"Do you believe in the Will of Fire, Ino?" Ren asked, looking the girl in the eyes, trying to convey how serious he was.
"Of course, I do!" Ino exclaimed, feeling a bit offended that he had to ask, "You don't?" She reproachfully asked back.
But Ren only shrugged, "Nah. It's garbage."
Hinata chuckled while Ino stared at him as if he had kicked her puppy, with her jaw almost on the floor. All in all, their reaction was just as Ren expected.
"Two-thirds of this village's ninjas do not believe in it. Or at least, not in the self-sacrificial way the higher-ups would like them to." Ren told the girls and sighed, "It comes with experience and insight into what the village does."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ino quietly asked, really not liking what she was hearing.
The Yamanaka led their children to be very loyal to Konoha. And there was a reason for it. Ren doubted the village would suffer mind-readers among their ranks if the higher-ups were not fully assured that they were raised to be loyal.
Knowing this, Ren decided to give Ino a proper example. A very disturbing one at that. Something that had the potential to shake her. Something quite brutal.
He turned toward Hinata and said, "Tell me, Hinata, what would happen to you if Kumo succeeded in kidnapping you."
Hinata, startled by being suddenly dragged into the discussion and asked such a question, momentarily stuttered, "I- I would have been raised to be a breeding stock?" She furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips in displeasure at having to think about it.
"And you would have been made to believe it is your duty too." Ren nodded and said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You were young enough that they could have manipulated you in whichever way they wanted. You would have been raised believing that popping kids for the village is your glorious purpose."
Hinata grimaced at that and Ren almost winced at how tightly she squeezed his hand.
Unfortunately for both of them, Ren was not done, "But what if they failed? Or rather, what if you were kidnapped now?" He asked and had to bite the inside of his cheek because he could almost hear his bones creaking because of the girl's hold on his hand.
Feeling how uncomfortable Hinata was becoming, Ino decided to intervene, "Is there any actual purpose in this change of topic or are you just trying to make us feel disturbed enough to be distracted?" She asked in her usual high-pitched irritated tone and Ren inwardly sighed in relief when Hinata stopped crushing his hand.
Bless Ino for saving him from broken bones this day.
Not showing his grateful thoughts, Ren looked at Ino with a blank expression and nodded, "She would be restrained to the bed, drugged and under heavy genjutsu, while specially selected jonin, mostly the biggest scum from the village but ones with good genes would have their way with her body as much as they wanted until they got her pregnant. Then, they would let her give birth, rest for a month, before repeating the process until her body gave out from popping out kids." He flatly said in a measured but uninterrupted tone.
And the atmosphere in the room became awkward as it was engulfed in complete silence.
After a moment, Ren sighed and with a sad, bland smile, he asked, "It's scummy, isn't it?"
"Yes." Hinata quietly said while Ino was more vocal.
"Of course, it is! It's disgusting!" She shouted, completely aggravated. As kunoichi in training, the topic hit them a bit closer to home for them.
"Konoha is better than Kumo." Ren sagely nodded, noticing from the corner of his eyes how Hinata's eyes suddenly went wide in disbelief.
'So, she caught on, huh?' He wryly smiled in his mind. His Hyuga cinnamon roll was really smart.
"Konoha would never do that!" Ino vehemently agreed and Ren felt almost bad that he would have to burst her bubble. His blonde student wasn't the fastest on the uptake. Especially not when she got emotional.
He chuckled, "Weird that you think so." He raised an eyebrow at the still aggravated blonde, "I pretty much described what is being done by Konoha to the captured enemy shinobi with valuable genes." He dropped a bomb.
Honestly? Ren had to admit he did enjoy Ino's flabbergasted look full of disbelief. She looked like a kid who was told that Santa was not real.
"There is a special brothel deep in Konoha's red light district, open only for the high-ranking ninjas with good genes who can pay for access to a captured shinobi for a night." He added, giving the blonde a meaningful look, "It's a win-win for the village. I heard the place is not exactly cheap."
Ren's amusement instantly vanished because now it was Ino who was crushing his hand while she was biting her lower lip as she looked down and tried to come to grips with the revelation.
Why was he still holding their hands in support? At this rate, they were going to cause him more harm than Yagura did halfway through their fight!
Hinata, however, realized an important facet of the whole thing, "What about the kids?" She meekly asked, her expression showing she was afraid to ask the question but powered through her fear.
Ren gave her a smile he hoped was reassuring but he wouldn't count on it. "There is a reason the orphanages are so full in this village. Especially with kids whose parents are unknown."
And that floored the girls even more if their expressions were to be believed. He understood how they felt. After all, he went through the same feelings when he found out. That was… a breath-taking revelation. And not in a good way.
The anime truly did not show the real dark side of the ninja world. Then again, the anime was a show for kids. So, duh.
"Why?" Ino feebly asked, her body slightly shaking.
"Bloodline limits." Ren plainly told her, "Konoha indeed does not do it as much as other villages." He had to give credit where credit was due, "Most captured ninjas are executed after their interrogation. But it still does happen."
