A Teacher with a Keen Eye

"Shinsuke, 36 years old, of commoner origin, just promoted to Jonin this year. Skilled in Earth Release, his Chakra nature is lightning and earth."

He was probably a ninja who originally had the talent for Lightning Release, but was forced to take the path of Earth Release due to the village's scarcity of Lightning Release Ninjutsu.

Yichen glanced through Shinsuke's resume. Shinsuke's experience was unremarkable; compared to the experience of a genius like Yichen, it was quite Mu Qi.

However, from another perspective, Shinsuke, without a teacher's guidance, a Civilian Ninja, has gradually reached this level with his limited talent, which is quite remarkable. This is Yichen, who suffered a broken bone.

Yichen summoned the Anbu and said, "Go and bring this Shinsuke here."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, the Anbu left immediately.

After a while, the Anbu led Shinsuke to Yichen's office.

Shinsuke, who had never been regarded as a genius before, was visiting the Tsuchikage's Office for the first time. He was inevitably a little nervous when he saw Yichen. He was preparing to officially accept disciples the next day when he suddenly received a notification from the Anbu and was somewhat at a loss.

Yichen sized up the middle-aged ninja and said, "Sit down."

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage." Shinsuke, and then obediently sat down where Yichen indicated.

Through this short period of observation, Yichen knew that this Shinsuke was probably the kind of honest ninja who wouldn't try to take shortcuts.

Becoming Jonin at this age has its merits, namely diligence and a willingness to dedicate significant time to honing and striving to achieve a goal once set in mind. This is admirable, but it lacks any standout qualities.

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Senior Shinsuke, are you going to take on disciples this year?"

Shinsuke quickly replied, "Lord Tsuchikage, yes, I just selected three disciples yesterday."

Yichen nodded and praised, "Thank you for your contributions to the village. As for this disciple selection, I chose some disciples I thought were worth nurturing, but I can't teach them all by myself. I happened to see that you chose three of them, and I felt our ideas were very similar. So I invited you here to talk."

Shinsuke's face lit up with joy, and he said, "Lord Tsuchikage also thinks those three are worth training? That's wonderful!"

Shinsuke still had great faith in Yichen's judgment. Since Yichen had said so, these three were sure to achieve something great.

The two then chatted about their thoughts on selecting disciples, and they found they had many things in common.

Finally Yichen said, "Senior Shinsuke, the three disciples you chose are all quite good. Here, I promise you that you can exchange any Ninjutsu used to train these three disciples for 30% of the price from the village."

Shinsuke overjoyed and said, "That's wonderful, Lord Tsuchikage!"

He had just been promoted to Jonin, and he had used all the Contribution Points he had accumulated to exchange for the Ninjutsu he needed, so he didn't have much wealth.

Yichen then said, "Senior Shinsuke, thank you for your silent contributions to the village over the years. On behalf of the village, I'm giving you an A-rank Ninjutsu, along with related training tips. You can choose from the Contribution Office."

This time, Shinsuke was genuinely surprised. He said nervously, "Lord Tsuchikage, isn't this a bit much? Won't this be unfair to the others?"

Yichen smiled and said, "Senior Shinsuke, do you know why those geniuses grow up so fast? It's because they have the support of their villages, and they receive far more resources than Senior Shinsuke."

"Although Senior Shinsuke is not a genius, he has persevered in his dedication to the village and is now nurturing the next generation who might otherwise be overlooked. As the Tsuchikage, I cannot fail to express my gratitude. Please, Senior Shinsuke, do not refuse."

Shinsuke's lips trembled slightly, then he nodded and said, "Thank you Lord Tsuchikage."

After Yichen finished speaking, he was about to tell him to go back when he suddenly sensed that Shen Jie seemed to have something to say, so he asked, "Senior Shinsuke, is there anything you want to tell me?"

Shinsuke clenched his fist as if to boost his confidence, then said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I encountered a student during my disciple selection this time."

"I find it strange; she may have some unique talent, but I can't figure it out or know how to cultivate it, so I wanted to recommend her to Lord Tsuchikage."

Yichen was taken aback and asked, "Really? What's her name?"

Yichen didn't give Shinsuke. Instead, he took out the list he had kept and wanted to check if this person had been selected and added to the shortlist.

Shinsuke's approach to choosing disciples, this student he mentioned might actually be a good fit for him.

"Her name is Chiga, and she's a student in Class 5 of the Regular Class..." Shinsuke explained everything he knew in detail.

"Thank you, Senior Shinsuke. I've reviewed the information on this student before, but I haven't found anything particularly special about her. I will consider her carefully," Yichen said.

Shinsuke scratched his head and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I shall take my leave now."

Yichen nodded.

After Shinsuke left, Yichen convened a meeting with the advisors. The meeting had only one agenda item.

"I want to count how many older generation ninjas from the village came from commoner backgrounds, had average talent, didn't receive special training from the village, and didn't become Jonin Captain after graduation."

"Is it possible to reward each of them with Ninjutsu? If they are Jonin, I suggest giving them a B-rank Ninjutsu, as a way for the village to make up for what it has done to them over the years?" Yichen explained the purpose of the meeting.

Saka and Mei exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what Yichen was up to now.

Yichen said, "Today I met a Jonin named Shinsuke. He came from a commoner background, had average talent, and after graduating, he went on missions under the guidance of a Chunin instructor, eventually becoming Chunin through hardship. After that, he led his own teams on missions until he was 36 years old, when he finally barely became Jonin. I've seen his experience of becoming Jonin; it was very accidental. Originally, his final goal was just to become a Chunin."

"After becoming Jonin, Shinsuke planned to take on a few disciples, but he chose those with only average talent. He's a ninja who has dedicated his entire life to the village."

"I think there must be quite a few Jonin like them in the village, and we should promote them as heroes. The village owes them a debt we didn't realize before, but now that we do, I think the village should do something."

"I rewarded Shinsuke with an A-rank Ninjutsu. As for the others, I think it wouldn't be too much to give each Jonin a B-rank Ninjutsu, so I'd like to discuss it with you."

Tomoko said, "I agree. If I hadn't met my teacher, even if I had become a ninja, I would probably just be a Mu Qi Genin, and I probably would never have had a chance to become Chunin. I'm willing to use my Contribution Points to make up for the shortfall in these B-rank Ninjutsu."

Ming laughed and scolded, "Tomoko, even if the village is poor, it's not that bad. Don't worry, I agree. The village can afford this."

Yichen's proposal was quickly approved, and Ban and Ming would handle the specific tasks well. Yichen once again became a hands-off manager.

After the meeting, Yichen went directly to the Ninja Academy and summoned Sakai, the homeroom teacher of Class 5, the graduating class, to ask him about the details of the student Chiga.

Sakai was very excited when he saw Yichen. He knew that Yichen must have taken a liking to one of his students to have condescended to come and see him in person.

"Chiga?" Sakai was surprised to hear the name Akira, thinking: As expected, the Lord Tsuchikage's acceptance of disciples always exceeds the expectations of us mere mortals.

When he met Yichen, he went through the list of students he thought were most likely to be among them, but no matter how he ranked them, Chiga would not be among them.

Sakai said, "Chiga hasn't been feeling well these past few days and hasn't come to class. She's really not feeling well; I even went to see her. She's resting at home, but she's not in good spirits. Unlike other students who usually skip school at this time for intensive training at their families."

However, everyone now knows that Yichen is about to accept disciples, and not a single one has returned to their family to cultivate. But Sakai didn't say this.

Yichen asked, "Do you know why Chiga is feeling unwell?"

Sakai thought for a moment and said, "It must have been during a sparring session a few days ago. She accidentally stabbed a classmate with Kunai, and the classmate's blood splattered all over her face. She was probably frightened at that time, because when I went to see her, she seemed a little dazed. I was worried about whether she could graduate on time."

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "Could you take me to her house?"

Sakai nodded quickly and said, "Of course, we'll go now."

Sakai was eager for Yichen to quickly decide on this disciple.

Yichen said, "Okay, let's go now."

Chiga also came from a commoner background and had average grades in Class 5 of the Regular Class. Apart from being slightly outstanding in perception, she didn't have many other strengths. Under normal circumstances, she should have been able to graduate successfully, but she would have been among the weaker students who did graduate.

Of course, he's much better than some of Yichen's strange disciples.

It was clear that Sakai was a very responsible homeroom teacher; he had visited Chiga more than once. He introduced Chiga's family situation to Yichen in great detail, then led Yichen to Chiga's door and knocked.

"Ms. Sakai, you're here? I'm much better now and can go back to school tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't miss my graduation exams." Chiga quite happy to see her Sakai teacher, Sakai, and knew that Sakai had been worried about her, so she quickly said.

Just as Chiga was about to let Sakai into the house, she saw Yichen standing to Sakai's side and behind.

The Fourth Tsuchikage, who in Iwagakure doesn't know him? Especially this year's graduates, who hasn't dreamed of him?

Instantly, the girl's face flushed with excitement. She quickly looked at her homeroom teacher and saw Sakai give her a encouraging look. The girl felt her heart was about to jump out of her throat with excitement.

"Tsuchikage... Tsuchikage -Lord Tsuchikage." The little girl stammered, but the more nervous she became, the less she could speak coherently, and she was almost in tears.

Yichen smiled, stepped forward, patted the little girl's head, and said, "Don't invite Zhang in, please let us come in and sit down."

"Mmm." The little girl relaxed a bit and quickly invited Yichen and Sakai inside.