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He guessed her identity through a thick mask—he possessed abilities similar to Nagato's Rinnegan; and he'd laid bare the very plan Nagato had been ticulously crafting in Agakure for so long.
Konan felt as if the black cloak with red clouds she wore offered no security whatsoever, as if she were transparent, completely exposed to Gojo Kaigetsu...
Clearly in a dangerous situation, Konan nonetheless took the initiative—
"Konohagakure, for its own gain, has ignited countless wars in smaller villages! Heh—a Konoha like that, I wish I could just destroy it!"
"Good! If you succeed in killing , in destroying Konoha, then who will rule this Shinobi world? Nagato? With that pair of eyes of his?" Gojo Kaigetsu countered, his voice calm yet piercing.
"We won't rule over any nation. We'll distribute the ultimate weapon to all the Shinobi villages. We will let them rule themselves. Under the mutual deterrent of mutually held ultimate weapons! Peace will eventually co!"
"And if these Shinobi villages, under the deterrent of the ultimate weapon, still have conflicts? If a Shinobi war breaks out, who will maintain order? Will you, restraining yourself with the 'ultimate weapon,' do it? Or Nagato?"
Konan was about to speak, but then hesitated. It only now dawned on her that, of the Five Great Villages, only Gojo Kaigetsu had risen to an Elder Advisor position as a—Chunin.
When it ca to a battle of wits—she was no match.
"Only a Ruler can use their will to judge right and wrong, to carry out so-called justice. It's not Konoha becoming the ruler. Even with the threat of the ultimate weapon, new rulers will inevitably erge."
"By using the ultimate weapon to tear the entire Shinobi world apart, reducing the Shinobi world to the level of tens of millions of years ago even if a bitter battle occurs, it will certainly happen! A final battle will surely happen!"
"We—the Shinobi of Konohagakure, have always lived in this kind of black hole in the Shinobi world. Between heaven and hell, we have no right to choose. We only have the fate of being chosen by the Shinobi world! And I, Gojo Kaigetsu—My heart is like a tree. The more the tree yearns for the light above, the more its roots must reach down, into the mud, into the darkness!"
"This is my, Gojo Kaigetsu's Will of Fire! Since soone must step forward and bear the darkness, and so village must shine with light, only Konoha has this responsibility, this obligation, and... this awareness!"
After this impassioned declaration, Gojo Kaigetsu's tone softened slightly:
"Putting aside Konoha's position and taking ten thousand steps back, if Yahiko were alive and knew what Nagato was going to do, what would he think? Clearly, the original purpose of establishing Akatsuki was to protect peace, so that more people could live happily and peacefully in an era of peace. However, the peace you are pursuing is at the cost of being built on screams of suffering. If he were alive, could he really understand you?"
"No—"
Konan's trembling body gradually cald down, and she subconsciously looked around, denying it.
"Nagato—he's already working hard not to sacrifice innocent people."
"But the Shinobi world is becoming more and more chaotic because of [Akatsuki]'s actions, because of Nagato's will."
"He's working hard to create peace. He's working very hard!"
"But Nagato is making the Shinobi world more chaotic! Do you know that Nagato sent Akasuna no Sasori to kill the Fourth Kazekage? His daughter cries and calls for her father in my arms every night?!"
"Is he really going to create peace?!"
"Shut up!" Konan's emotions suddenly beca agitated.
If Konoha hadn't sched to kill Yahiko, perhaps the Shinobi world's tiline would have changed because of it. Nagato would still be the sunny, cheerful young man with bangs covering his eyes, following Yahiko, using gentler thods to create peace.
Instead of pursuing peace through thods built on the pain of everyone.
A ninja's battle of skill was her, Konan's, defeat, but in this second battlefield of words, Konan... didn't want to lose again!
If she lost again, the ninja way she had always upheld would cease to exist. The reason she had fought for so long... would instantly collapse.
But...
Hatred couldn't be resolved. Nagato's idea of using the ultimate weapon to suppress the Shinobi world was just suppressing hatred. This hatred would eventually erupt one day in silence, bringing with it the awareness of destroying the Shinobi world, erupting like a volcano.
"You just said... 'not sacrificing innocent people', right?"
"That is to say, Nagato has already done it, and you, you know about it, right?"
Gojo Kaigetsu seized upon the loophole in Konan's words, his tone deepening.
"People live to overco fear and unease, to find peace of mind. Doing such things just to pursue peace of mind is nothing. But, Konan-san, looking at Nagato depriving unrelated people of their lives... can you really find peace of mind?"
"Everyone wants to overco unease and fear in order to live with peace of mind! Whether it's for fa, fortune, power, or to control others, it's all for peace of mind—Getting married or making friends is also for peace of mind! Striving for others, pursuing love and peace are all actually excuses for one's own peace of mind!"
