Minato Namikaze occasionally asked Shinji for advice on specific issues over lunch, such as, "Shinji, how do you think we could better understand the villagers' needs?" That forced Shinji to rack his brains to explain basic ideas like observing more, listening patiently, and putting oneself in others' shoes in terms a six-year-old could understand.
There was also a measure of genuine curiosity in the way Shikaku Nara looked at Shinji now. He no longer saw him merely as an exceptionally strong sparring partner or a hopelessly inept opponent at shogi.
Just as Shinji thought school life would settle back into its peaceful-and boring-routine, their teacher, Umino Kakumatsu, announced a special field activity.
"Class," Teacher Kakumatsu said, standing at the lectern with a smile, "to help you better understand how the village functions, and how we ninja live alongside the villagers, the school has decided to organize a field activity. You will split into groups and visit different parts of the village for a day of observation and hands-on experience."
Excited chatter immediately filled the classroom. For most of these children, who grew up in ninja clans and had relatively little freedom to roam, this was undoubtedly a novel and exciting adventure.
"I'll announce the groups now..." Teacher Kakumatsu picked up the list and read aloud. "Group one: Masashige Sarutobi, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka. You will visit Konoha Hospital to learn about medical ninja and logistical support..."
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio plus the Hokage's son-this combination was practically a model of "political correctness," clearly arranged with care. Shikaku yawned, apparently uninterested in visiting the hospital, while Choza quietly muttered about whether its cafeteria had anything good to eat.
"Group two: Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Shibi Aburame, and Tsume Inuzuka. You will visit the village's supply warehouses to learn about the allocation and management of mission supplies..."
This group seemed fairly practical. Minato looked earnest, clearly treating this as a learning opportunity. Kushina was rather curious about the concept of a "warehouse." Shibi Aburame adjusted his sunglasses without a word, while Tsume Inuzuka brimmed with enthusiasm, as though she were heading out on an important mission.
"Group three..." Teacher Kakumatsu paused, her gaze sweeping over the back of the classroom. "Shinji Uchiha, Torayoshi Uchiha, Keigo Hyuga, and... Kotaro, a boy from a civilian family. You will visit the farming area on the outskirts of the village to observe and learn the basics of planting and harvesting crops."
The atmosphere in the classroom shifted subtly as soon as this group was announced. Two Uchiha, one Hyuga, and a civilian child, sent to the farming area? No matter how one looked at it, the group seemed rather... sidelined. A few students from minor clans who clustered around Masashige Sarutobi even looked faintly smug. To them, this assignment was dirty and exhausting, nowhere near as "prestigious" as visiting the hospital or warehouses.
Torayoshi Uchiha had no objections. Wherever his boss Shinji went, he would follow. Keigo Hyuga, a somewhat shy-looking boy with the Byakugan, simply nodded in silence. The civilian boy named Kotaro, however, looked nervous and ill at ease, seemingly unaccustomed to spending time with children from prominent clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga.
Shinji himself did not mind the arrangement. In fact, he was rather... pleased with it. A trip to the fields? That beat sitting in the classroom listening to lectures about the Will of Fire or smelling disinfectant at the hospital. Besides, farming... it reminded him of the opening strategies in certain strategy games from his previous life, building up agriculture and climbing the tech tree. It felt strangely familiar.
On the day of the field activity, group three arrived at a stretch of open farmland on the outskirts of Konoha, led by a chunin teacher named Kenichi Tanaka. It was early summer, and the fields were lush and full of life. Many villagers were busy weeding, fertilizing, and channeling water for irrigation.
Mr. Tanaka was a middle-aged ninja with dark, sun-weathered skin and an unassuming smile. He seemed very good at dealing with the villagers. "Children, our task today is to follow the farmers here, experience both the hardships and joys of growing crops, and learn where the food we eat every day comes from."
They were assigned to an elderly farmer named Yamamoto. Old Mr. Yamamoto was a talkative man. He looked rather surprised at this bunch of little tykes in ninja vests, especially the children bearing the Uchiha and Hyuga Clan emblems, but he welcomed them warmly all the same.
"Today, we'll mainly be helping out in the mushroom houses on this plot." Old Mr. Yamamoto pointed at several rows of low sheds built from wood and straw nearby. "Mushrooms are delicate, but they don't need much in the way of growing conditions, and they grow quickly. They're a very important source of food and income for us villagers."
The task was simple: under Old Mr. Yamamoto's guidance, they would learn how to adjust the moisture in the mushroom substrate-humus mixed with straw, livestock manure, and other materials-and carefully pick the mature mushrooms.
Keigo Hyuga activated his Byakugan and closely observed the growth of the mushroom mycelium inside the substrate, murmuring to himself, "The chakra flow is very faint, but the life-form is quite unusual..." He was trying to understand agriculture from a ninja's perspective.
Torayoshi Uchiha proved rather clumsy. He either poured too much water or damaged the little mushrooms, prompting Old Mr. Yamamoto to correct him several times with a chuckle. Scratching his head, he looked at Shinji in embarrassment.
Kotaro, on the other hand, was quite skilled. He seemed to have helped out at home before, working deftly and quickly understanding Old Mr. Yamamoto's instructions. But he remained quiet, barely daring to speak to the Uchiha and Hyuga children.
