"The Land of Rain has already declared war on Konoha, hasn't it? A great war is about to begin. When that happens, the lives of civilians will only become even more miserable!"
"If the Daimyo continue like this, a revolution in the Land of Fire is not impossible. As for the Land of Rain—it has long needed a revolution!"
Jiraiya's heart trembled. "Then… what should be done?"
"Now that we understand the corruption of this world, if we want to break it, we need power!"
"Ninja?" Jiraiya asked.
"No. The number of ninja is too small—they cannot bring about a world revolution. The civilians must gain power!" Kagerō said firmly.
"But how? They can't practice Jutsu. The gap is too large…" Jiraiya couldn't figure it out.
Kagerō smiled faintly.
"The power lies within books. Let's go to the library here and search for that power."
"You said before that knowledge changes destiny… but now books can also give power???"
Kagerō grinned.
"Books don't just contain power—they also contain wealth, beautiful women, food… even airplanes and cannons. Do you believe it?"
At that moment, everyone watching fell into confusion.
Books… contain wealth? Women? Food?
And what the hell are airplanes and cannons?
And he even asked if they believed it!
Believe you? Believe what?!
If those things were real, civilians could gain power?
What kind of joke was that?!
Uchiha Madara: "What power could possibly be in books? Does reading them awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Fourth Raikage: "Books are just filled with words—what else could there be? Wealth? Women? Where are they?"
Onoki: "Wait… books really contain food? Which one? Let me see. My Land of Earth is severely lacking in grain!"
Tsunade: "He means the knowledge inside books can achieve these things! What are you all even thinking???"
Senju Hashirama: "Exactly. Madara, aside from Jutsu scrolls, reading anything else probably gives you a headache, right? Hahaha!"
Uchiha Madara: "So what if it does?! Are you insulting me?!"
Senju Tobirama: "But can current knowledge truly grant civilians power? As far as I know, the current level of technology is still very low."
Orochimaru: "Technology has advanced significantly over the decades… but for civilians to gain power from it… that's still extremely difficult!"
"So what exactly does this Kagerō intend to do? I'm very curious!"
One was the creator of countless forbidden Jutsu—Senju Tobirama—who had read extensively.
The other was the only true scientist in this world—Orochimaru—whose understanding of technology ran deep.
Yet neither of them could find, within existing knowledge, a way to empower civilians.
After all, whether it was cell transplantation, the Sharingan, or the Byakugan—
All required a strong physical foundation.
Without it, if an ordinary civilian attempted such things—
There would only be one outcome.
Death.
And a miserable one at that.
Nagato: "I'm also curious… how he plans to give power to civilians who cannot use Jutsu."
"If it were that simple, we wouldn't have sought Jiraiya as our teacher back then."
Inside the Daimyo's capital—
As they watched Kagerō head toward the library, the Daimyo burst into laughter, their tension easing.
The Fire Country Daimyo sneered.
"Hohohoho… don't tell me he's going to study swordsmithing or something. Those things are worthless against ninja!"
"He already understands that we and the ninja are one and the same, yet he still fantasizes about strengthening civilians through knowledge. What a ridiculous dream!"
"Exactly. Even if civilians were given weapons, they wouldn't have the courage to fight ninja!"
The Cloud Country Daimyo laughed loudly.
"We were tense just a moment ago over that land reform nonsense, and now it's all gone! Hahaha!"
"Forget ninja—even if we recruited ordinary people ourselves, we could easily slaughter them!"
"Hahaha, exactly!" The Earth Country Daimyo nodded, and the others joined in.
"This Kagerō actually thinks he can revolutionize the entire world—how absurd!"
"Even if the world is corrupt, under our power and the ninja, it remains unshakable!"
"Those lowly civilians are meant to be enslaved by us for generations!"
"They don't even understand what nobility is. We are the nobles—they are born inferior, destined to live like this forever!"
"We grant them life, so they live. If we deny it, they die. How kind we are!"
"Hahahahahaha…!"
Their mocking laughter echoed through the Daimyo's capital.
The surrounding nobles nodded in agreement.
They were the ruling class.
The masters of the world!
Those lowly civilians had no right to enjoy a better life.
Because they were born inferior!
When the journey resumed—
The group now had three carriages.
Not because Jiraiya had suddenly become rich—
But because Kagerō had bought far too many books.
From social sciences, history, geography, and education…
To medicine, agriculture, and scientific techniques…
From mathematics and chemistry to industrial technology, biology…
Even transportation and logistics.
There were simply too many!
Even a batch of Jutsu scrolls had been added…
In the end, they had no choice but to hire three carriages and head toward Konoha.
Jiraiya looked at Kagerō, who was constantly reading and taking notes—
And was completely dumbfounded.
Could one person even finish reading all of this?
Could an eight-year-old child even understand it?
"Uh… Mr. Kagerō," Jiraiya asked, pointing at the mountain of books around them, "you… can understand all of these?"