Chapter 254: Chapter 254: Winds of Reform II
Inside the conference room.
The people of Konoha had been passionately discussing for a long time, and everyone's faces were filled with excitement and fervor.
As the meeting came to an end, a sweeping wind of change immediately swept across the entire village.
From top to bottom, inside and out, Konoha underwent comprehensive and deep reforms in various aspects such as healthcare, education, housing, security, tourism, and culture.
Konoha, from a colony to a permanently neutral village.
Under the leadership of the Sixth Hokage and the collective efforts of tens of thousands of villagers, this reborn village was like a ship setting sail once again, riding the winds and breaking the waves toward a bright future.
Samui was also not idle.
As a ninja, her strength was not particularly strong, but her mature and calm personality and careful approach made her very capable in management.
As the wife of the Sixth Hokage, she wanted to share the burdens and difficulties for her husband and the village, rather than just being a housewife.
So.
With Dan's permission, Samui, who had just given birth, quickly threw herself into her new work.
Fortunately, the Uchiha clan's war reparations from the Fourth Great Ninja War could serve as the initial startup capital for the village's reforms.
Samui then took on the role of Minister of Finance, managing the village's various revenues and expenditures.
As for Dan himself, as the Sixth Hokage, he should have been the busiest person in the village, but he delegated all the troublesome matters to his subordinates.
He became the most idle one.
Dan's daily life consisted of playing with his daughter, physical training, and occasionally calling over his nephew Sasuke for some guidance.
He was undoubtedly the laziest Hokage in Konoha's history.
...
Time flew by.
Unbeknownst to everyone, autumn turned to winter, and then winter to spring. The north wind howled, and heavy snow fell, followed by the spring thunder and drizzling rain.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
During this period, everyone in Konoha worked at full throttle to actively promote reforms. Within just a few months, significant results were achieved, bringing about astonishing changes both inside and outside the village.
Spring of the 56th year in Konoha brought a new atmosphere to the village.
Today was an important day.
Because the Sixth Hokage himself was going to personally inspect various departments in Konoha to see what fruitful results the reforms had yielded.
For this, all departments had prepared for a long time, waiting for the Sixth Hokage's inspection with excited and anxious hearts.
A large group of people walked out of the Hokage Mansion.
Leading the crowd was the Sixth Hokage, Dan, followed by the Anbu Captain Kakashi, Minister of Finance Samui, and Deputy Village Head Tomitake, among others.
These Konoha higher-ups formed the inspection team and headed to their first stop—
The Konoha Hospital.
"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage! Tsunade-sama had to perform emergency surgery on a critically ill patient and can't leave the operating room at the moment..."
At the entrance of the hospital, Karin nervously explained to Dan, worried that the Sixth Hokage would be displeased.
Fortunately.
"If that's the case, then you can show us around."
Dan spoke indifferently, showing no signs of anger.
Relieved, Karin quickly said, "Please follow me."
The inspection team's second stop was the Ninja Academy.
As the principal, Nara Shikaku had been waiting at the school gates for a while, respectfully welcoming the arrival of the Sixth Hokage.
Like the Konoha Hospital, the Ninja Academy had also undergone expansion, moving to the edge of the village and occupying a much larger area—ten times its original size.
For instance, a new library had been built to house nearly ten thousand jutsu collected by the Uchiha clan from various ninja villages, available for both teachers and students to study.
There were also training grounds for teachers to instruct in jutsu and for students to practice real combat.
The number of teaching buildings had increased to three.
The old system was a six-year education, with students typically graduating at around 12 years old to become Genin. Now, it had changed to a twelve-year system, including six years of Genin courses, two years of Chunin, and four years of Jonin courses. Students would be promoted or eliminated based on their academic performance.
This meant that excellent students who could pass all the courses would be eligible for Jonin status by the age of 18.
To cultivate such outstanding ninjas, the teaching staff at the academy had also undergone corresponding upgrades and restructuring.
Previously, academy teachers were responsible for teaching cultural courses and the most basic of the Three Great Dojutsu, requiring only Chunin or special Jonin qualifications. But now, more Jonin and elite Jonin had joined Konoha's teaching staff. Shikaku had even headhunted capable Jonin from other villages, offering high salaries to teach in Konoha.
The aim was to cultivate many excellent students, reserve talents, and implement the Sixth Hokage's development philosophy of researching and developing production-oriented jutsu.
Therefore, the Ninja Academy had also established a research department, gathering a large number of elite ninjas specifically responsible for developing new types of jutsu for production and daily life.
