Chapter 69: On the Payroll, with Full Benefits
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up from the mountain of documents on his desk, a weary sigh escaping him.
"Didn't you say it yourself?" he began, his tone carefully measured. "Now that the wars are over, the minimum graduation age for the Academy is twelve. We shouldn't expose children who haven't even fully grown to the darkness of the world so soon."
"Yes, and those students were supposed to graduate this year," Stelle replied, leaning back in the Hokage's chair. "But because of your new policy, they were all packed up and sent right back to the Ninja Academy this morning."
Stelle slapped her forehead. She had completely forgotten about that.
'Ah, so that's why,' she mused. No wonder when she checked the system this morning, she'd been greeted by a generous flood of mood points from Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, along with a smattering of angst from their classmates. It was all thanks to her little "reform."
And since it was working so well, why wait? She had to strike while the iron was hot and harvest another wave.
Stelle stayed up for two straight days. On the morning of the third, she handed two thick books to the Anbu on duty, instructing the white-haired operative to deliver them to the Academy and give them to Homura Mitokado, the man now in charge of Konoha's educational system.
Sakumo Hatake took the books and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. Along the way, his curiosity got the better of him. He glanced at the title embossed on the cover: Three Years to Graduation, Five Years of Mock Exams.
Wondering what kind of new teaching material this was, he flipped open a page.
Instantly, large beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He thanked every deity he could name that he had graduated just a little bit earlier.
[Ding! Mood value from Sakumo Hatake +1000]
Hearing that pleasant chime in her mind, a private, satisfied smile touched Stelle's lips.
Although being Hokage kept her chained to a desk, the returns were undeniably substantial. A single policy, a single event, could affect so many people at once. It was definitely worth the trouble.
Still, she had been so busy lately that she hadn't been paying much attention to the people directly around her. Sakumo Hatake had already joined the Anbu and been promoted to Squad Leader, yet she hadn't even noticed. She was slacking as a mood-point collector.
This was the man who would become the legendary White Fang of Konoha, a senior shinobi respected even by the future Sannin. Aside from a certain mental fragility later in life, the man was practically flawless.
She would have to train him well. He had all the makings of a qualified, top-tier workhorse.
Carving out a sliver of time from her schedule, Stelle made her way to the forbidden area in the back mountains to visit the Nine-Tails. She used to be able to visit him from time to time, but since taking the Hokage's hat, she was buried under a mountain of work with no time for social calls.
Members of the Uzumaki clan stood guard at the barrier. Seeing that guarding the seal was a deeply boring task, they were sitting together and chatting to pass the time. When they saw her approach, they scrambled to their feet. Stelle waved a hand, telling them to go rest, and walked up to the barrier herself.
The Nine-Tails was napping. Sensing her arrival, he cracked open a massive eye and asked, his voice a lazy rumble, "What did you bring me today? I'm getting tired of chicken. That cake you gave me last time was pretty good. I want my main meals changed to small cakes."
Stelle's gaze drifted over his increasingly rotund body, and the corner of her lip twitched.
"Have you been eating a bit too much lately? Aren't you afraid of getting so fat you lose your figure?"
The Nine-Tails saw no issue. "I'm a Tailed Beast. What's there to get fat about? I'm not some fragile human. You're the one who said living in Konoha includes room and board. Are you trying to back out of our deal now?"
"No, no. As long as you're happy."
Stelle stepped through the barrier's threshold, sat down beside the colossal fox, and waved her hand, erecting a new barrier around them. It was a transparent, pale-gold dome with an expandable interior space. The view was exceptionally clear, unlike the old seal with its distorted light. He could see the sky just by looking up; it was practically like camping in the wild.
She patted the Nine-Tails' flank and absorbed the original runic seal into her palm. It was a suppression-style Sealing Technique, set by the Uzumaki clan to keep his power in check.
The Nine-Tails hadn't expected her to undo the suppressive seal the moment she arrived.
He shifted his immense body, and his violent, malevolent chakra erupted without warning. The orange-red energy surged toward Stelle, so dense it was almost a physical force.
