Not that the original series was much better in regards to war and conflict.
In the end, there was no resolution to the matter of war and conflict.
In fact, Shiki did not think there was any real progress being made at all.
Things were at their best directly at the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War but progressively went downhill from there.
There were many reasons for this but if the boy had to pick just one . . .
Unwillingness to use one's power and prestige.
At the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Naruto and Sasuke were the strongest in the world with unrivalled prestige as saviors.
Sasuke had the stain of his past crimes but Naruto was the literal messiah of the Shinobi World at that point.
If ever there was a time to overturn the old system, that was it.
Instead everything was kept the same but with the Five Great Hidden Villages now allying.
Even this alliance became shakier and shakier as time went on.
Even after becoming Hokage and attaining the authority to make major decisions, Naruto was reduced to a common bureaucrat, unwilling to use his power to influence global matters.
Political issues piled on, old promises like supporting the ruined Land of Rain and Amegakure were forgotten, and the most powerful shinobi in the history of the world was buried in paperwork.
In the end, he was too soft.
Forgiving everyone for everything which just encourages others to push harder and act more unreasonable.
Hell, Naruto spoke up for Obito in front of Madara, declared forgiveness and supported his redemption.
That was the man responsible for killing his parents and devastating his village, ensuring his suffering-filled childhood, one of the main culprits of the massacre of his best friend's clan, someone who plunged the whole world into a massive deadly war.
All because his childhood sweetheart for whom he had an unrequited crush tragically died in war.
What kind of person can forgive someone for all that crap?
At that point, Shiki almost felt Naruto himself should be put to death for supporting such an irredeemable criminal.
As for his tenure as the Seventh Hokage, it was just disastrous.
Why is Konoha, home of two shinobi powerful enough to take on the entire world by themselves, succumbing to things like political pressure and threats of war along with secession from the Shinobi Alliance by the Land of Earth and Iwa.
In fact, Naruto's soft attitude is the only reason they even dared to act like that.
Reality was, the moment Iwa declared hostilities, they could simply be declared a threat to the hard won peace and utterly annihilated in a single day.
Overly harsh? Maybe so.
But the reality was that even Hashirama who was weaker than Seventh Hokage Naruto managed to maintain world peace better.
Because everyone knew he was willing and capable of using his power to crush anyone that dared to try and break the peace.
Be it his overly forgiving nature or his soft political stances, Shiki did not believe Naruto to be a suitable Hokage.
In the boy's opinion, such an ignorant and naive, yet extremely powerful individual was better off being a regular Shinobi taking orders from a much better leader.
*
'I'm letting my thoughts wander way too much and letting the possibility of a future that will never come to pass hold too much space in my mind.' Shiki shook off the mental haze.
He and Nanashi had already spent too much time speaking on matters of war and touching on his harsher political beliefs. It was best for him to steer the conversation in another direction for the time being.
And just as it happened, Shiki realized there was a very important piece of information he had yet to discuss with the girl.
Her name.
He had never asked for it and never called her by it.
'In fact, if memory serves, she doesn't even remember having an actual name.' The boy internally realized.
"Changing the subject . . . I noticed you never introduced yourself." Shiki directly broached the matter.
The girl fell silent.
It was not like she did not want to introduce herself, it did not even slip her mind.
Nanashi was actually very conscious of her nameless existence, it could even be said to be one of the core pillars of her suffering.
A grim reminder that to everyone she ever knew, she was sub-human, a tool, a weapon, a thing.
For a long time, the girl did not speak.
Eventually though, she quietly muttered a dispassionate answer.
"Uchiha Nanashi . . . That's what they called me." She said.
"You clearly don't like it though." Shiki commented.
The girl responded with a quiet but depressing forced smile, as if trying to change reality through sheer stubbornness and pretending she was fine with it.
"Actually, when I was doing my research after I discovered your existence, I managed to find out your birth name, the name your parents gave you." The boy suddenly dropped a bomb.
"M-My p-parents?" It was like the word was foreign to the girl's tongue.
"Yes, apparently they died when you were very young, probably the trigger for your Mangekyo awakening." Shiki responded.
'It is probably a repressed traumatic memory though. Still, I thought the memory that triggers the Mangekyo's awakening remains very entrenched and on the forefront of the bearer's mind but it seems that is not necessarily the case.' He pondered.
Nanashi seemed genuinely lost and did not know what to do with herself.
"M-My name . . . What was my name?" She whispered the question, almost as if afraid to hear the answer for some reason.
"It was just a small anecdote I found regarding your origin, written by someone in the Uchiha clan. Your parents named you Hikari, hoping you'd live a good life under the light of the sun." Shiki finally revealed.
Beyond her control, tears streamed down Hikari's face.
It was like she was human once again.
The magic of a name she could truly call her own.
Reality's cruel irony did not escape her though.
Her parents named her Hikari wanting sunshine for her but the rest of her clan shut her away in a cave whenever she was not on the battlefield.
Because the presence of the Moon allowed her to maximize the range and power of her Engraved Tsukuyomi and Yachihoko, most of her battles were fought in the darkness of night as well.
Truly a life lived the furthest away from light possible.
"Uchiha Hikari . . . I have to say, it suits you. A pretty name for a pretty girl." Shiki casually commented, a wicked glint in his eyes.
And he still wondered why girls seemed to always want a piece of him.
The girl became as red as a cooked shrimp.
"Your liberation from the seal is a rebirth, the start of a new life. Maybe you can live this one by your name and on your own terms." The boy commented with a smile.
Trails of tears and a heavy blush still gracing her face, Hikari rushed into Shiki's arms, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.
"Is that really okay?" The girl asked in a small voice.
"A life under the sun, one where I choose my own way . . ." She murmured.
To that, Shiki just smiled.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -