Naruto Online: Hyuga Branch Family? Let's go all out!

Chapter 204 The Variant Complaint Movement

"All the villagers of Sunagakure are here!" In front of the Kazekage's office building, there used to be a cluster of buildings, but now they have been razed to the ground and turned into a square the size of three football fields.

Even with mechanical assistance, it would take an ordinary person a long time to accomplish this.

However, the hundreds of ninjas were wiped out in less than an hour.

More than 20,000 Sunagakure villagers were gathered in the square.

However, since they were all family members of ninjas, it was rare to see them trembling and fearful. Most of them had eyes full of hatred and suspicion, and some even had their eyes darting around as if they were plotting something.

No one dared to be careless. Although there were many women and children among them, many of the women were retired ninjas, and if they were to suddenly rise up, they would be capable of fighting.

"Did you kill someone?" Ning Yuan asked.

"No!" Moonlight Hibiki replied.

This man is a middle-aged man in his thirties, and he has a son named Gekko Gale.

Ning Yuan nodded, and then a ninja pulled out a woman holding a child.

"Do you live here?" Ning Yuan asked, pointing to the square.

"No way!" the woman said irritably.

"Was someone brutal when they captured you? But I don't see any injuries on your body!" Ning Yuan asked again.

"Hmph!" The woman turned her head away, ignoring Ning Yuan.

"Then I don't understand. We didn't kill your family, we didn't harm you, and we didn't damage your house. What's with that look in your eyes? Why do you hate me?"

"You Konoha ninja invaded our village and captured us all, so why can't I hate you?" the woman said viciously. "I wish I could eat you alive!"

"That's completely unreasonable!" Ning Yuan retorted. "Have you ever considered that your Sunagakure village has nothing but sand? Why would we invade it?"

"Huh?" The woman was taken aback, then shook her head. "How would I know?"

Their voices were loud enough for many people to hear. Although some sensed something was wrong and began to think, many more still looked at Ning Yuan with hostility.

Ning Yuan stopped wasting words with this woman and instead built a platform on the spot so that everyone could see him.

"Hello everyone, my name is Hyuga Neon, and I'm from Konoha!"

Seeing the hostile gazes below, Ning Yuan continued, "I just asked you villagers a question, and now I'd like to ask you the same question: Why did we in Konoha invade Sunagakure out of the blue?"

"Who knows what you're thinking!" someone shouted.

"I'm trying to reason with you now, and you'd better try to reason with me too. If you don't, then I'll have to use ninjutsu on you!" Ning Yuan pointed to the Konoha ninjas surrounding the 20,000 villagers.

With these 20,000 villagers standing so densely, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a large-scale ninjutsu attack could kill several thousand people!

The villagers of Sunagakure finally realized their predicament. Although their attitude remained unchanged, at least they stopped being unreasonable.

Actually, some people were planning to cause trouble, but they were silenced by the people next to them who covered their mouths.

"Very well, we're all civilized people, what can't we discuss!" Ning Yuan said, "We all know very well that Sunagakure has neither money nor land. Even as for women, living in an environment constantly battered by sandstorms, the number of beautiful women wouldn't be more than in Konoha, and their skin quality would be worse, and they'd be darker."

People can tolerate the claim that Sunagakure has neither money nor land, but to say that Sunagakure has no beautiful women is...

The women and children below were immediately displeased. What did this mean? Weren't I a beautiful woman?

But in such situations, even if they are furious, they have to hold back when they see the ninjas standing around with swords.

"So the result is obvious: Sunagakure has nothing that Konoha would want, and Konoha has no reason to invade Sunagakure. But we still came. Why is that?"

Once you start reasoning with them, the Sand Village falls silent no matter what you ask.

Everyone knows that Sunagakure is the one at fault.

"It's obvious you all understand the reason: your Sunagakure invaded Konoha first, and this war didn't happen yesterday, or the day before, but two years ago!"

"Should we be blamed? Of course not, we in Konoha were only acting in self-defense!"

"Don't say I'm just imprisoning you here. Even if I kill you all, you shouldn't have any complaints, because the fault lies entirely with you. You started the war, and you should bear the bitter consequences of it!"

Seeing the villagers' displeased expressions, Ning Yuan gestured and said, "If anyone thinks I'm wrong about anything, feel free to stand up and we can debate it! Otherwise, you'll blame me for not letting you speak!"