Production, education, and research were integrated.
This was the Konoha Ninja Academy that Nara Shikaku was building.
Although it was still in its infancy, it had already formed a dimension-reducing attack on the schools of other ninja villages in various aspects.
Under the temptation of a library of tens of thousands of jutsu, excellent teaching staff, and superior learning environment, wealthy people and authorities from other ninja villages had sent their children to study in Konoha, allowing the next generation to receive the best education and not fall behind.
Konoha's source of students was endless, naturally bringing in a large amount of income.
"Not bad."
Dan was still sparing with his words, giving his evaluation of the work done by Shikaku and others.
Upon hearing this, Shikaku secretly breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said nervously:
"We will continue to work hard, Lord Hokage."
At this moment, everyone came to the academy's playground.
They saw a group of students panting and running on the track, all sweating profusely and looking as tired as dogs.
"Youngsters, if you can't even run 500 laps, how can you call yourselves aspiring ninjas? Perseverance is victory; never give up on your youth. Keep it up!"
A man in a green jumpsuit was shouting passionate slogans on the side, injecting adrenaline into the students.
It was Might Guy.
He had become a physical education teacher at the Ninja Academy, specifically responsible for teaching Taijutsu and training students' physical fitness.
It's worth mentioning that the class Guy was leading was the academy's elite class, gathering students with outstanding talents and excellent grades. All the teachers in the class were elite Jonin.
Therefore, among those students, many familiar faces were seen by everyone.
On the track.
"Everyone, look! The Hokage and other important figures in the village are here, watching us."
Inuzuka Kiba excitedly said, immediately causing a stir among the students.
"I heard the principal is Shikamaru's father; they really look alike, even their hairstyles are identical. Having a dad as the principal is really great; Shikamaru could easily graduate as a Jonin."
Some civilian students whispered, their tones full of jealousy and envy.
These words fell into Shikamaru's ears, but he just shook his head.
From the outside, Nara Shikaku indeed seemed very glamorous, but Shikamaru only felt sorry for his dad. The latter was busy until late at night every day, and it was evident that he was under a lot of pressure, even growing quite a few gray hairs.
Although he was the son of the principal, Shikamaru had always been low-key in school and never flaunted his identity.
Just then.
"Hmph."
A light snort suddenly came from the front, emitting a faint sense of disdain and arrogance.
It was Uchiha Sasuke.
He was leading the run, leaving all his classmates behind, looking quite smug.
Soon, people started whispering while looking at Sasuke's back:
"What's Shikamaru compared to Sasuke? Sasuke's dad is the Uchiha clan leader, and his uncle is even the Sixth Hokage. He's the real top-tier second generation."
"Sasuke is simply born lucky; his starting point is what many people can't reach in their entire lives."
"Ah, if only I were also an Uchiha. Even if I didn't have as good a background as Sasuke, having a pair of Sharingan would be a dream come true."
The voices of the students were filled with envy for Sasuke, and many wanted to curry favor with this star of the Ninja Academy.
Unfortunately, Sasuke's personality was quite aloof, not approachable at all, neither making friends nor taking followers, always going it alone.
"He's really an arrogant guy, isn't he?"
Hozuki Suigetsu stared at Sasuke's back, somewhat annoyed.
He, along with Haku and Chōjūrō, had just transferred from Kirigakure to Konoha this spring under the arrangement of Mizukage Mei Terumī. They had passed the assessment with excellent performance and successfully joined the elite class.
Similar to them were Sunagakure's Temari and Kankurō, as well as some young talents from Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
"In order not to disappoint Lady Mizukage, I have to surpass Uchiha Sasuke and graduate from Konoha Ninja Academy as the top student."
Chōjūrō stared at Sasuke's back, clenching his fists.
"Go for it, Chōjūrō-kun. I believe you can do it," Haku said with a smile, cheering for Chōjūrō.
Just when the youngsters were whispering.
"Hey, hey, you still have time to chat and slack off, it seems you're not very tired."
Guy's voice rang out again, and then he suddenly pointed his arm forward, shouting, "Last lap, everyone speed up and sprint to determine the winner! Burn, youth!"
As soon as the words fell, Sasuke's eyes flashed, and he quickly formed hand seals. Then, with a push off the ground, a burst of chakra erupted from the soles of his feet, and he shot out like an arrow.
Body Flicker Technique.
Whoosh.
In the blink of an eye, he had pulled away from the students behind him and dashed towards the finish line.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone