Ninja Higher Education School

Today is graduation day at the Ninja Academy.

As the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Shazo naturally had to attend and deliver a speech to the graduates.

At the same time, there is another very important announcement to make today, which also happens to be related to the graduates of the Ninja Academy, so we can do it together.

When Shazo appeared at the graduation ceremony, the students and parents of the Ninja Academy were ecstatic.

The Fifth Hokage and the Third Hokage were completely different.

The Third Hokage attached great importance to the Ninja Academy Ninja Academy, personally inspecting it every few days and frequently giving speeches there.

The Third Hokage would often appear on the streets, greeting everyone he encountered and chatting with passersby with a smile, appearing very approachable.

The Fifth Hokage also valued the Ninja Academy, but he rarely appeared at the school. Instead, he would urge the Finance Department to allocate funds to the Education Department and then force the Education Department to increase educational resources.

Taking the number of exams as an example, two years ago, when the Fifth Hokage had just taken office, students took exams twice a year.

But now, it's impossible to calculate.

A quiz is held every seven days, and this is called Weekly Exam.

There is a middle school entrance exam held once a month, which is called Monthly Exam.

A comprehensive examination covering all subjects is conducted every three months, which is called Quarterly Assessment.

A major practical exam is held every six months, and students are reassigned to different classes based on their rankings; this is called the Ranking Finals.

And unscheduled, Pop Quiz.

The students at the Ninja Academy were about to cry.

The Fifth Hokage was busy with his training and rarely appeared at the academy or in front of the Konoha Ninja. Many Ninja have never seen him up close.

However, the Fifth Hokage had a very high reputation.

Because what he did made the Konoha Ninja feel good, and just thinking about it would make their blood boil.

Not counting the events before he took office, nor the things that had to be kept secret, the Fifth Hokage accomplished a great deal in the past two years, practically sweeping across the Ninja World.

Two years ago, the Fifth Hokage went to the Land of Fire's merchants' house alone because the Daimyo of the Land of Earth had seized their goods.

He defeated the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, destroyed half of the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, and forced the Daimyo to pay ten times the amount in compensation.

It is said that the old man Ōnoki was beaten so badly by the Hokage that his face was covered in welts, and he spent a full six months recovering before he reappeared in Iwagakure.

After the Third Shinobi World War, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind no longer trusted Sunagakure and transferred his missions to Konoha. Konoha Ninja took the opportunity to steal half of the Land of Wind's mission resources.

This happened during the reign of the Third Hokage. At that time, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, was very dissatisfied with it, but he swallowed his anger and said nothing.

When the Fifth Hokage took office, the Fourth Kazekage, for some reason, thought he was so great that he started complaining openly.

The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, even threatened Konoha: "If you continue to encroach on the interests of the Sunagakure Ninja, Konoha will lose the Sunagakure as an ally!"

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Hokage Shazo, led the Uchiha Clan Head, Uchiha Izumi, and launched a fierce attack on Sunagakure with only two men.

In that battle, thousands of Sunagakure Ninja, along with the Fourth Kazekage, besieged the Fifth Hokage.

However, the Fifth Hokage's strength was too great. His [Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence] overwhelmed all the Ninja in Sunagakure. Whether it was Wind Style or Fire Style, including poison and puppets, they were all submerged by the endless trees.

What the Sunagakure Ninja found unacceptable was that the Fifth Hokage disdained to fight the Fourth Kazekage.

He made Uchiha Izumi, the Uchiha Clan Head, challenge the Kazekage. The girl was only 16 years old at the time, which infuriated the Fourth Kazekage.

No one expected that 16-year-old Uchiha Izumi would defeat the Fourth Kazekage so decisively in front of thousands of Sunagakure Ninja.

The entire Sunagakure was in an uproar, and morale subsequently collapsed.

The Fourth Kazekage was so ashamed that he lost his mind and directly revealed the Sunagakure's trump card: Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara.

He even used Shukaku [Secret Technique: Sand in the Gourd] to unleash the full power of One-Tail.

However, the Fifth Hokage One-Tail used [Wood Release: Thorn Binding] to bind Shukaku tightly and frantically drain its Chakra, preventing Shukaku from even stirring up a sandstorm.

Because Shazo Zuo focused all his energy on the Kekkei Tōta, he did not master [Wood Release: Koan-niku-tsuba], and he was not even very proficient in [Wood Release: Wood Human Technique].

The Fifth Hokage chose the most brutal method to subdue Shukaku, the One-Tail Shukaku.

He condensed his Wood Release into a giant palm and slapped Shukaku 300 times, leaving the tanuki traumatized and causing it to voluntarily retreat back into Gaara's body.

