Although Ryoho Kyohiko was not present, A felt… the other person could hear him. Of course, this was also a test. If Kyohiko didn't react, perhaps the other's perception ability was not as powerful as he imagined.
Evidently, A had overthought it.
"Of course, you can, but only from a distance. Entering the school for a tour is definitely not possible. After all, our sudden arrival will more or less affect the children's classes." Kyohiko's voice came from outside. Then, that figure reappeared outside the window, giving him no time to think.
A was first stunned, then let out a breath of relief. Fine by me!
"Thank you so much!"
"Not at all. Your Cloud Village has donated a considerable amount this time. And in a little while, it will be time for our two ninja academies to have their exchange. It's natural that we should interact more," Kyohiko said with a smile.
A nodded repeatedly, naturally going along with it. There was a reason he wanted to see the Konoha Ninja Academy. Although they had stayed here for a while last time and even visited Konoha's Ninja Academy, learning a lot from it, A always felt that something was not quite right. How wealthy was Konoha? Even if the Land of Fire's funding for Konoha was not as all-out as their Land of Lightning's, which poured most of its resources into the Cloud Village, even a small leak would be a great fortune.
But in their investigation… although the equipment and instruments at Konoha's Ninja Academy were good, they hadn't opened up a huge gap with theirs. Furthermore, Konoha's education was ridiculous; theory occupied a large proportion. Wouldn't the death rate of genin taught this way skyrocket? So he wanted to try a surprise inspection. If they had given prior notice, Konoha would surely have been prepared. Now was the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. If Konoha refused, then something was wrong. But… what A hadn't expected was that Kyohiko agreed, but not completely. He could only watch from afar.
What could one see from afar? He was put on the spot. He couldn't very well say he didn't care about affecting Konoha's children's classes, could he? A had no choice but to nod.
---
At the Konoha Ninja Academy.
"Sir, our school has many subjects now, but we still don't have enough teachers. It just so happens that the ninjas don't have many missions recently. Do you think we should issue missions to arrange for a few special classes?"
"Special classes…" Mitokado Homura was pondering. A wooden slip suddenly appeared on the desk. He was stunned for a second, then picked up the wooden slip to check. On it was written—"A and I will be visiting the vicinity of the Ninja Academy."
Hmm? Mitokado Homura's eyes narrowed. He immediately sneered, then stood up. "The missions can be issued, but before that, let's deal with the Cloud Village's whelps first."
"The Cloud Village? What do those greedy guys want to do now?"
"Look." Mitokado Homura tossed the wooden slip over. The other person glanced at it and immediately understood. "I'll go and arrange it right away!"
"The training class, reconnaissance class, and ninjutsu class will be temporarily adjusted to a raid on the Forest of Death. Let the first to arrive set up traps. The barrier class and sealing class will continue as usual, but will be changed to theory classes. As for the ninja tools class, change it to indoor training and let the lower-level children go out to practice."
"Yes!" He quickly memorized it, then ran downstairs to make the arrangements. This kind of thing… they had done it once before, so they were quite familiar with it. And the mission arrangements could also let the students quickly adapt to the changing rhythm of missions. In war and missions, the enemy would not come in an orderly fashion.
In a short while, at the Ninja Academy, one figure after another flickered out, running towards the Forest of Death at high speed—everyone wanted to be the first to arrive, to prove they were stronger than others!
Swoosh! One figure after another darted across the streets. Everyone was stunned for a moment, then saw those children pouring out one after another.
On the street, Uzumaki Yuki looked outside, a look of curiosity on her face. "Is this ninja training?"
"No, it's just special training for the Ninja Academy. The current academy is not like before. Besides cultivation and study, they occasionally enter the Forest of Death training ground to simulate actual battlefield practice," Yamanaka Rika replied with a smile.
Yuki couldn't help but exclaim, "That's great!"
"Great?" Yamanaka Rika's movement paused.
Yuki nodded. "Yes. Back in our Uzushiogakure, we didn't have such teachings. Everyone was relatively idle, especially after the ninja village was established…" She recalled the past. Then, Yuki sighed. "During this time, I've looked at some records and situations of other ninja villages. The old Uzushiogakure, the gap between us and everyone else was really too big."
"In what aspect do you mean?"
