Chapter 25.2- Gamer of the Desert

“Toshiro-sensei” I greeted the man as he walked in. His white haired form dropped into a bow almost instantly. I smiled at the respect. It was manipulative, he wanted something, but being treated like an actual kage by someone who wasn;t the anbu who had sworn their lives to me was a refreshing experience.

“Kazekage-sama. My heart and sword are yours” He greeted

“Good. Now let us dispatch with all the formality. We have work to do.”
“Yes, Kazekage-sama. You mentioned changes to the curriculum”

“Yes, we will need a condensed curriculum for the next two years to match the village’s militarisation. The peace the five nations have enjoyed will come to an end sooner or later and the Village hidden in the sands shall not be caught lacking when the time comes.”

“A condensed curriculum? This is most unusual kazekage-sama”

“Is it? I have it on good authority that something like this has happened twice before already.”

“Those were all in the middle of war, Kazekage-sama”

“War is what I am preparing for, Toshiro. Believe it or not, war will come to these lands sooner or later.”

“There has been peace for over a decade, Kazekage-sama. This is the largest era of uninterrupted peace in the history of the five villages”

“Which is precisely why we must prepare ourselves, Toshiro. Our kage was assassinated by a rogue ninja from Konoha. Our allies do not remain as such, we are on our own and must be ready for anything.”
“But a great ninja war”

“The greatest of them all is coming, Toshiro-san. Think. Use that brain of yours. Peace for over a decade means the other villages have had more than a decade to advance and prepare their war machines to deal with us. Unlike them, we have only suffered since the wars ended. Our Daimyo has seen fit to humiliate us at every turn, and Rasa’s leadership was not the best. Suna is weak. We must fix this, Toshiro. Together. You are the only one that can help me with this. Can you do it? Your Kazekage requires this of you.”

“Yes, Kazekage-sama. What changes are you suggesting?” He seemed to have  come over to my side of things and took out a notepad and pencil from one of his pockets. I’d had to raise a hand to prevent the anbu from interfering.

“First of all, we will condense the curriculum to two years”

“Starting from the first year, Kazekage-sama?” He asked and I nodded, ignoring the frown that began to spread across his face.

“Kazekage-sama is a prodigy with unseen talent, but that is not the situation of the average academy student. The average eight year old does not have the body strength or chakra capacity to deal with the rigours of ninja life” He said, trying to put as much respect in his tone as he could to take out the sting of disagreeing with me. It was then that I noticed the fear he was doing his best to hide. Has that always been there?

“Yes. I understand. That is why the academy will be matched with a revamped Genin corps. The Jounin track will be abolished, and every academy graduate will be placed in the Genin corps for a minimum of two years. There, they will learn under the tutelage of a rotating roster of Jounin and Chunin. Graduates will be examined and instantly promoted to Chunin” I told him and watched the dread build across his face.

“Ten year old chunin, Kazekage-sama?”
“Do not limit your thinking to the way things have been. Prepare to understand new limits of what is and is not possible. We will graduate the best of the best. The remainder will be sent to various administrative functions within the village and the land of wind itself.”

“Within the Land of Wind?”

“Yes.”

“Kazekage-sama. There is another issue. What will we teach in this accelerated curriculum?”

“Six months of basic education and physical fitness to begin with, and then ninja skills for the rest of the period. Ideally, we will focus on chakra control, the beginning of elemental control, taijutsu, bukijutsu, medical ninjutsu and fuinjutsu”

“All of this will be expensive, Kazekage-sama”

“Do not worry. The Daimyo has approved increased funding to the village itself and part of that will go to the academy. We will also be changing the rotation of academy teachers. All fit and battle ready Chunin will be sent to remedial training to prepare for active duty, and only injured or aged Chunin will be eligible to teach at the academy.”

“Kazekage-sama! I must protest!”

“Noted and ignored.”

He slumped back in his seat after he’d made as if to rise. In Suna, the academy was basically a cushy retirement job. Chunin with little future prospects got to retire from active duty and earn a greater than living wage while doing little beyond producing mediocre genin year after year. That had to change. If I wanted to change the way the academy operated, I could not do it with the same staff that had basically upheld and created the system I was trying to change.

If there’s a fire you’re trying to douse, you can’t put it out from inside the house or something like that.

“What else, Kazekage-sama?” He asked, with a scowl building up on his face.

“Nothing for now. My next appointment begins in five minutes. My people will reach out to you to schedule another meeting to hash out the specifics, but if you could generate a draft curriculum based on the details I have given you, then I will be most grateful” I said, waiting for him to nod and scurry out of the office.

I didn’t have another appointment. Not for hours, at least. That meant I had time to solve my secretary problem.