76 has been through enough war to know that sometimes it’s not the discrete battles, but the sum of all their parts. He still has his pride, of course, but he’s not overly-concerned with individual wins and losses, as defeat is just as much a part of fighting as anything else. Knowing how to handle it—how to take it and learn from mistakes and grow for the next time—is something that comes with experience.

He can't quite imagine losing control of himself in the way Ashitaka is describing, but he remembers feeling powerless in the face of the Crisis, doing whatever he felt was necessary to end it, and as a result finding himself part of a secret government experiment that had the express purpose of turning him into a killing machine. In the years that followed, he'd always been acutely aware of his own body, never wanting to hurt or destroy anything or anyone by accident. To have someone take that power and use it against him--or force him to use it--leaves him with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

"You've got something to fight for? Something you can focus on?"