There were many veteran Mist Ninja who shared Koshimizu Tsuki's views.
Many of them could be found in Kirigakure.
The Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, had held the same view in his day. That Mizukage believed Mist Ninja could die in battle because they were weaker than their opponents, but dying out of cowardice was absolutely unacceptable. Such ninja were trash in the truest sense.
They were people Kirigakure did not need.
This was also why, throughout those years, Kirigakure had consistently ranked last among the Five Great Shinobi Villages in the number of Genin who graduated each year. Even during wartime, when some requirements were relaxed and some students were allowed to graduate early, its standards remained far harsher than those of the other four great shinobi villages. This was Kirigakure's defining characteristic.
The Blood Mist Policy had indeed come into being after the Fourth Mizukage took office, but cruelty within Kirigakure had been an established norm long before that.
Although the Third Mizukage, who took over afterward, was much more moderate than Hozuki Gengetsu in his governing philosophy and methods, little had changed at its core. Thus, throughout all the years since Kirigakure's founding, its total number of Mist Ninja had always ranked near the bottom of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
It shared that position with Sunagakure.
There was still a considerable gap between it and the leading Three Great Shinobi Villages, especially Konohagakure, whose ninja numbers had almost always remained above twenty thousand!
Even at its peak, Kirigakure's ninja numbers had only barely reached fifteen or sixteen thousand.
Compared to Konoha, that meant a shortfall of six or seven thousand, an already striking and enormous difference. Six or seven thousand ninja, even if they were all Genin, were a force capable of securing victory on any battlefield!
The same held true for Kumogakure and Iwagakure. Though the difference was not quite so exaggerated, they could still establish a certain numerical advantage!
As for neighboring Sunagakure.
Its ninja numbers were about the same as Kirigakure's.
But the difference was that the Mist Ninja's low numbers stemmed from their harsh system, whereas the Sand Ninja's numbers stemmed from their own weakness!
Specifically, they lacked resources and their land was barren. They could not afford to support more ninja. In every Shinobi World War, the Sand Ninja were the first to enter the fighting and the first to suffer defeat.
The biggest reason was that Sunagakure was simply too poor!
And this could also be directly reflected in its ninja's combat strength.
As mentioned before, in the world of ninja, "the poor study letters; the rich practice martial arts" was an eternal truth. Without money, what were you supposed to use to grow stronger?!
This was Sunagakure's greatest predicament and problem.
It was fundamentally different from Kirigakure.
It was not that the successive Mizukage and Kirigakure's other higher-ups had failed to see the problems their village faced.
But they still stood firmly by their village's philosophy and style.
They believed this was Kirigakure's path to strength.
At most, they made some adjustments to minor details. Of course, whether the disadvantages ultimately outweighed the advantages for Kirigakure, or the benefits outweighed the drawbacks...
Kei could not say, nor was it something he currently had any standing to comment on. Even if he truly wanted to change something, he would only have the standing and ability to consider it after gaining greater strength and climbing to a higher position!
For now, he had better first think about how to pass the graduation exam before him smoothly!
Especially the interference that was certain to come from his fellow student, Mei Terumi.
He had to find a way to avoid it!
He had no desire to cause any major commotion. Getting through this graduation exam smoothly and uneventfully was what mattered most.
However, this exam had undergone some changes compared to last year's. At the very least, the examination grounds before him alone gave Kei much more room to maneuver.
Hoo... hiss...
Kei's body was tense. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Mei Terumi's profile ahead and to his left, and a faint glimmer appeared in his eyes.
Mei Terumi seemed to sense it as well.
She glanced back at Kei, a faint trace of teasing emerging in her beautiful eyes.
Minazuki Kei, you definitely won't get away during this graduation exam!
Mei Terumi gently twirled her hair, thinking with an inward "sneer."
Leaving aside the unusual thoughts running through the minds of the boy and girl below.
After roughly surveying the students taking the exam, Koshimizu Tsuki, standing at the front, appeared outwardly impassive, but inwardly nodded in satisfaction. If nothing else, this graduating class looked much better than the previous one!
Not a single person had timidly averted their gaze upon meeting his eyes. Although that did not prove anything, it was at least a good start.
He did not want to see any cowards among the graduates!
People like that were not merely unfit to be ninja; they also risked becoming rotten apples that spoiled the bunch. As such, Koshimizu Tsuki placed immense importance on this aspect.
"Everyone should already understand the basic content of this exam, correct? I won't repeat it here. The only thing I want to emphasize is this: do not forget a ninja's duty. Even if you are not yet official ninja, you must hold yourselves to that standard. The difficulty of this exam depends on you yourselves, not on anything else. Finally, what I want to say is that, from the moment you enter the forest behind me, you can be enemies or teammates. Again, every choice is yours to make. All the instructors and I will look only at the final results. This is a basic requirement for a ninja. In a mission, it is not the process that matters, only the result. Do you understand?!"
Koshimizu Tsuki's face looked somewhat ferocious as he shouted sternly, a vicious edge to his expression.
"Yes!!!"
The more than three hundred Ninja Academy students taking the exam below answered loudly in unison.
"Very good. Then, without further ado, the exam officially begins!"
Koshimizu Tsuki nodded in satisfaction, then gave a forceful wave of his right hand.
"First batch!"
From positions on both sides.
More than a dozen instructors immediately stepped forward.
They each led several examinees, who had already been divided into batches and lines beforehand, racing off in different directions!
The graduation exam!
This was an exam taken individually.
To put it plainly, each person had to complete their own mission to graduate successfully!
Of course, the Ninja Academy could not possibly assign different missions to over three hundred students.
But it had still arranged more than a dozen different missions, as many as it could.
In other words, no more than twenty people would receive the same mission.
They would also ensure that none of the three hundred-plus students knew anyone else's mission in advance.
This was also to ensure, as far as possible, that the exam could proceed in an orderly fashion.
At the start, these examinees needed to enter the examination grounds separately.
Each batch at each entrance consisted of no more than five or six people, which could prevent a great deal of pointless fighting. Of course, if these examinees wanted to fight to the death right at the start, that was another matter. After all, some examinees' missions really did require them to do just that.
Mei Terumi was among the first batch of examinees to enter the enormous forest before them.
Before leaving, the stunningly beautiful girl gave Kei a meaningful look, making his eyelid twitch involuntarily once again.