The day after the announcement was posted, the entire Konoha air was filled with a strange aura of curiosity, excitement, uneasiness, and anger Yakumi.
The discussions between civilians and ordinary ninjas are just the appetizer. What really determines the direction of this reform are the prosperous ninja clans entrenched in Konoha.
At the center of the storm, it was unusually calm at the moment.
Nara Clan's residence, back mountain.
A few sika deers ate the fresh green grass leisurely, occasionally raising their heads and looking at the three men playing chess under the tree with gentle eyes.
"Click, click..."
Chōza Akimichi poured a large bag of potato chips into his mouth and asked vaguely, "Shikaku, what do you think about this? The whole village is about to become noisy, but you are still acting like a normal person."
In fact, this is Chōza Akimichi testing Shikaku Nara. After all, the three of them have always been of the same group as Hokage, and have always been on the same side. As a member of Council of Elders, Shikaku Nara will tell them in advance if there is any trouble.
But this time, the two families didn't get any news until the village issued a notice, so they couldn't help but make an appointment to ask Nara Clan what the situation was.
Opposite him, Shikaku Nara yawned, casually dropped a piece on the chessboard, and said without raising his head, "What's there to see? If the sky falls, there will be tall people holding it up. We, Nara Clan, can just take care of the deer in peace."
"You guy!" Inoichi Yamanaka frowned and slapped a piece of information on the stone table. "This is no small matter! The news I just got is that the teachers of 'Science Experimental Class' this time are all from the Public Security Department. The teaching materials are from Senju Chen wrote it himself, and even the mysterious Amado has the title of 'special lecturer'! This is not running a school, this is clearly building a direct talent pool that is independent from the Hokage system!"
As an expert in perception and intelligence, Inoichi's sense of smell is far sharper than Chōza. What he saw were changes in the power structure.
"So?" Shikaku finally raised his eyelids, but his seemingly lazy eyes shone with insight into everything, "You want to object? Why? Because you Yamanaka Clan can read minds, or because Chōza can grow bigger?"
"I..." Inoichi choked.
"Don't think about it. I really can't understand this time, so I didn't say anything to you. I don't know whether this reform is good or bad for Konoha!"
"You can't understand it either?" Chōza Akimichi said in surprise. Who doesn't know that Shikaku Nara is Konoha's top think tank? If even he can't understand it, then who else can understand the whole Shinobi World.
"Then why didn't Council of Elders stop it?" Inoichi Yamanaka also asked immediately.
Shikaku waved his hand and said in a tone that stated the facts, "There was no suspense about this game when Senju Chen proposed 'Limb Regeneration'. He holds the 'lives' of all ninjas in his hands, who dares to flip the table with him?"
He paused, picked up a chess piece, and played with it on his fingertips.
"Don't you understand? This is no longer a move on the original chessboard. They just lifted the chessboard, took out a deck of cards, and asked us: 'Hey, buddy, do you want to play Landlords?'"
"Those of us who have played shogi all our lives can't even understand the rules, how can we play with others?"
Shikaku's voice was not loud, but Inoichi and Chōza fell into silence at the same time.
"Then... we just don't do anything?" Chōza opened another bag of potato chips.
"Do it, of course." Shikaku suddenly smiled and said, "Go back and tell the little devils in the tribe that those who want to sign up can do so, and those who don't want to sign up should not be stopped. We, the three tribes, will not stand in line or express our stance, we will just wait and see what happens."
He looked in the distance in the direction of Hokage Rock and sighed quietly.
"Times have changed..."
He said he was in trouble, but in his heart he was clear.
What does it mean to not take sides? When everyone is forced to take sides, your choice to be "neutral" is an attitude in itself.
He is waiting for the most suitable time to get the maximum benefit at the minimum cost.
This is the survival wisdom of the Nara Clan.
Different from the Nara Clan's "Buddhist" style, the atmosphere on the other side of the village was like a volcano about to erupt.
Inside the forging workshop of the Tatekura Clan.
"Clang--!"
A newly formed stainless steel arm guard was slammed to the ground by the clan leader Tatekura Gento, making a loud and ear-piercing sound.
In the workshop, a dozen tribesmen who were blacksmithing were so frightened that they all stopped their work and fell silent.
Tatekura Clan is a famous ninja tool forging family in Konoha. More than 40% of the standard Kunai and Shuriken in the village, as well as a large number of advanced customized ninja tools, are all made by them.
It can be said that they rely on "tradition" to eat.
"Science! Bullshit science!" Tatekura Gento's chest heaved violently, and his face, which was darkened by the fire, was full of ferocious anger, "What Gatling, what power gauntlet! Those are some crooked things!"
"He Senju Chen wants to teach this in school! Who will buy our Kunai in the future? Who will customize our armor? He is going to ruin the jobs of our entire family!"
An old man who looked like he was in charge stepped forward cautiously and advised, "Patriarch, please calm down...Senju Lord Chen is gaining momentum now, and we... we can't afford to offend him."
"Can't you afford to offend?" Tatekura Gento turned around like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, glaring at the old man with a pair of bull's eyes, "We are a meritorious family who built weapons for the village when First was a master! Why should he, a young brat, cut off our livelihood!"
The more he talked, the angrier he became. He pointed in the direction outside the workshop and roared, "We are not the only ones in the village who rely on craftsmanship to make a living! There are also people who make scrolls, prepare military grain pills, and make Explosive Tag! Once he engages in this 'science', everyone will not have a good life!"
"Go! Contact the weapons dealer and the people from the Sigil House right away! Just tell them that I, Tatekura Gento, will invite them to drink tonight! I want to see if Senju Chen can really block the sky with one hand! Let's unite and go to the Hokage building to petition! I don't believe that Lady Tsunade can offend so many of our families for her brother!"
Tatekura Gento is already furious.
He cannot see the torrent of the times, he can only see his own job that is about to be submerged.
This fear stemming from survival made him choose the most direct and stupidest way of confrontation.