When I watched Naruto in my past life, I always had a poor impression of Kumogakure.
It is undeniable that the ninjas of Kumogakure are united and loyal, and their internal structure is quite harmonious. But the village is warlike, aggressive, and leaves destruction in its wake. Judging from the information currently possessed by Chao Yanqian, the disappearance of many small villages including the downfall of the Uzumaki clan is closely related to Kumogakure.
Of course, this is also because Chao Yanqian has been looking at it from Konoha's standpoint. If Chao Yanqian had traveled to Kumogakure in this lifetime, he would probably have disliked Konoha instead.
Just treat it as the waywardness of the strong!
As a ninja of Konoha, Chao Yanqian harbored no goodwill toward Kumogakure, which took advantage of Konoha's weakness to launch attacks. Coupled with various factors that Chao Yanqian considered for his own interests, it is clear that the destruction of Kumogakure had always been planned.
Boom!
The [Cherry Blossom Impact] (Sakura's variant of the Strength of a Hundred technique) slammed into a stone peak continuously and with great speed. The towering stone formation shattered inch by inch from the base and quickly collapsed. As it fell, the buildings atop it crumbled into ruins.
"Stop it, you demon!" Yugito was fast and soon caught up with Chao Yanqian. Her beast-like transformed body launched a direct attack on him.
After a brief exchange, Yugito was thrown aside by Chao Yanqian, and the destruction of Kumogakure resumed.
Mountain peaks collapsed, and Kumogakure was reduced to rubble in the blink of an eye. Though Yugito desperately pursued Chao Yanqian, he was extremely fast. Combined with the [Flying Thunder God Technique], which enabled instant teleportation, neither she nor the numerous Kumogakure shinobi could keep up all they could do was eat dust in his wake.
In the eyes of Kumogakure's shinobi, Chao Yanqian's actions were undoubtedly heinous crimes. If they could capture him alive, they would not hesitate to use the most brutal torture methods upon him.
But this is war — a war provoked by Kumogakure.
If Kumogakure had managed to breach Konoha, it is certain their ninjas would have done the same or even worse.
From the perspective of a Konoha shinobi, Chao Yanqian wished he possessed a jutsu like [Shinra Tensei], which could have destroyed Kumogakure instantly saving time and energy, and preventing this prolonged pursuit by the Kumogakure forces.
Differences in position lead to differences in perspective. Chao Yanqian understood this well, but he was just a human being. He could only act based on his own standpoint. As for the standpoint of others
that was not something he needed to consider.
Mutual understanding among people is a beautiful thing something Chao Yanqian longed for. But this was the era of the Third Great Ninja War. The minds of shinobi had been corroded by hatred. In this time, there was no Uzumaki Naruto to change the world. Chao Yanqian's actions were perfectly aligned with the "current of the times."
Boom!
With the collapse of the last peak, Kumogakure was reduced to complete ruins. Yugito led thousands of Kumogakure shinobi to encircle Chao Yanqian. All of them radiated killing intent, their eyes full of rage, itching to cut him down.
Many Kumogakure shinobi even wept upon seeing their village destroyed.
Perhaps this is what the Konoha ninjas felt when their village was destroyed by Pain's [Shinra Tensei].
Their beloved village lay in ruins, and the demon who destroyed it stood before them. All of Kumogakure seethed with hatred. But when they considered Chao Yanqian's strange space-time ninjutsu and the power concealed in his slim frame, they restrained their fury.
Looking at the ruins of Kumogakure, Chao Yanqian began to understand Nagato's feelings.
The Land of Rain had been the battleground for both the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars. Its people lived in constant fear of death, with no food or clothing. As a small nation, it had no voice. Even Hanzo of the Salamander the so-called "Demi-God" ultimately succumbed to the might of the great ninja villages.
Nagato destroyed Konoha, the perceived source of war. Perhaps, in doing so, a small part of his resentment was alleviated.
But ultimately, Chao Yanqian and Nagato were two different kinds of people. Nagato inherited Yahiko's ideals. When he faced Uzumaki Naruto who shared those ideals , he was easily moved.
Naruto defeated Pain. His strength overpowered Nagato. Thus, he earned the right to preach to him.
If someone in Kumogakure had defeated Chao Yanqian today, he would have admitted his own wrongdoing, and become the "demon" condemned by the ninja world.
But no no one in Kumogakure could defeat him. Therefore, to the rest of the ninja world, Chao Yanqian was a powerful figure who had protected Konoha, not a monster who destroyed villages.
Moreover, Chao Yanqian acted according to his own beliefs: first, to protect the Konoha that Tsunade cherished; second, to intimidate certain Konoha elites with ill intent toward him; and third, as a Konoha shinobi, he wished to see the village grow into his ideal strong and unshakable.
Regarding inter-village war, Chao Yanqian understood that one must defeat their enemies with overwhelming force, no matter how brutal. Only then could one instill fear and deter other covetous nations.
In his past life, the island nation of Japan was bombed with two atomic bombs by the U.S. Yet, in the face of overwhelming power, they had no choice but to submit.
"Chao Yanqian, you're a demon! Lord Raikage will never forgive you!" Yugito glared at Chao Yanqian, her voice trembling with fury.
"Of course the Raikage shouldn't forgive me," Chao Yanqian replied coolly. "But this is all your own doing. If he hadn't tried to exploit Konoha's weakness and seize the Land of Fire's resources, none of this would've happened. If you want to blame someone, blame your Raikage. It was his order that led to all this."
"Damn you! After doing something so awful, how dare you act so smug?!" a Kumogakure ninja shouted.
"This isn't bravado it's the truth. Kumogakure has done the same to many smaller villages. Haven't you razed countless minor shinobi villages? You should understand this feeling!" Chao Yanqian scanned the crowd and declared loudly, "As a great nation, how did you feel after destroying smaller ones? Did you feel a sense of superiority in your 'strength'? That's what I feel right now and it feels fantastic."
"Damn it! I'll kill you!" Yugito finally lost control. The Tailed Beast Mode burst out, and she lunged at Chao Yanqian.
"Little cat, I don't have time to play with you," Chao Yanqian said with a grin. "I don't know how the frontline is doing. I've got to check it out!"
After dodging Yugito's strike, he added, "You're lucky. I originally intended to release a Tailed Beast to destroy Kumogakure, but in the end, I did it with my own hands. This way, at least you survive."
By sparing Yugito, he had left a potential path open. After all, Chao Yanqian still planned to gather Tailed Beast chakra. If the Two-Tails were transferred to a new jinchūriki, he'd have to start over collecting intel. It was simpler to deal with Yugito, whose information he already possessed.
If it weren't for the thousands of Kumogakure shinobi watching, Chao Yanqian would have already made a move against her but he couldn't afford to expose his goal of capturing Tailed Beasts.
"Goodbye. If Kumogakure insists on continuing this war with Konoha, I'm sure we'll meet again!" With those parting words, Chao Yanqian vanished in an instant.
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