To date, there has been no news of the One-Tail going berserk again, which shows that it has truly been terrified.

During the battle, the Fifth Hokage's Wood Release destroyed the Main Gate of Sunagakure, demolished almost all the houses, and left behind a lush Forest, completely changing the face of Sunagakure.

However, the merciful Fifth Hokage did not kill a single Sunagakure Ninja.

From then on, Sunagakure became incredibly convenient, preferring to endure hunger and reduce the size of their Ninja rather than compete with Konoha Ninja for missions.

Under the wise leadership of the Fifth Hokage, the Land of Fire's economy has experienced a major boom since last year.

Businesses in various places were growing bigger and bigger, and the number of caravans transporting goods abroad and luxury goods back home was increasing dramatically.

The growth in the number of Konoha Ninja could not keep up with this surge, leading to a significant increase in the number of caravans being robbed abroad, which even resulted in the deaths of several Konoha Genin.

The death of the Konoha Ninja enraged the Fifth Hokage. He felt it was necessary to change the unstable state of the Ninja World, so he sent a notice to all the ninja villages, requesting all the Kage and leaders to come to Konoha to discuss matters of peace in the Ninja World.

That's right, it wasn't an invitation but a notification, requiring all the leaders of the ninja villages, including the Four Kage, to come and see him.

The Fifth Hokage's Haki was so overwhelming that not only the leaders of the various ninja villages in the Ninja World, but even the entire Konoha felt uncomfortable with such a strong statement.

Many Konoha Ninja thought Shazo was too confident. What if the Kage of the four Four Great Ninja Villages didn't come? Was the Fifth Hokage really going to beat up all four of them at once?

Shazo didn't say anything, but Shisui Uchiha calmly stated, "If they dare not come, isn't it only natural that the Fifth Hokage would capture them?"

As a result, the Fourth Kazekage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Fourth Raikage readily agreed, as did the ninja villages of various small countries.

Only the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure in the Land of Water, Karatachi Yagura, did not answer.

Shazo didn't care whether Karatachi Yagura hadn't received the letter, didn't want to talk to him, or simply refused. Once the deadline for replying passed, he rushed straight to Kirigakure.

The Fifth Hokage did not use the Wood Release Secret Technique this time. Instead, he first used [Scorch Release: Feiyi Wind Disaster] to clear away the thick fog that never dissipated in Kirigakure.

Despite the Hidden Mist Ninja' claims of hating the dense fog, when the Fifth Hokage dispelled it, they acted like naked swimmers after the tide had gone out, their faces filled with panic.

Driven by the hatred in the eyes of the Mist Ninja, the Fifth Hokage Shazo, went all out this time.

[Storm Release: Hundred Forms: Light Fang]

Thunderclap on a Clear Day struck, bombarding all the buildings in Kirigakure, allowing all the residents to look up and see blue skies and white clouds.

[Magnet Style: Sandstorm]

By forcibly turning vegetation into sand grains, and gathering these sand grains to form a sandstorm, the moisture in the bodies of the Mist Ninja will be completely drained, and it is believed that Genji's old leg pain will not return this year.

[Lava Style - Lava River]

Finally, the sand covering Kirigakure was melted, all the wood and flammable materials were set ablaze, leaving space for reconstruction and land covered in Obsidian.

The Mist Ninja used all their strength, fighting bravely regardless of their own lives.

But the Fifth Hokage's attack was as unstoppable as a natural disaster. The Mist Ninja's valiant efforts could not stop his attack, and they only paid for it with their lives.

No one knows exactly how many Mist Ninja died in this battle, because the Kirigakure had been in chaos for so long that they hadn't even kept track of how many Ninja they had for many years.

So many Mist Ninja died in battle, but the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, did not appear, Obito Uchiha, who was behind the scenes, also left no trace.

This was Shazo's only regret.

After this battle, the Fourth Mizukage bowed his head and accepted the Fifth Hokage's request.

The Mist Ninja are the most tolerant Ninja among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They can accept the brutality of the Fourth Mizukage, endure insane and unreasonable killings, and persevere in living in an environment where the sun never shines for years.

Even in extremely unfavorable circumstances, they would accept bowing down to the Hokage.

But they simply couldn't accept the Fourth Mizukage's cowardice and reluctance to fight.

Obito Uchiha was ultimately from Konoha, and he couldn't understand the emotions of the Mist Ninja. His actions to avoid losing the puppets caused the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, to completely lose the support of the Mist Ninja.

Shortly after the Ninja World Peace Conference, the Fourth Mizukage was overthrown by the Mist Ninja, a full four years earlier than originally recorded.

