Dilemma

To Ruri's surprise, Yuna's home stood at the end of the same street where his own house was located. This residential district had once been ruins, and he had personally built the homes here using the Four-Pillar House Technique.

Yuna pushed open the door and headed straight for the room. Ruri had planned to leave after seeing her home, but when he saw Masashige follow her inside, he had no choice but to stop.

"Mom, I'm back! I made you worry. I still didn't pass the Ninja Academy assessment..." Yuna's voice trembled with tears. She truly wanted to enter the Ninja Academy.

"Cough, cough... It's good that you're back. As long as you can live well, I'll be fine." The woman lying in bed looked haggard, as though she were ill.

"Auntie Nadeshiko, haven't you gotten any better today?" Masashige asked from the side.

"Masashige is here too. Thank you for your concern." Nadeshiko did not mention her illness. Her daughter was right beside her, and she did not want anyone to worry.

"Auntie Nadeshiko, I passed the assessment! I brought my teacher here. He should have a way!" Masashige grabbed Ruri's robe and pulled him before Nadeshiko.

"I'm fine..." Nadeshiko coughed several more times, then slightly raised her head and saw the Takikage Hat atop Ruri's head. Startled, she said, "I'm sorry, are you Lord Takikage?!"

Ruri gestured for Nadeshiko, who wanted to rise and pay her respects, to remain still. From a cursory examination, her illness might be tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis was difficult to cure in the first place, especially when medical ninjutsu had yet to become established. The medical practices of this world alone were unlikely to cure it.

After leaving Yuna's home with Masashige, Ruri looked deeper into the matter. Yuna's father had been an ordinary Genin. He had died protecting the village during Kubi Ichiro's coup, and it was after that that Nadeshiko had contracted tuberculosis.

The reason Yuna was desperately trying to enter the Ninja Academy was also to improve her family's circumstances. Ruri had issued generous pensions for fallen ninja, but nearly all of theirs had been spent treating Nadeshiko. If not for the fact that their home had been personally allocated by the Takikage, they might even have sold the house.

Ruri fell into deep thought. The death benefits he issued were enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for twenty years. Even with medical expenses, they should not have been depleted so quickly!

"Lord Kakuzu recruited quite a few doctors, and a lot of medicinal herbs are needed for research. The Ninja Academy has also stockpiled large quantities of medicinal herbs, causing medical expenses in the village to rise and herb prices to become exorbitant..." Masashige looked earnestly at Ruri with wide eyes. He had secretly investigated all of this himself, and he was somewhat nervous, unsure whether his teacher would blame him for meddling.

Ruri froze. He had not considered this. The village was filled with ninja and young adults who had migrated here, so there were few sick people and little demand for doctors or medicinal herbs. Even though he had gathered many doctors to treat Kakuzu, he had neglected civilian healthcare. Since there had been no demand, no one had reported these matters.

They said Itachi could think like a Hokage at the age of seven, but Masashige was no worse! No wonder he would one day lead Amegakure and maneuver among the three great nations like Hanzo!

It seemed Masashige had deliberately brought him to Yuna's home to see Nadeshiko. Otherwise, seeing was believing while hearing was not, so how could Ruri, the Takikage, have trusted the words of a mere six-year-old? Even if the child was his disciple, it would have been unlikely.

"I'll specially approve funding for medical subsidies. Also, if Yuna is willing, I can have her study under one of the village's doctors. Lacking the talent to become a ninja does not mean she cannot accomplish something elsewhere." Ruri was not some indiscriminately kind man, but the coup had only just passed. Making the wives and daughters of ninja who had sacrificed themselves for the village struggle for survival was simply too disheartening. Moreover, he had indeed been too focused on Kakuzu's illness and had failed to consider this properly. Medical subsidies were necessary.

Ruri did not mention that Nadeshiko's illness was likely incurable. Birth, aging, sickness, and death were helpless things. All he could do was find Yuna a job that would allow her to survive in the future. Once Nadeshiko could no longer hold on, at least Yuna would have some comfort.

Ninja Academy enrollment soon ended. Both Masashige and Akito passed the second round of assessments. A total of forty-six children passed, sixteen of whom came from civilian families with no ninja background whatsoever. Even with Ruri deliberately favoring civilian children, that proportion was still somewhat pitiful.

But when the next enrollment began, things would surely change greatly. Once children from civilian families knew they had a chance to become ninja, they would definitely work twice as hard.

With the Ninja Academy nearing completion, Ruri launched his steelmaking and wine plans. Steel was a strategic resource, while wine could serve as an everyday commodity or a standard trade good with the major nations.

Ruri directly handed the winemaking method to the Izakaya owner. The owner's son, Shuto, was a creative Water Style Chunin, so he might be able to help. There was no need to worry too much about it.

However, steelmaking ran into difficulties.

Ruri built a wooden hut beside a stream, and Hagane Masamasa had not stepped out of it for five days.

The Hagane Clan could forge ordinary steel at will, even using their Kekkei Genkai to create it from nothing with chakra. But the steel produced according to the Steelmaking Encyclopedia Ruri had provided was not ordinary steel.

According to Hagane Masamasa's speculation, the steel produced was the Thousand-Refined Steel passed down within his clan since ancient times. Not only did it have lower carbon content, superior texture, and greater hardness, it also possessed chakra-conducting properties.

The moment Ruri heard about chakra-conducting properties, he became excited. He knew exactly how scarce chakra metal was. If Takigakure could mass-produce it, it would undoubtedly strengthen the nation as a whole! The mission reward was within reach!

However, Hagane Masamasa promptly poured cold water over him.

Not only did the clan's ancient teachings say so, but the Steelmaking Encyclopedia also stated in detail that producing Thousand-Refined Steel required enormous amounts of iron. By Hagane Masamasa's estimate, a thousand jin of iron might yield only enough Thousand-Refined Steel to forge a single blade. They also had to account for the possibility of failure during forging. Takigakure's iron reserves were simply a drop in the bucket, and the Land of Waterfalls was not a major mining nation. It would be difficult to supply enough.

Left with no choice, Ruri handed all the iron over to Hagane Masamasa and told him to practice with other techniques first. Even if he could not produce Thousand-Refined Steel, Hundred-Refined Steel, Ten-Refined Steel, and Folded Steel could still strengthen the Takigakure Ninja's combat power. As for iron ore, Ruri could only think of another solution.

Days passed, and the Ninja Academy was finally completed. Freshmen could enroll in a month. Mu also planned to leave with the delegation—the construction team. To be honest, Ruri was somewhat reluctant to see him go. Takigakure had very few Earth Style ninja, and construction workers were even scarcer. He still had many public-benefit projects he had yet to put into action...

Even under the temptation of Sukiya Sushi, Mu sternly refused Ruri's attempts to keep him. He had already written to Ishikawa about the concept of the Ninja Academy. The Iwagakure Ninja Academy and Takigakure Ninja Academy had been completed at the same time, and Ishikawa had placed Mu fully in charge of the Ninja Academy. He had to return to the village immediately to recruit new students.

However, just before Mu left Takigakure, Ruri received an astonishing piece of news. After much persuasion, Mu finally agreed to stay one more day.