Another Commission!

"There were also some who simply didn't care enough."

"For example, the Hyuga Clan treated the people of the Branch Family like servants. They might not care how many of them died, so when sending Branch Family members on certain-death missions, they only had to weigh the value of the mission. If it was valuable enough, they could send Branch Family ninja to their deaths."

"Then there were the Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan. Aside from the next clan head, they wouldn't spend any money training the other clan members. Once they were old enough to understand how the world worked, they were sent out to contribute to their clans. Those who survived kept contributing, and if they died, well, there was nothing to be done. That was their fate."

As Senju Tobirama spoke, even he felt he was being too cruel. He sighed again and fell silent.

Senju Hashirama slammed a hand on the table and cursed furiously. "Damn it!"

But he had no idea how to solve the problem.

So he looked up and said seriously to Senju Hashirama:

"Big brother, stop gambling for a while and help me figure out how to solve this."

"There are too many problems that need solving in Konoha right now. Sometimes I don't even know how to keep things going."

Hyuga Hoshishaku was tucking into a feast at the Barbecue Shop when a commission notification suddenly appeared.

He glanced at Yuto and Kenshi, their mouths greasy from eating grilled fish, and decided to order another serving later. He dropped out of the fish-eating contest, put down his chopsticks, opened the System Panel, and started reading the notification.

[Notification: An available commission has appeared: A-rank Commission—Resolve Senju Tobirama's Troubles]

[Mission Details: The figures in last year's ninja casualty report for Konoha Village were appalling. The casualty rate was roughly on par with that of the Warring States period, with ninja under the age of sixteen suffering the highest casualties. Senju Tobirama was deeply troubled by this and didn't know how to solve the problem. In his view, if this continued unchecked, the Hidden Leaf Village would face a gap in its fighting force.]

[Mission Rank: A+–A]

[Mission Reward: Depending on the mission's completion, an A+–C-rank ninja card]

[Accept this commission?]

"Yes, yes, yes! Accept!"

After accepting the commission that had appeared out of nowhere, Hoshishaku continued eating his grilled fish, only half paying attention.

But his mind was already on the commission.

The ninja death rate was too high?

Especially among younger ninja?

This...

Of course he knew why.

For one thing, the overall state of the Ninja World was terrible. There were all kinds of strange ninjutsu, bizarre enemies, and enormous, indescribable beasts.

Young people were too weak. If they left the village, they wouldn't survive.

Take him, for example. Even though he now had Chunin-level strength, he still didn't dare venture beyond the village's third ring.

He only dared to complete exploration missions by wandering around the village center.

And besides...

Many of those injured or killed on missions probably weren't even Genin.

Hoshishaku actually knew quite a bit about this.

When he'd taken Yun Fei for a walk around town before—in reality, they'd been completing exploration missions—he'd noticed that, apart from civilians, there were hardly any ninja children on Konoha's streets.

That was nothing like Konoha in year 60 of the original story, where ninja kids could be seen everywhere.

So he'd discussed it with Yun Fei.

"Why don't I ever see kids from the other ninja clans?"

That was what he'd asked at the time.

And Yun Fei had told him:

"Some members of every clan have to take part in Konoha's ninja system."

"But Konoha's ninja system is quite strict. It assigns ranks to ninja, and, for their safety, ranks missions too. It strictly controls which mission ranks ninja can accept, based on their own rank, to keep them safe."

"But the clans want to maintain their income, so they send out a lot of children who know only one or two jutsu to carry out clan missions. That means the only ninja children left with free time in the village are the heirs of the various clans."

Hoshishaku had been shocked.

So he'd asked, "Don't they care about creating a gap in the next generation? If all the children die, won't their clans disappear?"

Yun Fei had been silent for a moment before answering, "A lot of clans imitate old, long-established ninja clans like the Hyuga. They may not have a Main Family and a Branch Family, but they do have a main line and collateral branches. As long as the main line's descendants survive, it doesn't matter if the collateral branches die out."

After hearing those cruel truths, all Hoshishaku could do was feel grateful that he'd been born into the Hyuga Main House—and that he had a cheat that let him beat his older brother, Hyuga Yueye.

But now, with the commission in mind, the problem seemed much clearer.

This was a problem of ethics, values, resources, and interests.

As for how to solve it...

In the original story, Senju Tobirama had solved the problem in year 11 of Konoha, just four years later.

He established the Ninja Academy, providing free training to all ninja children of the appropriate age in the village.

He also changed the village's system, requiring all children of ninja clans who were old enough to attend school to do so.

Talented students were selected and assigned to teams led by the village's jonin, who could protect and train them more thoroughly.

In the original story, when the Konoha 12 graduated, they were trained under the leadership of the village's four elite jonin.

Most of the other ninja who graduated around the same time were assigned to Chunin-led teams.

And those ninja without much talent also became more capable after their training. They went from being cannon fodder to a core force capable of handling the village's enormous workload of missions.

As for those with too little talent, they went from being ordinary cannon fodder to powerful cannon fodder.

So establishing the Ninja Academy was an incredibly ingenious solution.

Originally, Hyuga Hoshishaku hadn't planned to change anything.

But now that he'd triggered this commission, he had to find a way to push for the Ninja Academy's establishment ahead of schedule.

He looked at Senju Yuto, who had eaten his fill and wore a satisfied expression.

He was Senju Hashirama's own son, and also the beloved youngest child who had almost died in infancy.

Could he...

No.

He rejected the idea immediately.

He couldn't use connections to make this happen.

He glanced again at Hyuga Kenshi, who looked just as satisfied.

Hoshishaku let his thoughts wander.

The Branch Family... the clans...

He figured this could be accomplished through the clans.

In fact, it couldn't rely on the Hyuga Clan alone; the other clans would have to join in too.

But how could he go about something momentous enough to be recorded in the village's history?

Turning the problem over in his mind, Hoshishaku absentmindedly pushed Yuto around the village for several hours.

Only when he'd come up with a few ideas did he hurriedly take Yuto back to the Senju Clan Grounds. Then he rushed back to the little courtyard at the Hyuga Clan Grounds and began writing furiously.

No matter what, he first had to draw up a plan for establishing the Ninja Academy.

With a plan in hand, he could then use it to persuade his dad.

As for how to write one?

As if he hadn't been a student himself.

Writing a plan—especially one for the somewhat imperfect Ninja Academy in the original story—was something he could not only do, but do well.