Kazekage Guard

Another two months passed.

That morning, Lin Chongshu pasted the training schedule on the wall as usual.

The five of them took one look at it and, without a word, went off to do what they were supposed to do. Those meant to run ran, and those meant to build strength trained. He no longer needed to keep watch over them.

Once you beat someone into submission, making them feel negative emotions became as easy as turning on a faucet.

Sometimes, he did not even need to do anything. He only had to stand there in the silence of a pretentious master, and the system notifications would start chiming.

They would train their hearts out for days, painstakingly raising their stats by a tiny bit. Then Lin Chongshu would come by with a cold face, make a round of the place, and toss out a few sarcastic remarks. Whatever little they had gained would transfer to him.

After arranging their training, he went out and headed deeper into the village.

The original owner of this body had been timid. Other than buying food, he had rarely left this area.

Sunagakure looked even more like an oversized earthen kiln than he had imagined.

People on the streets walked quickly with their heads lowered, and no one looked at anyone else.

Occasionally, two people bumped shoulders. They could not even be bothered to say sorry, merely glaring at each other before moving on.

There were quite a few people fond of fighting. During his stroll, he saw two groups arguing in the street over water, nearly coming to blows. The local customs were truly simple and honest.

If Sunagakure was already like this, then what must Konoha be like?

When night fell, Lin Chongshu headed back.

As soon as he reached the orphan district, he sensed that something was wrong from afar.

Several extra figures stood at the mouth of the alley. They were Sunagakure ninja.

"Stop." A chunin blocked his way, giving him a once-over. "What are you doing?"

Lin Chongshu raised the bag in his hand. "I live here. I just went out to buy food."

The ninja checked the fruit and meat in the bag, asked no further questions, and stepped aside to let him through.

When he reached his own area, Lin Chongshu found the atmosphere even stranger.

Those five brats were not training. They were all crowded outside his house, chattering like a flock of sparrows, their faces flushed red.

"Brother Shu! You're finally back!" Fatty, the red-haired Jiro Hijikata, was the first to rush forward, so excited that the flesh on his face trembled.

Lin Chongshu ignored him and carried the food inside first.

Fatty followed close behind him like a wagging dog.

"Brother Shu, you're so farsighted!"

"We were wrong. We were blind before and failed to see how much thought you'd put into this!"

Lin Chongshu turned around, his expression a little strange. Had their brains already been taken over by muscles after just two months?

He set the things down, sank into a chair, and said, "Speak plainly."

The boys all tried to talk at once. It took Lin Chongshu quite a while to understand.

The Kazekage was choosing guards.

Baki, the elite jonin from Sunagakure with half his face wrapped in white cloth.

He had passed through this area today and happened to see the five boys training. He thought they were exceptionally diligent, and after learning that Lin Chongshu had made them train—

He had selected both them and Lin Chongshu. They would all have a chance to become the Kazekage's guards.

Tomorrow, someone would take them to a special training ground for focused taijutsu training.

"Kazekage guards!" Fatty clenched his fists, his eyes shining.

Lin Chongshu leaned back in his chair and said nothing.

What kind of person was Baki? An elite jonin of Sunagakure.

Would someone like that have nothing better to do than come to the orphan district to watch people do push-ups, then take a liking to them at first glance?

The Kazekage wanted them as guards? They were not even qualified to be cannon fodder.

Although he could not figure out what Baki wanted, he still had to do what needed doing.

"Line up."

The moment those words left his mouth, they reflexively formed a line.

Lin Chongshu stood and slapped each of them once.

It was not hard, but it was loud.

After slapping the last one, he waited for the system notification, but nothing happened.

Fatty covered his face. Not only did he not resent him, he looked at Lin Chongshu with worship in his eyes. "Brother Shu, when you forced us to train back then, did you already know this day would come?"

The others nodded as well.

Lin Chongshu looked at their sparkling eyes, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Damn it, how did I end up raising their affection with a beating?

Early the next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, the door was pushed open.

A chunin stood at the doorway, his face expressionless. He swept his gaze over everyone in the room and dropped a single word. "Move."

Lin Chongshu rolled off the earthen bed and pulled on his coat.

Fatty and the others hurriedly put on their shoes, smiles on their faces that they could not suppress.

The boys had not even gone home last night, afraid they would miss their chance to become Kazekage guards.

They had chattered until the middle of the night, tossing and turning as they kept saying:

"We're going to be Kazekage guards. We're finally going to make something of ourselves."

"We finally have a chance to inherit our parents' will and become ninja."

The training ground was not inside the village, but on its outskirts. It was even more remote than the orphan district where they lived, surrounded by bare rock walls and sandy ground.

Upon arriving, Lin Chongshu looked around.

The place was quite well-equipped. There were wooden posts, weighted sandbags, designated sparring areas, and quite a few chunin standing around.

Such a huge setup, just to train a few guards like them?

Fatty looked around excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. He was probably already imagining himself standing behind Rasa as a Kazekage guard.

Two little brats stood in the center of the training ground.

One was a girl, and the other was a boy.

The girl was quite tall, half a head taller than others her age. Her dark blond hair was tied into four ponytails, and she held a fan.

The boy beside her was slightly shorter, with several streaks of face paint on his face.

When Lin Chongshu arrived, Kankuro was crouched on the ground fiddling with something. Hearing the footsteps, he merely glanced up.

Temari stood in the middle of the field, her fan held horizontally before her, her gaze sweeping over all six of them one by one.

"These are the ones?" Temari asked.

The chunin beside her nodded.

Lin Chongshu immediately understood. So they were not being made guards. They were being made sparring partners for the young master and young mistress.

The chunin nearby introduced Temari and Kankuro to Lin Chongshu's group.

Once the introductions were over, Fatty was about to step forward and introduce himself when Kankuro rose directly to his feet.

Ignoring Fatty's half-extended hand, he brushed the sand off his knees. "Enough nonsense. Let's get started."

The chunin divided them into groups.

Lin Chongshu, Fatty, and a lanky boy were assigned to Temari, while the other three went to Kankuro.

Temari stood in the middle of the sparring area, planted her fan on the ground, and waited arrogantly for them to come at her.

Lin Chongshu rolled his wrists and stepped forward first.

He had gone over it in his head several times. His current stats were all close to 4.5, so he considered himself one of the best among people his age.

Temari was a girl and half a head shorter than him. He should be able to pin her down and beat her with one hand.

Based on his experience from his previous life, he would not have dared lay a hand on the village chief's daughter in a situation like this. Who knew whether the future Kazekage might hold a grudge against him?

But what kind of place was Sunagakure? Besides, he was now the perfect inheritor of the Will of Sand!

What was wrong with beating up the village chief's daughter? The village chief's daughter is exactly who I'm beating!

Better yet, he could give her a psychological shadow in one go, making it easier to keep extracting abilities from her in the future.

Temari set down her fan. Without using ninjutsu, she came straight at him in a taijutsu contest.

Temari's fists were not large, but they carried a heavy force when they came down.

Her fist was followed by an elbow, her elbow by a knee. One move flowed into the next without the slightest pause.

She was short with a low center of gravity, constantly pressing into Lin Chongshu's waist and abdomen, leaving him unable to make use of his longer reach.

After blocking twice, Lin Chongshu felt his arms ache sharply.

Is this fucking human?