"The atmosphere," Uzumaki Yuki replied. She wrung the corner of her clothes, looking out the door, and said while arranging flowers, "I don't know if you can understand, it's just that, we were still stuck in the past family-style ninja village model, but the other ninja villages were already seeking the integration of ninja families." A single ninja family, no matter how powerful, had its flaws and limits to its abilities. How could it fight against a huge group of ninjas? And yet, Uzushiogakure possessed powerful sealing jutsu. Thinking about it now, the destruction of Uzushiogakure had a lot to do with their own reasons.
"Konoha, for a time, was actually in a similar state to yours," a voice sounded at this moment.
Uzumaki Yuki looked outside the door. She was stunned for a second, then immediately stood up in surprise. Just as she was about to bow, the other party waved his hand. "No need. I just heard the noise and wanted to come over and see. I was just passing by…"
The one who had arrived was Sarutobi Hiruzen. However, he was naturally not just passing by. Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze was fixed on Uzumaki Yuki, looking her up and down. "Child, how long have you been here?"
"How long?" Uzumaki Yuki recalled for a moment, then she herself couldn't help but feel wistful. One or two years here… so fast! It felt like it had passed in a flash. This peaceful life made her think of Uzushiogakure again, of those scattered and dead relatives and clansmen. Her eyes dimmed. "Sandaime-sama, you were the Hokage back then, right? May I be so bold as to ask a question?"
"Of course." Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded.
Uzumaki Yuki said, "The destruction of Uzushiogakure, although it was due to our own self-imposed isolation and lack of progress, wasn't Konoha our ally? Your clothes, headbands, and gates are all engraved with the crest of our Uzumaki clan…"
"Yuki!" A trace of panic flashed in Yamanaka Rika's eyes. She immediately stood up, walked in front of Uzumaki Yuki, and shielded her behind her. She smiled stiffly, about to explain, when the woman behind her began to question while crying. "At that time, the Konoha you led, why didn't you come to help us?"
"…" Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his mouth. He had already thought of how to explain it, but at this moment, he was at a loss for words. His usually sharp words seemed to have been scattered by the pent-up emotions. He instinctively wanted to take out his pipe and take a puff to hide his embarrassment, but when he fumbled in his pocket, he found he hadn't brought it.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent. The past seemed to flash before his eyes. At that time, it wasn't that Konoha hadn't heard some news. But Konoha was also weak after the war, and it was the will of several countries to deal with Uzushiogakure. The news had also come very late… To help Uzushiogakure, the only way was to forcibly bring them back to Konoha. And that was on the premise that the Uzumaki clan agreed to move. But before the war came, who would believe they were someone else's target? The Yuki and Kaguya clans were examples. It was hard to leave one's homeland; it was easier said than done. Besides, for Konoha to go from one quagmire of war to participate in another… Sarutobi Hiruzen could only make a choice.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked such a question." Uzumaki Yuki couldn't stop crying. She had known from the beginning that she wouldn't get the answer she wanted from the person before her, but when she finally met him face to face, she still wanted to ask—not just for herself, but for those clansmen who had died in the flames of war.
"The news was suppressed by Danzo. By the time I knew, it was already too late," Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed softly.
"Yes, I understand." Uzumaki Yuki lowered her head.
Originally, Hiruzen had wanted to say more, but at this moment, he had lost the interest and courage to continue. "I can only say, I'm sorry!" After speaking, he sighed, stood up, and left.
Yamanaka Rika let out a long breath of relief. "Yuki, you were too reckless!"
"I'm sorry, I caused you trouble." Uzumaki Yuki bowed.
Yamanaka Rika shook her head, then couldn't help but feel a trace of doubt. Why did Sandaime-sama suddenly care about Yuki? In the past one or two years, Yuki had been living a peaceful life here. Apart from indirect inquiries, Sandaime-sama had basically never come to see her directly. She could understand. In the Third Hokage's heart, he probably also felt sorry for some of the things that had happened back then, so he didn't dare to come and see her. But… she felt… the sudden concern was suspicious. Her gaze gradually became serious.
Uzumaki Yuki was stunned, and turned to look at the shopkeeper. "Senpai, you…"
"Ah? Ah, it's nothing. I just remembered, didn't you say you wanted to go to the hospital to study? Why haven't I seen you take any action recently?" Yamanaka Rika said with a smile.
