Envying the strong is human nature. But because you envy someone else’s strength, turning yourself into a copy of that person is simply laughable.
The right path is to work hard, calm your mind, and focus on improving yourself while staying away from all the noise and distractions.
Because what you possess is truly yours. What you envy will always belong to someone else. No one will accept you simply because you admire them.
What Gen wanted was for their own clan to become strong—overwhelmingly strong, strong enough to crush everything before them. He did not want some legendary name that merely represented the strength of their clan.
"The era that belonged to Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha is long gone. Konoha is no longer the Konoha it was back then. The era to come will belong to the Uchiha. We cannot move forward if we remain immersed in the past."
As she spoke, Grandma Gen suddenly became impassioned.
"Danjō, let us work together and nurture Lord Kei into such a figure. Let us do everything in our power to cultivate more powerhouses like Hyūga Tennin and Uzumaki Ashina—those legendary shinobi from the Warring States Period—for Lord Kei."
Seeing his lover suddenly become so fired up, Danjō scratched his head awkwardly.
At his age, all he wanted was to spend the rest of his life with the woman he loved. The fighting and killing could be left to their children and grandchildren.
He could barely even get it up anymore. How was he supposed to get fired up?
"Er... A-Gen, have you forgotten? We don’t need to do anything. As long as Lord Kei has enough time, he’ll naturally be able to gather more and more powerful people."
As he spoke, Danjō became embarrassed.
"Well, you know what Lord Kei’s talent is like. Anyone who knows, knows. I can only say... it’s really... ah... well... it’s just like that!"
Danjō really did not have the heart to openly declare that Lord Kei was a hopelessly useless person.
Grandma Gen, however, shook her head.
"Yes. Lord Kei’s forces will become stronger and stronger in the future. More powerful figures will join his ranks. But I don’t want to become some insignificant side character under Lord Kei."
There was a hint of disappointment in Gen’s voice.
There were dreams she absolutely had to fulfill, dreams that were even more important to her than Danjō.
"I want to keep up with Lord Kei, too. I want to help create a true era of shinobi. And I want to see whether shinobi can truly live happy lives in such an era."
Gen’s resolve was unwavering.
Unable to argue with her, Danjō could only face the problem head-on.
"But with our Lord’s talent... wanting him to become an existence like Senju Hashirama or Madara Uchiha is, frankly, a pipe dream."
If they were going to confront the issue, they had to face reality.
And the reality was that Lord Kei’s potential was right there for all to see.
Gen, however, remained stubbornly committed to her goal.
"That’s all right. Lord Kei said it himself: The poor rely on mutation, while the rich rely on technology."
Even Uchiha Kei himself did not have much confidence in his abilities, yet Gen had tremendous faith in him.
"Hard work is the only choice available to those who have no other options. But Lord Kei has countless choices. The shinobi world is vast, and there are always strange and wondrous things hidden within it. If Lord Kei can find so many things capable of making him stronger, then so can we."
The fired-up old woman snapped her fingers and declared with absolute certainty:
"Gather all the wonders of an entire lifetime into one person, and Lord Kei will surely become a legend that illuminates the entire world!"
Her eyes practically shone when she said this.
Gen clasped her hands together and murmured:
"Om... may he find a pagoda before the Buddha, by the riverbank, beneath the forest, or in a secluded hermitage. May he obtain whatever his heart desires without difficulty. This is the Supreme Siddhi. May all evil and impure things—skulls, dead bones, stones, and all other suffering—be cast away. Amitābha Buddha!"
Danjō stood beside her, utterly embarrassed.
All he had wanted was to enjoy some peaceful romance before dying.
How had his lover become so completely devoted to her career?
"There’s no need to make such a grand vow, is there? Konoha hasn’t been the Konoha of old for a long time. It looks powerful on the surface, but in reality, it’s hollow to its core. Every hidden village has already seen this. That’s precisely why they’ve sworn themselves to war."
Danjō thought Gen merely wanted to accomplish something impressive for Lord Kei. He wanted to tell his old companion not to be so anxious. Victory was already practically guaranteed.
"A-Gen, time is on our side. That so-called Shinobi Hero still hasn’t realized what’s happening. He doesn’t know that the wolves have already begun hunting the tiger. The conflicts throughout the shinobi world over these past one or two years have merely been probes to test Konoha’s true strength."
Gen picked up the thread.
"Danjō, I understand. Everyone has already realized just how weak Konoha has become. The Third Shinobi World War has effectively already begun. Only that old fool Sarutobi still thinks everyone has tacitly agreed to use these conflicts as opportunities to distinguish themselves through great achievements."
