Konoha's Current Situation Is Urgent

On the night of October 10.

Inside a cave somewhere outside Konoha.

Obito and Kakashi stood guard outside.

Inside, Minato and the village's medical ninja were delivering the baby. The atmosphere within was tense, while the two outside chatted quite happily.

"Sensei is actually naming his child Naruto if it's a boy and Naruko if it's a girl? Wouldn't Obito and Obiko be much better?"

"By the way, Kakashi, what has Rin been doing lately? Why haven't I seen her at all?"

Obito missed Rin a little. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her once since returning.

"The Land of Fire's capital needs medical ninja to treat people, so the Fourth Hokage ordered Rin to go." Kakashi was reading a book as he answered casually.

"I see. Masaichi, too—he's already part of Konoha's upper ranks, yet he hasn't thought of a way to transfer Rin back."

"If it were me, I'd let Rin hold some cushy job in Konoha that didn't require suffering, with high status and high pay."

Obito complained a little.

"You think Konoha is your family business? You can arrange things however you please?" Kakashi rolled his eyes.

As if he didn't want to.

But where in Konoha was there such a good job?!

"So what? One day in the future, I could become Hokage too."

"Sure, sure. A Hokage whose academic grades have always been failing."

"What did you say?! Tch, shorty. Grades can be made up, but height can't."

Obito was a head taller than Kakashi, nearly as tall as Masaichi. Kakashi felt utterly powerless. He clearly took calcium every day and ate enough calories and protein—so why was he still shorter than them? Where had it gone wrong?

Was it a genetic issue?!

"Waaahhh—"

As the two bickered, a baby's cry rang out from the cave.

Obito happily turned around. "Sister Kushina gave birth."

He was a little reckless. He slammed the door open and rushed inside, sending the two delivery nurses waiting by the entrance flying. He was even more excited than if the child were his. The moment he entered, he took the newborn Minato had named Naruto from his arms.

Minato could only hand the baby over helplessly, then stepped to the side to shield Kushina.

But Obito wasn't interested in that. Naruto in his arms was far more interesting.

"Sensei, congratulations."

He pulled back Naruto's swaddling cloth and congratulated Minato as he looked at the little baby. "Sensei, you must let me become Naruto's Jonin instructor in the future."

As he spoke, he flicked little Naruto's forehead, making Naruto cry loudly.

"Obito..." Kushina didn't have the strength to scold him. "Minato."

"Yes!" Minato snatched Naruto back from Obito, but Obito still had something to give Naruto, so he snatched him back again and stuffed several banknotes into Naruto's clothes.

"Sensei Minato, just a small token. Please don't think it's too little."

They said you didn't hit a smiling face. With such a generous gift, they could only forgive him.

Speaking of which, where was yours, Kakashi?

The night remained calm. Nothing happened. The Nine-Tails did not appear, and nothing happened to Kushina.

So it really was you! Orochimaru!! The culprit behind the Nine-Tails Rebellion that future Yamato spoke of.

Konoha's birth rate was growing higher and higher.

But its education truly wasn't up to standard.

Did you know Konoha didn't teach ideological and moral education because it feared ninja would develop morals and think independently? If ninja had morals, they would go soft-hearted when facing severely wounded enemies. If they thought independently, they would wonder why they had to do missions for nobles. Why didn't they get rid of the nobles?

Limited by the times, Konoha had never taught such things.

Yet precisely because it didn't teach ideology and morality, how many rogue ninja and extremists had Konoha produced?

From Uchiha Madara at the top to Boruto, the rogue ninja who killed the Seventh Hokage.

So it had to be taught.

Returning to his old school, Masaichi was no longer the former Academy student A Yi. He had come to inspect it as the acting Hokage.

At fourteen, he had reached such a position—throughout all of history.

"Iruka, what areas of the Ninja Academy do you think need improvement?" Masaichi crouched down amiably before Iruka Umino, a first-year Ninja Academy student.

"Can... can I really say it?" Iruka often saw Masaichi's face in the newspapers. If he spoke about the village's faults, wouldn't he be scolded?

"Don't worry! Konoha Village has freedom of speech."

In the past, anything one said that Hiruzen Sarutobi learned of would earn them an ANBU investigation.

But not anymore.

"Then I'll say it? Don't get angry."

"I won't." Masaichi smiled warmly. Why would I get angry? No matter what problems you point out with the Ninja Academy, I won't get angry.

The Ninja Academy's historical issues weren't caused by me or Sensei.

Recently, Sensei Orochimaru had been criticizing all kinds of Hiruzen Sarutobi's policies.

After overthrowing him, they planned to reform them.

Overnight, Hiruzen Sarutobi went from being the strongest Hokage in Konoha's eyes to a controversial figure.

Some said he had led Konoha through the First and Second Shinobi Wars, then fought the Third Shinobi War, making him an undisputed hero of the ninja world.

But others said that Konoha had been the same when the Second Hokage was alive as it was under the Third Hokage. This man was no hero of the ninja world.

In just a few months after the Fourth Hokage took office, their food and living standards had risen by several levels. Who was better needed no further explanation.

Orochimaru felt it wasn't enough. Such a degree of change alone wasn't enough to make his teacher regret it.

"The cafeteria! The school cafeteria's food... is a little bad." Iruka scratched his nose, lacking confidence as he spoke.

"Damn it, the food was bad when I attended school, and it's still bad now?!"

Masaichi clenched his fists and stood up, determined to give the students an explanation.

Konoha only had one school, yet even its food was bad. Sure enough, there was too little competitive pressure.

His iron fist did not go easy on the person in charge of the school cafeteria.

Just as his name implied—Justice!

All those schemes in the past had been necessary evils.

The cafeteria manager, Ryoko Akimichi, had an explanation as well.

The Third Hokage had not allocated funds in the past.

The Third Hokage didn't allocate funds?

Then why didn't you ask for them?!

Through this matter, Masaichi discovered that corruption in Konoha was rather severe.

Konoha now was like a great ship on the verge of collapse.

Hokage Faction VS Minato Faction. Internal strife outweighed construction, and factional interests had actually risen above national interests.

The bureaucracy was corrupt, powerful clans enjoyed privileges, and the elite class inherited power. The elites and common people were divided, while power had become a tool of privilege.

Years of war had drained the treasury...

Outside the village, the Land of Fire's ritual codes devoured people, shackled thought, upheld class hierarchy, and suppressed new ideas...

They had stepped on every landmine possible.

Masaichi would believe it if someone said Konoha might collapse now.