On the second day of their arrival at the Hidden Rain Village, Asuna and the others met with the young ninjas of the Ninja Academy, led by a Hidden Rain ninja.
Given the scale of the Hidden Rain Village, it was naturally impossible to establish a complete educational system; compared to the Hidden Leaf Village, it only had one teaching building, which was smaller than even the smallest one in the Hidden Leaf Village.
During the Warring States period, most ninja clans flowed into the Five Great Nations, and only a small number went to these smaller countries.
The harsh environment of the Land of Rain meant that very few ninja clans came here, and most of the students recruited were orphaned and physically fit.
Even so, the quality of these students was not particularly good, and their strength was limited; Asuna and the others quickly realized this during their practice sessions with these young ninjas.
As mentioned earlier, Hidden Rain ninjas maintained a traditional combat style, not pursuing ninjutsu with powerful destructive force.
They often incorporated genjutsu and other deceptive or restraining ninjutsu, such as the Three Basic Jutsu and genjutsu.
For elemental ninjutsu like the Five Nature Transformations, they only required sufficient power, as anything too powerful would exceed their chakra capacity.
Children Asuna's age typically don't have enough chakra to use many ninjutsu, unless they possess a special bloodline limit, such as Asuna's Senju clan bloodline.
If she only had the Kazamori family bloodline, being able to perform five C-rank ninjutsu would already be impressive.
This is why ninjas emphasize taijutsu fundamentals; while training physical and reaction abilities, it also accounts for the limited chakra available at a young age, making taijutsu the primary focus in combat.
Although using Water Release ninjutsu in the perpetually rainy environment of the Land of Rain requires less chakra than in a dry environment, these young ninjas still couldn't use much Water Release ninjutsu.
They generally intended to use them as trump cards; therefore, during practice, they primarily used the Three Basic Jutsu and genjutsu, which consume less chakra, and relied on taijutsu for everything else.
However, due to past traditions, Hidden Rain ninjas focused on single-strike assassination and had little research into prolonged taijutsu battles.
Initially, they managed to put the Hidden Leaf ninjas at a disadvantage with genjutsu, but their weaknesses were quickly identified and countered.
Asuna, holding her training ninja sword, easily dodged a sneak attack from behind.
With a shift in her footwork, she landed a direct hit on the Hidden Rain ninja's leg, causing him to fall to his knees.
Before he could even get up, the tip of her blade was already at his throat.
"...I lost," the Hidden Rain ninja stiffened slightly, then slumped to the ground, saying.
"Good effort," Asuna replied politely, then withdrew her ninja sword.
The Hidden Leaf ninja exchange students were ostensibly there to learn, but in reality, everyone knew that Hanzō's intention was for the Hidden Leaf ninjas to guide the Hidden Rain ninjas.
Therefore, during their sparring sessions, the Hidden Leaf ninjas were essentially teaching the Hidden Rain ninjas, identifying their weaknesses, addressing them, and helping them understand how to improve.
"Your movements are still not fast enough, and there are some unnecessary actions in between; you should really try to change that," Asuna said.
However, seeing the Hidden Rain ninja sitting motionless on the ground, she frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Forget it, don't waste your energy," the Hidden Rain ninja said with a dejected, almost self-deprecating expression, relaxing his body.
"I can't possibly beat you, no matter how many times we practice; just forget it."
"Why do you think that?" Asuna hadn't expected him to be like this.
After a moment of thought, she sat down beside the Hidden Rain ninja.
The Hidden Rain ninja's name was Maruta, a very common name, just like his background.
He was an orphan adopted by the Hidden Rain Village, and because of his decent physique, he survived even the harsh environment of the orphanage.
He was deemed to have the aptitude of a ninja and sent to the Hidden Rain Village's school to study.
Maruta once believed that becoming a Hidden Rain ninja would change his destiny, freeing him from drifting aimlessly as in the past.
But he later realized that he was still the same in the Hidden Rain Village, unable to influence anything.
