novelraw Chapter 520 The Six Immortals Don't Understand Human Hearts
Chapter 520 The Six Immortals Don't Understand Human Hearts
Chapter 520 The Six Paths Immortal Doesn't Understand Human Hearts
Under the large banyan tree, the two stood on either side of it.
A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the light and shadow swayed, as if fragments of time were flowing between the two of them.
Mianma leaned against the rough tree trunk, hands in his pockets, calmly watching the small mountain village under construction in the distance.
He spoke as if chatting with an old friend: "Actually, I sensed it as soon as I got close to the village."
He paused, turned his head slightly, and looked at the old man standing on the other side of the tree.
A thousand years ago, the Sage of Six Paths scattered chakra throughout the world, attaching it to nature and transforming it into an invisible bond.
The chakra was originally so faint as to be almost imperceptible, but when it began to gather in the same direction, it became hard to miss.
At first, Menma thought that the Sage of Six Paths had finally lost his patience and was going to personally intervene in the affairs of the ninja world.
After all, according to his understanding of the original Naruto storyline, the Sage of Six Paths wandered the ninja world in the form of residual chakra, while his soul rested peacefully in the Pure Land.
Even when their mother Kaguya was resurrected, the Sage of Six Paths only appeared in Naruto and Sasuke's spiritual world in the form of chakra, granting them power and then entrusting them with the important task of sealing their mother.
Therefore, Menma concludes that the Sage of Six Paths definitely has the ability to intervene in the ninja world; it's just a matter of whether he wants to or not.
"Indeed, with your abilities, it would be strange if you didn't get discovered," the old peddler chuckled.
Mianma sized him up, her gaze lingering on his body for a moment.
This is not formed from the soul or residual chakra of the Sage of Six Paths, nor is it a product of some kind of clone technique.
This is a real human body, with flesh and blood, a heartbeat, and breath.
However, this body is currently being temporarily controlled and maintained by a massive amount of chakra.
Based on Menma's understanding of the Sage of Six Paths, he wouldn't do something like possession.
His feelings for humanity are genuine; he would not possess the body of an innocent person for his own purposes.
Therefore, there is only one answer.
"The owner of this body probably doesn't have much time left, does he?" Menma asked softly.
The old peddler nodded slowly.
"He was a wandering merchant who traveled all over the country his whole life. He had no wife or children and no attachments. He went to many places when he was young, but when he got old, his health deteriorated, and he became terminally ill and unable to walk. His only wish was to be buried in his hometown in the Land of Snow."
"So I borrowed his body and traveled from the Land of Lightning, passing through many countries, and finally arrived here."
Mianma raised an eyebrow slightly: "So, your first appearance in the world in a thousand years is just to see this?"
He raised his chin and looked at the busy village in the distance.
The old peddler followed his gaze.
In the distance, Chiyo and Chizuru are performing acupuncture on a hunchbacked old woman, while Sakura helps by handing her needles. Ino is comforting a little girl who is crying because she is afraid of the pain.
Further away, Yuu Hayama and Osora were helping a family repair their roof.
Naruto and Sasuke were carrying timber with several villagers, while Shikamaru was squatting on the ground, holding blueprints, discussing something with Choji and Kiba.
Xiao Li was leading a group of children in gymnastics in an open space at the village entrance, while Tian Tian and Ya Yun watched with smiles.
Sunlight streamed into the village, onto the houses with their blue bricks and red tiles, onto the newly built village roads, and onto the busy people. Everything seemed so peaceful and full of life.
"Not only that," the old peddler said slowly.
His gaze remained fixed on that distant village, but it seemed to penetrate time and space, revealing a wider world.
"I set off from the Land of Lightning, traveled westward, passed through several countries—and finally arrived at the Land of Stars."
"I saw so much—so much—"
His voice became somewhat low.
"The rest of the ninja world remains the same. Chaos, war, poverty, suffering, extravagant nobles, and commoners struggling to survive—nothing has changed in the past thousand years."
He paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at Mianma.
"Until I enter your country."
His gaze held a mixture of scrutiny, curiosity, and—puzzling intent.
"I know about your deeds, the rise of the Star Kingdom, the coup in the Bear Kingdom, the destruction of the Swamp Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom, the annexation of the Snow Kingdom, and the war against the Wind Kingdom."
He frowned slightly, a look of confusion on his aged face.
"What I don't understand is that you clearly rose to power through violence, waging wars against the Land of Bears, the Land of Swamps, the Land of Snow, and the Land of Wind. Even though you won every time, the Land of Stars inevitably suffered many casualties in every war."
"But your country is thriving. When war is mentioned, civilians in other countries are terrified, but only the civilians of the Star Kingdom—are longing for it."
When he said the last few words, his tone carried a clear sense of bewilderment.
In his mind, war has always brought suffering and destruction.
That's why he advocated for mutual understanding between people through the connection of chakra, hoping to eliminate war by removing barriers.
However, over the past thousand years, the chaotic ninja world has experienced countless wars, and in each one, it was the common people who suffered.