Uzumaki Yuki's attention was diverted, and she explained her reasons for not going. "That, ah, I feel that my current self may not be ready to learn medical arts, and being an ordinary person is also quite good."
---
"How was it?"
"As expected of Konoha's Ninja Academy. They are all well-rounded elites. Unlike our side, where everyone focuses on one specific area of training," A praised.
Kyohiko smiled and said, "Actually, we have also learned a lot from you. Look—"
A followed his finger. On the training ground, a group of people were running. "These children have to run a hundred laps every day. Otherwise, they have to practice throwing a hundred times. If they still can't finish…" Kyohiko explained the "youth" style training method.
A was stunned for a long while after hearing it, then said in surprise, "Do they all have to undergo such training?"
"Of course. If you don't have a Kekkei Genkai, you have to put in more effort. If you don't go mad, you won't survive. If you're afraid of hardship, you'll only end up sacrificing yourself on the battlefield," Kyohiko's tone was cold.
A looked down, but nodded in deep agreement. This set of ideas coincided with his. Of course, he still said, "That's too hard. It will break the children."
"As long as a few succeed, it's all worth it," Kyohiko's tone was indifferent. Then, he smiled and said, "Over there is our theory classroom. Besides some relatively basic knowledge, we also teach the basics of sealing jutsu."
"Sealing jutsu? As expected of Konoha, to even popularize such a difficult thing in the Ninja Academy!" A praised again.
Kyohiko smiled. "Of course. Sealing jutsu and barrier jutsu are very convenient techniques. According to my thinking, everyone should learn them."
"Indeed." A nodded lightly. However, in his heart, he didn't agree—sealing jutsu and barrier jutsu were certainly convenient and useful, but their learning difficulty was also unquestionable. To have a group of children learn sealing and barrier jutsu… the time investment was long, and the results were very low. This was a model he would absolutely not learn. However, he was happy for Konoha to do so. This guy probably thought everyone was as genius as him…
A glanced at Kyohiko, having a new understanding of this young man. Many times, being a genius and precocious is not necessarily a good thing. Konoha… heh! Mess it up, mess it up! It would be best if he messed up Konoha, so their Cloud Village could reap the benefits. A sneered inwardly.
After looking around and confirming there was nothing unusual, A, half-believing and half-doubting, and also secretly happy, followed Kyohiko to wander around other places. After a full tour, A had a deeper understanding of Konoha. Everything has two sides. Konoha was still prosperous, and everyone was intoxicated by this peace and prosperity. But in Konoha, there were still many ninjas who would train like mad, just like in their Cloud Village. This was Konoha's change. Konoha had learned from the Cloud Village their tenacious and upward spirit and put it to use. What a terrifying village! This village… had not slacked off; they were still getting stronger!
However, if Ryoho Kyohiko continued to mess around like this, in a few years, Konoha's next generation would definitely not be as good as theirs. This would be their chance. A comforted himself like this, but at the same time, he knew very well—as long as Konoha had Ryoho Kyohiko and Namikaze Minato, it would be difficult for them to have a chance to fight back. And in a few years, who knew if the other party would have matured? The chances were slim!
---
The next day, at the Konoha Anbu. Yamanaka Inoichi hesitated for a long time before finally knocking on the captain's office door.
"Come in, Inoichi-senpai. The door isn't locked."
"You're here." Yamanaka Inoichi pushed the door open. Seeing Kyohiko sitting there, reading and observing a book, he took a deep breath, his hesitation gone. "Kyohiko, there's something I think I must tell you."
"What is it?"
"Sandaime-sama suddenly went to see Uzumaki Yuki yesterday, the Uzumaki clanswoman who works at my family's shop." After Inoichi finished speaking, he let out a soft breath. For him, whether to say it or not… was really a difficult choice. After saying it, he didn't have to think so much anymore.
"Sandaime-sama went to see Uzumaki Yuki?" Instantly, Kyohiko's tone became cold. But quickly, he smiled and said, "I see. Thank you, Inoichi-senpai. Sandaime-sama was probably just passing by. He's free now, so it's certain he has a lot of time."
"Yes. Then, I'll be leaving." Inoichi nodded and quickly left—no matter what happened, he hoped this matter wouldn't involve the Yamanaka family.