"I refuse to accept this!" A middle-aged woman stood up.

"Come on, come up on stage!" Ning Yuan invited.

"Come on, come on!" The woman jumped up and stood on the stage.

She hadn't noticed before because she hadn't extracted chakra, but now Ning Yuan realized that the amount of chakra in her body was no less than that of a Jonin.

"Use this to speak, it's loud!" Ning Yuan handed over a megaphone, then asked, "What's your name, ma'am?"

"My name is Kerr, and I am the wife of the Third Kazekage!"

Ning Yuan was somewhat surprised: "The Third Kazekage actually has a wife?"

Kerr rolled his eyes. "Of course we do, it's just that we don't have any children!"

"Alright then!" Ning Yuan nodded. The Third Kazekage should indeed have a wife, but there wasn't much of a story about her.

Just like the Third Hokage, many people don't know what the Third Hokage's wife's name is. Does she not exist?

"Do you have any doubts about what I said?" Ning Yuan asked.

"Of course!" Kerr said indignantly, "Although we invaded Konoha, we didn't actually reach the village, and weren't we driven back by you?"

"Oh," Ning Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "You mean, although you attacked our village, we can't retaliate because we didn't actually fight back?"

"Well," Kerr, after all, had some education and wasn't shameless enough to say that, but he simply said, "What I mean is, of course you can retaliate, but battlefield matters should be resolved on the battlefield. What kind of skill is it to attack our Sunagakure Village?"

"Oh, attacking the village is wrong!" Ning Yuan nodded. "I understand. So we should attack the front lines and kill all the thousands of Sand Village ninja there. That's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

"This!" Kerr blushed and immediately shook his head. "Of course not!"

"We can't fight on the front lines, and we can't fight in the villages, so where should we attack?" Ning Yuan asked. "How about we attack the Daimyo's prefecture in the Land of Wind, capture the Daimyo, and kill him?"

"This, this..." Kerr was speechless, and his eyes were filled with despair as he looked at Ning Yuan. How could you be so sharp-tongued, little kid?

"You don't know how to answer, do you?" Ning Yuan laughed. "Do you know why?"

Kerr shook his head.

"It's not that you lack eloquence, nor that I'm sharp-tongued; it's simply that we have different perspectives!"

"You are the invaders, we are the defenders; you are the perpetrators, we are the victims; or to put it simply, you are the evil side, we are the righteous side!"

"This, this..." Kerr opened his mouth, "How could we possibly be evil?"

"So, according to you, invading another country isn't evil?" Ning Yuan laughed. "If that's your logic, then our invasion of Sunagakure is a righteous act!"

Kerr finally understood and agreed with Ning Yuan's statement.

Indeed, Sunagakure was at fault in this battle, without a doubt.

"Fine, you win!" Kerr said irritably. "So you're going to read the victor's declaration in front of us? First you'll insult us, then you'll kill us?"

"That's not what I meant!" Ning Yuan shook his head. "You may not believe me, but I've come for peace!"

"Peace?" Kerr frowned, and immediately understood. The entire Sunagakure village was now in the hands of the Konoha ninja. Even if the main force of Sunagakure returned to reinforce, they would be helpless in the face of the lives of 20,000 villagers being in the hands of others. They had no choice but to surrender.

Fortunately, Sunagakure was used to surrendering, so they didn't feel they had lost their dignity.

"I can write to the front lines and persuade them to lay down their weapons and negotiate with Konoha!" Kerr said.

Ning Yuan shook his head: "This kind of peace is not the peace I want!"

"It's all peace, so what's the difference between peace and peace?" Kerr asked.

"Of course!" Ning Yuan asked, "During World War II, didn't Sunagakure and Konoha sign a peace treaty? Why did war still break out?"

Keldon was speechless for a moment.

"It's because this peace is a false peace; it only solves the surface problems, not the fundamental ones!" Ning Yuan said. "If the fundamental problems aren't addressed, even if a peace agreement is signed today, war will break out again in a few years!"

Kerr was taken aback at first, then his face turned deathly pale: "Could it be that you...?"

Isn't the fundamental problem of war the Sand Village ninja?

Does he intend to kill all the Sunagakure ninja?

Seeing her expression, Ning Yuan knew what she was thinking.

