This was what the ninja academy teachers taught now?
Madara's mind was somewhat blank. During the years he had been away from the Leaf, had the Leaf changed the ninja academy's teaching materials?
Productive forces, mathematics, physics, chemistry. What were these words? Why had he never heard of them before?
"They don't even teach shuriken throwing anymore?"
"Don't the ninja academy teachers teach you techniques for fighting enemies? How will you carry out commissioned missions in the future? This ninja world is very dangerous. Rogue ninja, wandering samurai..."
"When I was young, when I was your age, I was already using shuriken..."
Madara really wanted to curse and say this was improper. They did not teach this, they did not teach that. Could students taught by this ninja academy still be called ninja?
Surely they did not only teach a method for refining chakra, right?
"Wow, amazing. Grandpa, are you a powerful ninja?"
Madara began rambling about his glorious achievements when he was young. Sosuke listened with great interest. He also wanted to become a powerful ninja and have the ability to protect the Leaf in the future, but unfortunately, his talent was truly too poor.
The ninja academy now implemented a ninja streaming system. From the very beginning, students with very poor talent, no talent for ninjutsu, low combat awareness, and low chakra capacity were picked out. These were people who could only become weak genin, so they were made to refine chakra for a few years and study theoretical knowledge, such as simple mathematics, physics, chemistry, and most importantly, ideology and politics.
As for ninjutsu, learning the basic Three Techniques was enough: the Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and Substitution Technique. At most, they would add an advanced version with a physical body, the Shadow Clone Technique.
After graduation, even the worst of them could go to construction sites as laborers or factories as technical workers. In the future, these people would become the foundation of the Leaf's expansion and development. At any time, they could transform into the country's grassroots administrators. Every one of them would be able to read and write, have firm ideology, and possess rich grassroots work experience.
In the future, the Leaf would eventually have to fall out with the parasites of the Land of Fire. To overthrow the old world, they could not rely solely on the Leaf's few powerful ninja.
The role played by these frail and weak genin in the future would certainly not be any less than the Leaf's elite ninja. They occupied the vast majority of the Leaf, and even the entire ninja world. They were the foundation of the ninja world.
A single spark could start a prairie fire.
As for shuriken used by ninja for fighting and killing, what was the point of making weak genin like them learn that? It would be better to have Tobirama spend time developing firearms and mass-arm low-level combat forces. Using guns was more practical. They might not be able to fight high-end combat forces, but picking off mid-level and low-level ninja one by one was still possible.
"Hmph, of course. Back then, I didn't even put elite ninja in my eyes. Only that Hashirama... cough, cough."
Little stars appeared in Sosuke's eyes. For some reason, Madara greatly enjoyed being praised by a child, and he spoke with more and more enthusiasm. Skipping over some names that could not be mentioned, Madara himself was a legend. Casually talking about his life was more than enough to impress a child like Sosuke.
"It's really a shame. My talent..."
"When I enrolled, the ninja academy had already checked the students' talents. Only those with talent are qualified to receive professional ninja training."
What young boy did not have a hero's dream? But life was always cruel. Not every genin could become Might Guy. Sosuke was somewhat dejected. Faced with Madara's question, he explained the current ninja academy system.
After listening, curiosity appeared in Madara's eyes. As an old remnant from the Warring States period and a genuine old relic, he could not understand the meaning behind Haru doing this at all.
Wasting precious resources to cultivate some weak genin. That was not worth the loss.
"Wasting precious resources to cultivate genin. The Leaf's Third Hokage... hehe."
Madara did not continue, but his meaning was very clear. In this regard, the Third Hokage, Haru, was an idiot.
"Grandpa, the Hokage said that the ninja world needs a revolution. Every ninja in the Leaf will be given different revolutionary tasks according to their abilities, but revolutionary tasks are not divided into big or small."
A dissatisfied expression appeared on Sosuke's face. Madara's words had clearly hurt Sosuke's pride, so he brought out words from the little red book written by Haru to counter Madara.
"Interesting. Revolution."
Madara carefully savored the word. This was the first time Madara had heard the word "revolution," but he understood the meaning inside the sentence.
Revolution.
Whose life was being overthrown?
The ninja's?
Before coming to the Leaf, Madara had already heard the rumors that Haru had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
The earth-shaking battle when Haru became the Leaf's Third Hokage was far too famous to avoid hearing about.