"It can be said that we Shinobi, living in this ninja world, are all just trying to find 'peace of mind'!"
"So, Konan, what is your peace of mind?!"
Gojo Kaigetsu abruptly straightened Konan's head, forcing her to look directly at him. "If killing can bring you peace of mind, then do it."
"You are not dodging, are you actively seeking death? You are also confused, right! You also believe that the peace built on the lives of tens, hundreds, or thousands of people is simply a false peace, right?!"
"Answer , Konan!"
'Mouth-to-mouth combat, who hasn't done it?'
'The theory of peace of mind—activate!'
Gojo Kaigetsu's gaze was intense, as if to pierce Konan's eyes, directly piercing into the softest place in Konan's heart.
"If... this is what you believe is peace of mind, if the temporary peace brought about by the blood and cries of so many people can make you spend the rest of your life with peace of mind... then do it!"
Gojo Kaigetsu proudly puffed out his chest, taking out a sharp kunai and placing it in Konan's hand.
"You don't think that the major villages are the planners of war, the creators of pain? As a Konoha Advisor, I am one of the most deserving of death."
"Now, you can use this kunai to kill , to pursue the peace you want! But let tell you, Konan, even if I die, I will crawl out of my coffin and tell you—tis have changed!"
"Even if I die, Konoha will have countless others like ! My ninpo has been implented in every corner of Konoha! After I die, and Nagato lives, Shinobi wars will inevitably break out and countless lives will be lost! If I live and Nagato dies, Konoha will walk the path of peaceful unification of the Shinobi world!"
"Suna, Kiri, these examples are there for you to see!"
"Nagato has the eyes, and so do I! Nagato has great ideals, so do I! The funds that Akatsuki needs to create peace, Nagato can't give them to you, but I can! Nagato needs to use power and pain to create peace, I don't!"
"The only thing I can't give you is a decade-long bond of friendship! But what I can give you is a peaceful afternoon, where a family of three who have avoided Shinobi wars lives a peaceful life and happily strolls!"
"Do you want to live, or Nagato to live, make your choice!"
As if he had forgotten that Konan had just been trying to kill him with her paper release.
Gojo Kaigetsu grabbed Konan's wrist, letting the kunai rest against his chest. Just one more inch, and it could pierce his heart!
This tactic of retreating in order to advance, Gojo Kaigetsu was all too familiar with.
If it weren't for the fact that Konan's seemingly airtight ninja way had been pierced by Gojo Kaigetsu's nimble fingers, he wouldn't have used such an extre thod to force Konan to make a choice, expanding that crack that could only fit a finger to one that could fit a tongue.
The gap in a Shinobi's will is incredible.
"Stop it... stop it!"
"You kill ! Kill !"
Konan begged, covering her mask with her hands, unwilling to let Gojo Kaigetsu see her current expression.
She reversed the grip, putting the power to wield the kunai back in Gojo Kaigetsu's hands.
Konan was at an impasse.
No matter how unwilling she was, she had to... admit it in her heart, her narrow, delicate, fragile ninja way had been forcefully breached by Gojo Kaigetsu, opening a path to her heart.
Her vision shifted through ti, and she arrived in Konoha.
Konan saw—
The little girl who had bought her milk tea with a sweet smile; the housewife with the gentle hairstyle; the pregnant woman with a happy smile on her face... These were peace!
But, because of Akatsuki's plot to murder Rasa, Rasa's daughter had thrown herself into Gojo Kaigetsu's arms, crying and calling for her father... This was pain, not peace!
Life was what she wanted, and peace was what she wanted. If the two couldn't be obtained at the sa ti, then Konan would rather sacrifice her life to choose righteousness. Life was what Konan wanted, but there was sothing she wanted even more than life, so she did not do anything to stay alive; Death was what she hated, but there were also things she hated more than death, so so disasters, she did not avoid...
Or, as it is also said, she was willing to die for her ideals.
As the saying went, if she heard the truth in the morning, she could die content in the evening!
This was probably the only way for her to enter Konoha, to step into the world depicted in "Iki"...
"No..."
Konan's spirit was broken.
"Konan-san, you're willing to die, but not admit my views. It ans that in your heart, you think Nagato is wrong, and I am right!"
"The battle is over. It's my win~"
Gojo Kaigetsu smiled lightly, preparing to end this and move on to the next step.
He had pushed her far enough; it was ti to de-escalate.
Next ca the traditional part of the process.
Don't underestimate his intelligence network; he had already sent the female Guardian Shinobi who was skilled in the legendary ninjutsu, "Execution by Kiss"—to Yūkaku-jō, to act as Edo Tensei stand-ins, carrying out the first stage of business cooperation.
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