Shinji initially found the work rather dull too, but as he watched the densely packed little mushrooms growing rapidly in their suitable environment, something suddenly occurred to him. Spraying a fine mist of water as instructed, he asked Old Mr. Yamamoto in a seemingly casual tone, "Sir, does the village supply all these mushroom strains? Are the yields consistent?"
Old Mr. Yamamoto gave Shinji a surprised look. He had not expected this young master of the Uchiha Clan to ask such a question. "The strains? Most were passed down by the older generations, though some were found in the wild. As for yields, we depend on the weather, and on our skill. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad."
Shinji nodded and said nothing more, but his mind was racing. Mushroom cultivation had a short production cycle, offered high returns, and did not take up prime farmland. If he could introduce more scientific methods of selecting and breeding strains, controlling temperature and humidity, and managing pests and diseases, could he significantly increase yields and improve the lives of ordinary villagers like Old Mr. Yamamoto? That would make a more fundamental, lasting contribution to the village than simply completing a few D-rank missions.
During their break, Kotaro sat alone on a field ridge, taking small sips of water. Shinji walked over and offered him a rice ball made by his mother, Xing-an extra-large one, as usual. "Want a taste? My mom's a pretty decent cook."
Overwhelmed by the unexpected kindness, Kotaro hurriedly waved his hands. "N-no, that's all right, Shinji. I brought..."
"Take it. You're pretty handy at this work. Do you often help out at home?" Shinji sat beside him and started eating another rice ball without waiting for an answer.
Perhaps it was the aroma of the rice ball, or perhaps it was Shinji's easygoing attitude, but Kotaro relaxed a little. "Yeah," he said quietly. "My family... doesn't have much talent for being ninja. My parents have a small vegetable patch on the edge of the village. I go home to help after school."
"That's great," Shinji said indistinctly around a mouthful of rice. "Growing tasty vegetables and feeding yourself and your family is something pretty impressive too."
Kotaro froze. He had never heard anyone-especially a ninja-speak of farmwork that way. In his limited understanding, becoming a powerful ninja was how one brought honor to one's family. Farming like his parents was a sign of "having no prospects." Shinji's words seemed to loosen something that had been wound tight inside him.
"But... everyone wants to be a ninja," Kotaro said softly.
"Ninja have their role, and farmers have their value." Shinji looked at the villagers working hard in the distant fields. "Konoha couldn't enjoy a stable existence without food, cloth, and all the supplies ordinary people produce. Often, we ninja also need to learn the wisdom of survival from the villagers."
Not only was Kotaro stunned by those words, but Keigo Hyuga and Torayoshi Uchiha, who had quietly been listening in, also looked thoughtful. Their education from childhood had focused more on becoming stronger ninja and protecting the village. They had rarely considered the relationship between ninja and villagers in terms of "living together" and "learning from each other."
When the day's activity ended, group three returned to school covered in dirt and a little tired. The other groups gradually returned as well. The hospital group talked about the wonders of Medical Ninjutsu and the suffering of the wounded, while the warehouse group had gained a basic understanding of how complicated and important supply management was.
When they reported what they had learned, Masashige Sarutobi's group emphasized the importance of logistical and medical support to ninja missions, while Minato Namikaze's group focused on efficiency and fairness in allocating supplies.
When Shinji's group took its turn, Keigo Hyuga reported his "new discoveries" from observing plant growth with his Byakugan. Torayoshi Uchiha stammered through an explanation of how difficult farming was, and Kotaro gathered his courage to briefly describe the hardships of the villagers' work.
Finally, Shinji stood up. Rather than discussing many specific farming techniques, he summarized, "We saw how the villagers watered the land with their sweat and harvested food. It helped me understand more deeply that Konoha's prosperity rests on the combined efforts of ninja and villagers. Ninja use their strength to protect this peaceful work, while the villagers' labor supports the ninja's survival and battles. Paying attention to ordinary production activities like mushroom cultivation, improving them, and raising the villagers' standard of living may be another important way to put the Will of Fire into practice and strengthen Konoha's foundations."
Once again, his remarks seemed somewhat "beyond the curriculum," but this time they carried a more down-to-earth sense of substance. Umino Kakumatsu watched Shinji with a complicated look in her eyes. This child of the Uchiha Clan always seemed able to find unusual depth in ordinary things.
After the field activity, the atmosphere in class underwent a few subtle changes. Kotaro no longer seemed as intimidated by the children from prominent clans, and occasionally exchanged a few words with Torai and Keigo. Minato Namikaze became interested in Shinji's mention of "improving production" and privately asked him plenty of follow-up questions. Even Masashige Sarutobi broke with precedent and took the initiative to chat with Shinji over lunch about the village's food reserves.
Shinji remained as languid as ever, immersed in his own world most of the time. Yet he vaguely sensed that these seemingly ordinary daily interactions were changing something little by little, like spring rain quietly nourishing the earth. He still found school life boring most of the time, but occasional episodes like this made him feel that his days in this "starter village" might not be entirely meaningless. At the very least, planting a few different seeds and seeing how they sprouted was interesting in its own right.
Before you continue