There is no perfect system in the world, precisely because there exists no perfect order.
Order has always been contradictory and dual-natured.
Compared to the chaos of several decades ago, the Hidden Village system established by the First Hokage was undeniably progressive. Yet the moment a new system was created, fundamental complications were sown—perhaps due to his limited foresight, or perhaps even the strongest man in the world dared not take excessively large steps when pushing the world forward.
The problems existing throughout the entire world, including the Hidden Village system, are too complicated to describe clearly. Yet people's method for resolving these global contradictions is incredibly straightforward… Just go to war.
After all, trust is severely lacking between the various ninja villages, making any collaboration, cooperation, or peaceful development nothing but unreliable rhetoric. Considering the wisdom and strategic vision possessed by village leaders, warfare truly is "the best option available."
"The Strongest Kazekage of All Generations," possessing Magnet Release as a Kekkei Genkai—the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure, named Kamakura—is roughly the same age as Haseo, yet he had already become the planner behind a major war.
Meanwhile, Haseo was still running a tiny operation out of a cramped basement; being a village headman felt like a dream light-years away... Face it, comparing yourself to others just sets you up for heartbreak.
During the First Great Ninja War, the Second Kazekage fell in battle against Konoha within the Land of Rivers, leaving the position of Kazekage vacant for several years before eventually being succeeded by the young yet extraordinarily powerful Kamakura as the Third Kazekage.
Though he was very young back then, considering his subsequent tenure as Kazekage, it's clear he must have been capable of leading Sunagakure independently.
Because of his secrecy, it's difficult to gauge Kamakura's actual capability as Kazekage. However, judging from his unique chakra nature techniques, he indeed seems to be an exceptionally powerful ninja—one worthy of the title "Strongest Kazekage"... until he was suddenly taken down from behind by a red-haired ninja who struck his defenses from an unexpected angle.
Judging only from the perspective of Wind and Fire countries, the position of Village Leader definitely ranks as the most dangerous profession.
Considering the combat strength of the Third Kazekage, this war will certainly not be optimistic for Konoha... When facing the Third Kazekage, victory itself is uncertain, let alone simply breaking through his defenses.
At present, how many people in Konoha can single-handedly penetrate the magnetic defense of the Kazekage?
Oh right, Uzumaki could manage it using the Four Symbols Sealing Technique… but that's a sealing jutsu meant for containment, not for battlefield use like regular ninjutsu or taijutsu.
So, has Konoha really prepared well enough for this war?
...
The legendary trio—Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade—will soon depart for the front lines, followed by Kagenami's wartime mobilization. Yet before personnel start moving, Haseo still has something else to handle… The freshwater fish he started raising years ago, whether fully matured or not, it's finally harvest season for them now.
Inside the growth chamber that had existed for several years, the giant slug acting as a "nursing mother" was now gone. Each of the densely packed incubation tanks here was filled with a massive "sea cucumber."
This place was a nightmare for those with trypophobia. Hundreds of these things were crammed together, which showed just how impressive Orochimaru's breeding capabilities were.
Those young Samehada specimens from years ago, after absorbing small amounts of Two-Tails' chakra and large quantities of Nine-Tails' chakra, had already grown to match their mother in size. Fortunately, their faces remained unchanged—retaining their mother's features without resembling Orochimaru in the slightest or showing any serpent-like traits. Otherwise, it would have been a biological tragedy.
After all, theoretically speaking, their mother was Samehada, while their father was Orochimaru.
Now that he thought about it, where had Haseo dumped Samehada's original body? He seemed to have forgotten... Probably discarded it into Shikkotsu Forest.
At this moment, Samehada's original body was splashing joyfully in a hot spring located deep within Shikkotsu Forest, already enjoying an early retirement filled with happiness. Removed from violence and conflict, it couldn't be more content—Samehada was truly a peaceful-loving fish whose cruel exploitation by wicked humans was nothing short of lamentable.
Meanwhile, the Samehada variants cultivated inside these tanks differed slightly from the original. Although they looked equally terrifying, these "mutants" seemed even fiercer. The moment Haseo approached the incubation tanks, they immediately became agitated, looking like they wanted to devour him alive.