The Third Hokage. What exactly was he doing that was so interesting?
Did he want to overturn the entire ninja world?
If an Uchiha who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan did not do something huge, would that still make sense?
Madara understood too well what kind of darkness one had to experience to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan. This was also one of the sources of Madara's confidence that he could persuade Haru to join the Eye of the Moon Plan. An Uchiha who had experienced extreme pain would find it very difficult to resist the temptation of constructing a perfect world.
Perhaps Haru was also plotting something.
He wondered whether Haru had seen that stone tablet.
For a moment, countless thoughts surged in Madara's mind, and he wanted to take this opportunity to understand Haru more.
"What else did your Third Hokage say?"
"The Hokage said that contradictions exist universally and are the fundamental driving force for the development of things.
The greatest contradiction in the ninja world is that productive forces are underdeveloped and cannot satisfy the people's need for... New-era ninja cannot be limited to the ways of old-fashioned ninja."
Sosuke took out the textbook issued by the school. It had a red cover, and the four golden words "Will of Fire" on it were especially eye-catching. He liked this book very much. Although many of the theories inside were too profound and he still could not understand them now, that did not stop Sosuke from treating the theories in this little red booklet as truth.
"Grandpa, this book was personally written by the Third Hokage."
"Can I take a look?"
Madara took Sosuke's little red book and eagerly flipped open the first page.
If he wanted to persuade Haru, he had to thoroughly understand Haru's ideology. Then, he had to find flaws and loopholes within Haru's thoughts, and ultimately shatter his worldview completely. That moment would be the best time for Madara to reshape Haru's mind.
"The future of the ninja world rests on your shoulders and mine. Move forward. The road is winding, but the future is bright."
"..."
"Peace in the ninja world is a long-term goal. Perhaps we will not be able to achieve it in fifty years, or even one hundred years. Or perhaps it is an eternal topic. But we need not... Humanity's desire to pursue a better life is always endless.
The most important issue is the path. One path is to develop productive forces."
"Old-era ninja..."
"..."
Madara sat on the stool, eating roasted sweet potatoes. Before he realized it, both his body and mind had already been drawn in by the little red booklet before him.
"Chiyo, how was the Leaf's grand restaurant? Were the dishes impressive?"
"They were indeed extremely delicious."
As soon as Haru got off work, he took Chiyo straight to the Leaf's most luxurious restaurant. Eating and drinking on public funds was truly wonderful. Now that consumerism was thriving in the Leaf, the atmosphere of hotels and restaurants had been corrupted by those nobles. To flaunt their wealth and show off their status, they kept throwing money around.
Naturally, the restaurant owners were very cooperative in satisfying them. Following Haru's signature method, they also created a VIP system. Only VIPs were qualified to use the private rooms on the top floor. As for the price of each dish, they simply added another zero at the end. Whether it tasted good or not came second. If the price was too low, those nobles would not even look at it.
This made Haru, despite being the Hokage, the leader of a bloodline noble clan, and one of the Leaf's hidden wealthy men, feel pain in his heart whenever he ate a meal in a private room. He had simply become rich too quickly, and his temperament in that area had not caught up yet. He was still frugal like before.
Naturally, receiving Chiyo, a high-level foreign guest from the Sand Village, required proper ceremony, so eating in a private room was necessary.
But it did not matter. This time, the Leaf would pay the bill. It would not come out of his own pocket.
Hmph! These profiteering restaurant owners dared raise prices. Haru naturally had a wonderful method called increasing taxes waiting for them. No matter how much money they earned, in the end, a portion of it had to be handed over to the Leaf!
Chiyo was slightly tipsy. Her steps were slow and a little unsteady. The bill Haru had just paid had nearly scared her senseless. If Haru had not been the one paying today, Chiyo felt that she would definitely have fled without paying, then never set foot in this restaurant again in her life.
After the bill was settled, the restaurant owner personally escorted them out and respectfully handed Chiyo a black card. Anyone personally accompanied by the Hokage had to be an important figure in the ninja world. How could such a person lack money?
Chiyo accepted the black card with a smile, saying that she would definitely come again next time.
Sigh. The food was delicious, yes, but she only hated that her funds were insufficient. This was the first time she ate here, and probably the last.
"This is the Leaf's most prosperous night market. It is still brightly lit now, and it probably won't quiet down until midnight."