However, the civilians of the Star Kingdom showed an attitude towards the war that went against common sense.
This is not reasonable.
Menma smiled upon hearing this.
He understood the Sage of Six Paths' confusion.
In the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, he seemed to be no different from those who had waged wars in the ninja world over the past thousand years.
Both used violent means to achieve their goals, and both caused casualties and destruction.
Logically, he should be an utterly wicked villain, and the common people living under his rule should be extremely oppressed.
When he arrived in the Star Kingdom, he found it to be completely different from the miserable life he had imagined.
Mianma didn't answer immediately. He walked over and stood side by side with the old peddler, looking at the busy village in the distance.
After observing for a while, he slowly spoke: "It's not that I yearn for war."
"Whether it's a civilian or a ninja, I always make sure to explain the purpose of the war before it begins."
He stretched out his hand and pointed to the terraced fields being cultivated in the distance.
"The coup in the Land of Bears was for the liberation of the common people. The nobles there had already exploited the people to the extreme. Eighty percent of the annual harvest went to the lord and the daimyo, and the remaining twenty percent was not enough to feed even a family. When we went there, some people were already exchanging their children to eat."
"Military intervention in the Land of Demons was at the invitation of the priestess to suppress the rampaging demons, Wraiths. If it is not stopped in time, the Wraiths will first destroy the Land of Demons and then spread to the entire continent, resulting in even more deaths among the people."
"The war between the Land of Swamp and the Land of Darkness was because our Land of Stars suffered unfair treatment on our farms in those two countries. Our property was confiscated, our people were detained, and some were even killed. We demanded negotiations, but the daimyo of both countries ignored us and even hired ninjas from the Land of Snow to attack us. That war was fought to protect the interests and safety of our people."
"The same applies to the Land of Wind. That war was started by the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who wanted to seize the Tailed Beasts. At the same time, it was also to liberate the common people who had long been oppressed by the nobles of the Land of Wind."
After saying this, he turned his head and looked at the old peddler.
"Every war has a just cause."
"It is not for plunder, not for conquest, not for satisfying personal ambition."
"It is to liberate the oppressed, to protect the people of the Star Kingdom, and to break down the old, unjust order."
The old peddler remained silent.
After a long pause, he slowly spoke: "But war is still war."
"It brings death, pain, and hatred. You kill their fathers, husbands, and sons, and their relatives will hate you and want revenge. The chain of hatred will continue from generation to generation, without end."
"This is the cycle I've always wanted to break." His voice carried a weariness and compassion that had settled over a thousand years.
"Through the connection of chakra, people can understand and tolerate each other, eliminate barriers, misunderstandings, and hatred—only in this way can true peace be achieved."
Mianma listened quietly to the whole thing.
He didn't directly refute it, but simply stretched out his hand and pointed to the village in the distance.
"Do you see this village?"
The old peddler looked in the direction he was pointing.
"Most of those villagers migrated from Snow County a few years ago. Back when it was still the Snow Country, they had to hand over most of the grain they grew each year to the daimyo and the lords of the tribes."
"They work hard all year round, but they can't even afford a full meal. Their children are skin and bones from hunger. When they get sick, they have no money for treatment and can only endure the pain. In winter, they have no way to keep warm and can only huddle together in a drafty, dilapidated house, shivering."
"Later, the Land of Snow was defeated and annexed by the Land of Stars."
"Those lords and daimyo had their property confiscated, their lands were seized and redistributed to the farmers who had cultivated them for hundreds of years but had never owned them."
"They no longer have to pay those heavy rents and taxes, and they have their own houses, their own land, and their own livestock."
Their children can go to school, learn to read and write, and if they are found to have ninja talent, they can receive ninja education and training for free.
He turned his head and looked at the old peddler.
Do you think they'll miss the old days of the Snow Country, a time when there was "no war"?
The old peddler opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Yes, war certainly breeds hatred," Menma continued, "but do you know what breeds more hatred than war?"
"It's oppression! It's exploitation! It's watching your own children starve to death while those lords and daimyo live in luxury, feasting and dancing in their mansions. It's working hard all year, only to have not a single grain of rice left, all of it taken away. It's being sick and having no money for treatment, forced to lie in bed and wait to die, and resorting to cannibalism when natural disasters strike! And those who oppress them don't even give them a second glance."
Mianma's voice turned somewhat cold.
"That kind of hatred is more terrifying than the hatred brought about by war."
"It will be passed down from generation to generation, slowly turning into numbness, into despair, into hatred for the world. Until one day, humanity completely loses its morality—"
He paused, his tone softening somewhat.
"You said you hoped that through the connection of chakra, people could understand and tolerate each other, eliminate barriers, misunderstandings, and hatred, thereby achieving peace."
"But do you really think that those who followed you back then were impressed by your eloquence and ideas?"
The old peddler was startled.
For a fleeting moment, his eyes wavered slightly.
Without waiting for his reply, Menma continued, "Your ideals are certainly admirable: everyone should understand each other and create a world without war."
