The answer given was much like the woman who gave it, in many ways - gentle, but backed by a fierce compassion that bordered on the obsessive. There were few things in the world as cheap as words, and there were people who would have tried to lie through their teeth when posed with the daunting request to make a case for an entire faction's ideals - but from even the few moments that she had spent stood there, listening intently, Kinuko was fairly sure that Kaede could make that request as accurately as possible bar none. Her points were heartfelt, and if nothing else this proved that Kaede was indeed a genuinely caring person, but emotions did not factor into the fate of the world.

Kaede had made an error, however, in assuming that Kinuko thought herself able to change the fate of the world alone. Kinuko's sense of perspective had changed her thought process and use of language considerably more than she had assumed it would - somewhat ironically - and her mannerisms often came across as arrogant to the uninitiated in those regards. Even behind the cool neutrality, people would always think of Kinuko's words as those that felt as if they belonged to a higher power, and with no god in sight Kinuko became that higher power. It was far from the truth, but in the interest of balance it was not something that she often discussed with people. Katsu, too, had made an error - though his was significantly more grievous than his superior's. Kinuko stood for, above all else, balance. There were times and places where certain actions were meant to happen in order to ensure the continuity of the world, and appropriate death was one of them. Katsu's death was not supposed to occur at that time, and so it was not his time. When his time came, Kinuko would certainly be among the first to remind him of that fact - either as an ally, or as an enemy.

"This world has undergone much, Rebels of Konohagakure. For each era in history, the people have fought for the freedom that they believe they deserve at the cost of all else, and with their combined efforts over countless eons they have won. Perhaps this eventual victory is as integral to the cycle that governs this world as the wars that rise to oppress the freedom that you crave. I would have liked to think that this world was ready to lay down its arms... And perhaps, in your hearts, some of you are. But not now, and not under the whims of the Empress. I will fight for your freedom... And I hope you understand what a miracle it is, to be free from oppression and famine and war, and that you treat your brethren with more humility and respect that a war like this never need arise again."

The speech could have been heard by one, a thousand, or none - but the declaration had been made, and nothing else beyond that point mattered. It seemed that the world was not yet ready to unilaterally usher in an age of peace under such violent means - the spirit of independence was strong within them, and while the Empress' vision was something Kinuko could understand, a vision meant nothing if the people were not willing to back it. One unit, no matter how powerful, no matter how significant, could never rule over an entire world that did not want them to rule. Perhaps Kinuko had underestimated the tenacity of the human spirit.

Kinuko would not, however, intefere with the battle with Kenta - it was clear to her that his last wish was to teach his former allies the most important lesson of all: Sacrifice was a necessity, and that no sacrifice should ever be taken in vain. It was a lesson the children would find hard to stomach, of that she had no doubt, but it was a lesson they all needed to learn. War was not glorious, and it was not honourable or desirable. War was the end of all things peaceful and beautiful, and it should have been treated with disdain from its very conception. When one learned to find the death of innocent people abhorrent, war became a difficult prospect indeed.