He could only watch from the sidelines as the dispute between the former leader, Besa, and the current leader, Hanzō, unfolded.
Maruta consoled himself by saying he was too young and naturally not as strong as the older ninjas, but that he would surely achieve something in the future.
Then he heard that Hidden Leaf ninjas would be coming here as exchange students, and he felt this was his chance to prove himself.
Seeing that the Hidden Leaf ninja he was to spar with was a girl, and seemingly quite frail, Maruta thought she couldn't be very powerful.
Living in the isolated Land of Rain, he naturally couldn't comprehend how strong a kunoichi could truly be; based on his experience, female ninjas could only do support work and couldn't be true main combatants.
However, Maruta hadn't expected the kunoichi to be incredibly fast.
Not only that, her seemingly frail body possessed powerful explosive force; just the clash of their ninja tools made his hands numb, almost causing him to lose his grip.
The Hidden Rain secret techniques he had learned also failed to confuse her; she easily saw through his illusions, and a simple strike rendered him unable to fight.
This situation severely dampened Maruta's enthusiasm.
After multiple failures, he felt deeply disappointed in himself; he couldn't even defeat a 'weak' woman, so how could he ever become a prominent figure in the Hidden Rain Village?
Thus, when she offered guidance, Maruta was deaf to her words, immersed in the frustration of his defeat.
"Why? Couldn't the previous battles prove something? You must be a genius from the Hidden Leaf Village.
Someone ordinary like me can't possibly win, so there's no need for you to explain everything."
Maruta let out a long sigh.
Asuna frowned slightly.
She had seen situations like Maruta's back at the Ninja Academy.
Among the ninjas from civilian backgrounds, while some were exceptionally talented, most were ordinary people with limited potential for improvement, unable to compare to clan ninjas.
Consequently, some would often become self-deprecating.
The Ninja Academy's approach was to provide psychological counseling to these students and compensate with a specialized curriculum, discovering other talents among civilians.
These individuals might not be gifted in combat, but they often had abilities in other areas, which gave them hope, and the psychological therapy also played a significant role.
Tsunade had told Asuna many examples, and the positive outcomes made her happy for both the individuals and the Medical Department.
The data from these individuals, to some extent, also helped the Medical Department refine its psychological therapy methods.
Asuna knew what problem Maruta was facing, but she wasn't a ninja from the Medical Department, nor had she studied psychological therapy methods.
Those skilled in this area were very rare even within the Medical Department; it wasn't something that could be achieved with just combat talent, but required talent in other aspects.
"Talent certainly exists, and I admit that.
There are many people in the village more talented than me," Asuna said after some thought.
"Many?" Maruta looked up, surprised, at Asuna.
"Yes, for example, our captain, Hatake Sakumo.
He's a genius.
At my age, he had already won the Chunin Exams jointly held by the Five Great Nations.
At the same age, the gap between him and me is still vast," Asuna said.
"Indeed, a genius is a genius; we mere mortals can't catch up," Maruta's mood grew even more depressed.
He lowered his head slightly, "You must also feel resentful, being overshadowed by such a genius."
"Resentful? A little, yes," Asuna said.
"But my father once said that in today's world, judging a ninja's worth is too simplistic, dismissing them as worthless based solely on raw power."
"Isn't that true?" Maruta was somewhat confused.
"At least my father doesn't think so," she said.
"He said that such talent, when judged that way, is merely the talent of a warrior, but society isn't formed solely by warriors.
In our village, there are many ninjas without strong combat abilities, such as the medical ninjas who once came here to assist, and the research ninjas who study secret techniques within the village.
These people have little power; a professionally trained genin could easily defeat them.
But are they truly powerless weaklings, what do you think?" Asuna asked.
"This..." Maruta didn't know how to answer for a moment.
According to his understanding, medical ninjas and those so-called research ninjas were so weak, of course, they were weaklings.
But then he thought of the people those medical ninjas had saved, and he felt like something was wrong.
"Medical ninjas are not weak.