Another noticeable physical difference was their coloration—in contrast to the original's pitch-black hue, these variants exhibited a dark red sheen across their spiky exterior. Thus, compared to the original Samehada's imposing bulk, these weapons exuded an overall aura of sinister abnormality.
Right now, beside Haseo stood Uzumaki Shikou and a few other Uzumaki shinobi. Glancing around for a moment, he said with a shrug, "Time to crack them open?"
"Be careful, Lord Haseo. These creatures appear highly aggressive," Uzumaki Shikou warned nearby.
"I know, but it doesn't really matter… Thing is, for how scary they look, their meat is seriously terrible. No fat at all, not even tender lean meat—it's like chewing on beef tendon."
Tsunade had examined them before too, and even medicinally, they were completely useless. So… spending so much chakra cultivating these things just to produce a bunch of solid iron blocks felt a bit like a loss.
Haseo's words left the surrounding Uzumaki ninja at a complete loss for words... Weren't these 'salted fish' supposed to be bred strictly as weapons? Who expected them to taste delicious or qualify as gourmet food?
If they really were delicacies, there was no way they would still exist intact today. The people around Haseo had already caught on to the obvious implication behind his words—like just how exactly he knew what Samehada tasted like.
Speaking as he did so, Haseo rolled up his sleeves, drew a long sword from behind his back, and then gently swung his arm, slicing cleanly through the top edge of a transparent incubation tank in a smooth circular motion.
A slightly viscous liquid quickly flowed out, and except for Haseo, everyone else took a few steps back.
Then, that fish with dark black skin tinged with red lunged straight at Haseo like a rabid dog diving toward feces.
Haseo, however, showed no fear. He sidestepped the gaping maw of the fish's wide-open mouth, his hand flashing out lightning-fast as he clenched his fingers like iron claws, firmly gripping the fish's tail fin. Then he transformed into [Berserker], swinging it around wildly before slamming its head repeatedly against the barrier-reinforced ground.
This was proof—[Berserker] truly was the strongest.
In under two minutes, the once-fierce beast had gone from raging to completely dazed... clearly proving even fish could suffer from concussions.
"Generally speaking, the first step in killing a fish is to stun it. That way, when you gut it, it won't feel any pain. It's considered a very humane method."
As he explained, Haseo stepped one foot onto the already unconscious Samehada, using his long blade to carefully slice its tail fin into strips thinner than a pinky finger.
Afterward, Haseo sheathed his sword, squatted down, and using his nimble hands, skillfully wove the ruined tail fin into tassels... Hmm, keep this up and he might just be able to braid someone a golden braid one day.
Haseo's movements were smooth and quick. He also knew how to tie knots well, so soon the fish had a newly added "handle," making it easier to swing around powerfully.
"A weaponized Samehada has now been simply crafted—friends, did you learn how to do that?"
Still, this Samehada remained untamed. Unconscious and untrained, it felt limp and unwieldy when he gave it a test swing.
"Next one then?"
Samehada being a living creature, even if uncooperative right now, the remaining issue was simply about "training." Haseo didn't believe these creatures couldn't be trained... Otherwise, he'd just feed them to the cats.
Believe it or not, death has a way of unlocking hidden potential in all creatures.
So Haseo tossed the crude Samehada aside and reached for the next one.
"That… Haseo-sama, we can control these creatures using contract-based sealing techniques. You don't really need to personally go through your entire fish-slaughtering process one by one."
Just as Haseo was preparing to move forward, one of the Uzumaki shinobi finally reminded him like this.
Therefore, Haseo could only stop in his tracks and say, "Since there's a more humane method available, why didn't you speak up sooner? Now I look like I acted quite inhumanely just now, don't I?"
His self-proclaimed compassion as a small-animal rights activist was on full display.
Everyone exchanged glances, thinking inwardly that without any comparison needed, everyone could tell exactly how cruel his earlier actions had been toward these poor fish.
"Could it be because Tsunade-sama left, so Haseo-sama is feeling down and decided to vent his emotions?"
"That doesn't seem related, does it? Isn't Haseo-sama just naturally like this from the beginning?"
The two Uzumaki shinobi behind quietly whispered among themselves.
It goes without saying that there's still a noticeable difference between those who only pretend to understand Haseo and those who truly understand him.
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