He wanted neither of this choices? Now that was interesting indeed. Of course Sanosuke knew the boy hailed from Konoha as the breed of his hawk looked indigenous to the Fire Country so it was correct to hold onto the assumption that he was from the village hidden in the leaves. The fact that the child said nothing to correct his statement verified his assumption as fact. Relations between Kumo and Konoha have been slacking if he should say so. After detaining Orochi Enaka after his attempt of blackmailing Sanosuke, tensions at the moment were very high. Even now, Sanosuke was baffled at what came over the Hokage at the time to give such an ambitious man such influence and be oblivious to it all. The man had information on Gin that Sanosuke would think is rather interesting to find out more as it could lead to a leak in his village's security. With a new Hokage in office, Sanosuke believed now is the time to amend these bridges.

But at the moment, Kashizudoto was looking at Sanosuke with eyes wanting a reply or to say something in response to the boy's answer. Taking another swig from his jug, Sanosuke chuckled. "You're a weird kid, you know that?[ Sanosuke said as he wiped his mouth from any sake that was left clinging to his lips. Instead of giving him an answer where he preaches false hope of a peaceful resolution, or venting out his obvious frustrations at Ayakashi for throwing fire into the fumes of this conflict; Sanosuke found a way to give what the boy wanted. "I'll respect your wishes and instead of giving you an answer that may seem biased. I will instruct you on a simple truth: No matter who you are, no one act upon the choices they make without subjectively thinking this is the best alternative. I will do what it takes to protect my village that has raised me, and Ayakashi would be a disgrace to the name of kage if she does not do the same." With another swig, the Raikage walked to the hunks of meet that were being roasted to check if they were ready.

A senbon needle was grabbed from his back holster and positioned in his hands as he cut the ends of the husk of the dear to check if they insides were cooked properly. To the silver hair shinobi's eyes, it showed the meat was white on the inside showing that i was indeed ready to be served. "All right, the food is ready. Help yourself. Sanosuke told the boy as he tossed him another senbon needle to put the meat on it like a skewer to eat the food like this. "Also do something about the flames so it doesn't burn the food. Lower it down some." With taking another bite and another swig, Sanosuke would wait on how Kashizudoto will respond to his answer to his inquiry about the war. This boy intrigued him...

"You're a weird kid, you know that?" the man stated after he took a swig and chuckled at the boy's response, "I'll respect your wishes and instead of giving you an answer that may seem biased. I will instruct you on a simple truth: No matter who you are, no one act upon the choices they make without subjectively thinking this is the best alternative. I will do what it takes to protect my village that has raised me, and Ayakashi would be a disgrace to the name of kage if she does not do the same." In all this, Kashi would continue eye contact, eager to hear all that the Raikage had to say. The boy couldn't disagree with the understanding that the Raikage had presented to him, though he couldn't quite agree either. It was something that he'd need more experience to truly understand.

The Raikage took out a senbon and used it to check if the meat was cooked; indeed, the meat had become white. "All right, the food is ready. Help yourself," the man spoke before requesting, "Also do something about the flames so it doesn't burn the food. Lower it down some." With that, he threw a senbon to Kashi to eat the meat with; Kashi had never used a ninja tool to eat before, but he would find skewering the meat to be relatively simple with a senbon. Kashi would then lower the intensity of the flames just a bit, so that it wouldn't burn the food, just as the Raikage had asked.

"In other words," Kashi would look up and say after biting off a chunk of meat from his senbon skewer, chewing it, and swallowing it, "Are you saying that conflict is unavoidable?" His eyes would reveal a certain sadness in them, as he knew he probably wouldn't like the answer.

WC: 7918

Melancholic words dripped from the boy's words as he asked his question, knowing fully well it was more of a rhetorical question. Another swig was taken from the jug as no words would be said to directly answer the question. He must have known the answer by now or he will learn soon enough. Ayakashi, from what his reports have gathered, was planning something rather big in store for his Kiri embargo he placed to hold all of her shinobi in his country until further notice. Conflict indeed was going to occur. Either between their shinobi or just between kages. Either way, bloodshed seemed to be inevitable.