Even if ninjas like us can easily defeat them, when facing the injured and sick, medical ninjas are the ones who can truly save them.
That is their value, and something ninjas like us cannot do," Asuna said.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Maruta grew more confused.
He seemed to understand something, yet also understood nothing.
"My point is that a person's worth isn't solely determined by strength.
Even if one lacks talent in that area, they might still realize their value in other aspects," Asuna had never spoken at such length.
Given her personality, she wasn't eloquent, so she couldn't accurately convey what she wanted to express.
"Just like those farmers who till the land; even if they have little power, they can produce food for people to eat.
And those blacksmiths who only forge iron can create ninja tools for ninjas to use," Asuna pointed to the ninja sword at her side.
Maruta's expression was somewhat surprised.
Asuna's description was a bit vague, but the underlying principle seemed to make him understand some of what he had been struggling with.
He quickly adjusted his posture, as if seeking guidance.
"Father said that people should learn how to discover their own talents and then realize their value in that area; that's enough.
There's no need to pursue some unrivaled power or anything else," Asuna said after a moment of contemplation.
Maruta showed a thoughtful expression.
Seeing him like this, Asuna felt she should say more.
Just as she was deep in thought, Uchiha Reishi's voice rang out beside them: "I thought you were saying something important, but you're just lecturing him."
"Reishi," Asuna frowned, looking at her with some displeasure, "He's very distressed; I have to find a way to help him overcome it."
"That may be true, but it's not that simple.
Even those psychological medical ninjas wouldn't claim they can make everyone understand," Uchiha Reishi shook her head and said to Maruta, "Did you understand what Asuna just said?"
"I think so," Maruta startled, looking at Uchiha Reishi, and replied vaguely.
Uchiha Reishi pouted and said, "Did you really understand?"
"Does it mean that even weak people without power can realize their value? Is that it?" Maruta asked.
"Hmm, something like that," Uchiha Reishi said, a little uncertain after thinking about it.
"Of course not," another voice interjected at this moment.
"As a ninja, if you don't have power, you can't do anything, just like you."
The three of them looked up and saw a young man approaching.
His expression was cold, and his eyes were like deep pools.
Asuna and Uchiha Reishi both knew him; he was the Uchiha clan member who had lost his father, who hadn't applied to join the Military Police Force but was a regular active ninja named Uchiha Ken.
"That's not true," Asuna frowned slightly and said.
"No, it is true.
In the ninja world, power is everything.
If there were no power, would the Land of Fire be so peaceful now?" Uchiha Ken snorted softly.
Asuna and Uchiha Reishi didn't know how to respond for a moment.
The current peace and strong economic power of the Land of Fire were naturally backed by the powerful military strength of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Uchiha Ken's words were certainly not wrong, but it seemed that one couldn't generalize.
"The most important thing for a ninja is power, and ninjas from ordinary backgrounds like you have an inherent gap compared to us.
So you're right, there's no need to practice anymore, because you can't possibly win," Uchiha Ken said, seemingly having overheard Maruta's self-deprecating words earlier.
"You're being a bit excessive, Ken," Uchiha Reishi frowned deeply and said to Uchiha Ken.
She felt he shouldn't discourage someone like that.
"Yes, you should apologize to Maruta," Asuna nodded and said.
"Am I wrong? What is there to apologize for?" Uchiha Ken shrugged and said, "You should make him realize this, otherwise he'll just get hurt for nothing, just like that guy."
Following Uchiha Ken's gaze, they saw a Hidden Rain ninja covered in wounds, lying on the ground, gasping for breath.
He seemed to be the ninja who had been practicing with Uchiha Ken.
Uchiha Ken said, "I warned him early on not to come back, but he just wouldn't listen.
I had no choice but to beat him up like this."
"Aichi," Maruta, of course, recognized that Hidden Rain ninja.
His name was Aichi, a ninja so persistent he was almost 鈍.
He might not have had much talent, but he climbed up step by step through sheer willpower.
And now, even covered in wounds, he was still trying to get up, seemingly intending to fight again.