"Teacher, actually, I understand you.", Kurama spoke to comfort him.
Arisu pulled at the corner of his mouth and showed a faint smile, then let out a barely audible sigh. "No, you don't."
After hearing that, Kurama said nothing more and quietly stayed dormant.
"Brother Arisu? Why are you here?"
A clear child's voice suddenly came from behind him. A little boy with neat short hair came running over while bouncing around.
Arisu looked over carefully.
The boy's face looked seventy to eighty percent similar to the future Uzumaki Naruto.
"No wonder Tsunade always said Naruto looked like her younger brother. Looking at him now, they really do resemble each other…"
Arisu silently nodded to himself, then switched to a smile.
"Nawaki, school's over?", Arisu asked with a smile.
Senju Nawaki nodded hard. His eyes were bright and full of spirit. "Yeah! I heard the war has started. In another year, I'll graduate, and then I can fight alongside Brother Arisu and Sister Tsunade!"
Nawaki raised his little face, his tone full of longing.
Seeing this, Arisu slightly shook his head.
He remembered that in the original story from his previous life, Senju Nawaki's ending seemed to be dying to an unremarkable explosive tag.
"You really long for war?"
Arisu crouched down to look at him at eye level and asked seriously.
Senju Nawaki immediately shook his head. "No, I long for peace."
Arisu smiled helplessly.
One glance was enough to tell the truth... fake.
That might fool other people, but not him.
If he truly only longed for peace, then why would he eagerly look forward to going to the battlefield and fighting alongside them?
Kids always dreamed about becoming heroes and saving everyone.
He remembered Nawaki's dream was becoming Hokage.
But from ancient times until now, which Hokage's seat had not been built on blood and bones?
Just like Naruto.
Without the war that swept across the ninja world and the Akatsuki's Pain invasion, Naruto could never have become a hero who saved the world.
If the world had remained peaceful the whole time, then following Naruto's original path, he would first have needed to clear his name and prove to the villagers that he was not a demon fox.
After that, relying only on missions, he probably would never become Hokage in his entire life.
"Nawaki, I know you actually want to go to the battlefield and show your abilities there. But I want to tell you that war is never what you think it is.", Arisu spoke slowly.
"Brother Arisu… I…"
Having his thoughts exposed, Nawaki lowered his head awkwardly.
"You might think fighting on the battlefield looks cool and impressive, but you don't know that in the next second, you might become the one getting killed.", Arisu spoke.
Even though people in this world could go to the Pure Land after death, Arisu still chose to warn this boy.
At such a young age, before he had even properly seen the world or experienced the many good things in life, leaving in such a hurry to go to the nostalgic Pure Land server would really be too regrettable.
"Okay."
Senju Nawaki looked at him blankly, clearly unable to understand this heaviness yet.
Seeing that, Arisu changed to an example he could understand.
"Nawaki, let me use a bad example. You know dogs can't eat chocolate, right?"
Nawaki nodded. "I know."
"But when dogs see chocolate, they still can't help eating it. If people are compared to dogs, and war is compared to chocolate, do you understand what I mean?"
Arisu reached out and rubbed his soft hair.
"So don't long for war. If you really step onto the battlefield, maybe you'll accidentally step on an explosive tag, and after that… you'll never come back."
Arisu did not make it too obvious. He stopped after hinting at it.
"Hahahaha! Brother Arisu, you're looking down on me too much!"
Nawaki could not help laughing loudly after hearing that.
"I've studied at the ninja academy for so many years. How could I possibly fail to recognize an explosive tag?"
"Who knows.", Arisu shrugged and said nothing more.
Some things could never be understood without experiencing them personally. There was only so much he could do.
Otherwise, by the time Orochimaru found Nawaki again, Nawaki might already have been blown into ninja fragments.
Not far away, Kushina and Uzumaki Mito were chatting happily, their expressions full of closeness.
Seeing how well the two were getting along, Arisu did not interrupt them. He only briefly explained a few things in his mind to Kurama inside Mito, then quietly left.
"Nawaki, I'm leaving.", After saying that, Arisu departed.
Walking through Konoha's familiar streets, he turned into Ichiraku Ramen.
Even though the taste was far worse than Kakuzu's cooking, it was still the familiar flavor from his memories.
———
Peaceful days passed in the blink of an eye.
A few days later, the Second Great Ninja War fully broke out.
Konoha quickly entered wartime status, and ninja units from every side were sent to the front lines in batches.
Hatake Sakumo and Arisu were ordered to head to the Land of Wind battlefield.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were sent to the Land of Rain, where the fighting was the fiercest and most complicated.
On the sandy battlefield of the Land of Wind...
The Sand Village ninja attacks were extremely extreme. Wave after wave of suicidal charges tore at Konoha's defenses until they were close to collapsing.
They wrapped explosive tags all over their bodies, forcing Konoha's ninja into complete suppression for a time.
At the top of the tallest sand dune in the distance...
"The Sand Village brats sure have a lot of energy."
Arisu looked down at the battlefield filled with flying flesh and blood below. His tone revealed neither joy nor anger.
"This isn't bravery. It's stupidity."
"The Sand Village higher-ups never treated these villagers' lives as important.", Hatake Sakumo said angrily.
Perhaps because Arisu had spread education and improved people's quality during his time as acting Hokage...
The average quality of Konoha's people was very high.
Arisu slightly nodded, and chakra suddenly rose around his body.
"Alright, it's our turn."
Hatake Sakumo answered and drew his blade. The silver-white knife cut through the burning air.
"Let's go, Arisu!"
The two figures shot out from the top of the sand dune almost at the same time like afterimages.
The next moment, like two white bolts of lightning crashing into the chaotic battlefield, everywhere they passed, the Sand Village offensive instantly collapsed.
Hatake Sakumo moved like lightning. The White Fang short blade in his hand turned into an endless silver line, slashing sideways to cut off heads and splitting armor apart.
Arisu stood in place while his hands formed seals so fast they became afterimages.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Lightning Style: Earth Flow!"
The five chakra nature techniques beat the Sand Village forces until they completely fell apart.
Anyone who did not know better would think Sarutobi Hiruzen had arrived.
One fought close-range while the other fought from afar. Their coordination was flawless.
Sakumo tore open gaps at the front while Arisu used ninjutsu from the rear to wipe out the remaining enemies.
The Sand Village assault that had originally been unstoppable now looked as fragile as paper before the two of them.
In only a short while, the Sand Village vanguard force leading the charge had already been completely wiped out.
The morale of the Konoha ninja greatly rose, and they shouted as they launched a counterattack.
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