A ninja should have full awareness of their own abilities and never easily attempt anything beyond those capabilities. In this sense, the Konoha Advisors' attitude is absolutely correct.
As top-level decision-makers responsible for a nation's military strength, "playing it safe" is always better than being reckless. There's nothing wrong with choosing conservatism over innovation if one lacks the spirit for exploration.
Overall, the mindset of Konoha's leadership is justified. Therefore comes a question...In their eyes, Haseo's attempts to stir things up are particularly annoying, making him personally appear despicable.
However?
Are Haseo's opinions really wrong? Not necessarily. It's just that people see things from different perspectives.
The world is currently wandering around with a walking nuclear bomb, yet the strongest organization in existence acts as if it doesn't even know about it—Haseo doesn't think that situation makes any sense at all.
Lacking an enterprising spirit is a huge problem. If the highest decision-making levels maintain such an attitude, then Konoha will surely decline step by step…Viewed this way, Sansho's Ninja Village surpasses the First's Ninja Village by far.
"Whether or not we can capture Two-Tails and how Kumo will react afterward are all future matters requiring careful negotiation and gradual testing. Before any of that though, you've already boxed yourselves in, smugly thinking caution alone gives you a glimpse into the future. I couldn't disagree more.
The predecessors entrusted this village to you all, yet is this truly how leaders should behave? Calling your strategy 'prudent' sounds good, avoiding unnecessary trouble during peacetime—but actually, you haven't fulfilled your duties at all.
You're even afraid of fulfilling them.
Since the death of the Second, Kumo has continuously maintained an aggressive stance, so now should we fear confrontation and let our strategic mindset retreat little by little?
Second Hokage, could this possibly be what you wished to see—a stagnant Konoha whose power continuously weakens—or did you hope to witness a flourishing, increasingly prosperous Konoha?"
Though he claimed to be terrible at public speaking, Haseo's words were extremely sharp, especially his last sentence—it felt like cutting right into their very souls...Perhaps after some incident, he'd become addicted to that feeling of piercing someone's conscience.
That speech practically dared to accuse them of being idiots chosen by the Second Hokage.
But Haseo's statements indeed seem somewhat indifferent to the difficulties faced by the village itself.
For managers, every decision requires careful consideration. The decline of Konoha isn't simply attributable to a few individuals' mistakes alone.
Therefore, Haseo's remarks are basically equivalent to trolling behavior. But it is hard to refute someone who scolds others from a moral high ground.
This kind of armchair criticism really gets under your skin.
Regardless of anything else, the fact remains—the present Konoha has declined since the Second's time…Isn't that exactly true? Even Senju ninja no longer fight with the same fearless abandon as before.
So wouldn't such a "decline" squarely fall under the responsibility of the village's leadership?
No one could possibly argue against that.
The Third Hokage shot Haseo a sideways glance, silently acknowledging that the man was subtly criticizing him too.
"Hyuuga, no one asked for your opinion on Konoha's current overall situation. Let's stay focused and not stray off topic... We're only discussing the Two-Tails here. If you have concrete thoughts, share them. Otherwise, keep quiet."
Fully aware of the Nine-Tails' division plan, the Third Hokage also understood Haseo's intentions regarding the Two-Tails, so his words were already generous enough.
"As a young man, I got a bit carried away when thinking about the village's future," Haseo sincerely apologized to everyone, appearing just like a genuine inheritor of the Will of Fire who truly cared about Konoha's future.
But in reality? He wasn't even considered radical.
He simply didn't care much for certain things, nor did he fear offending the Konoha elders since both he and Nagare operated directly under the Third Hokage's leadership, having little to do with the elders...
Moreover, as an outsider by nature, Haseo had never been remotely close to becoming Hokage, so antagonizing these people severely wouldn't matter anyway since he didn't need support from the elders.
Still, his straightforward apology made the elders fume even more—it left no room for rebuttal whatsoever.
A young man could speak freely, but surely the elders couldn't stoop down to his level and fire back recklessly.
"Getting back to the subject," Haseo continued, "I believe we should at least lead a team close enough to the Two-Tails. As to how exactly we handle the Two-Tails, we'll make decisions based on the circumstances.
