Bokuden merely listened as the girl spoke, sliding his body further into the warm water until only his head above his mouth was exposed above the surface and remaining there for a moment to warm up before returning to his normal position. It was unusual for someone who had only minutes before exhibited signs of nervousness and hesitation towards the man to now be voluntarily divulging all of this information about herself. Hospital duties? Village duties? Syn? The Ryuzoji couldn’t even begin to pretend he knew anything about the specifics of whoever this person was or what significance they had, but they must have been important enough to her if she was going out of her way to specifically cite what aspirations he may have instilled in her.

“I’ll tell you a secret about people in power. They’re still human. Rarely, if ever, are people as put together as they appear, especially those who have responsibilities that might otherwise crush a man under normal circumstances. Looking the part comes with the job, but it doesn’t mean that you suddenly become someone else. All it means is that you are now responsible for people other than yourself, which is the true job of a kage. The administrative aspects are just means that people have made for accomplishing that goal. A village’s kage is the first and last line of defense for the well-being of their people, as is any other leader. I don’t know that it’s silly for anyone to aspire to that position as long as they do it for the right reasons. If more people behaved like that the world would be better off.”

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Due to my inactivity and other pressing matters (becoming Raikage, and trying to advance other characters) this thread has become inactive... Sorry to say, but this thread is closed. My previous post will become my exit thread and all events before here are to be voided in cases of plot.