"Then why are there no new clans in the village since its founding, huh?" Ino verbally lashed out, desperately trying to find holes in Ren's words to find a reason so she could disregard them.
Unexpectedly, just as Ren was about to answer, it was Hinata who spoke first, "Not every clan is like the Hyugas where everybody awakens their bloodline limit. Even if the village captures a ninja with an active bloodline limit, there is no knowing if his or her kids would activate it too."
"What she said." Ren agreed.
Not to mention, the kids that did activate their bloodline were most likely scooped up by Danzo into ROOT before anyone could notice. After all, the aforementioned 'fine establishment' was owned by the Shimura clan so he knew exactly which orphans to look out for.
That said, Danzo's 'tools' usually did not last long. Most of them did not last past his training, to be honest.
Not that Ren would be telling the girls that. This and that were two very different things and he didn't feel like explaining the whole situation about ROOT to them.
"Plus," Ren grimaced at the next part, "you can't have the mother drugged up to her gills during the pregnancy if you want a healthy child. Genjutsu is primarily used but I imagine the kunoichi do break out of them more often than not during the nine months so..." He helplessly shrugged, "They know there is no help coming so suicides are pretty common in these cases."
With knowledge of chakra manipulation, suicide was easy. Just channeling enough chakra into their own heart in a 'wrong' manner would rupture it. It's why kids are told not to practice with chakra without supervisors. And the unfortunate women who find themselves in that kind of position? They don't have any other way out so...
Ren watched the girls like a hawk. He made them uncomfortable but there was also a secondary reason why he decided to uncover this to them.
They were kunoichi in training. He needed them to understand the possible danger of their chosen profession and take it seriously. If scaring them shitless like this would make them train more seriously? Good for both him and them.
This ninja business they were entering? It was no joke.
"This is just one example of the darkness within this village." Ren said in a bit louder voice in order to get the girls out of their funk. "There are three types of ninja in Konoha."
"Fresh, naive, and wide-eyed genin and some low-end chunin who are still happy-go-lucky. Yes, being a ninja sucks but they still believe in their naive Will of Fire belief like the sheep they are." Ren teasingly smirked at the girls, "You belong in this category as academy students with no experience."
Hinata weakly smiled at Ren's attempt at humor but Ino didn't find any joy in it, still reeling from the amount of crap Ren unloaded on her shoulders all at once.
His cheek slightly twitching, Ren continued, inwardly unhappy that his humor did not exactly work as he wanted, "Then there are the majority of ninjas who are in it for a paycheck and that's it. Two-thirds of Konoha's forces are in this category and the higher-ups know it."
Both girls looked at Ren when he said that, their faces showing a bit of surprise in their own ways.
"But what are they going to do about it? Execute two-thirds of their forces? Bah! Please." Ren snorted with an eye roll, "No. They just give them less important positions and let them serve the Konoha in their own way." He shook his head.
"The last type is the core of the village. The die-hard loyalists. The elite. They know what atrocities the village does. They've been there and done that. But they have found a personal reason why they serve the village. Their 'Will of Fire' burns brightly. And fuck the corpses they leave in their wake. It's all for the greater good of the village." Ren noticed his students were paying rapt attention and smiled, "And those people? They rule this village."
He gave them a meaningful look. "But even among them, there are factions. The Hokage? He is a good guy... well, as much as the ruler of trained murderhobos can be." Ino involuntarily snorted at that so Ren took it as a good sign, "But there are worse people than him. Those who actually work in the shadows. Those who do the more distasteful ninja things."
"And believe me, if those people got even a whiff about me potentially having a teleportation jutsu?" Ren grimaced, "They would be on my ass like bloodhounds. Forgive me if I am not interested in that."
"So, you keep things from the village higher-ups." Ino muttered loudly enough for both Ren and Hinata to hear her.
"Yes. Can you accept that?" Ren asked.
The Yamanaka girl pursed her lips and tersely nodded, looking at the floor. "I... I'd like to know more about this village's darkness."
Ren took a deep breath and sighed when he heard her. He didn't exactly feel comfortable discussing such heavy topics with his students. Training them was much easier than this. But reluctantly, he agreed, promising to himself to also show the girls the good points about Konoha.
To be frank, the people of Konoha were not bad. Ren did not hate the village. He made it sound so horrible but... it's like living under a government in Ren's previous life.
Most people know their government is doing shady stuff. But as long as it does not affect their life, they simply live without thinking about it too much.
That's pretty much how it went in Konoha too.
"For a ninja village, Konoha is not bad, girls. What I want to accomplish by telling you these things is to make you stop looking at the village with childish naivety. Serve the village to protect the people you love if you want. But do not do it blindly." Ren felt the need to properly explain himself.
"Find your resolve." He took the girls' hands and tightly squeezed them as he tried to look into their eyes, "I want you to find a reason why you are embarking on this bloody path. A reason to be a ninja."