Hope Village's new station was set up in the forest, about seventy li away from Kirigakure.
It guaranteed independence, while still being convenient for communication.
Terumi Mei asked Ryosuke whether he wanted to send people ahead to do the first round of pioneering work, to first build the houses and the village.
After thinking it over, Ryosuke refused.
"It's not the time yet."
Hope Village's survivors were only a little over thirty people. If they built a village now, the population would inevitably be too small, and besides,
"I have a new idea," Ryosuke said.
"A new idea?"
Terumi Mei tilted her head slightly, then looked down and pulled the Mizukage seal from her clothing and tossed it over.
"Whatever you want to do, stamp it yourself and give the order. Everyone will cooperate with you."
Ryosuke smiled helplessly and handed the seal back to her.
"No need. I just want to find a place with developed transportation near Kirigakure and build an open-air night school."
"Teach what?" Terumi Mei asked.
"Teach…"
Ryosuke thought for a moment and said, "Whatever people lack, that's what we'll teach."
———
Ryosuke's requirements for the school were very low.
An open piece of land.
A platform, a blackboard, several dozen chairs, and a lamp for lighting at night, that would be enough.
The location was finally set on the clearing where Ryosuke had killed the Daimyo.
He didn't require anyone to attend classes. The first group of students was only the thirty-some people from Hope Village.
Takeshi and the others each held a small notebook, their expressions focused.
Outside, a circle of Kirigakure villagers, ninja, and guests from the victory banquet a few days ago, who still hadn't left, gathered after dinner and an evening stroll.
They were curious about what astonishing thing this man, who had changed the power structure of Kirigakure, would say this time.
But after four straight days of listening, many people's faces gradually turned blank.
Not because the lessons were too shocking.
But because they were too simple.
From the ways to use farming tools and other implements, to some basic principles of physics and chemistry, to mathematical calculations.
The only thing that could be called interesting was the real history of the ninja world.
But as for that, spies from each village already knew it clearly and didn't need to hear it here.
After a few days, the spies felt it was a waste of time and left one after another. In contrast, more and more ordinary people gathered.
They liked hearing ninja world stories, and the theoretical knowledge Ryosuke taught also helped them live better.
When Ryosuke occasionally mentioned his ideas about the Daimyo, the world, or governance, they often made people's eyes light up.
They didn't fully understand, but that didn't stop them from using what they'd heard as conversation material to brag about with friends and family.
Day by day, more and more ordinary people gathered outside, while fewer and fewer ninja came.
Only Samui came every day without fail, and by now she had filled a thick notebook with notes.
As a jonin of Kumogakure, Samui's vision reached much farther than that of ordinary spies. This notebook in her hand… was truly terrifying.
Every word in it, every field mentioned, was something taken for granted in the ninja world, something considered perfectly normal, yet each held hidden dangers.
As long as she took it back and allocated just a small part of the military budget, she could greatly increase the productive capacity of not just Kumogakure, but the entire Land of Lightning.
What was even scarier was that these complex ideas and ways of thinking, under Ryosuke's teaching, could be understood even by a housewife or a ramen chef.
What kind of vision and understanding beyond the times was this?
"You simply don't seem like a person from this world. You're more like an immortal from another 'celestial realm' who descended with mature knowledge and ideas," Samui said.
Hearing Samui's assessment of him, Ryosuke smiled and noticed her backpack.
"Leaving?"
"Yes. Though I'd really like to stay, my village still needs me. Before I go, I want to ask you one question."
"Go ahead."
Samui looked at the desk and the blackboard. "Doing all this, does it bring you any benefit?"
"Benefit, huh…"
Ryosuke looked at the villagers walking away in the distance after class.
"I wasn't thinking about benefits at first. But now, it seems they themselves are my biggest benefit."
"The world undergoes a slight shift, gain 1 soul fragment."
"The world undergoes a slight shift, gain 0.5 soul fragment."
"The world undergoes a slight shift, gain 0.8 soul fragment."
Similar system prompts had been popping up ever since Ryosuke began teaching, or rather, ever since he gave the notebook to Konan.
When Konan received the notebook, Ryosuke instantly gained 300 soul essence points.
After the school was established, he gained 5–10 soul essence points every day.
And that was just in Kirigakure, before the idea spread widely, with people attending voluntarily.
If Ryosuke's ideology spread to the outside world, took over the ninja world, and even became a required subject in every ninja academy,
How many soul fragments could he get in a single day then?
100?
500?
1000?
Killing Yagura had given him just over 1000 soul fragments.
That seemed like a lot, but how many Yaguras were there in the whole world?
If he relied only on killing, with the system offering no guaranteed rewards, he could work his whole life and still draw only a few stand-ins, never mind reaching max level or advancing.
World shifts, this was the best way to achieve soul fragment freedom.
On one hand, it would raise productivity and subtly change people's thinking, planting the seed of "awakened will" for Ryosuke's plan to overthrow this rotten ninja world.
On the other, it would directly increase his personal combat power.
Ryosuke looked at Samui, especially the thick notebook in her hand, and felt gratified.
Once she returned, she could spread this knowledge far and wide.
In the past, teachers would say, "You're learning for my sake?"
Now Ryosuke said, "That's right, you're learning for my sake."
Samui quietly looked at the man in front of her, then followed his gaze to the villagers leaving with smiles on their faces.
She misunderstood Ryosuke's meaning, "To you, other people's smiles are your greatest benefit?"
Thinking this, the usually cold and rational Samui pursed her lips, then raised the corners of her mouth, trying hard to show a bright smile.
But she found Ryosuke's expression growing more and more strange.
"Sorry, I'm not very good at… smiling."
Ryosuke waved a hand. "Then go back and practice. Show me next time we meet."
Next time we meet, just four simple words, but they added an extra trace of anticipation to their parting.
Samui nodded slightly, bowed again.
Still that dazzling radiance, making Ryosuke squint against it.
Samui left, setting off on her journey back, her figure gradually disappearing into the thin mist.
"Reluctant to part?"
Zabuza's voice came from behind.
Without turning his head, Ryosuke tidied the papers on the desk and said, "When someone you've gotten used to being around leaves, of course you feel a bit reluctant."
Zabuza nodded, came over, pulled over a chair and sat down. The face that was usually brash and arrogant now showed a trace of hesitation and confusion.
"What is it?"
Ryosuke asked, "Why do you look like you just saw a ghost on a dark road?"
"People from the Daimyo have come, but…"
"Something's not right."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