[CH-301: The Future of the Sand Village]
The original Uchiha clan had been in Konoha. But Konoha had destroyed the Uchiha clan.
Even if in the future these Uchiha bloodlines in the Sand Village came to know that their ancestors had been captured in war and brought to the village, and even if they grew up understanding that the original Uchiha members had been used as little more than tools for reproduction, the Sand Village's attitude toward their clan would still be incomparably better than Konoha's.
Their connection with the Sand Village was rooted in war. But their connection with Konoha was rooted in hatred.
In other words, after the Uchiha clan's annihilation in Konoha, the Uchiha bloodline of the Sand Village could absolutely never return to Konoha. Konoha would not be able to accept them either.
Looking across the entire ninja world, the Sand Village was their only home.
So there was no reason to worry about these new students eventually learning the truth.
Thinking this, Yuji shifted his gaze to another area of the training grounds. He saw that the older students were sparring, and among them were also Uchiha clan descendants.
Two opponents currently facing off were Temari and an Uchiha student.
At this stage, Temari's cohort had not yet formally touched on chakra in their studies and training, still focusing on laying foundational skills. However, considering the different family backgrounds and circumstances of each student, some had been exposed to ninja resources very early.
With the help of external resources some had already mastered basic chakra sensing and manipulation, and could even use simple E-rank or D-rank ninjutsu.
Temari was one of them. She excelled in Wind Release.
In combat she was already comfortable using a miniature three-bladed fan and understood how to combine ninja tools with her Wind Release ninjutsu to enhance or modify her attacks.
After a round of fighting between the two, the Uchiha student lost the match.
Whether one could use ninjutsu and whether one could control it skillfully still played a decisive role in battles between these young children.
The next group of contestants then stepped forward to face off.
One of them was from the Kaguya clan. Dressed similarly to Kimimaro, with only a different hair color. This clan also possessed extraordinary physical characteristics. But unlike the calm and composed Kimimaro, this young fighter consistently failed to gain any advantage when sparring with classmates.
His taijutsu ability was decent, but he seemed to lack combat sense, driven only by reckless enthusiasm. Furthermore, even in a simple sparring match, this young man was extremely aggressive, visibly operating from anger and agitation rather than thought.
"Make a note. I want all the instructors from every class to be informed. After the Kaguya clan children enter the academy, we must prioritize cultivating their mindset and combat intelligence.
We need to find ways to change the characteristic tendencies of their clan's bloodline. Although judging from their current performance they are already considerably better than the Kaguya clan members we encountered in the Land of Water, it is still not enough."
"They are Sand Village now. They do not need to be treated the way that clan was treated in the Land of Water," Yuji said with further instruction.
"Yes," Baki nodded.
"Tayuya and the others will also be starting school next year. Is that right?" Yuji asked.
"Yes."
After Yuji had become Kazekage, he had established the policy that children in the village who showed aptitude and talent should begin their ninja journey as early as possible. Regardless of their eventual strength, time spent training at the ninja academy would be beneficial. The earliest enrollment age was set at six, with no later than seven.
Beyond the ninja academy, children were to begin attending what was called the Young Learners Class at age three, to acquire basic foundational knowledge. From there they would transfer into the ninja academy proper.
Even in the ninja world where cultural knowledge was not strictly necessary for ninja, knowledge to a certain degree still shaped a person's character and perspective.
"Lord Kazekage!"
Yuji had been watching from the sidelines for a while when a teacher finally noticed him and Baki and exclaimed in surprise. The instructors hurried over to bow in greeting.
"Do not mind me. All of you continue. I was simply at loose ends and came to wander around," Yuji said with a smile.
His appearance immediately disrupted every class conducting outdoor activities on the training grounds.
Several instructors rushed over to greet him while the students on the field surrounded him, their eyes filled with admiration. They chattered excitedly and showed tremendous enthusiasm. It was clear he was enormously popular among the children.
After all, the Sand Village was in its current golden era, and everyone from the elders to the children understood that the Fourth Kazekage was responsible for the Sand Village's present glory. Furthermore, the Kazekage's power had been impressed upon these children from a young age through the words of their elders.
Naturally they respected and admired him deeply, and greatly aspired to match him someday.
To be honest, Yuji had never instructed the teachers to boast about his achievements in class, brainwashing the children or instilling any particular ideology comparable to the Will of Fire. But it was unavoidable.
In the Sand Village, the customs had become such that everyone felt genuine gratitude toward the Kazekage for everything he had brought to the village. Growing up in this environment, it was inevitable that the future generation would carry the same mentality.
"Lord Kazekage!"
"My lord!"
