Friction and clashes among the higher-ups.
That was information only those with at least some standing in the village could learn a little about. For the vast ranks of lower- and mid-level ninja and ordinary citizens, all they saw was life settling back into a peaceful rhythm.
Unlike before, when they had constantly needed to stay on edge.
After the war ended.
Almost everyone could relax somewhat. And unlike the previous Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, who had been an outright warmonger, although the Third Mizukage, Aoki, had not fundamentally changed some of his village's policies, and Kirigakure still had relatively fierce and brutal internal conflict compared with other ninja villages, on the whole, it remained a normal ninja village.
Kirigakure only truly entered its incredibly bloody period after the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, officially took office and began implementing the Blood Mist Policy, further intensifying the struggles within the village!
But even so, Kirigakure under those circumstances had remained under the Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura's control.
The so-called "Blood Mist Policy" had merely been a means for Karatachi Yagura to strengthen his own authority!
He was, after all, the village's Mizukage.
He could not possibly have truly let the village head down the path of self-destruction.
If an example had to be given as a comparison, it would have been the literary inquisitions of a certain Great Qing dynasty.
Even in the original story, it was only after Karatachi Yagura was severely wounded by Obito in a battle, then easily controlled with the Mangekyō Sharingan, that the Blood Mist Policy was magnified without limit. The clashes that had previously remained controllable!
Under Obito's forcible manipulation, fueled by an intense thirst for revenge.
They spiraled completely out of control.
It was precisely because of this that unprecedented chaos erupted within Kirigakure, and both the Kaguya Clan and the Yuki Clan were wiped out amid that turmoil!
Kirigakure suffered a devastating blow, with losses that almost rivaled those of the Third Shinobi World War!
Kirigakure during that period.
Only then had it truly been the Village of the Bloody Mist. Things had not yet reached such an extreme, and the village's overall atmosphere was still fairly decent.
And now that the war had ended, the entire village was also displaying a rare air of relative peace and tranquility.
It no longer seemed so somber and gloomy.
The village's streets gradually grew livelier as well. In particular, as time flew by and the annual Ninja Academy enrollment day in March arrived, that bustle reached its peak!
As had already been said, in this world, the only way for commoners to change their fate was to become ninja. It represented power and status, a temptation no ordinary family could resist!
Never mind how harsh and dangerous Kirigakure's Ninja Academy graduation exam was. However harsh and dangerous it might be, could it possibly compare to war?!
The people of Kirigakure, born and raised here, understood this very clearly. If they wanted to rise above the crowd, they either had to become ninja themselves or have their children become ninja. Thus, whenever the annual Ninja Academy enrollment day arrived.
Thousands upon thousands of Kirigakure residents would bring their children of eligible age to register. As long as they passed the test and proved they had the aptitude to become ninja, they could enter the Ninja Academy to study!
In the future, they could at least become Genin. However difficult the graduation exam was, if they failed once, surely they could pass on their second or third attempt?!
The casualty rate in Kirigakure's Ninja Academy exams was indeed high, but injuries were more common than deaths. In all its years, Kirigakure had only produced one ruthless figure like Zabuza, and that had not happened in this timeline yet.
Thus, judging by the previous graduation rates, this really was not too much of a problem. At the very least, it fell within what Kirigakure's people could psychologically accept.
And as long as they could graduate successfully and become Genin, although they would be at the very bottom of the Shinobi World, they would still stand far above all ordinary people. That was already enough to satisfy the vast majority of commoners!
At the very least, they would still be people who wielded supernatural power.
The original story had never focused on describing this aspect, but in actual terms, ninja held an incredibly high social standing in this world. This was not merely reflected within ninja villages, but extended across the entire world.
Any ordinary person would inevitably fear someone who could easily kill them.
So, as Kei walked along the road to the Ninja Academy, he was not surprised to see so many Kirigakure residents taking children around his age to register. This was a chance for them to change their fate!
After all, Kei himself thought so too.
But unlike those children following beside their parents, excitedly imagining their futures, Kei wore a solemn expression throughout the journey. This was not only because Kei understood very well what the "true nature of ninja" was, but also because he was not the only one going to register today. There were more than a dozen clansmen of eligible age as well.
Led by an adult clansman around thirty years old named Minazuki Satoru, they headed to the Ninja Academy together to register.
Along the way.
Whenever they saw Kei's group, particularly when they noticed the "six-sided snowflake" emblems on their clothing, the residents all cleared the middle of the road and moved to either side, their eyes revealing awe and envy.
They were in awe of the Yuki no Minazuki Clan's standing.
Their envy came from knowing very well that these little boys and girls from a prestigious ninja clan, around the same age as their own children, definitely possessed the aptitude to become ninja. Their enrollment was a hundred-percent certainty.
Unlike their own children, whose chances were slim!
Otherwise, across the vast Shinobi World, the human population numbered in the tens of millions, yet there were only a hundred-odd thousand ninja. That even included the ninja villages of small nations, wandering ninja, and those so-called samurai. Such a stark ratio already spoke volumes.
And to become a ninja, one only needed to accomplish one thing-perfectly fuse one's spiritual energy and physical energy, thereby extracting chakra!
This seemingly simple requirement.
Yet accomplishing it was harder than ascending to heaven!
Of the common-born children who came to apply to the Ninja Academy each year, no more than ten percent could pass the entrance exam!
Thus, these people had ample reason to envy those born into prestigious ninja clans. After all, as long as they did not truly have a "discarded bloodline," then even if they could not use a kekkei genkai, extracting chakra and becoming a ninja was still an extremely likely outcome in a prestigious clan like the Yuki no Minazuki Clan!
It was also for this reason that a large proportion of those from prestigious clans generally looked down on commoners. Even if these people could become ninja, they would at most remain Genin for their entire lives. Those who could advance to Chunin were an exceedingly small minority, and Jonin were fewer still!