Sanosuke took another bite from his skewered meet and let out mumbles of how good the meat was to himself. the meat had soaked in the seasonings rather well as it broke down in his mouth easily with each bite. "As a kage, I am bound to the lives of my people. I do not live to serve them, I live with them as their parental figure. However as a sage, I must look past geographic differences and political standings. Us sages are able to see chakra not by nature of the elements themselves but as chakra without discrimination. Everything is present before us."

Another large bite was taken from his meat this time swallowing most of it whole. "That's the reason why I decided to show you the ways of senjutsu. The path of being a sage does not know the meaning of division." He said after the meat was swallowed due to much chewing and alcohol being stuffed in his gullet. A pang in his heart caused him to start banging his chest as he realized he had ate the food much too quickly. His eyes popped as he tried to control his breathing until finally the panging sensation had died out.

"But anyways, you'll learn this when you're older. Anything could happen that can take your life in an instant. So it's important to make your mark every now and then so people can follow your legacy. Think of it like you're lost in a maze and you make a marker so you, or someone else can retrace your steps. So if I can chisel you into a fine mark in my legacy, then maybe you can bring some brightness in this dark shinobi world....you terrible spy." Sanosuke further explained his reasoning to the child. The last part, even he had to laugh at the boy. After all he did just admit what he was doing in his village. Witness or not, a spy is a spy. But something told the Raikage that the boy was no trouble. After all what can he do with the leader of the village he's investigating standing right before him.

"As a kage, I am bound to the lives of my people. I do not live to serve them, I live with them as their parental figure," the Raikage admitted; the sage then spoke, "However as a sage, I must look past geographic differences and political standings. Us sages are able to see chakra not by nature of the elements themselves but as chakra without discrimination. Everything is present before us." The idea that senjutsu could theoretically transcend national boundaries excited Kashizudoto; however, he hadn't yet seen it in practice.

"That's the reason why I decided to show you the ways of senjutsu. The path of being a sage does not know the meaning of division," the sage revealed before adding, "But anyways, you'll learn this when you're older. Anything could happen that can take your life in an instant. So it's important to make your mark every now and then so people can follow your legacy. Think of it like you're lost in a maze and you make a marker so you, or someone else can retrace your steps. So if I can chisel you into a fine mark in my legacy, then maybe you can bring some brightness in this dark shinobi world....you terrible spy." Upon hearing the last three words, Kashizudoto would bite deep into the meat on the senbon skewer unconsciously and back away significantly (as if he could even dream of protecting himself against the Raikage either way). He couldn't help but get defensive, considering that the accusation had been levied against him before, the rekindling of such piercing him with pure fright. Of course, once the Raikage further explained his reasoning for calling him such, he would relax the tension in his shoulders, chew and swallow the large chunk of meat that he had just bitten off, and heave a sigh of relief. After biting off the last chunk of meat from his skewer, he could feel the fullness in his stomach. He would toss the senbon to the ground, then leaning back and taking a deep breath in and out.

"Thanks for the food, sensei!" he would speak before adding to his display of gratitude, "And thanks for the senjutsu training!" However, that begged the question of whether his training was over or whether it had just begun and of whether or not he had to traverse the next part of his training alone, if indeed there was more training to be done.

"Speaking of senjutsu," he would add context before asking, "I'm guessing that my training isn't over?" As he would look into the eyes of the sage, he would have a feeling that he already knew the answer to this question. As young as he was, even he could guess that something like this was something of a lifetime journey, to be mastered over time. After all, he doubted that his sensei could have gotten so amazing at senjutsu overnight. Yet Kashi had no definite answers on a subject that he hardly knew; he had to look to his sensei to explain such things.

WC: 8441

Senjutsu: None -> D: 4000/4000
Senjutsu: D -> C: 3441/6000
Senjutsu: B -> A: 1000/8000