Among the crowd, almost everyone surged forward excitedly. Only Temari, standing at a distance, did not join the commotion.
Like Haku's Mother, those from the Kaguya clan who had come to the Sand Village had done so under what amounted to a cooperation agreement, even more so than the arrangement with Yagura.
Regardless of the circumstances under which they had originally been brought here, they were now part of the Sand Village. Therefore Kimimaro and the Kaguya clan members did not carry the same sensitivity that the Uchiha clan members might. It was sufficient to say that their clan had a friendly relationship with the Sand Village.
Furthermore, compared to when diplomatic relations with the Hidden Mist Village had first been established, the Land of Water's Kaguya clan connection had also been acknowledged through proper channels. Kimimaro's identity and origin had been formally recognized.
As for Jugo, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and the others, they had been given the label of war orphans, children rescued by the Sand Village from outside its borders. Some of these children had no connection to any powerful outside forces or complicated backgrounds, so there was nothing troublesome about their situations.
With the exception of Haku, they had all grown up in the orphanage from the beginning. Because Yuji had visited the orphanage frequently over the years, they had known him from a young age and were considerably more familiar and comfortable around him than most other children were.
Kimimaro had mentioned that after graduating from the ninja academy he wanted to live at the Kaguya clan's headquarters within the village. Since he was still young, he would temporarily remain at the orphanage for now. The village's senior figures had already made arrangements for this transition.
"Lord Kazekage, did you come specifically to watch our training?"
"Lord Kazekage, please teach us some powerful techniques!"
"Yes, please!"
"Lord Kazekage, tell us stories about your battles on the battlefield!"
What had originally been a routine training session became instantly lively and chaotic the moment he appeared. For these children, a dull and predictable lesson had suddenly transformed into something entirely different.
"Ha ha ha. Alright, alright, one at a time, do not all rush at once."
Even the normally composed Baki could not help breaking out in a cold sweat at this moment. The sheer volume of excited children's voices was overwhelming, giving him the unsettling sensation of being subjected to some kind of noise-based mental attack.
He chuckled awkwardly and quickly tried to redirect these future village ninja.
"Lord Kazekage is extremely busy with village affairs. You all should stop pestering him with your constant chatter."
The instructor was doing his best to manage crowd control.
...
[CH-302: Little Trouble]
In the end, Yuji simply could not resist these children. He spent the entire afternoon on the school's training grounds.
He simultaneously supervised and observed their training, treating all the children equally and focusing on each one's current developmental issues, explaining things in careful detail. He also gave each of them guidance on what to work on after school hours. Only when school finally let out did he manage to extract himself, utterly exhausted by the experience.
"Lord Kazekage, here."
At this moment, a clean-looking, somewhat slender, pale-faced boy came running up with a cup of water from somewhere.
"Thank you," Yuji said, reaching out to accept it and patting the boy on the head.
The boy was Haku, and he was considered a relatively prominent member of the Sand Village's newer generation. His mother was currently occupied with Shimizu managing many affairs related to the Land of Rain reconstruction.
Shimizu's last return to the village had been for Yuji's wedding. The two of them were the kind of family that rarely saw each other throughout the year. Now it was just Haku and his mother relying on each other.
Even though the biological father figure in Haku's life had become someone entirely different from the original story, whether Haku himself was still the same person as the original story's Haku remained uncertain.
But the appearance was similar enough. The temperament, on the other hand, was very similar to the original. One could only admire how powerful certain genetic traits were. Haku still had something of a delicate girlish look, with long hair and a very gentle personality.
Except for the white hair.
Kimimaro, Jugo, and Kankuro had not gone home either. Kimimaro and Jugo were staying at the orphanage so there was no rush. As for Kankuro, like Haku and the others including Yashamaru and Rasa, he had matters to attend to elsewhere. Rasa was away from home most of the year. Temari had gone ahead specifically because she wanted to take over from Yashamaru in looking after her younger brother Gaara.
Still surrounding Yuji were several Uchiha clan children.
"You all performed well today. I hope you will become pillars of the Sand Village in the future," Yuji said, generously encouraging them.
"Of course! I will definitely make Lord Kazekage proud of our Uchiha clan!" A young boy rubbed his nose and made a solemn vow.
"Good. I will remember that. If you fail to live up to it in the future, do not say I did not warn you."
"It is a promise!" The boy patted his chest, full of confidence.
"I have heard that the Uchiha clan of Konoha is very strong," another child muttered.
"They are them and we are us. Do not lump us together. My father came here before and left Konoha, naturally there were reasons for that. My mother is from the Sand Village, so I am naturally a Sand Village person. Our clan here has no branch family or main family distinction," Uchiha Ren said with some heat.
