Naruto: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand Village

Chapter 70: Rebuilding the Hidden Sand Village [70]



Universal access to education is a vital undertaking for any country, any region.

And for shinobi? Even more so.

Why does the ninja world keep producing so many tragedies?

Well, before the Hidden Villages were established, children were sent straight to the battlefield. Their first lessons were in how to kill. Then the Second Hokage came along and founded the shinobi academy system—but still, the wars never stopped.

Even in times of peace, ninja had to carry out missions.

So a shinobi's "education" usually focused on completing tasks and improving combat prowess. As for things like morals and values? Please. Only those lucky enough to survive had the luxury of thinking about those.

A ninja's nature was determined largely by their personality—and how they were raised.

Take Naruto, for example. That kid could've been crowned the new poster child for "forgiveness" in the modern shinobi world.

Which is exactly why Sunagakure needed serious education reform—so that tragedies wouldn't keep repeating themselves.

Teaching students based on their individual aptitude had to be the foundation. Just as crucial were their moral development, psychological resilience, and character training.

Case in point:

Why did a genius like Sasori turn out so twisted?

Because when he saw the man who murdered his parents commit suicide, no one helped him process the trauma. Instead, his grief turned into hatred, which he projected onto the Third Kazekage—who was completely clueless at the time.

That wasn't Sasori's fault. That was the adults' failure.

If his teachers and guardians had paid closer attention to his emotional state, if they'd stepped in and guided him properly, he wouldn't have ended up going down such a dark path.

Hell, even during his battle with his grandmother, Chiyo, you could tell—he was still a good Sand ninja at heart. Someone who respected his elders and cared deeply.

And it wasn't just Sunagakure.

Konoha, the so-called cradle of genius, had also lost plenty of prodigies due to poor education.

Of course, maybe that was by design—some of their higher-ups were shady enough to make that plausible. Either way, psychological health and moral education had to become core subjects going forward.

The only downside right now?

Sunagakure's population was too small. There weren't enough qualified teachers.

In the past, if you wanted to teach in the Academy, you didn't need a license. As long as your combat record and strength were impressive enough, you could walk right into a classroom—age didn't matter.

Sure, that sounded like "meritocracy," and technically reflected Sunagakure's "We welcome talent in all forms" approach.

But in the end… what talent had that method ever actually produced?

This was a problem of education.

And that, Rasa thought, was ultimately his problem.

He stood in front of the newly constructed Academy, hands behind his back, and let out a quiet sigh.

Beside him, Pakura—his handpicked Academy head—was stifling a yawn.

The woman loved Sunagakure deeply, and was earnest in her duties, both as a teacher and a kunoichi. But she was still as brash and carefree as ever.

Rasa had thought about appointing someone more steady and level-headed to run the school. But Elder Chiyo's mindset was too outdated—if she were in charge, she'd probably just stick to the old ways, and the whole reform would go up in smoke.

As for the others? None of them were qualified enough.

The new Academy was much larger than the original. It had more space, more modern training facilities, many of which were personally crafted by puppet masters. Sunagakure might be broke, but when it came to building their own gear, they were confident.

Word was, some puppet makers were even using gold dust to craft high-end jewelry, planning to sell them in other shinobi villages at a premium.

The village's craftsmanship had always been top-tier in the shinobi world.

The building materials? Brand new cement from Ebizō's cement factory. No more slapping some mud over sand and calling it a day.

As they walked the grounds, Rasa had to admit—it was a vast improvement over the previous Academy.

Though… compared to the top-tier campuses from his past life, this was still nothing to brag about.

Then again, what could you expect? Most of the Wind Country was a desert.

The only remotely nice-looking place was the green hill behind the village—but you couldn't exactly build a school in the only patch of greenery, could you?

So this would have to do.

Rasa nodded, satisfied. "Not bad. And just in time for student enrollment."

"Still enrolling kids at age six?" Pakura asked with a yawn. "Honestly, you went overboard building this place. The old Academy was fine. This new one's massive, but there aren't that many kids old enough to enroll anyway."

What, you make a little money from gold panning and suddenly you're throwing cash around?

"This isn't sustainable! You think there's that much gold hiding in the sand?"

Rasa stared at her, too tired to argue.

He chuckled, shook his head, and let out a deep sigh. His expression turned solemn.

"Even if we're broke, we can't be cheap with education."

And before she could cut in again, he raised his hand.

"That's enough. I still need to stop by Mōmu's place later."

"Huh? What for?"

"He's on a mission. Left behind a widow and a child. As Kazekage, it's my duty to make sure they're doing okay. We can't let our heroes bleed on the battlefield and weep at home, can we? Besides, I hear his kid's nearly three. About time to start school."

"…Three? That's still a toddler."

What the hell could a three-year-old even learn?

"He's not that young," Rasa replied seriously. "He's the only boy in the house. He'll be their pillar in the future. What kind of role model pees in the sand and plays with mud all day? He needs to start learning early and grow into a proper man."

He paused, then added, "I'm planning to open a preschool division in the Academy. Something to cover basic fundamentals and instill a love for the village. Education has to start early. We can't let our kids fall behind before the race even begins."

Another sigh.

"And we're still short on manpower. If we can get kids into school earlier, we free up parents to return to work. That's worth it."

Pakura blinked, confused. Her finely shaped brows furrowed.

After a moment…

"I swear, ever since you became Kazekage, everything you say sounds like some kind of speech."

Then she waved her hand lazily.

"Whatever. It's just a bunch of kids. Teaching them can't be that hard. More learning isn't a bad thing."

She turned to walk off toward her office.

"I'm heading back to rest. Organizing this whole Academy construction nearly killed me."

"Go ahead," Rasa said with a smile. "Oh—stop by the house later. Temari and Karura said they miss you."

"Got it!"

"And tell Ebizō—"

But before he could finish the sentence, Pakura had already vanished down the hallway.

She'd clearly made her escape on purpose.

Rasa gave a helpless chuckle.

"Forget it. It's not like anyone's going to die."

He shook his head and started walking toward the Academy gate.

"Time to check in on the future pillars of Sunagakure."

PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin


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