"You really are a disobedient little fox," Stelle said, her voice calm. "Instead of thanking me, you try to attack me? I suppose a little percussive persuasion is in order."
She moved in a flash, activating her Domain to trap the Nine-Tails within its confines. Then, she gave him a thorough, no-holds-barred thrashing. The great beast, beaten until he couldn't tell which way was up, immediately became docile.
He truly hadn't anticipated this woman being so powerful. She completely crushed him in every respect, the kind of monster who could clash head-on with a Tailed Beast Ball and not even flinch.
Too freakish. Too brutal.
"Since you're such a good fighter and your ninjutsu is so strong, why did you use the Sharingan when you captured me?" the Nine-Tails grumbled, rolling onto his back inside the new barrier and staring up at the sky. His beastly spirit was weary. "Couldn't you have just beaten me into submission then? I hate being controlled by the Sharingan more than anything."
"Huh? Being controlled doesn't hurt. Are you actually unhappy that I didn't beat you up?" Stelle genuinely couldn't comprehend the fox's logic.
"What do you know?" he huffed, his deep-seated hatred for the Uchiha's eyes on full display. "This involves the dignity of a Tailed Beast! If you conquer me with strength, at least I can accept the defeat!"
"I don't care, you have to compensate me," he declared, changing tactics. "My beastly body and soul have been traumatized. Not only do you have to change my main meals to cake, but I also want potato chips for my late-night snacks."
"Fine," Stelle agreed easily. "Konoha's treasury is paying for you anyway. Order whatever you want; just tell the Uzumaki guards. Like I said, since you live in Konoha, you're essentially on the permanent staff. You've made it. Room and board are covered, you get a salary, and we'll even cover your five social insurances and one housing fund."
Although the Nine-Tails had no idea what "permanent staff" or "social insurances" meant, the food Stelle provided was undeniably good. He couldn't be bothered to think about anything else. He couldn't win a fight and he couldn't escape, so he might as well continue to rot in comfort.
Why think so much? He'd just eat more. Maybe he could eat her into bankruptcy.
Having discovered the goldmine of mood points that was the Academy, Stelle felt she had found the easiest farming method yet. She didn't just produce soul-crushing textbooks overnight...
She also used her authority as Hokage to open a special course. She didn't teach ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu. She taught only one subject: Advanced Mathematics.
Given the current level of education in the shinobi world, how could those poor kids at the Academy possibly understand? Attending her class was pure torture. Every single student wore a mask of deep pain.
Even Sakumo Hatake was no exception, because Stelle had ordered him to audit the class.
She could still remember the shock on the white-haired boy's face when she first told him. Even through his Anbu mask, she could feel the intense look of resistance he was giving her.
"Hokage-sama, I've been graduated for several years now. There's surely no need for me to go back to class, is there?"
Who was he? He was Sakumo Hatake, an Anbu Squad Leader. If word got out that he had to go back to the Academy for lessons, his subordinates would laugh themselves to death.
"Sakumo," Stelle had said, her tone grave. "Although you are already an Anbu Squad Leader at such a young age, you must not grow arrogant. Remember: one is never too old to learn. You still have much to learn."
"Hokage-sama..."
"This is an order."
And so, under Stelle's "persuasion by authority," Sakumo Hatake took off his Anbu uniform and mask, changed into regular civilian clothes, and became an official Auditor in the classroom. Whenever Stelle taught, he had to be there.
In his youth, Sakumo bore a striking resemblance to the Kakashi from the original story. He was a handsome young man—truly Kakashi's father.
Of course, he would have been even more handsome if the expression on his face wasn't one of utter, soul-crushing despair.
Sharing his vacant, thousand-yard stare were Tsunade and Jiraiya, their minds clearly having checked out long ago.
Only Orochimaru listened intently to every word Stelle said, his serpentine eyes shining as if he were hearing the ultimate truths of the universe being unveiled.
What a top student. He was actually beginning to understand the advanced material as she lectured. Impressive.
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