It had to be said, when old man Shuichi Takemoto decided to be domineering, Gisei could only bow down in admiration.
For a long time, Gisei had been trapped in a vicious cycle.
The "Will of Fire" clearly conflicted with his own will, and he had wanted to leave Konoha for ages. But he was worried about his clan members and the Takemoto family living here, afraid that his departure would bring catastrophe upon them.
Eisawa's dying wish still hovered in his mind to this day.
He had been looking for a solution that could handle everything properly. Now that Shuichi had guessed his thoughts, he actually felt relieved.
Some things weighed too heavily on his heart, and he had long wanted someone to talk to, someone to confide in.
"Grandpa Shuichi, since you say that, do you agree with my way of doing things?"
"I do not agree."
Gisei's face fell, covered in imaginary black lines.
If you don't agree, why did you just give such an impassioned speech?
"What I don't agree with is your current method; it's too petty!" Shuichi snapped. "Is your goal just to be a homeless rogue ninja who grows old alone?"
Gisei gradually understood, his eyes lighting up. "What exactly do you mean, Grandpa Shuichi?"
"First, tell me why you gave birth to thoughts of revenge, defection, and destroying Konoha?"
Since the old man had completely seen through him, Gisei no longer hid anything.
"I don't agree with the Will of Fire. I am a selfish guy, and I have no interest in risking my life for some 'Will of Fire.'"
"You might be angry if I say this, but I still have to say it. My clan members and relatives all died for the so-called Will of Fire. In a sense, they were killed by the Will of Fire."
"The Will of Fire is just nonsense used to trick people into sending themselves to their deaths. Just like the saying in the clan about treating ninja butterflies as family—it's all deceitful."
"I want to live a bit more realistically, rather than living in an illusory dream."
After saying all this in one breath, Gisei felt much lighter in his heart. The Will of Fire and all that nonsense was simply the most annoying thing in the world.
After listening, Shuichi shook his head. "You keep talking about the Will of Fire, but do you really understand what it is?"
Gisei curled his lips, not speaking, but the expression on his face was pure disdain.
"Let me tell you what the Will of Fire is. The Will of Fire is to protect the future. It is the inheritance of connected bloodlines."
"The Will of Fire killed your clan members and relatives?"
"If you insist on thinking that way, then they were killed by you. You are their Will of Fire."
Gisei was stunned, and the expression on his face gradually turned bitter.
"If you understood my words, then you should understand what you need to do."
Gisei slowly regained his calm. "Grandpa Shuichi, the future is too far away. I only care about the present. I am just a selfish guy."
"I cannot—and do not want to—become that kind of person. In the final analysis, I just don't have the Will of Fire."
Shuichi sighed, but a strange look flashed in his eyes. "Do you find staying here annoying? Do you think there is no future for you here?"
Gisei nodded calmly.
"Then do you want to go search for your own future?"
Gisei nodded again.
"Then isn't that fine? Being selfish is not a bad thing."
"Your grandfather was much more selfish than you when he was a child. If there was something to eat, he had to take a bite first before giving it to me. He had to learn ninjutsu himself before teaching me."
"Even when taking a wife, he wouldn't allow me to marry before him. Do you think I should hate your grandfather?"
"Quite the opposite. I think your grandfather was amazing."
"He was selfish towards me because he treated me as his own person. Only he was allowed to bully me; he never let anyone else touch me."
"Later, he became the clan leader and was still very selfish, only the object of his selfishness became the clan. Only he was allowed to bully the clan members; no one else was allowed to touch them."
"Whoever dared to bully us, this guy who treated us as his property would fight them to the death."
"Your grandfather always behaved selfishly, and he didn't care if others called him selfish because he knew himself that he was a selfish person."
"But isn't this kind of selfishness good?"
"You were born, and your grandfather felt that the Second Hokage's policies would endanger you, so he didn't hesitate to compete for the title of Hokage. He failed, and he took the entire clan to the battlefield to die."
"The entire clan knew that your grandfather did it just for you, but they still went to the battlefield."
"Why? Wasn't it because they believed that you would be like your grandfather, treating their descendants as your own property to protect?"
Gisei fell into a long silence.
"You think there is no future here and want to search for your own future. Since that's the case, why leave your property to others?"
"Didn't you say you are a selfish person? Then be selfish for me to see. Take all your property away and go search for your so-called future."
"The Will of Fire is indeed the future, but our Will of Fire has nothing to do with Konoha's Will of Fire."
"Our Will of Fire is you and those children in the clan who have not yet grown up."
"Konoha's Will of Fire is merely the continuation of the village. People existed before the village, not Konoha before the people."
"If one disregards the clan merely for the continuation of the village, it is simply putting the cart before the horse."
Hearing these words from Shuichi, a flush appeared on Gisei's calm face. He finally understood why he always felt out of place in this village.
The Third Hokage had to make various compromises for the continuation of the village. Danzo had to purge ninja clans for the continuation of the village.
They regarded the interests of Konoha too highly while ignoring the people who actually made up Konoha.
This was truly putting the cart before the horse.
They used this inverted Will of Fire to fool generation after generation of Konoha villagers. Even someone as strong as Madara Uchiha was defeated under this inverted Will of Fire.
Hashirama Senju did not allow Madara to harm this village.
Tobirama Senju perfectly inherited his brother's will and carried it forward.
Under the influence of the previous two Hokages, the Third Hokage also inherited this inverted Will of Fire.
A country must first have people, and then it will evolve into a state. It is because one lives in this country that one contributes to it.
If the country abandons you, why should you stay?
For Konoha, they must establish the supreme status of the Hokage because this is beneficial to Konoha's development. Therefore, "obsolete" things like ninja clans became a cancer.
This cancer would cause Konoha's development to become deformed, so both the Third Hokage and Danzo were desperate to cure the village.
The Third Hokage chose traditional medicine with relatively mild effects.
Danzo chose to be a butcher who chopped wherever it hurt.
As for Gisei Shiraishi? Well, he was the biggest cancer of them all.
Even the current Uchiha clan wasn't as much of a tumor as he was.