If we appear overly passive in matters like this, other ninja villages will misjudge Konoha's strength. If others perceive Konoha as weak and exploitable... a gradual erosion of our deterrent power won't serve the village well in the long term."
For a change, Haseo actually sounded rational. If logic were needed, he could easily produce ten or eight persuasive arguments to support his case.
"So you're saying the captain leading the team near the Two-Tails needs autonomy over tactical decisions on-site?" Danzo Shimura interjected. After getting scolded earlier, he was dragged unwillingly back into the issue at hand. Though resentful and furious, he could do nothing but stick to the matter.
"Yeah, I think there's nothing wrong with attempting to capture the Two-Tails if the opportunity arises — at worst, we can always return it to Kumo afterward. But when we politely 'return what belongs to others,' our friends shouldn't be allowed to accept it outright without effort—they should offer something in exchange.
Everyone understands the value of tailed beasts very well.
If outright capture isn't feasible, we can at least disrupt rival villages or groups attempting to seize the Two-Tails, asserting Konoha's presence... Even during peaceful times, major nations must maintain their deterrence.
At the very least, we should remain closely monitoring and exert pressure over such activities. Konoha is the strongest ninja village—why should we be polite to others? Are we expecting favors in return?"
Haseo's argument made sense, yet came across as overbearing. In truth, he might have been better suited for Kumo from the start rather than choosing Konoha.
But these explanations were actually meant for others. The Third Hokage understood exactly what Haseo was after with the Two-Tails—he simply wanted to practice on other Tailed Beasts before operating on the Nine-Tails, since he wouldn't be upset if someone else's property got damaged...
The Third shared similar thoughts as well. The Nine-Tails was a precious asset to Konoha, and without any prior experience, starting operations directly on it made even the Hokage anxious.
Therefore, although the Third was fundamentally a leader who preferred stability, he leaned toward supporting Haseo's seemingly radical approach—because taking risks with the Two-Tails was actually the cautious approach regarding the Nine-Tails. This logic, the Hokage fully understood.
"What you're saying is... you should be the one with on-site decision-making authority?"
The Third pretended to have a headache as he asked Lord Haseo—the question was actually intended for everyone else present.
"Well, I just believe the Kagenami is best equipped for a mission like this."
Haseo nodded shamelessly.
Viewed purely by results, Haseo truly was extremely reliable; every mission he undertook had been successfully completed. But when you examined how he actually completed those missions, it painted a completely different picture—because everyone knew that trouble inevitably followed wherever Haseo went.
Every so-called "stable" result was stitched together from one unstable incident after another—it was truly bizarre.
After that comment though, everyone now felt like they'd finally caught onto Haseo's hidden motives.
Of course, the Uzumaki clan's relocation wouldn't—and couldn't—remain hidden from Konoha's upper echelons. Therefore, they all knew there were many Uzumaki ninja within the Kagenami. So wasn't Haseo's aggressiveness and eagerness just an attempt to demonstrate his organization's presence, highlight its importance, and thereby secure benefits for the Kagenami?
See what I mean? When people get bogged down in politics, they always end up with tunnel vision.
"We understand your reasoning. We'll review the matter and let you know our decision."
The Third waved his hand, signaling for Haseo to leave—it was time for a high-level strategy session behind closed doors.
No doubt, the Third would try to convince the others to accept this plan. Although the Elders believed the Hokage stood on the same side as them, in reality, the Hokage was secretly Haseo's mole—something no one would ever suspect.
...
After leaving the Hokage Building, Haseo stretched lazily and stepped onto the street.
"Let's go. Now we only need to wait for the result. Before that, we must complete our preparations first."
Shikou opened her mouth slightly, but ultimately couldn't help whispering, "Lord Haseo... do you genuinely care about Konoha's future so much that you're truly upset over some of the decisions made by the leadership?"
Haseo glanced back at her, then shook his head with a smile. "Not quite. I'm just proving how easy it is to criticize people—you know, like it's something anyone can do effortlessly."
Shikou muttered, "..."
W-What does that even mean?! Are you trying to show off or something? Like criticizing people is some kind of elite skill now? Making it sound like ranting has become some refined art form?
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