A grand restaurant naturally had to be opened in a place with the most foot traffic. As soon as they stepped outside, a bustling scene of traffic and crowds came into view. Haru thoughtfully introduced it to Chiyo.
"This truly is..."
Chiyo walked while muttering something under her breath, her eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
Neon lights illuminated the Leaf's night sky.
On the street, people flowed like woven threads. Vendors shouted, customers laughed, and the shops were exquisitely decorated. Glass curtain walls shone dazzlingly under the lights, making even Chiyo, an elite ninja from the Sand Village, feel somewhat ashamed of her own poverty. The things sold here must be very expensive. She could not afford them.
Thinking of the astronomical bill at the restaurant, Chiyo decisively gave up the idea of going in to take a look.
But women naturally liked shopping. As Chiyo walked along the road, she kept looking around, always wanting to buy something.
She could only hate that her funds were insufficient.
When would the Sand Village ever have a scene like this?
Chiyo thought of the Sand Village at night. Once night fell, everything became pitch black. Outside the door, dry cold wind would occasionally roll up fine sand and slap it against the wooden door panels from time to time, making creaking sounds, as if some creature were wandering outside.
And indeed, powerful desert beasts would occasionally emerge and attack the village. After all, this was a ninja world with supernatural power. When the Sage of Six Paths traveled through the ninja world back then, he had cleared away many evil monsters that harmed humans.
The desert night was always cold, silent, and full of danger. People in such an extreme environment struggled to survive. Even ninja had to gather together and form settlements like the Sand Village.
The gap between heaven and hell was probably something like this.
Chiyo sighed inwardly. The gap between the Leaf and the Sand Village was truly that large.
While Chiyo was lost in melancholy, recalling the bleak past of the Sand Village, Haru's attention had already been drawn by a ding inside his mind.
Ding!
[Long-Term Mission: A Prodigal Son's Return Is Worth More Than Gold. Help Madara see through the false lie, sincerely repent for his mistakes, and become a member of the Leaf once more.]
Cough, cough, cough!
What kind of ridiculous mission was this?
He was not Hashirama. He did not have the strength to beat Madara to the ground at all. If he did not beat Madara up first, what right did he have to reason with him?
Haru understood the Uchiha clan's nature far too well. Your reasoning was directly proportional to your military force.
If you could not beat me, that meant your reasoning was not greater than mine. Everything you said was wrong. If what you said was right, then you would definitely be able to defeat me.
It was an extremely simple and plain worldview. Fists were reason. Force was justice.
What worried Haru the most was: had Madara already come to the Leaf?
After such a long time of exploration, Haru had long since realized that the system would not issue missions casually.
Usually, only when he encountered a special person or triggered a special plot prerequisite would the system issue a mission.
Of course, sometimes it would issue some filthy, shameless missions too.
For example, when he first transmigrated, it issued him the mission to become Hokage. After becoming Hokage, it issued a series of missions to develop the Leaf. Then, when he met Mosa last time, the system also issued a mission related to transforming the environment of the Sand Village.
This was truly a hellish encounter.
The more Haru thought about it, the more frightened he became. If he faced Madara at this point in time, he would definitely be instantly killed. Although Madara was already old now, and one of his eyes had already gone blind.
But when dealing with Haru, what difference did it make whether Madara had one more eye or one less eye?
Even Shisui could activate Susanoo with one eye, let alone Madara. Even if Madara activated the full-body Susanoo with one eye, Haru would not find it strange.
Who told him to be Madara?
This was the man who had pushed the Uchiha's giant warrior to an unprecedented peak. Across thousands of years of history, perhaps only Indra, the ancestor of the clan, could compare with Madara.
Madara even had the face of his beloved Hashirama implanted on his chest, completing that damn bond of love. While shouting for the future of the ninja world, Hashirama, ahhhh!
Look at my Buddha statue cloaked in Susanoo.
If that were used to fight Haru, the scene would simply be too hellish.
He could not fight him. He absolutely could not fight him!
After thinking briefly, Haru felt he could press the surrender button. There was not even the slightest hope of winning.
It was fine. It was fine. This was all just his own wild speculation.
Haru comforted himself inwardly. At this point in time, Madara was definitely still in some dark underground cave trying to awaken the Rinnegan. How could he casually run to the Leaf?
The butterfly effect could not possibly be this absurd!
(End of Chapter)
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