"But without absolute strength to guarantee it, everything is just a castle in the air."
"Human beings are, by nature, the most complex species. Individuals may be able to understand and tolerate each other. One person can understand another's pain, one person can forgive another's mistakes, one person can give everything for another—"
"However, when the number of individuals is expanded to the entire human population, mutual understanding becomes fundamentally impossible."
"Because humanity is made up of countless different individuals. Each person has their own experiences, their own perspective, their own interests, and their own desires. When these interests and desires conflict, so-called understanding often proves to be incredibly fragile."
"Just as a farmer can understand the hardships of another farmer, but cannot understand that he only borrowed a little food, those nobles can brazenly roll the interest to dozens or hundreds of times."
"One nobleman can understand another nobleman's worries, but he cannot understand why those he calls 'the lowly' people would rebel. In his worldview, he gave the commoners jobs and food, so what more could they possibly want?"
"This is the limitation of human nature. Everyone is trapped in their own perspective, using their own experience and understanding to measure the world."
"They can't truly understand people whose circumstances are completely different from their own, just as fish can't understand why birds can fly, and birds can't understand why fish can swim."
"The mutual understanding you advocate might be achievable at the individual level, but it's fundamentally impossible when applied to an entire community. This is because it requires everyone to step outside their own perspective and try to understand those who are completely different from themselves."
"And that goes against human nature."
After saying these words, Mianma did not continue.
He simply stood there quietly, gazing at the small mountain village under construction in the distance.
The old peddler remained silent for a long time.
His gaze fell on the village, on the villagers working in the fields, on the villagers receiving treatment, on the young ninjas helping to repair irrigation ditches and roads, and on the children playing at the village entrance.
He saw that Gu Sijie was chatting with his new neighbor at the village entrance, holding a pipe in his hand, smoking and talking. When they got to the funny parts, they both burst into laughter.
He saw that those impoverished mountain people who once struggled to get enough to eat and displaced people who lacked proper clothing were now living in new houses with blue bricks and red tiles, with their own land, their own livestock, and hope and expectation for the future.
He saw that the ninjas, who had been accustomed to fighting on the battlefield for thousands of years, were repairing irrigation ditches, building houses, and providing medical care for these ordinary villagers.
The expressions on their faces were not the indifference and numbness of someone carrying out a mission, but rather a kind of heartfelt satisfaction from helping others.
The peddler let out a long sigh.
He turned his head and looked at Mianma.
There seemed to be a subtle change in his gaze.
"So, you mean—I was wrong?"
Menma shook his head, then slowly said, "You're not wrong."
"Your ideals are good. You hope that people can understand each other and that there will be no more war and suffering in this world. There is nothing wrong with this wish itself."
He paused, then changed the subject.
"However, you've overlooked the most important issue."
The old peddler looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
Menma said, word by word, "You've overlooked humanity's pursuit of material well-being."
This answer left the old peddler stunned.
Menma continued, "Before you advocate mutual understanding, you must first ensure people have enough to eat, warm clothes, shelter, and medical care. A hungry person has no energy to understand others. A person about to freeze to death doesn't care about peace. A father watching his child starve to death, powerless to stop it, will only hate the nobles who oppressed him."
"You must first give them hope to live, give them the ability to protect themselves, and give them the right to defend their own interests. Only then will they have the energy to talk about understanding, tolerance, and peace."
""
"That's the difference between you and me."
Mianma's voice deepened.
"When you and Hamura looked down from the sky, you saw the suffering and strife of the entire human race. You wanted to solve the problem at its root, to use the connection of chakra to help people understand each other and eliminate barriers. Your vision is very high, far-reaching, and very forward-looking."
"What I see are specific individuals: this farmer can't pay his rent, that craftsman is being oppressed by the nobles, this child is starving to death, that woman has been abandoned by her husband. What I think about is how to help them solve their immediate problems first, so that they can have a hot meal, a good night's sleep, and some hope for the future."
"Once they've resolved these issues, I'll tell them that their suffering isn't due to a lack of effort or their inherent fate, but rather because the world's order is flawed. Those high-ranking nobles and lords, who do no production, possess the vast majority of resources. They've established the rules that will keep you as slaves for generations. Now, we will change those rules."
"This is the Star Will I proposed."
He pointed to the village in the distance.
"They didn't immediately understand my ideas and choose to support me; it took time."
"During this process, they will also feel lost and doubtful, but eventually they will gradually discover that the 'Will of the Stars' I advocate is truly for everyone, so they are willing to follow me and fight to protect everything they have now."
"Because they know they are not fighting for some powerful lord, nor for the ambitions of some great man."
.
"They are fighting for their land, for their children to be able to go to school, to have enough to eat, and to have a better future."
"Every war means the overthrow of the old oppressors, the attainment of freedom and dignity by more people, and a better world for them."
Therefore, they are not afraid of war.
After saying all this, Menma paused, exhaled, and then said his last words: "Hagoromo, you still don't understand people's hearts."