

"No, none of them."

"You just stand on high above and watch them suffer."

"Then squeeze out a few crocodile tears and sigh that the ninja world needs mutual understanding."

Speaking of it.

Chiba scoffed.

"It's so hypocritical it's disgusting."

In an instant.

Jiraiya was struck dumb.

He stumbled back several steps and bumped into the office sofa.

He was breathing heavily, his mind buzzing.

not like this.

He taught Nagato and the others ninjutsu.

He hopes to use love to influence the world.

But why does all of this sound so unbearable in Chiba's words?

"As for the prophesied child?"

Chiba did not let Jiraiya off the hook.

His presence and his words shattered his last line of defense.

"Just because an old toad had a dream."

"Are you really going to tie the meaning of your entire life to someone you've never even met?"

"You've pinned your hopes for changing the world on a dream!"

Chiba's chakra overflowed uncontrollably.

The air in the entire office instantly became as heavy as lead.

"The real future is never some bullshit prophecy!"

"The future should be in our own hands!"

"Anyone who dares to block our way will be killed!"

"If you don't even have the guts to break this deadlock, what makes you think you can talk about peace!"

Jiraiya felt as if a mountain was pressing down on his chest.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, repeatedly splattering onto the wooden floor.

The Great Toad Immortal's dream has changed.

Chiba is right, the toad's prophecy is completely unreliable.

If his decades-long prophecy is a joke.

So what is his life all about?

Jiraiya gritted his teeth, tasting the blood in his mouth.

He cannot admit defeat.

Even if it means being shattered to pieces, he will hold onto that last bit of conviction.

Even if you're right.

Even if I am no longer a commoner, even if prophecies are unreliable.

"And what about you!"

"You want to unify the ninja world? Do you know how many people will die?!"

"The four great ninja villages will not surrender without a fight!"

"Once war breaks out, rivers of blood will flow!"

"Countless families will be torn apart, and countless children will be orphaned!"

"Your so-called peace was built on mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"

"How is this any different from those ambitious individuals who instigate wars!"

Jiraiya suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot.

He pointed at Chiba and questioned her in a hoarse voice.

This was Jiraiya's last weapon, and also his bottom line that he could not compromise on.

Chiba withdrew his chakra.

The oppressive atmosphere in the office vanished instantly.

He turned around and sat back down in his chair, picking up the now-cold tea and taking a sip.

"There is a difference."

"Ambitious people start wars to plunder resources and enrich themselves."

"After this match, in ten or twenty years, we'll play the next one."

"It will never end."

"But what I'm launching will be the final battle."

Jiraiya was stunned.

What is meant by the final battle?

What does this mean?

Under Jiraiya's gaze.

Chiba spread his hands out, outlining a grand blueprint.

"When I unify the entire ninja world."

"Without the distinction between ninja villages, there is no border."

"Ninjas don't need to fight each other for mission slots."

"I dislike bandits and robbers. My army can wipe out all the scum of the ninja world in a single day."

"Which place is suffering from drought and famine?"

"With a single order, I can mobilize grain from other places for disaster relief, and no daimyo dares to stop me."

"I will establish a unified set of laws."

"A life for a life, a debt for a debt."

"Ninjas are no longer just tools of killing."

"Water Release ninjas went to fight the drought, and Earth Release ninjas went to build roads and bridges."

"Use ninjutsu to improve people's lives, so that everyone can have a full meal."

"For this absolute peace."

"Tens of thousands of people died in exchange for hundreds of years of peace for future generations."

"This deal."

"Jiraiya, tell me, is it worth it?"

"..."