Naruto: IY Ch. 21

Since they already knew these people had ulterior motives, Konan decided to make some proper arrangements for them.

Three of them were assigned to teach at the school, where they would instruct students in basic physical techniques.

The other three were sent to the Expansion Team.

The purpose of the team was to go out and find bandit hideouts, capture them, and bring back recruits.

Yahiko had said that population was crucial to the social development and economic growth of Yoake.

And indeed, it proved to be true.

The more people there were, the more taxes could be collected. The more taxes collected, the more money available for village development and for supporting the villagers.

It was a good cycle, well, maybe not for everyone.

"Let's go. I'll take you to see our school."

The other three were then taken away by a ninja, whom Konan had called over, to head to the Expansion Team for their mission.

By the afternoon, the three had become familiar with the Yoake-style school.

Konan let them walk around the school to get used to the campus.

It wasn't much different from the Ninja Academy in Konoha. In the early years, learned to read and write, students read books and studied basic principles.

In the second and third years, they started learning chakra control, investigation, and various mission-related experiences.

The only difference was that in Konoha, kids started school at five years old, while in Yoake they started at seven. But both followed a six-year system.

"What the heck, isn't this just copying Konoha?" Ikkaku laughed quietly with his companions when he saw no one was around.

The other two shared the same sentiment and nodded proudly.

They were used to it, after all, the current Hokage was among the strongest in history, the Third Hokage himself.

It wasn't uncommon for small villages to try to emulate Konoha.

But this Yoake had copied it to a very high standard.

The school covered an estimated area of more than twenty acres, and the ground was covered with a special artificial grass material. There was even a running track. A lap around it was clearly marked at 400 meters.

It almost seemed even more refined than Konoha's Academy.

Ikkaku scratched his nose awkwardly, he had jumped to conclusions earlier.

"But when it comes to education, Konoha is definitely stronger," he said quietly.

For a brief moment, he had actually thought Yoake valued children more than Konoha did?

"Mm." The other two nodded repeatedly.

Only in challenging environments could children constantly surpass themselves and break through bottlenecks, true strength came from adversity.

It was lunch break.

Before eating, the children were out in the playground enjoying the sun and playing games with their classmates.

Ikkaku and the other two leaned comfortably against the railing, watching groups of children happily playing on the field.

If he forgot he was an undercover agent, seeing the genuine joy on the children's faces was actually kind of pleasant.

But they had a mission to complete.

Being placed directly in the school saved them a lot of trouble. If they could form bonds with the children and gain their support when they grew up, wouldn't it be easier to climb the ranks?

He might even become village chief. Thinking about how in this village, gaining everyone's recognition could make you the leader, he chuckled to himself.

As he thought, Ikkaku began preparing to form his first bond.

What if he turned an underachiever into a genius?

Out on the playground, there were many students, but he immediately spotted his target.

Among the two teams playing dodgeball, there was a kid with glasses who always got knocked out first.

How to describe it... his athletic ability was really poor. When he saw the ball flying toward him, he panicked and ran around aimlessly, only to end up running straight into the ball himself.

"Takeshi!" Gian smacked his fist into his palm, eyeing the poor kid who couldn't even dodge a soft throw from a girl on the other team.

"Hey, you! No bullying the weak!"

Ikkaku used Body Flicker Technique to appear next to the children and gently placed his hand on Gian's head.

Gian knew this was the new taijutsu teacher. Only then did Takeshi manage to escape a beating.

"Sensei..." Takeshi lowered his head, lacking confidence.

"When I was your age, I was also the class underachiever."

A pair of eyes took in the entire scene.

---

Inside the school building, Konan watched from the window as the three newly arrived teachers each interacted with the students on the playground.

It didn't matter if it was a black cat, a red cat, a brown cat, a gray cat or a white cat, if it caught mice, it was a good cat.

So far, the newcomers didn't seem to have any ill intentions toward the village.

"To keep up with the times, we must also teach these people the will of Yoake."

Konan's eyes gleamed sharply as she pondered.

She took one last look toward the playground.

---

That afternoon, Ikkaku ate lunch with Takeshi. Some self-study teaching materials were delivered to him.

He glanced at the book titled "How to Train Your Teacher" and quickly lost interest. The title was just too weird.

He figured he'd flip through it later back at the assigned teacher's dormitory, not that it would be anything worth reading.

"Why are you eating so little?"

Just as Ikkaku asked with concern, he saw Gian and Suneo carrying trays over and sitting in the remaining two seats at their four-person table.

Are they here to bully Takeshi again?Time for me to step in and perform!

"Takeshi, did you see the new card that came out yesterday? It's Pain! So strong in attack power!"

"I already got it! My dad's friend works at the toy factory. Just had to ask and he sent it over."

"What's so special about that? Who even is Pain? Never heard of him. I still like the well-known legends, like Nagato's support card. Attack stats are strong too."

But in the next moment, the two started joking and laughing with Takeshi about the characters on the round trading cards.

The vibe was... wrong?

Wait a second... isn't Takeshi supposed to be the underachiever? Ikkaku thought.

He himself hadn't been an actual underachiever in the past, but he used to pretend to be one, acting out, doing weird things to attract attention and make others laugh. Because of that, he suffered a lot of bullying during his ninja school years.

Back then, there were lots of underachievers who were ostracized, laughed at, and bullied.

Watching the three kids happily chatting and laughing, he thought, Maybe this is just an exception? Maybe they're just really close friends?

"Takeshi, do you have any trouble with yesterday's homework?"

After finishing lunch, the class' top student and class representative, Kantaro, came over to check on Takeshi.

Ikkaku instantly recognized him as the class ace.

But weren't top students usually aloof and cold? Like Kakashi, the young genius of the village, or even Orochimaru, the former genius of the Academy?

Why would someone like that take the initiative to help an underachiever?

Minato hadn't yet risen to fame, so his story wasn't widely known.

In his eyes, Kantaro was the most outstanding child he'd ever seen.

Another exception? he thought uncomfortably.

"Takeshi."

Gen came over carrying a homework notebook, and the previously gloomy-faced Takeshi immediately lit up with joy.

Seeing this, Ikkaku made room for them, but his heart was in turmoil.

Takeshi wasn't pretending to be an underachiever to get attention. Ikkaku could tell.

These children's concern came from genuine care, he could see that too.

No, wait!

It must be that these kids were just especially well-behaved.

Didn't Konan say that Yoake included moral and ethics education for kids?

Fine then, Ikkaku thought. Let me test this for myself. Konoha's education is surely far superior to Yoake's. If these kids studied in Konoha, they'd be even more excellent!

He went to find his two companions.

After spending just a short time with the children, his two teammates had started having the exact same thoughts as he did?

The three of them fell silent for a while.

Right... "How to Train Your Teacher."