Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Nawaki Starts to Wake Up, Konoha’s Double Standards
They had just barely escaped a deadly pursuit, and for a moment, they thought they were done for. But now that the enemy jonin was dead, leaving only chunin and genin behind, what was there to be afraid of? Just go after them and finish the job!
Besides, Takuya had a point: chasing down the enemy not only avenges their earlier struggle but also earns them battle merits.
It didn't matter if they were chunin or genin—taking them out would still count as merits.
Luckily for them, Takuya had a more laid-back attitude. If it had been any other ninja, these guys wouldn't have gotten a chance to earn much at all.
"Sarutobi Sasaki, at your service, Lord Takuya," the middle-aged ninja, now bandaged up with Nawaki's help, quickly stood and bowed as Takuya approached.
It was clear that Takuya's strength had earned their respect.
Typically, such respect was reserved for village jonin or those in high positions.
Although Takuya was still ranked as a chunin, no one treated him like one.
"Sarutobi?" Takuya raised an eyebrow, surprised to find that the man was part of the Third Hokage's clan. He studied Sasaki with renewed interest.
Everyone knew that Sarutobi clan members rarely went to the battlefield.
Otherwise, how did they manage to muster a force of two thousand ninjas during the Fourth Great Ninja War?
A single clan contributing two thousand ninjas—that's no small feat.
Sasaki's clothing didn't bear the Sarutobi clan emblem.
If he hadn't introduced himself, no one would've guessed he was from the Sarutobi clan.
Right, the Sarutobi clan claimed to be a civilian family, so of course, they wouldn't flaunt their clan emblem on their clothes. After all, they needed to maintain a low profile for steady growth.
Being too flashy wouldn't align with the Third Hokage's principles.
"What's wrong?" Nawaki nudged Takuya, noticing his surprise.
Takuya chuckled. "Nothing, just surprised to see a Sarutobi on the battlefield. I think this is a first for me."
"Really?" Nawaki scratched his head, thinking back, and then froze. It was true—he hadn't encountered many Sarutobi on the battlefield, if any at all.
No wonder Takuya was so surprised.
But that raised a question: where were all the Sarutobi clan members?
Nawaki wasn't dense; he could be careless at times, but his mind was sharp when he focused.
Some secrets weren't really news to Nawaki.
But was this decision by the village really a good one?
Nawaki didn't know, but he did know that the Senju clan had suffered the most among Konoha's great families.
Their casualties on the battlefield were the highest.
In the end, Senju Tobirama decided to integrate the clan into the civilian population, and now, they didn't even bear the Senju name anymore.
Nawaki and Tsunade were direct descendants of the Senju, but now they were just Nawaki and Tsunade—no "Senju" in front.
That showed just how thoroughly the Senju clan had been integrated.
Yet, while the Senju clan made such sacrifices, some other clans stayed quiet, hoarding resources meant for civilians and secretly expanding.
You had to admit, the Third Hokage's strategy worked.
Nowadays, the villagers didn't even think of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans as major families. All eyes were on the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
Sigh.
Nawaki wondered if his granduncle's decision to merge the Senju clan with the civilian population and abandon their surname had been the right one.
He sighed and patted Takuya on the shoulder. "You keep an eye on the wounded. I'm going to see if I can clean up the stragglers. It's always you and Minato doing the fighting—I'm tired of just watching."
"Go ahead," Takuya replied, indifferent to the idea of chasing down enemies.
If Nawaki wanted to go, he could have at it.
Nobody here was foolish.
Takuya and Nawaki's conversation left Sarutobi Sasaki feeling a bit uncomfortable.
After all, he was a member of the Sarutobi clan, and hearing someone talk about the clan's integration policy like that was awkward.
Only the Sarutobi and Shimura clans could pull off claiming to be civilian families while secretly being powerful.
"Don't worry. I didn't mean anything by it—just surprised, that's all," Takuya said with a reassuring smile, though it didn't seem to help much.
Before long, Minato, Nawaki, and the others returned from their skirmish with the enemy. Only one person had suffered a minor injury; the rest were unharmed.
"Gather up the wounded—we're heading back to camp," Takuya ordered, hiding Snowy under his raincoat and playing with a piece of jerky to amuse him. Once everyone was assembled, they began their trek back to camp.
"What's the situation on the front lines?" Takuya asked, falling in step with Sarutobi Sasaki.
Sasaki responded respectfully, "Lord Takuya, the front lines are still chaotic. The Stone, Sand, and Rain Villages are all attacking our Leaf forces, while also fighting amongst themselves. But under Lord Orochimaru's command, we've managed to hold our ground, though the fighting has been fierce."
"That's good to hear," Takuya replied.
Orochimaru had always been skilled, especially in battlefield command.
He was far better than Danzo, the so-called Hokage advisor.
Takuya recalled that after the Rain Country conflict ended, Orochimaru had been in charge of the war against the Sand Village in the Land of Wind.
And he hadn't disappointed the Third Hokage. Under his leadership, Konoha had triumphed over the Sand Village.
Orochimaru's reputation had skyrocketed, even overshadowing Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Unfortunately, his achievements made certain people uncomfortable.
As Orochimaru started down a darker path, conducting forbidden experiments and aligning with Danzo, he ultimately lost his chance to become the Fourth Hokage, leaving the door open for Minato.
If Orochimaru hadn't gone dark, hadn't conducted those forbidden experiments, and hadn't joined forces with Danzo or experimented on Konoha's own ninjas, there wouldn't have been any opportunity for Minato to become Hokage.
The squad escorted the wounded back to camp, where their battle merits were confirmed, earning them a much-needed break.
"Finally, we're back," Nawaki sighed, lying in the tent.
"I used to hate this tent, but now I miss it like crazy. I wonder how long we'll get to rest this time."
People are full of contradictions—Nawaki was no exception.
Before heading into battle, all he wanted was to fight.
But after spending some time on the front lines, he couldn't help but miss the days of doing menial tasks in camp.
"I doubt we'll get much rest," Minato said, arms crossed, his expression serious.
"I just heard some intel. Because of the situation on the Land of Rivers front, the village is struggling to send more reinforcements to the Rain Country. Our forces are stretched thin everywhere."
"In the coming days, the fighting is only going to get more intense."
"Thank goodness the Sand, Stone, and Rain Villages are all fighting their own battles. If they joined forces, we'd be in serious trouble," Nawaki added, his complaints forgotten as he shared his analysis.
The two of them discussed the situation, eventually pulling Takuya—who was pondering what to have for dinner—into the conversation.
Takuya, exasperated, finally spoke up.
"Regardless of how things play out, Konoha will eventually negotiate with the Rain Village and put an end to this pointless war."
"No way," Nawaki and Minato said, startled. Konoha had been the one to strike first.
If they were forced into peace talks without winning, it would be a huge blow to Konoha's reputation.
"Why not?" Takuya asked, amused. "You don't actually think that negotiating means Konoha has lost, do you?"
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