Naruto: I Kill, I Loot, I Ascend

Chapter 220: The War’s End Is Finally Set in Stone

The delegations from the Four Great Ninja Villages finally arrived in Konoha.

As for the defeated side—

There was also Amegakure.

But both Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the Rain Country, which had already turned into a wasteland, and silently chose not to bring it up.

The Four Great Villages also pretended to forget.

There was simply nothing left to squeeze out of Amegakure.

Even the Rain Country they relied on had been reduced to this miserable state.

No one even knew whether Amegakure could still sustain itself.

Perhaps without anyone doing anything—

Amegakure would simply disappear into history.

After the four delegations entered Konoha, the entire village fell into a strange silence.

The calm streets hid an unknown number of Konoha ninja.

If the visiting shinobi made even the slightest suspicious move—

They would immediately face fierce retaliation from countless Konoha ninja.

The relationships between the Five Great Villages had not improved with the end of the Second Shinobi World War.

If anything—

They hated each other even more.

War was a catalyst for hatred.

Arin sat atop the Hokage Building, looking down at the four delegations below.

None of the famous figures from the other villages had come.

The ones present were all relatively unknown jōnin.

After all, the famous ninja were the foundations of their villages.

If they came to Konoha and Konoha decided to play dirty and detain them—

It would severely damage the other villages.

Even though Konoha always maintained an image of righteousness—

Ninja themselves were shadowy professionals.

Deception was one of their most important qualities.

Why would the other villages still trust them?

In fact—

The ninja sent here had likely come with the resolve to die.

"The hatred between the five villages has only deepened," said Nawaki, who stood beside Arin.

He looked down at the four teams with a troubled expression.

Although Nawaki had not fought on the main battlefield—and his only battle had basically been a formality—

He had still witnessed the pain of war.

His comrades had died right before his eyes.

If Arin hadn't joined later on, Nawaki didn't know how many more comrades he would have watched die.

Perhaps even himself.

"That's war," Arin said, casually swinging his legs.

"War brings death. It brings sorrow."

"Ninja who have nowhere to vent those emotions turn them into hatred for enemy villages."

Unlike Nawaki, Arin wasn't lamenting the hatred between people.

Instead—

He was thinking about something else.

If I combine the Rinnegan and upgrade it to max level…

Then drop a few Chibaku Tensei meteors here…

Would I instantly gain over ten million experience points?

A straight launch to the sky.

He could ascend together with Konoha.

That would be quite the beautiful scene.

At that moment—

Every ninja in Konoha suddenly shivered.

The Four Villages suspected Konoha was planning something.

Meanwhile, Konoha's ninja suspected the Four Villages had ulterior motives.

The atmosphere grew even more tense.

"So…" Nawaki began.

He wanted to say—

If people could understand each other, perhaps hatred would disappear.

Maybe villages could coexist peacefully.

But Arin interrupted him.

"As long as all ninja belong to a single force, even if hatred exists, the worst that'll happen is a fistfight to vent anger."

"No one would take each other's lives."

"For example—"

"A country entirely built by ninja."

"As long as humans still have desires, war will never disappear."

"The best we can do is shrink war step by step."

"From battles of life and death…"

"To nothing more than verbal conflicts."

The true poison of the ninja world wasn't just the ninja themselves.

There were also nobles manipulating things from the shadows.

Nawaki nodded.

He also believed that unification was the only path to peace.

Then he slapped his forehead.

What was he even thinking earlier?

"Mutual understanding eliminates war? That's complete nonsense."

If someone only wanted to rob your wealth and property out of pure malice—

Were you supposed to "understand" them?

And hand over everything?

What kind of joke was that?

Nawaki suddenly felt something was wrong.

His expression turned serious.

"Brother Arin."

"Hm?" Arin looked at him, confused.

Nawaki spoke quietly.

"If one day you realize I'm no longer myself…"

"Kill me."

Arin tilted his head and looked Nawaki up and down.

"You're worried you'll change in the future?"

"That's a bit extreme, don't you think?"

If Nawaki died—

Then Arin really wouldn't have any friends left in this world.

At that point…

Should he start with Konoha first?

Or blow up Konoha first?

Such a difficult decision.

Arin fell into deep contemplation, completely ignoring Nawaki's words.

Nawaki's expression went blank.

He looked down at the delegations below.

His thoughts churned.

"No matter what you are… or who you are…"

"You won't influence me."

"Even if I'm gone, Brother Arin will fulfill my wish."

He firmly believed that.

Though—

He did wonder how many ninja would still be left in the world by then.

Then again—

If all ninja disappeared, that might also be a kind of peace.

Nawaki rubbed his forehead helplessly.

Maybe entrusting everything to Arin wasn't the best idea.

Perhaps someone else should do it.

Minato seems like a good choice.

"The war is finally over," Arin sighed.

Once negotiations began, it meant everyone had already decided not to continue fighting.

"I've got something to do. I'm heading out."

Arin's figure instantly disappeared.

Only a small blue flame flickered briefly before extinguishing.

Danzo stood in the shadows.

Arin appeared silently behind him.

Without turning around, Danzo asked,

"Well? Did they have any hidden intentions?"

Arin had been sent to observe the visiting delegations.

Of course, other Hyuga clan members were also monitoring them.

But Arin represented Root.

"No explosive tags. No hidden personnel," Arin reported.

Danzo snorted.

"As expected. They wouldn't dare try anything."

Then why send me?

Arin rolled his eyes.

"Lord Danzo," he said suddenly.

"Our squad's been pretty idle lately."

"Any missions?"

Danzo glanced at him in surprise.

It seemed assigning Arin to the Second Squad had been the right decision.

He was even actively requesting missions.

Arin continued,

"I checked our squad's workload."

"It's way too low."

"We're not even meeting Root's KPI."

"How about setting a quota?"

"Let's say… one hundred ninja per month."

"What do you think, Lord Danzo?"

"That would be twelve hundred per year."

"It's a bit low, but at least it'll meet Root's KPI."

"If the Uchiha aren't enough, we can supplement with the Hyuga main branch."

Danzo's face turned darker and darker.

Finally—

He spun around and roared:

"GET LOST!!!"

"Are you trying to slaughter the entire village?!"

"And since when does Root have KPIs?!"

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