Seeing this warm and harmonious scene, Pakura sighed beside them, "How wonderful! They've all endured suffering, yet they can still show such genuine smiles!"
Seiki nodded with a smile, "Indeed! As long as we see smiles on everyone's faces, every bit of exhaustion just melts away!"
Then he looked at Kabuto and the two others beside him, "I'm going to Sunagakure's Ninja Academy for an exchange program for a while. Do you want to come along with me?"
A sense of longing appeared in Kabuto's and the others' eyes—Sunagakure and a ninja academy were both things far beyond their reach.
"We want to follow you, Sensei Seiki!"
"Wherever our Sensei goes, we will follow!"
Seiki laughed, "Then prepare yourselves. We're leaving soon."
Pakura joined in laughing, "I also have a lovely disciple. You can interact with him when you arrive at Sunagakure."
...
In the meeting room of Sunagakure,
"There are two main issues to discuss today," Rasa declared seriously. "First, selecting a new Jinchuriki for the One-Tail. With Elder Bunpuku's passing, we must quickly choose a new vessel!"
The moment he stopped speaking, the room fell into dead silence. Some Jonin wore grim expressions, while others avoided his gaze.
According to past experience, unless the Jinchuriki was powerful enough to suppress the Bijuu independently, it was preferable to use children between 0–5 years old as vessels.
The Jinchuriki and Bijuu existed as a single unit. If younger children were chosen as containers, once the Bijuu went berserk, its power could be suppressed more easily due to the child's insufficient sacrificial potency.
However, this often led to physical collapse within the Jinchuriki's body.
Even without considering the fear and rejection that usually follows after choosing someone as a Jinchuriki, this act itself is still incredibly cruel.
Thus, naturally none of them wanted their own children experiencing such a terrifying fate.
But here was the problem—the Jinchuriki served as important military strength for the village. If they used orphans or children from ordinary families, what would happen if they defected?
Compared to that, people like them, who held prominent positions in the village, should be the first choice.
Amid this strange silence, some Jonin without children or whose children were already over age spoke up.
"How about we simply draw lots?"
"I suggest limiting the selection to newborns under three months old!"
"I oppose that. We should include all children aged 0–5 in the selection process!"
"There are also advantages to selecting older children. Some may already show potential in controlling their emotions!"
At this point, Jonin who had children of their own also began suggesting ideas.
"Cultivating a Jinchuriki from an early age takes too long. We need battle-ready forces sooner rather than later!"
"That's right. I propose we select some mentally strong Chunin as test subjects for the Jinchuriki experiment!"
Others scoffed at their proposals.
"A second war won't break out anytime soon after this one just ended. Cultivating a Jinchuriki from scratch is clearly the most appropriate approach."
"Hmph, speaking of mental strength, why not consider us Jonin ourselves?"
The argument quickly escalated, showing signs that it might turn into a fight any moment now.
"Enough. The Jinchuriki issue will be handled by..." Rasa let out a cold snort, watching their cowardly behavior of passing the burden onto others. A strange urge to take on the responsibility himself stirred within him, but when he thought about Temari and Kankuro, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it. Finally, all that frustration condensed into a long sigh. "We'll discuss the Jinchuriki matter later. Now, let's move onto the second agenda item."
Everyone seemed to release a collective breath of relief, tacitly agreeing to drop the subject.
"Some of you may have heard that I invited Konoha's Seiki to come here for an exchange program in Sunagakure. However, you probably don't understand why I decided this..."
Once that heavy topic was avoided, many Jonin began speaking more casually and cheerfully.
"No, actually I understand perfectly!"
"I fully support this decision!"
"Oh come on, sir, 'full support' doesn't mean surrendering completely, does it?"
A muscle twitched slightly on Rasa's face. These bastards really had no sense—couldn't they see he wanted to continue speaking?
Fortunately, Baki, the newly promoted Jonin who loyally trailed after the Kazekage like a devoted hound, quickly asked perceptively, "I still don't quite understand. Why did you decide this, Lord Kazekage?"
Rasa nodded appreciatively at him and explained, "From my observations, Seiki appears to have the ability to uncover potential or enhance latent talents. I won't even mention those geniuses around him. Today, I want to highlight someone most people overlooked—Mizuki!"
"Mizuki?" Several Jonin exclaimed in surprise. "You mean that Mizuki who supposedly betrayed the Third Mizukage?"
Rasa gave a slight nod. "If you've paid attention and collected information about him, you would know his talent was merely average. Among his graduating class, his performance ranked only slightly above average."
"But look at him now? He not only mastered [Sage Art]—the same powerful technique as Seiki's—but also grew strong enough to make the Third Mizukage fall right before him. Such a drastic transformation is definitely inseparable from Seiki's guidance!"
After hearing that, everyone's expression turned more serious.
That kind of miraculous transformation in an ordinary ninja—Seiki's influence really is like turning lead into gold.
At that thought, ideas started forming in people's minds.
"Do you mean, Lord Kazekage, that we're hoping Seiki can help discover a group of promising children?"
"It should be more like cultivating them properly. Didn't Mizuki, who had nothing special in terms of talent, end up capable of facing off against a Kage-level opponent?"
"But Seiki is after all a Konoha ninja. Would he really guide us earnestly?"
Rasa declared solemnly, "Sunagakure is a loyal ally of Konoha. Given Seiki's caliber, I believe he wouldn't disappoint our allied forces!"
The assembled Jonin exchanged wary glances. Wasn't this statement intentionally meant for them to carry back to Konoha?
Given how seriously Konoha regarded its international reputation and fear of shocking its allies, upon hearing this, they might even proactively urge Seiki to give proper training.
As if sensing their thoughts, Rasa added sternly, "Of course, your attitude matters too. If you fail to show genuine respect and importance, then don't blame Seiki for not putting effort into teaching."
"What the Kazekage said really makes sense. To show how serious I am, I've decided not to wait for official enrollment—I'm sending my five-year-old kid to the Academy right away."
"Uh... maybe the Ninja Academy could take in a few extra students for now? My child is four years old, so they should be able to sit in on classes too."
"It's such a rare chance—we should probably loosen the rules just a little. Even though my child hasn't been born yet, this could count as early exposure training."
"Hey, isn't using school resources for prenatal learning going a bit too far though?"
As he listened to the bickering below, Rasa found himself deep in thought. "Temari'll be turning three soon… Maybe I should let her get a taste of the Academy early too?"
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