“Why aren’t you as good as Fugaku?” Remembering the embarrassment of the earlier sparring session, Nawaki lowered his head in disappointment and replied in a muffled voice: “Because I didn’t train when I was young, and I didn’t study hard at the Academy.” Tsunade shot a surprised glance at Nawaki.
Shouldn’t this brother of mine have answered with something like, “I just wasn’t using my full power!”?
Fanma deepened his tone and said solemnly: “That isn’t your fault.
The real reason is the dissolution of the Senju clan and the pressure exerted by the Uchiha clan!” Tsunade’s expression darkened.
“Fanma, is it really necessary to tell Nawaki such things?” Fanma said calmly: “Why shouldn’t I?
At his age, I had already killed many ninja.
Besides, with you here, where is the bias?
You can help me fill in the gaps.” Tsunade nodded hesitatingly, choosing to trust her boyfriend.
Fanma looked at Nawaki’s surprised but not sorrowful face and sighed inwardly; what a thick-skinned kid.
He continued: “The Senju and Uchiha were the founders of Konoha, and its great clans.
In the early days, the various clans were not close; many held deep blood feuds.
At that time, many voices whispered that Konoha was merely a scheme for the Senju and Uchiha to swallow the other clans.
Your grandfather, the First Hokage, chose to dissolve the Senju clan and merge it into the village.
Konoha was the Senju.” “This broke those rumors, but the Uchiha did not choose to dissolve; they maintained their clan structure.
But after the accidental deaths of the Second Hokage and my father, the militant faction of the Uchiha rose to power, pressuring the Third Hokage, who had just taken office.” “Among the dissolved Senju, only a small portion continued as ninja.
Many of them held grudges about the dissolution of their clan, so at the time, the Third Hokage had no support to confront the Uchiha.
Therefore, Nawaki, as the direct descendant of the Senju, you could only grow up like a civilian ninja.
Without a systematic clan upbringing, you naturally fall behind Fugaku.” Nawaki frowned tightly, showing neither anger nor resentment.
To him, this was just a story from the past.
Tsunade let out a long breath, feeling as if a weight had been lifted; she had been agonizing over how to tell Nawaki this history.
“So, by telling Nawaki this, what answer are you looking for?” Fanma’s expression remained unchanged.
He stared seriously at Tsunade and Nawaki and said slowly: “I want him to know what a Hokage must bear.” “You must bear the dissolution of your family and the misunderstanding of your people.
You must bear the betrayal of comrades and the slaughter of brothers.
The road ahead may lead to being abandoned by everyone, or it may end with you hanging from a branch, dead and drying in the wind.” “Do you know how long the road is to becoming a Jonin, or even a Hokage?” “If Nawaki doesn’t want to be a ninja anymore, we can just send him to the Land of Fire.
I think that would be just fine.” Tsunade froze.
Not be a ninja?
How could he not be a ninja?
How could the grandson of Senju Hashirama not become a great ninja?
Fanma didn’t speak, just looked at her gently.
Tsunade’s eyes gradually brightened.
Yes, that’s right.
Not being a ninja…
that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
After all, most of the Senju clan already lived in the capital of the Land of Fire.
After a silence, Nawaki stood up with a serious expression and bowed.
“Thank you, Fanma-sensei, for telling me this.
I don’t know if I should continue to have a dream of becoming Hokage.” “But I still want to be an excellent ninja.
Please, continue to teach me!” Fanma smiled, nodded, and accepted the bow.
“Then, when you get home, make sure you understand the books I gave you.
That is the first step to overcoming yourself.
Believe me: follow my lead, and you will absolutely become a brilliant ninja.” Nawaki’s face soured at the mention of reading, but he nodded earnestly.
Tsunade looked at her brother’s serious demeanor, touched his head in comfort, and turned to ask with a smile: “You rascal, just blurting out the matter of the Uchiha clan pressuring the Hokage like that?
aren’t you afraid of damaging your lofty status in your student’s heart?” Fanma laughed dismissively.
“History is there; it won’t be edited for anyone.
Besides, my father was also a student of your second uncle.” For Nawaki, Fanma had to correct his childish mindset first; only by making him understand his true situation could he fundamentally change him.
Otherwise, he would be a hopeless case even Orochimaru couldn’t save, and Fanma really wasn’t confident he would survive the Ninja War.
He didn’t want to see his lover’s tears, and Nawaki was a cute kid—putting in the effort was only natural.
A silver-haired little radish, not even a meter tall, stood by the side like a little adult, arms crossed, listening to Fanma’s grand lecture.
This little boy was none other than our favorite “chakra unit of measurement”—Hatake Kakashi.
Although he looked only two or three years old, he wore a mask, held a deadpan expression, and looked incredibly cool.
Fanma stood up to get more noodles and saw Kakashi holding a grocery basket.
A flash of shock crossed his mind—the chakra unit had already been born?
Counting the days, it made sense; Minato was only about ten years older than Kakashi.
Fanma reached out his large hand and picked Kakashi up, laughing: “You little brat, can you understand any of this?” Kakashi tried to wriggle out of Fanma’s evil grasp but failed, so he answered helplessly: “Do you know me?
But, what you said is similar to my father’s views, but also a bit different.” Fanma nodded knowingly.
His relationship with Hatake Sakumo could only be described as a nodding acquaintance; their philosophies were vastly different.
He put Kakashi down and flicked his nose.
“Give my regards to Sakumo.” Kakashi frowned but nodded in agreement.
Hatake Sakumo pursued the path of Ninja-Taijutsu, stimulating his body with Wind and Lightning chakra to achieve extreme speed and blade mastery.
He was essentially a samurai wearing a ninja’s skin.
Corresponding to his samurai nature, he held a philosophy of absolute loyalty.
Under the Third’s civilian-friendly policies, Sakumo received significant support, and thus, his feelings for Konoha were extremely deep.
Although in the original story he committed suicide after being crushed by public opinion regarding a failed mission—proposing the theory that comrades were more important than missions—he would never have agreed with Fanma’s theory.
To put it bluntly, Fanma had no feelings for Konoha.
He loved specific people, not the concept of Konoha itself.
Konoha had no so-called deep foundation or noble origin; it was merely a union of ninja clans, consolidated under the label “Will of Fire.” Perhaps Senju Hashirama and Tobirama’s actions were impeccable, but Fanma understood deeply how shocking the corruption within this system could become.
Hatake Sakumo fell due to public opinion, Orochimaru defected, Tsunade and Jiraiya skipped the Third War, not to mention Biwako, human experiments, or the Foundation—it was a never-ending list.
In a place with a total population of just a few tens of thousands, it was dizzying how dense the chaos was.
In his eyes, Konoha was nothing more than a large gated community with warlord characteristics.
If living in the community wasn’t comfortable, then moving house was a perfectly normal thing to do, right?
Earn Them Together!