"You're overthinking it!" Ning Yuan shook his head. "While war is the best way to destroy peace, we haven't reached that point yet, and the Sand Village ninjas aren't the root of the problem."

"If the fundamental problem of the war isn't the Sand Village ninja, then what is it?" Kohl asked.

"I don't know either!" Ning Yuan shook his head.

Kerr was speechless: "If you don't even know, how are we supposed to solve this problem?"

"I don't know, but someone does!"

Kerr looked confused: "Who knows?"

Ning Yuan pointed to the people below the stage: "They know!"

"Them?" Kerr turned to look at the villagers below the stage, looking even more bewildered. If they knew what the problem was, why would the war have happened again?

"Since you're the wife of the Third Kazekage, you must hold some status in the village!" Ning Yuan said. "You should know who the families of the frontline ninjas are, right? Pick them out!"

"I won't do it!" Kerr immediately shook his head.

"Don't misunderstand!" Ning Yuan said, "What's the difference between using all the villagers as hostages and using the families of soldiers on the front lines as hostages? I just want to find out what the fundamental problem is."

"This..." Kerr hesitated.

"You pick them out, and then let them come up one by one. We'll ask them why they support their fathers, husbands, and sons going to the battlefield!" Ning Yuan said.

"That's all?" Kerr asked hesitantly. "You won't kill anyone?"

Ning Yuan shook his head: "I can't!"

"You promise?"

"I promise!"

Kerr knew that such a guarantee was meaningless; if he wanted to, the villagers' lives were doomed.

But even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, she'll still give it a try.

"I will cooperate with you!" Kerr said, then leaped off the platform.

Ning Yuan realized that the platform he had built didn't have a staircase, so he quickly added one.

Kerr returned to the crowd and spoke with a group of people. A short while later, he returned to the platform: "I've convinced everyone. Let's begin!"

Ning Yuan nodded, then looked at the audience: "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first!" A young woman, about 1.58 meters tall, wearing a pink short-sleeved dress and a white hat, came down from the platform, holding the hand of a five or six-year-old child.

Her expression was anxious, and her legs were still trembling.

This is paving the way for others; it's clear they're already prepared to die.

Ning Yuan offered no words of comfort, for facts speak louder than words.

"Come on up!" Ning Yuan reached out his hand.

"Hmm!" The woman led the child onto the arena.

"May I ask your name? Who in your family is on the battlefield?" Ning Yuan asked.

"I... my name is Nanfeng!" the woman began. "My husband's name is Bai Xie, a Jonin in the Sunagakure puppet army!"

"Oh, a Jonin, that's impressive!" Ning Yuan asked, "Then why did your husband go to the battlefield? Logically speaking, a Jonin shouldn't lack status and wealth!"

"Of course we're not short of money!" Upon hearing Ning Yuan's words, Nanfeng immediately retorted, "My husband researches puppets, which is already expensive. And there aren't many missions to take on in our Sunagakure village. Our family lives entirely on the village's subsidies. But since three years ago, the village's subsidies have been decreasing, and we've had a new baby. Life is getting harder and harder!"

"Can war increase income?" Ning Yuan asked.

"Yes!" Nanfeng nodded, "The wartime allowance was still the same, but because my husband was on the front lines and they provided meals, our household expenses actually decreased!"

"Moreover, there are all sorts of missions to carry out on the front lines, and each mission comes with a reward. Over the past two years, our family's life has not only improved, but we've also saved quite a bit of money!"

Ning Yuan nodded: "So the reason you support your husband's participation in the war is that the family is too poor, and going to war can reduce expenses while increasing extra income?"

Nanfeng blinked. How did you make our family's huge difficulties seem so simple in your summary?

But thinking about it carefully, it does seem to be true!

So she nodded: "That's right!"

"Okay, you can go down now!" Ning Yuan said, then erected an even larger black wall behind the platform, wrote the reason on it, and added a horizontal line after the reason.

"So, next one?"

"Ah, this..." Kerr stared in disbelief at the scene.

She wasn't surprised that Ning Yuan hadn't killed anyone, but rather that this method seemed to actually be able to find out why the war started.

And

I thought the Sand Village was fighting for some lofty reason, but it turns out it was just because they were poor and couldn't afford to eat.

(End of this chapter)