[Who is your true enemy?]
That single line appeared in the evaluation of the fourth simulation.
Hinata didn't understand.
Why was it that in every simulation—no matter what she did, no matter how much changed along the way—once Kumogakure threatened war, Konoha would always react the same way?
Compromise. Every time, compromise.
Sacrificing Uncle Hizashi—three out of four simulations ended that way. It was like an uncrossable chasm, stretching out in front of her.
Why?
Hinata didn't understand.
Konoha was supposed to be the strongest ninja village. The Third Hokage was supposed to be the strongest Hokage. So why did they keep yielding again and again to Kumogakure's blackmail and extortion?
[Who is your true enemy?]
A vague answer had already formed in her heart. Even if she didn't know whether it was correct, she still had to say it:
It was Konoha.
[What was it that truly killed the people you cherish?]
It was Konoha—so weak it could do nothing but compromise!
Hinata swayed as she stood, her body unsteady, like someone gravely ill.
Wandering down the corridor in a daze with no destination, she rounded a corner and caught the whispering voices of several maids who were wiping the floor.
"Hey, did you hear? The village gate was really lively today."
"What happened? Another noble visiting?"
"Way rarer than that! It was Tsunade-sama!"
"No way! Seriously? Didn't she leave the village years ago? I thought she'd never come back…"
"Tell me about it. I saw her from far away—still so beautiful. She doesn't look like someone in her forties at all."
Tsunade… who?
"Um…"
Hinata's voice was soft and a little hoarse, but her sudden appearance startled the maids who'd been slacking off.
"Hinata-sama!"
"Who is this Tsunade-sama you were talking about?"
At once, a maid who looked a bit older lifted her head, her eyes shining with admiration.
"Tsunade-sama is a hero of the village, and the First Hokage's granddaughter. Along with Jiraiya-sama and Orochimaru-sama, she was a disciple of the Third Hokage. Together they're known as the 'Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha'!"
"T-then… if she's that incredible, why did she leave the village for so many years?" Hinata asked. "And the Sannin… I don't think I've ever seen even one of them."
The maids exchanged uneasy looks. The older one hesitated before answering carefully, "That… we don't really know, milady. We only heard that back then, Tsunade-sama had some disagreements with the Third Hokage. After that, Orochimaru defected, and Jiraiya-sama left Konoha to pursue him."
"After all these years, Tsunade-sama is the first of the Sannin to return to Konoha. As for more than that… perhaps only Hiashi-sama would know."
A disagreement with the village leadership…
Hinata's heart jumped. Somewhere in the haze, a spark of insight flashed across her mind—too fast for her to catch.
She thanked the maids and turned toward her father's study.
Hiashi sat at his desk handling clan affairs. Hearing the knock, he answered without looking up, allowing her to enter.
Hinata pushed the door open. "Father."
"What is it?"
"I want to know… about Tsunade-sama."
Hiashi set down his brush and looked at her. "Why are you asking about her?"
"I'm just curious," Hinata said. "I just heard Tsunade-sama has returned to the village. Why would such a powerful ninja leave for so many years?"
She paused, then added, "And… aren't ninja not allowed to leave the village without permission?"
Tsunade came back?
Hiashi pushed that thought aside for now and studied Hinata carefully. He could feel that something about his daughter had changed—especially these past few days, as if she were hiding something she didn't want to show.
After a moment of consideration, he decided to answer honestly.
"Because she had an extremely serious disagreement with the Third Hokage."
That matched what the maids had said—but for Father to call it "extremely serious," the truth was probably far more complicated.
"What… kind of disagreement?" Hinata couldn't help asking.
Hiashi's gaze sharpened with scrutiny. "It goes back to the Second Great Ninja War. The First Hokage's grandson—Tsunade's younger brother—died in that war. Tsunade was Konoha's most outstanding medical ninja, praised as a miracle healer. She believed that if every three-man squad had a medical ninja, casualties could be drastically reduced."
"So she proposed to the Third Hokage that every three-man squad be required to have one medical ninja. Even if they could only do simple bandaging and basic surgery, it would help injured ninja hold on until more skilled medics arrived."
Hinata's eyes brightened—then quickly dimmed. "The Third Hokage… didn't agree?"
"He didn't," Hiashi answered cleanly.
"At the time, Konoha was still at war. There weren't enough resources or manpower to train that many medical ninja. For the sake of stabilizing the village's situation, the Third Hokage rejected Tsunade's proposal."
Hiashi looked at her deeply, then spoke in a heavy, earnest tone. "Hinata—if you can truly understand the real reason Tsunade left the village, then you'll already be a qualified heir of the main family."
"And one last hint: even now, Tsunade's proposal has never been implemented."
Hinata froze for a moment, then softly acknowledged it and left the study.
After this conversation, the gloom weighing on her heart felt noticeably lighter. She gathered herself, returned to her room, and sat at her desk again, opening the Life Simulator.
One question had been circling in her mind for a long time: why, during the second simulation, did a third option suddenly appear? And why did no new options appear in the third and fourth simulations afterward?
Before the second simulation… had something special happened?
She closed her eyes and tried to retrace that period in her memory.
That's right—on the day before the second simulation, she went to see Kiyonari.
That night, she confirmed the Life Simulator was real. She also learned about Neji's situation from Kiyonari, and the anxiety in her heart eased.
Once her mindset calmed even a little, the simulator—based on her clearer state—offered a third option: to hold position and do nothing.
The Life Simulator was simulating based on "who I am right now."
What I know, my mental state, my relationships, my abilities… all of these could change the simulator—variables.
Her thinking all along had been wrong. She shouldn't keep struggling inside the simulator's limited set of choices, trying to find some elusive "perfect" answer. What she needed to do was act in reality—actively increase the variables!
Tsunade.
That name surfaced in her mind again. If she could, in real life, build a connection with Tsunade-sama…
Yes.
This was the real way to break the deadlock.
~~~
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