Narutoverse Metas & Analysis

To protect something... another must be sacrificed

Summary:

"To protect something... another must be sacrificed"

Elaborating on Madara's iconic quote.

'Hashirama's country was a shameful contradiction... Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearning for war... Those are the two realms belonging solely to man. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something only humans can do. They're two sides of the same coin. To protect something... another must be sacrificed.'

Can you elaborate this quote, too ?

I think I don't get it quite. I'd love to read your take on this.

Note: I cannot at all expect that my thoughts on the matter are correct and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who could give a far more elaborate explanation than myself.

While we don't know what occurs in Konoha after Madara's death, as it's never revealed in the manga, we can assume injustices ran rife however subtle they seemed to be.

I think, once again, it all comes down to the concept of sacrifice and we see it in the key phrase "To protect something, another must be sacrificed."

I'm going to go on a whim here and assume that this wasn't Hashirama's initial vision. Most probably, Madara and Hashirama shared the exact same ideal as children - to create a realm of peace and harmony.

We even know that Hashirama was somewhat of an idealist, through Tobirama's words - the latter states that Hashirama wanted to dismantle the power frameworks that were the clans and unite people of all backgrounds under one, supreme superstructure: the Leaf.

We know this never really occurs, though to be fair to Hashirama, his dream is projected into the future more than in the present as he's aware that it will never come to be within his life span.

Still, despite his best efforts and deep rooted, visionary desires to see a utopian world come to life, all of which most probably stems from the obsession with peace which is ultimately kept very much alive through the memory of the pain of loss, Hashirama begins to compromise. For the sake of peace and for the sake of the Leaf.

Hashirama begins to morph into the archetype of a man who would repudiate his own kin - and this is best exemplified through his own words when he thrusts his katana through Madara's back. Hashirama would be willing to sacrifice anyone, be it nakama, brother or even his own child, for the preservation of the Leaf. In a sense, Hashirama becomes similar to the people he so despised as a child.

Now going back to the village: the Leaf, unfortunately, becomes ever more corrupted over time. Child soldiers are still used in warfare. Subversive military organisations spring up from the underbelly of Konoha, operating under the shroud of darkness and beneath the guise of "it's for the good of the village".

How much is the village willing to sacrifice for its own perpetuation and continuity? How many children's lives are worth it? Is there even a countable quantity? Or is the village, for the sake of its own existence, willing to slaughter as many children as need be?

It's an oxymoron: the village was created to protect the innocence of children, this was the fulcrum of Madara's and Hashirama's dream. No more loss, no more pain, no more destruction and families ripped apart.

But that vision is broken. Because to ensure the village's preservation, all kinds of tremendous sacrifices are committed.

Konoha becomes a militaristic state (no different from the other villages mind you) where shinobi and most probably simple citizens are to be expected to unquestionably serve. It's the reverence, the undying loyalty to an extreme, even if Konoha heinous crimes against its own people. Konoha is not to be questioned for if you question Konoha you threaten its survival.

And again, we see it with the Uchiha massacre - Konoha was willing to wipe out an entire people for the sake of... Itself.

This is just one example, but another very interesting one regards the Hyuga clan. To ensure the propagation of the main branch, the Hyuga subject their own kith and kin to slavery. And torture. Disobedience from among its ranks is not permitted. You either serve the main branch or you perish (while suffering immensely too).

Konoha never once steps in to abolish this horrendous practice - it's tolerated. Why? Most probably because had it intervened, it would have lost the power that came with the Hyuga. And all in all, considering the philosophy adopted at the time, why should it bother anyway? Human rights don't really seem to be much of an issue for Konoha: as long as you are unwaveringly faithful to the village, then pretty much anything is allowed.

This wasn't Hashirama's dream. Hashirama's dream, Madara's dream, it all ends up distorted over time: Konoha has become a contradiction.

Because in order to protect its people, it inevitably sacrifices its own. In the name of peace or love or whatever paradigmatic vision is to your liking, Konoha is willing to do whatever it takes, even if it's incoherent with the very principles that lay at the basis of its creation.

"Thinking of peace whist spilling blood is something only humans can do."

And it's true. There's a powerful duality here and it's a contradictio in terminis:

Man desires peace - but to obtain peace man has to spill blood - to spill blood is the contradiction.

Look at it under a modern light in the infamous phrase "War is Peace" (Orwell) - It's an inescapable paradox:

To ensure the survival of the whole you have to be prepared to kill your own child.

To preserve peace you have to initiate war.

To protect love you have to be capable of hate.

There's a great deal of irony in all this. I suppose this is what Madara realised, at the end of his life:

Man, as a human, as a mortal and in his fractious humanity, is fallible. And will always fail on some level. Absolutes don't pertain to the realm of men, they belong to the Gods. Man is incongruous and flawed.

It's man's greatest conundrum, a dilemma from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting conditions.

It's a catch 22 that Madara seeks to resolve and unknot by reaching a transcendental God-tier status and plunging mankind in an all-encompassing sing ideal of sublimity where the very concept of sacrifice is no longer.