Hearing this, Yuji smiled and did not interrupt.
The Sand Village also had six members of Hyuga clan bloodline among the newer generation, all descendants of the Hyuga defector lineage.
"Good. In my eyes, all of you are the best."
"Ren, even if you take pride in your bloodline, you must train hard. Otherwise be careful not to be surpassed by others," Yuji teased.
"Understood," Ren nodded with a slight bow.
Shortly after, several Uchiha clan children and some of the other younger kids departed. Among them was Kankuro, who had been unusually listless all afternoon and had barely spoken a word throughout.
His performance during training had been rather poor today, especially in front of Lord Kazekage. This had left him looking somewhat deflated as he left.
Worth mentioning was that Deidara had not been seen at any point during the entire afternoon. According to the teacher, that child had quietly slipped away somewhere and made a habit of skipping class regularly.
In the end, only Kimimaro, Jugo, and Haku remained.
"Come on, I will walk you back to the orphanage," Yuji said, patting Kimimaro on the shoulder with a soft smile.
For Kimimaro and Jugo, the Kazekage was not the distant and untouchable figure he seemed to other children. Their level of familiarity with Yuji was clearly incomparable to that of the other students. Haku was the same.
Yuji's tone with them was noticeably different from how he spoke to the other children.
"You two have not been spending much time at the orphanage lately. As you gradually grow up, you are becoming young men. You must learn to live independently and look after yourselves," Yuji said, walking down the street with the three children beside him, smiling.
"Are you not finding it difficult?"
"Jugo and I can take care of ourselves now. Actually, we no longer really need the aunties from the orphanage to look after us. Better to let them save their energy for those who still need it," Kimimaro replied.
"Those younger ones are actually better behaved than us," Kimimaro replied with a light laugh.
These were not words one would expect from a six-year-old boy. Kimimaro's precocious mental maturity was evident in every sentence.
Jugo, on the other hand, showed a silly grin and said nothing. Clearly Kimimaro's words represented both of them. He had taken Kimimaro as his leader in all things.
"This is what an excellent Sand Village ninja should look like," Yuji gave Kimimaro a thumbs up.
Then he looked at Jugo.
"You have not been falling behind in your recent practice, have you?"
"No," Jugo said.
He was clearly only six years old but looked like a child of eight or nine. His frame was not particularly large yet, but his size was increasing rapidly.
"Are your classmates afraid of you?"
"No, everyone gets along very well," Jugo said with a smile.
"Good. If someone ever treats you in an unusual way, you should bravely tell them that your physical condition, while special, is not a disease and certainly not a bad thing."
"It is a gift from the heavens. That is what I, the Fourth Kazekage, am telling you officially."
"Your body has the ability to help others. It simply has not fully matured yet."
"As long as your emotions remain stable, nothing bad will happen."
"The friends at the orphanage and the aunties there all genuinely like you," Yuji said with a warm smile.
"It is alright, Lord Kazekage. I understand them," Jugo said.
Jugo was shy and reserved in nature. His personality was not just honest and kind. Perhaps due to his young age, he was also somewhat quiet and introverted. But whether someone was truly a friend or not was not something that concerned Jugo particularly.
Because Kimimaro was enough for him.
These two clearly shared a certain kind of bond, a sense of shared understanding that had been present since they first met. Jugo was deeply influenced by Kimimaro, who was quite grown up for his age and carried a somewhat precocious quality about him.
"Lord Kazekage, I will be going now."
"Kimimaro, Jugo, see you tomorrow."
After bowing slightly, Haku waved goodbye to his two friends and headed home.
Yuji continued walking with Kimimaro and Jugo a little further until they reached the orphanage.
Bang.
But at this moment, a noise came from another part of the street. The commotion was not particularly loud, like someone setting off firecrackers.
"Deidara, stop right there!"
"Hmph! Someone who cannot appreciate my art at all, without a single artistic cell in his body. Who wants to go back to school with you for class? Simply unbearably boring."
"Deidara!!!"
"I would rather go back to the Stone Village and figure things out there. That place is more suitable for me than this place. Unlike the Sand Village where everywhere you look it is just sand, sand, sand. Honestly enough already!"
Amidst the chaotic noise, Yuji heard a familiar voice.
Then he saw a small blond-haired boy out on the street, rushing forward and occasionally hurling powerful clay projectiles behind him while shouting at full volume.
Yuji's expression darkened.
"Baki."
"Lord Kazekage."
"First, take Kimimaro and Jugo back to the orphanage."
"Yes."
Baki glanced at the furious Deidara not far away and shook his head quietly. Then he led Kimimaro and Jugo away.