Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 77 Idealists and Realists (45 subscriptions requested)
puff...

A faint but clear sound, like tearing fabric, rang out.

Crimson blood, warm with life, gushed out, flowing slowly down the cold, black scythe, dripping onto the soil and spreading out in a dark red pattern.

Snap... Snap...

One drop, one drop, and another drop.

The scarlet blood did not spurt violently, but rather slowly and silently seeped from his heart, soaking through the fabric that stained his chest.

"why?"

Hanzo's hand holding the scythe trembled, but not from fear. All his strength and will were poured into this movement, and the tip of the blade had already penetrated his chest.

However, it was impossible to continue stabbing.

Nagato raised his hand at him without him noticing, and Wanxiang Tianyin grabbed his arm.

The person who wants to die is trying to continue stabbing himself in the heart, but the person who should want him dead the most is stopping him.

Hinata Kumokawa silently watched this scene, only glancing at Tobi hiding in the corner out of the corner of his eye, before shifting his position slightly.

"Do you want to do it yourself?"

Hanzo raised his head to look into those cold eyes, gripped the black scythe handle tightly, and said in a deep voice, "Your enemy is right in front of you. Don't you want revenge?"

Konan stood frozen in place, her face, which had been cold with hatred, frozen in place. She stared intently at the scythe that Hanzo had pierced through his own chest, watching the crescent-shaped blade gradually become stained with glaring blood...

"I still can't forgive you."

Nagato's voice was like the grinding of rusty gears, and a tiny crack appeared in the transcendent and indifferent aura of a "god" that had been frozen in his Rinnegan eyes.

Beneath the crevice lies blazing magma, an anger and denial that almost burns away all reason—emotions belonging to humankind.

"If I could, I would kill you with my own hands right now. The thought of it makes my body tremble and I can't stop!" Nagato's suppressed voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his clenched teeth.

"Then why haven't you made a move yet!"

Hanzo's expression was equally grim as he questioned, "Don't tell me you still believe in Yahiko's naive fantasy that 'mutual understanding can bring peace'!"

"I am willing to entrust my life and Amegakure to you because I know that you will bring peace to other countries by stealing tailed beasts and developing forbidden techniques, thus instilling fear in them!"

In Hanzo's view, Nagato's plan was a realistic and feasible path, and even Hyuga Kumokawa, who was standing by, thought so.

Both Yahiko and Jiraiya are idealists who feel guilty about hurting others and hope that people can understand each other and naturally eliminate conflicts. Both of them have great dreams but lack the power to achieve them.

The former has died in his naive fantasy, and the latter understands that he is powerless and can only place his hopes on the elusive prophetic child.

Hashirama Senju was somewhere between an idealist and a realist. He hoped that everyone would understand each other, but he didn't expect that everyone could do it. He believed that each generation should do its own thing, so he used overwhelming power to end the chaos and establish a new order for future generations.

Although his descendants were not as promising as he had hoped, and continued to wage wars after his death, it was still better than the Warring States period when almost all children had to go to war at the age of five or six, with an average age of less than thirty.

Of course, this applies to large countries, but small countries that became victims suffered even more than during the Warring States period.

When those five war machines collided, only the small country caught in the middle was crushed and its flesh and blood pulverized.

Naruto, with idealistic thoughts but realistic actions, believed that mutual understanding and forgiveness between people could end the endless hatred between countries.

However, he knelt on the ground and begged the Fourth Raikage not to execute Sasuke, who had kidnapped Killer Bee. He spoke arrogantly in a pleading tone, saying that he did not want Kumogakure and Konoha to fight each other because of Sasuke. In the end, he was speechless when the Fourth Raikage retorted, "It's not too late for you to forgive me after I kill Sasuke."

Later, peace was only achieved through overwhelming force, but the world remained unchanged, and the ninja world would repeat the same mistakes after Naruto's death. Hanzo, who had witnessed countless wars and deaths, naturally understood this; he and later Sasuke Uchiha were both realists.

They were rationally aware that the ninja world, after several wars, was filled with hatred, and that it was impossible for people to understand and forgive each other. Therefore, they directly used overwhelming power to end the conflict, establish a new order, and rule the entire ninja world.

This is not the end, but a new beginning.

"As long as you can create the so-called Tailed Beast Weapon and gain the power to instantly destroy a country, you can make those war-craving guys hesitate to act out of fear!"

Hanzo said in a deep voice, "Although this cannot bring true peace, as long as such peace can be maintained for several generations, and those who harbored hatred because of the war die, there is hope to establish a new peaceful order and change the status quo!"

Even if a new peaceful order cannot be established, at least several decades of peace can be achieved.

that's enough!
Even the once incredibly powerful Hashirama Senju, due to his naive underestimation of human desires, could only maintain peace for twenty years!

If Nagato could achieve decades of peace, Hanzo would be willing to die and hand over Amegakure to Nagato.

but……

"Tell me!" Hanzo stared intently at Nagato and demanded, "What are you hesitating about now?"

"Tell me first," Nagato's voice turned an even more terrifying hoarseness, "Have you ever regretted it?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Hanzo seemed to pause for a moment, subconsciously pursing his dry, cracked lips.

After killing Yahiko and the Akatsuki, he would feel remorse whenever he saw Amegakure with no successors. He would also imagine whether Amegakure would still have any hope of peace after his death if he had taken Yahiko with him and taught him instead.

He did have many choices at the time, but under Danzo's temptation and fear of death, he chose the worst option.

Hanzo understood this in his heart, but he wouldn't say it.

He only wanted Nagato to completely abandon his illusions about a great power.

"No regrets."

His gaze passed over the distorted air before him, landing on Nagato's inhuman eyes. Undeterred by the terrifying power, he coldly said, "I can tell you, even if I had to choose again now, I would still kill Yahiko and all of you."

"Because the Akatsuki organization, clinging to naive fantasies, will only drag the Land of Rain into the abyss. Yahiko's so-called negotiations will not gain the understanding and peace of any major power. The Hidden Rain Village, having lost its fighting spirit and showing a weak posture, will only become a pig and a dog to be slaughtered by major powers!"

"The reason I am here is simply because I believe that you, with those eyes, can lead Amegakure to a new future and bring peace to the Land of Rain. That's all."

Xiao Nan's tightly clenched fists began to tremble again, but she felt a strange sense of powerlessness and despair.

Because she knew Hanzo was right.

That innocent girl died on that rainy night.

"You deserve to die."

Nagato's tone was no longer angry, but had returned to its familiar indifference, and a chilling power surged forth from his eyes.

Xiao Nan's throat bobbed, as if she wanted to utter a single syllable, but only a suffocating amount of air escaped.

However, what came next was not the sound of a blade piercing flesh.

Bang!

(End of this chapter)