After realizing that he was the biggest tumor in Konoha, Gisei Shiraishi felt terrible.
No wonder he always felt out of place in the village; it turned out his very existence was a danger to it.
Gisei had ten thousand curse words he wanted to say, but he didn't know who to say them to.
Forget it, he'd just scream them into the void.
Gisei pushed Shuichi Takemoto's wheelchair slowly. The old man wasn't in a hurry either; some things just needed to be thought over carefully.
After thinking for a good while, Gisei hesitated and asked, "Does Grandpa Shuichi mean for me to defect with the clan?"
Shuichi looked back at him expressionlessly. "Why should we be the ones to flee?"
Gisei scratched his head. He couldn't figure out what the old man meant.
Suddenly, Shuichi reached out and grabbed his ear, cursing, "You little brat, can't you have some ambition? Always fleeing, fleeing, fleeing. Are you a rat born to burrow into holes?"
Gisei didn't dare to dodge. Being grabbed by the ear and scolded by Shuichi was something he just had to accept; after all, this old guy didn't have many days left to live.
"Ouch, ouch... Grandpa Shuichi, let go! There are so many people on the street, save me some face!"
Shuichi slapped him hard on the head. "Brat, let me tell you, running away before a fight is simply losing face for your ancestors."
"Don't forget, your grandfather, your parents, your uncle, all the clansmen who died in battle are buried here. Without saying a word, you want to take their descendants and run?"
"What, you're just going to leave the ancestors here and ignore them?"
"I'm going to be buried here too. So before I'm even dead, you want to take away everyone who would burn paper money for my spirit?"
"You're simply worse than a beast."
Shuichi cursed Gisei furiously, scolding him thoroughly. Gisei just stood there, looking left and right, then casually picked his ear.
Only after Shuichi calmed down did Gisei start pushing him forward again.
"Grandpa Shuichi, what exactly do you mean? What do you want me to do?"
"Fight for it first."
"Fight for what?"
"Hokage."
Gisei stared blankly. "...What's the use of fighting for that thing?"
"Once you win it, you can openly kill them."
"Kill who?"
"Didn't you want revenge? You can kill whoever you want."
Gisei felt like he was being duped by this old guy. Thinking about it, he asked again, "What if I can't win?"
Shuichi replied grumpily, "Then run. Pack up your things, pack up the people, and take them all away."
Gisei was speechless. "..."
"Didn't you just scold me for betraying the ancestors?"
"Brat, let me tell you, you are our last chance. If you can't win, run quickly. Betraying the ancestors is better than having no descendants at all."
Gisei was speechless again. This old man's thinking was too advanced; he couldn't quite keep up.
"Even if I win it, it's impossible to just kill whoever I want. Otherwise, how could the Third have lived until now?"
"I say you're stupid and you really are stupid. After winning the Hokage position, control the next Hokage, and then slowly work on it generation by generation. Sooner or later, make sure those guys have no descendants."
This old man was truly ruthless.
"If I go fight for it, many people will die."
"If you don't fight, will no one die?"
Gisei understood. Even if he didn't fight for it, that guy Danzo wouldn't let him have an easy time. If he wanted to take all his clansmen away from Konoha, the Third wouldn't agree to such a thing either.
Fight first. If you can't win, run. If you can't run, then fight.
What a simple and crude way of thinking. Sure enough, these old things who had lived from the Warring States Period until now were not simple characters.
If Gisei didn't know the future development, he might have really done just that. Unfortunately, he knew very well how great a price one had to pay to fight for the Hokage position.
The Second Great Ninja War would happen within these few years barring any unexpected events; strange rumors about the Land of Rain had been increasing in Konoha recently.
If he wanted to fight for the Hokage position, he had to go to the battlefield to gain merit and prestige. This would fall exactly into the trap of the Third and Danzo.
One must know that ever since Konoha started the Second Great Ninja War, war had almost never ceased. Not many years after the Second War finished came the Third War. It would take at least twenty-plus years for the Third War to completely end.
How many people would die in these twenty-plus years of war? Even if he and the ninja clans behind him all died, it probably wouldn't be nearly enough.
So the position of Hokage was like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey; you could only look at it but never eat it.
In that case, it would be better to directly take the clansmen and leave Konoha.
It was just that Gisei knew very well that taking the clansmen away from Konoha was not such a simple matter either. The clansmen lived in Konoha with ample food and clothing. If you wanted to take them away for no reason, only a fool would follow you.
The final outcome would only be like Madara Uchiha, leaving Konoha alone.
In the past, Gisei might have been quite happy with this outcome. He could comfort himself that this wasn't his fault, that they were unwilling to follow him.
But now...
Gisei sighed. He was human after all, and could never escape the limitations of being human.
He could toy with those prisoners in Butterfly Habitat Valley without any emotion because he knew he captured them to do exactly that. If it weren't for the experiments, he would have killed those prisoners cleanly during the mission.
But towards those people in the clan, after getting along with them for these few years, he ultimately had some different feelings.
Just as Shuichi said, in a sense, they were indeed his property. There was no reason to throw his property to others to spend, letting others ruin them.
Thinking of this, a glint flashed in Gisei's eyes.
"Have you thought it through?" Shuichi's voice rang in his ears.
Gisei exhaled a breath of stale air and smiled. "I've thought it through."
"I've already told you my thoughts. Can you tell me yours?"
"I don't plan to fight for Hokage."
"Why?"
"There's no point."
Shuichi sighed. "It seems you are determined to leave here."
Gisei remained silent and didn't speak.
"What do you plan to do about your clansmen?"
"Take those I can. For those I can't, there's no helping it."
"Have you thought about the life you'll face after taking them away?"
Gisei frowned. After leaving Konoha, they would be rogue ninjas and would undoubtedly be hunted by the village.
If it were just him alone, it wouldn't matter, but taking the clansmen along definitely wouldn't work. Not only would their livelihood not be guaranteed, they wouldn't even be able to see hope.
Is it really okay for me to do this? Or establish a village like Orochimaru?
Not hearing Gisei's answer for a long time, Shuichi understood.
"Don't be in a hurry to make a decision. Go back and think about it carefully."
"This is your era now. The future relies on you to pioneer it."
Gisei pushed him for a while longer before sending him back.