"Since you're Minato-senpai's friend… then I'll call you Jin-nii."
Now that they knew about the connection to Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato, Yahiko and the others lowered their guard considerably.
Jin smiled. "That works."
Yahiko leaned forward.
"Jin-nii… let's set aside Lord Hanzo and Shimura Danzo for now. Can you tell us more about that idea of yours? The one about ending conflict?"
Even after everything that had happened, he hadn't forgotten the most important thing.
He wanted to know how to stop war.
Nagato and Konan both turned toward Jin as well.
Jin didn't stall.
"The method is actually simple."
"All we have to do… is change our standpoint."
"Change our standpoint?" Yahiko frowned. "What does that mean?"
Jin chuckled lightly.
"The world is complicated. So let's simplify it first."
"Imagine two people locked inside a cage. Every day, they're given only one steamed bun."
"What do you think will happen?"
"They'll fight for it," Yahiko answered without hesitation. "One bun isn't enough. If they want to survive, they have to compete for that single resource."
Jin nodded.
"Human nature has its bright sides. But when survival is at stake, most people will fight for the only chance to live."
"In this scenario—"
"The cage is the world."
"The two people are competitors."
"And the bun represents limited resources."
He paused.
"Now let me add one more variable."
"What if the two people inside the cage are close friends? Brothers? Father and son?"
"What changes?"
The three exchanged looks.
Nagato spoke first.
"If it were me and Yahiko… I'd give him the bun."
"Hey—!" Yahiko turned toward him, visibly moved.
Jin smiled faintly.
"And you'd do the same for Nagato, wouldn't you?"
"Of course!" Yahiko answered immediately.
"Good."
Jin leaned back slightly.
"So what changed?"
Yahiko hesitated.
"Because we're friends? Because of love? So the solution is still… understanding and compassion?"
Jin: "..."
Yahiko scratched his head.
"Did I say something wrong?"
Jin coughed softly.
"On the surface, yes—it looks like compassion."
"But fundamentally?"
"It's a shift in standpoint."
"At first, the two people in the cage stand on separate positions. They act for themselves."
"That creates conflict."
"But when the two become you and Nagato—"
"You now stand on the same side."
"Same standpoint."
"And because you share a position, you don't fight over the bun."
"You might even work together to solve the shortage."
Yahiko's eyes widened.
He slapped the table.
"So the best way to resolve conflict is to put everyone on the same standpoint!"
"Exactly." Jin nodded approvingly. "You're quick to grasp things."
"No—it's just that you explained it clearly," Yahiko replied honestly.
Then he frowned again.
"But changing standpoints sounds easy. Actually doing it… must be difficult."
"That," Jin said, "is what I'm about to explain."
He grew serious.
"What do you think a village is?"
"A village?" Yahiko blinked.
He was from the Land of Rain—but not originally from Amegakure. The concept wasn't something he'd deeply considered.
Jin continued without waiting.
"Before the One Country, One Village system was established, the world was in the Warring States Era."
"Ninja clans and mercenary groups slaughtered each other for resources."
"It was like placing your cage and Nagato's cage among dozens of other cages."
"You and Nagato share a standpoint—your clan."
"But your cage and the others?"
"Different standpoints again."
"Then decades ago, the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan stepped forward and founded the first village—Konohagakure."
"That act unified dozens of separate cages into one larger standpoint."
"Internal conflicts didn't vanish—but they diminished."
"They could now be managed."
"Negotiated."
"Or… redirected outward."
"Just like the beginning of the Third Great Ninja War."
Yahiko blinked.
"Wasn't the Third War triggered by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure?"
Jin shook his head.
"That was the spark."
"Not the true beginning."
"In reality, Sunagakure had suffered heavy losses in the previous war."
"Combined with disputes between the village and the Daimyō of the Land of Wind, their finances collapsed."
"Internal contradictions intensified."
"When internal conflicts can't be resolved—"
"Leaders sometimes choose to eliminate the source of tension."
"They used the Kazekage's disappearance as justification."
"They unified the village by creating a larger external enemy."
"They replaced small internal conflicts with a larger external one."
"When the war ended?"
"The village was in ruins."
"Reconstruction required manpower."
"Old disputes quietly faded away."
"It's the same for Iwagakure, Kumogakure… most major villages."
"Every war is, in essence, a reshuffling of internal利益—internal interests."
"That's why Sunagakure, the weakest of the Five Great Nations, dared to declare war on the strongest—Konoha."
Silence fell.
Yahiko's expression grew heavy.
"So… war is also a tool to resolve internal contradictions…"
"I really did oversimplify things."
Nagato looked at Jin.
"Jin-nii… even if people share a greater standpoint, smaller standpoints still exist. So conflict remains."
Jin nodded.
"Correct."
"As long as individuals exist, personal利益 will exist."
"So true peace is impossible?" Nagato asked quietly.
"Not at all."
Jin smiled.
"A greater shared standpoint is only the first step."
"Once a unified position exists, smaller conflicts can be resolved through peaceful mechanisms."
He paused.
"And the second step?"
"Liberating productivity."
The three stared at him.
A new idea was about to unfold.
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