"Once you accept a position, you must fulfill its duties. That is only natural. As your escort, it is my responsibility to ensure Elder Anjō's safety, even if you were truly planning to stake your lives as bargaining chips in these negotiations with Konoha."
Kyoichi answered calmly.
He could guess one of the possibilities behind what Anjō Oniyuzu called "things achieved by human effort."
That would be using their own lives to fabricate evidence that Orochimaru had been colluding with the Mist. If that succeeded, Orochimaru's qualifications to compete for the Fourth Hokage's seat could be erased in an instant. And once the Yellow Flash rose to the position, naturally he would be expected to repay the Mist for such a tremendous favor.
A method like that was, truthfully, not very sophisticated.
But if the Yellow Flash were the kind of man who would stop at nothing for power and status, then it would be effective. Although even then, there would be no guarantee that once he ascended the seat, he would not go back on his word.
However, such considerations were meaningless in Kyoichi's eyes.
Because whether from memory or from real experience, the Yellow Flash was not someone who would harm the village's interests for personal gain. Drawing him in was impossible. That man would never betray Konoha for his own benefit.
If anything…
This sort of scheme should be used on Danzō instead.
He was the type who would go to any lengths for the sake of "the Konoha in his mind."
"…Kyoichi, I feel like putting you in the Seven Ninja Swordsmen is a waste." Anjō Oniyuzu stared at him for a long moment before letting out a deep sigh. "I must admit my earlier judgment was wrong. With that head of yours, you could easily work in the Administrative Department. After a few years of refinement, you could even take my position as senior adviser without any problem."
"That would be the real waste."
Kyoichi replied bluntly. "For us shinobi, strength decides everything. Why do you think it's us traveling all the way to Konoha for negotiations instead of them coming to Kirigakure? Because they're stronger. We lost. So now we have no choice but to come to their territory and bow our heads."
"You brat... do you have to put it like that? Couldn't you choose a more pleasant phrasing?"
"Pleasant or not, reality is reality. Pretty words won't change it. Only strength can change the unequal relationship between us and Konoha. Only overwhelming strength."
"…Youth really is something."
Anjō Oniyuzu let out a heavy sigh.
If it were thirty years ago, he would have held the exact same viewpoint as Kyoichi. Strength determines everything.
Even now, he still agreed with that statement, but only when one possessed strength so absolute that nothing could stand before it. But Konoha agreeing to negotiations in the first place meant they didn't hold such absolute power.
Which meant there were things aside from strength that could now be leveraged.
"Kyoichi, your perspective is exactly the same as the Mizukage. The Mizukage believes the reason we lost the war was not only placing our bet at the wrong time. More importantly, we completely misjudged the strength gap between us and Konoha. To put it bluntly, Konoha is far stronger than we expected."
Anjō Oniyuzu looked toward the coastline becoming clearer in the distance. After a few seconds, he continued, "Which is why the Mizukage wants us to conclude negotiations with Konoha as quickly as possible and resolve the aftershocks of our defeat."
"And afterward, we can focus all our efforts on reform, making Kirigakure stronger."
"Reform, huh?"
Kyoichi murmured. "So that means the Mizukage agreed to let the Koeda Clan join Kirigakure because of these reforms?"
"No. Taking in the Koeda Clan was already part of the reforms."
Anjō Oniyuzu explained. He looked at Kyoichi. "To be precise, your Koeda Clan joining Kirigakure was the beginning of reform. There are only two ways to strengthen a village. One is improving education to cultivate more strong shinobi. But that is extremely difficult, and it requires years, even decades."
"The other method is absorbing external power. This path is easier and faster. The downside is its uncertainty. Not all external forces are as reliable as the Koeda Clan. If someone with ill intentions were to slip in… they could cause immense damage."
"…Elder Anzō, why are you telling me all this? Are you really trying to pull me into the Administrative Department?"
Kyoichi looked helpless.
"Haha, are you not interested in such matters?"
Anjō Oniyuzu asked with a smile.
"Not particularly."
Kyoichi said plainly. "I still believe strength decides everything. As long as you're strong enough, even if you can't resolve the problem, you can always resolve the person causing the problem. Which is the same thing."
"Strong enough… there's nothing wrong with those words. The problem is, how strong is 'strong enough'? Truly overwhelming power like the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara might not appear even once in a hundred years…"
Anjō Oniyuzu was about to continue persuading him. He genuinely believed Kyoichi was administrative talent.
Kirigakure had countless assassins.
But the Administrative Department had always been lacking talent. In his opinion, that was the true reason Kirigakure's development lagged behind. And the reason he supported Yagura becoming the Fourth Mizukage was precisely because Yagura, unlike the Third, refused to blindly follow the policies left behind by the Second.
He wanted reform.
But reform required people. Especially administrative talent, which was exceedingly rare.
"I think I can."
Kyoichi suddenly cut him off. He spoke seriously. "The First Hokage and Uchiha Madara are the targets I'm currently chasing. Sooner or later, I'll catch up to them. Then I'll surpass them."
Anjō Oniyuzu opened his mouth,
but no words came out.
Kyoichi's eyes were far too serious to be a joke. It left him speechless.
In the end,
he simply shook his head helplessly. Young people were like this. Only after experiencing failure would they understand that personal strength has limits and not everyone can become a First Hokage or Madara.
Until then,
convincing Kyoichi was impossible.
"Kyoichi, at this distance now… can you sense anything?"
Anjō Oniyuzu changed the subject.