River naturally couldn't hear Kabuto's inner monologue.
Building a hidden village was a long-term process, encompassing many complicated projects and tasks.
The most important of these, for instance, was ideological education.
Through education at the Ninja Academy, the villagers who had once been lost, without a future or a purpose, would gain a shared goal and a common dream.
That was the greatness of education.
The greatest divisions among people stemmed from incompatible worldviews and values.
To address that, River even had to help write the textbooks himself, slipping in his own agenda to cultivate their underlying beliefs.
"Loyalty to your ruler, justice, compassion."
"Unification of the world, peace."
"Friendship, solidarity, protecting the interests of ordinary people."
And so on. Most of it was borrowed straight from the great thinkers of his previous life. Though clichéd, these ideas had the advantage of being grounded in experience tested over many long years.
They worked extraordinarily well.
"The Land of Waves was established to give those of us living in poverty a place where we can live and work in peace, with enough food and clothing for everyone!"
"We owe all of this to Lord River, the Wave Shadow!"
"If possible, we should seek to bring peace to the entire Shinobi World, but first, we must grow strong."
"Every citizen of the Land of Waves should make personal growth and the pursuit of strength their guiding conviction."
The ideological education campaign began in full force. In streets and alleys, in fields and countryside, even old men out fishing could chant a line or two.
Little by little, everyone grew accustomed to the changes in the Land of Waves.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, a year had gone by since the village's founding.
The Hidden Wave Village had begun