She clasped her hands behind her back and raised her head.
Gen was, after all, the leader of a shinobi organization. When she became serious, her presence was no weaker than Danjō’s.
"This war will eventually tear away the final veil concealing Konoha’s weakness. And when that time comes, we will be Konoha’s guides into the future. We will be Konoha’s betrayers. We will be the gods who rebuild Konoha. We will be the cause behind all things, the end of everything, and the ultimate victors!"
Looking at Gen like this, Danjō could not understand it.
They were both old enough to be grandparents. How could she be even more fired up than young people?
Sigh...
Even two people who loved each other could fail to understand one another. What hope was there for anyone else?
Danjō loved Gen.
Even though she was now an old woman and her youthful beauty had long since faded, he still treasured her as the most precious thing in his heart.
In their previous lives, they had carried the burdens of their clans and their responsibilities.
Now, those burdens were gone—or perhaps they had simply merged into something else.
Danjō only wanted to enjoy life.
He had come to this life to savor the sweetness of love, not to suffer for the sake of love.
What a disaster.
Danjō felt deeply depressed.
Gen, however, was different.
In the world she had originally lived in, shinobi were powerful, but not powerful enough to defy the armies of the time. Against a true military force, they were still little more than clowns jumping around.
Back then, the shogunate, the Kōga, the Ōoku’s Senior Chamberlains—all of them had been mountains pressing down upon her.
She had been powerless to change her fate and could only watch tragedy after tragedy unfold.
Lovers killing one another.
Strangers killing one another.
People killing each other over wagers involving the Shogun’s heirs.
Rather than calling them shinobi, it would have been more accurate to call them pieces in a game of pai gow.
They had never possessed a place they could truly call home.
No one cared about their feelings.
They were merely tools for the powerful to determine victory and defeat.
Tools—and wagers—used to prevent large-scale conflict.
Now she had arrived in another world.
Here, shinobi were astonishingly powerful. Yet they were still tools in the hands of others.
They had already squeezed the samurai until there was barely any room left for them to survive.
And yet the shinobi were still being manipulated at will.
Gen was unwilling to accept this.
Gen wanted to change it.
Women were often sentimental, especially after they acquired the power to prevent the tragedies they had once been helpless to stop.
"Danjō, why can’t we do it? Why can’t we create a world belonging only to shinobi?"
As she spoke, Gen began playing with the Telescope Technique again.
Below them, Konoha Village was bustling.
Some people were celebrating.
Some were anxious.
Some seemed to have resigned themselves to their fate.
Others wore their unwillingness plainly on their faces.
Gen turned the telescope toward a pregnant woman.
Uzumaki Kushina.
"Perhaps she is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for to change the world."
Danjō leaned over and took a look.
He immediately understood.
"A-Gen, isn’t this a little too cruel? Are you sure she’ll follow your arrangements?"
The old woman’s heart was not exactly kind.
She intended to push another person forward to serve as a scapegoat.
A woman who had spent her entire life being treated as a pawn had become fascinated with the feeling of being the one moving the pieces.
"What’s wrong with it? I’ll give her a reason she won’t be able to refuse. And that reason will be enough to make her work herself to death for us."
Danjō nodded.
"But let’s wait until Lord Kei wakes up and tell him about it first."
Gen shook her head.
"Lord Kei already agreed. It’s just that, apart from me and Yang Yan, who has awakened the Nine-Tails Fox, he hasn’t told anyone else."
Danjō immediately jumped to his feet.
"What?! A-Gen, you actually have a secret between the two of us?!"
Gen remained completely unconcerned.
"A secret? I have plenty of secrets. Do you expect me to tell you every single one? You have secrets you can’t tell me, too, don’t you?"
Seeing this, Danjō wrapped his arms around Gen.
The two lowered their heads and gazed down at Konoha Village sprawling beneath their feet.
Sunlight fell upon their shoulders.
Every person in the village below appeared free.
Danjō and Gen stood atop the mountain, almost as though they were the creators of this world.
They remained there for half a day.
Two aging hearts, despite everything, drew closer and closer together.
Every sight before their eyes carried memories.
Every thought in their hearts belonged to the past.
And with everything they had witnessed, they could no longer afford to leave behind regrets.
The winding stream.
The riverside homes.
The warmth and bustle of ordinary human life.
The tranquil peace granted to them by the Uchiha.
All of it stood in stark contrast to the noisy, bustling Konoha below.
In the end, Gen and Danjō still preferred this simple pleasure of being human—the quiet happiness found in the ordinary joys of life.
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