Chương 195: Chapter 195
Regrettably, not even the Third or the Fourth Hokage had ever paid them much attention, and they themselves had never raised any demands.
After all, ninjas were tools; this notion was deeply ingrained in the zeitgeist of their times.
But now, they felt as if they were being treated as human beings, as if Konoha had not forgotten them, as if the higher-ups of Konoha had not forgotten them.
The current leadership truly outshines Sarutobi Hiruzen and his ilk by far!
Soon, cheers soared high into the sky, the fervor akin to a festival celebration, as if welcoming a new Hokage.
Jiraiya stood quietly atop the Hokage building, absorbing the spirited atmosphere. For a moment, he felt as if he had been transported back to the day he loudly declared himself as the Fifth Hokage.
He knew these were the fruits of the reforms, but what filled him with shame was that these ideas were not his own.
Nevertheless, Jiraiya quickly collected himself, for what he was about to announce next was of utmost importance. How long the intense cheering lasted, he himself didn't know; he just waited in quiet anticipation for it to subside.
In his heart, he wished that such exuberance would last even longer.
Because what he was about to announce was extremely important, yet, for him, it was also unbearably cruel.
He didn't know what the collective thoughts of the crowd would be, and he was uncertain about how matters would evolve from here.
But he knew it had to be announced; after all, people had already begun to take liberties.
Glancing slightly, Jiraiya's gaze fell on Kaito, standing not far away. The youth's expression remained incredibly placid, seemingly undisturbed.
But this tranquility also slowly settled the restlessness within Jiraiya, as if he had drawn a measure of confidence from Kaito.
In truth, he did feel confident, for everything Kaito had done so far proved that he was right!
Even now, everything seemed to be progressing according to his plans, as if nothing had strayed from his envisioned trajectory.
Moreover, this reform initiative, jointly formulated with the Seven Great Clans, was so successful that even Jiraiya himself felt swayed by the collective emotion of the people.
Jiraiya was aware that focusing solely on Kaito wasn't fair.
But Kaito was indeed exceptional; his youth starkly contrasted with the others, and it was precisely this gap that highlighted his uniqueness.
Such a remarkable individual—Jiraiya found it hard not to lavish him with attention, and sometimes even found himself sinking into self-doubt.
Why is this young man so extraordinarily capable, while I, twice his age, still fall short of his achievements?
As these thoughts crossed Jiraiya's mind, the venue gradually quieted down.
The faces of Konoha's residents still bore the feverish excitement from earlier, but as they noticed that not a single high-ranking figure had left, they realized something more must be coming.
Although they were unsure what else was yet to be announced, they sensed it was time to rein in their effervescent spirits.
Seeing the crowd gradually settle down, Jiraiya took a deep breath and finally began to speak.
"My apologies, everyone. While I don't wish to dampen your enthusiasm, what comes next is equally important to Konoha and to all of you.
After good news, people are often most reluctant to hear the bad. But, more often than not, reality is less than ideal.
According to the information we've gathered, Iwagakure's troops in the Land of Grass have begun to reinforce. I think you all understand what this means, don't you?"
Jiraiya's words acted like a bucket of cold water, dousing the inner flames of everyone present. How could they not know what this meant?
Especially since most of them had lived through the three Great Ninja Wars, they naturally remembered how each had erupted.
Back in the day, Sunagakure had amassed troops like mad in the Land of Rivers, before advancing towards Konoha.
This had set off a powder keg in the ninja world, leading to the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War!
"Is war coming again?"
At that moment, these words silently reverberated in the hearts of countless Konoha residents, and their expressions began to subtly shift.
Some faces grew solemn, some darkened to a frightening extent, while still others showed a slight panic.
Especially among the civilians—their faces wore their panic most visibly. After all, they were not ninjas!
"I know, this news is unsettling to anyone who hears it. We have specifically communicated with Iwagakure, and the answer we received is absurdly laughable."
As everyone maintained their silence, Jiraiya's voice rose once more.
"They claim that Uchiha Kaito, our minister, appeared within the confines of Iwagakure, obstructed their capture of their own rogue ninjas, and even killed the son of the Third Tsuchikage, Kitsuchi!
How laughable is that? Kaito has always been in Konoha; how could he possibly commit such acts? They blithely disregard the fact that rogue Uchiha ninjas exist outside Konoha, conveniently forgetting that runaway Itachi, the mysterious Uchiha behind the Nine-Tails incident.
They just want to pin the blame on us because we yielded once before.
They seek for us to step back once again, to offer no resistance; they can't stand to see Konoha rise anew!"
Jiraiya's voice began to elevate, his words drawing the assembled minds back to the events of yesteryears.
Back then, the people from Kumogakure arrived in Konoha so arrogantly, so domineeringly certain that Konoha sought to ignite war.
When, in reality, it was their people who kidnapped a child of the Hyuga clan, forcing Hizashi Hyuga to commit murder!
Even so, Konoha was forced to bear the full brunt, to capitulate, and Hizashi paid with his life to appease the matter.
The incident has forever imprinted itself in the memories of Konoha's residents. Perhaps some thought Hizashi's death was a worthy trade for peace.
But many more viewed it as humiliation, for it made it hard for them, as Konoha ninjas, to hold their heads high in the ninja world for a long time thereafter!
Ninjas have pride; that's beyond question. After all, being a ninja is a profession of combat—how can you fight if you don't even have that sense of honor? Even if at first, they might have thought themselves fortunate to have avoided war, in the years that followed, true peace was hard to find.
"My former teacher made a wrong decision back then. He thought sacrificing one person could bring peace, and so Hizashi paid the price," Jiraiya's voice remained strong, but it had shifted, elevating into a crescendo of heightened emotion.
"Yes, we avoided war, but we lost so much more! We lost the prestige we'd fought for in three Great Ninja Wars, a prestige bought with the blood of countless ninjas.
We lost our glory; we lost trust; our standing in the ninja world kept plummeting; our mission shares shrank as mistrust grew.
We signaled to our enemies that we were weak and easily bullied; we let down those ninjas who laid down their lives for Konoha—those Konoha ninjas!
Today, such an event unfolds before us again. They seek to incite war on false pretenses.
Can you accept this, can you bear this, are you willing to see Konoha compromised once more?"
//
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