The Ninja World Peace Conference convened by the Fifth Hokage was a great success. It not only clearly defined the jurisdictional boundaries of each ninja village for the first time, but also set a timetable for improved public order.

The reason such a significant achievement could be accomplished in just three days is because all the details were proposed by the Fifth Hokage, allowing the other ninja village leaders to choose whether to accept or not.

No one dared to refuse.

The Four Kage were very unhappy. In their view, this so-called tournament was the Fifth Hokage declaring his hegemony and forcing them to acknowledge it.

The key is that they dare not deny it. Anyone who dares to stubbornly refuse to admit it will face immediate attack from the Fifth Hokage, just like when the Fourth Mizukage refused.

The Four Kage didn't even dare to complain loudly. The Fourth Kazekage was attacked by the Fifth Hokage for complaining loudly.

In contrast to the attitudes of the Four Great Ninja Villages, the Shinobu villages of the small country were extremely pleased and wanted to wholeheartedly support the Fifth Hokage.

It's important to understand that the small countries in the Ninja World exist primarily as buffer zones and battlefields; they never have stable borders.

Because of border frictions, Ninja from small countries often fight each other, and the Five Great Shinobi Villages often use the border as an excuse to launch attacks on small countries.

The most egregious example is Kumogakure). The Fourth Raikage repeatedly used the pretext of conflict between two small countries to raid one of them.

Sometimes, if he finds something good on both sides, he'll rob both of them.

Thanks to the extreme shamelessness of successive Raikage, Kumogakure was able to seize all sorts of resources and develop from the most barren land into the second strongest ninja village in the Ninja World.

But small countries and Shinobu villages suffer greatly.

Now that the Fifth Hokage is unmatched in strength, he has taken the initiative to plan the borders of various countries, much to the delight of the Shinobu villages.

After leaving the Meeting Hall, the leaders of the Shinobu villages raised their hands and shouted, "The Lord Hokage righteous and benevolent! Unparalleled in the world!"

Long live the Fifth Hokage!

"Long live Konoha!"

At that moment, the Konoha Ninja and Konoha were so excited they didn't know what to do, and in the end they all cheered along with them.

Although the Fifth Hokage was not approachable, although he only interacted with a few Konoha Ninja, and although he was close to the arrogant Uchiha, none of this prevented Shazo from being more popular than the Third Hokage.

The most important thing for the Hokage of the greatest ninja village in the Ninja World is to bring victory and give everyone a sense of security and honor!

Because the Fifth Hokage rarely appeared in public, the graduation ceremony of the Ninja Academy, which he was always present at, became increasingly grand in scale.

The ceremony was attended not only by graduates and their parents, but also by Konoha Jonin who were free, nobles from the Land of Fire, representatives of the Fire Daimyō, and leaders or messengers from other ninja villages.

Shazo reached out and pressed down, Ceremony Meeting Hall immediately returned to silence.

He briefly congratulated the graduates on becoming official Konoha Ninja and wished them rapid growth in the future, so that they could become even stronger and more valuable Konoha Ninja.

Then Shazo dropped the bombshell. "Soon, Konoha will establish a new Ninja Academy, which I call 'The Academy.' This academy will not admit civilians, only official Konoha Ninja."

"Konoha Genin under the age of 20 and Konoha Chunin under the age of 25 can register for the entrance exam. Only those who pass the exam can enter the academy to study."

Shazo looked at the graduates and said with a smile, "Graduates of the Ninja Academy who pass the Chunin Ninja Exams within three years will automatically enter the Ninja Higher Education Academy."

"Note that this is not only your opportunity, but also your obligation; you are not allowed to refuse."

"The Ninja Higher Education Academy also has six grade levels. Only those who pass the exams can advance to the next grade; those who fail will be eliminated."

In other words, getting into the college is difficult, but graduating is even harder.

"The curriculum taught at the Ninja Higher Education Academy includes C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, and even higher-level Ninjutsu. Forbidden techniques and Sealing Technique are elective courses that offer extra credit."

The Konoha Ninja ' breathing became heavy, especially the Civilian Ninja, whose eyes even turned red.

It's important to know that since the Second Hokage passed away, the common people of Konoha have had no access to advanced Ninjutsu.

Things like Might Duy learning the Forbidden Technique: Eight Gates Formation and Dan Katō mastering the Forbidden Technique: Soul Transformation Technique all happened while the Second Hokage was alive.

In the era of the Third Hokage, being able to learn a B-rank Ninjutsu was the limit for Civilian Ninja, unless they were fortunate enough to become disciples of the Hokage's lineage.

Now that the Fifth Hokage has once again given them this opportunity, how could the Konoha Ninja not be excited?