A few days later, news that the village was about to establish a Ninja Academy swept through Konoha like a sudden storm.
In less than half a day, everyone had heard of it, and everyone was talking about it.
The order came without warning, personally announced by Hashirama himself.
The deadline was set for one month.
Before January 15th of Konoha Year 6, all children of proper age who met the requirements had to receive compulsory education.
The admission standards were simple.
They had to be able to refine chakra and use at least one of the following: Ninjutsu.
Genjutsu.
Taijutsu.
Even if they failed to meet the standard, children who showed clear potential could still enter the reserve list.
The civilians of Konoha reacted with overwhelming excitement.
They rushed to register their children’s names.
It had to be said, though being a ninja was dangerous, it was also a profession with extremely high income.
Before this, for civilians to become ninja was nearly impossible.
For them, this was a chance to change fate.
It was also a way to gain the power to protect themselves in troubled times.
But for the ninja clans, it was a completely different matter.
This was another unprecedented shock.
“If we send our children to the Ninja Academy, will the ninja raised there belong to the village or the clan?
Did we raise them all these years for nothing?” Such doubts filled many hearts.
However, once Hashirama again showed an unusually firm attitude, the major clans yielded once more.
They all stated they would strictly obey the village’s order.
Only one clan remained silent from beginning to end.
The Uchiha Clan.
* * * Beneath Naka Shrine.
Inside the underground chamber, a stone tablet covered in mysterious characters stood quietly there.
Tengu murals were carved into the walls.
An elderly clan elder stood before the tablet.
The burning brazier cast light over the two people in front of him.
To his right stood a beautiful female ninja with flowing purple hair and a hime cut.
Naori Uchiha.
To his left stood an arrogant male ninja.
Naka Uchiha.
Simply put, the former represented the moderate faction, while the latter represented the radicals.
Naka’s expression was dark.
“Sending our people to some Ninja Academy…
This is obviously a trick by the Senju to target the Uchiha.
If I knew the Senju were this shameless, I would have followed Madara-sama and left with him back then.” Naori frowned after hearing him.
“Naka, you’re too extreme.
Since the clan chose to remain in the village, then we should support the village’s arrangements.” “Do not think so poorly of the Hokage.
When Madara-sama was still in the village, he never once doubted the Hokage’s character.” “And besides…
the clan has truly benefited from Gospel Hospital.” Naka’s eyes turned cold.
“How is that the same thing?
In any case, I absolutely refuse.” Seeing soft words fail, Naori’s tone also hardened.
“Naka, I am the acting clan leader.” “You’ll regret this, Naori!” Grinding his teeth, Naka turned and stormed out of the shrine.
Bang!
The heavy door slammed shut, venting his rage.
The elder looked worried.
“Naori, this…” Her face stayed expressionless.
“Ever since Madara-sama left, the people led by Naka have been unwilling to accept it.
But everyone made their choice back then.
What meaning is there in regretting it now?
Clan matters should be solved within the clan.
Do not let the village interfere and laugh at us.” * * * Konoha Year 6, January 1st.
A new year began.
At dawn, the sun slowly rose over the horizon.
Golden light spread across every corner of Konoha.
Villagers changed into new clothes and filled the streets, their laughter and joy echoing through every lane.
They celebrated the new year while silently praying that this hard-won peace would continue through Konoha’s sixth year, and far beyond.
Toji had finally gotten a rare holiday.
Wearing a pure white haori, he walked through the streets, exchanging New Year greetings with villagers.
After strolling around, he went to visit the Senju Clan grounds.
By the time the formalities were done, evening had already arrived.
Toji returned to his own Zenin Clan territory.
Compared to the lively world outside, the Zenin grounds remained quiet and empty.
Toji had transplanted an entire grove of ten-year-old bamboo there.
Passing through the silent bamboo forest and following the stone path to the end, one would reach the main house.
After pushing open the door, Toji skillfully opened the hidden panel in the corner wall.
His figure flashed forward as he entered the underground chamber, a place even the Byakugan could not peer into.
The secret door then closed silently behind him, shutting out all the noise from the outside world.
* * * The underground space was vast.
It was both Toji’s laboratory and his training ground.
The place was filled with bottles and containers of every kind, giving off a dark and oppressive atmosphere.
Toji clasped his hands together and muttered in a low voice.
“Earth Grudge Fear: Release.” The skin along his spine split open inch by inch.
Several twisted tendrils of Earth Grudge Fear slowly emerged, stretched outward, and writhed through the sealed underground chamber with an ominous presence.
It was terrifying enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.
If the villagers, who had grown used to his gentle and warm image, were to witness this scene, they would likely faint on the spot.
But unlike Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear, Toji had carefully refined the appearance of his own.
He did not seek usefulness alone.
He also valued elegance and style.
When spread apart, the tentacles resembled Stone Free.
When gathered together, they looked like a ghoul’s kagune.
“Earth Grudge Fear: Clone.” Part of the black tendrils separated from Toji’s body.
After twisting and writhing, they transformed into four figures roughly the same size as him, each wearing a plague doctor bird mask.
The clones moved on their own, serving as laborers.
They continued digging deeper underground, expanding the hidden chamber.
Following a year of focused training, Toji had already mastered many applications of Earth Grudge Fear.
Creating clones was just one of them.
Unlike normal clone techniques, these clones used one of the hearts inside his body as their core.
Each carried a matching chakra nature and a portion of his own chakra.
They could be directly controlled in combat or act independently by following commands, making them highly practical.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The clones’ tendrils lashed out.
Hard layers of stone and soil were torn apart like paper as dirt scattered downward.
The underground chamber kept expanding deeper and wider.
A clone with earth nature formed hand seals and gathered the loose soil, shaping it into stairs and walls.
Toji only gave the clones a brief glance before focusing on further developing Earth Grudge Fear.
He raised a hand and fired one tendril into a white laboratory mouse on the operating table.
The mouse convulsed violently, then suddenly became still.
After that, it moved stiffly according to his commands.
The experiment proved that Earth Grudge Fear could control animal bodies to a certain degree, but their movement flexibility would decrease.
Expressionless, Toji took out a notebook and wrote down the result.
“Animal testing has reached its limit.
The next step is human experimentation.” Earth Grudge Fear allowed him to gain different chakra natures.
But the corresponding techniques still had to be learned personally.
Toji knew very well that his talent in ninjutsu was average.
Learning slowly through time and repetition would be inefficient, and there was no guarantee he could master them.
Next, he needed to test whether Earth Grudge Fear could control living ninja like puppets.
If successful, he might be able to extract a target’s experience with ninjutsu and secret arts through direct control, saving himself years of training.
Alive, they would be his puppets.
Dead, they would be his hearts.
“But inside Konoha, suitable test subjects are hard to find…” Toji was extremely cautious about doing human experiments while Hashirama and Tobirama were still alive.
The former would never allow forbidden methods like body experiments or stealing hearts.
The latter was deeply suspicious by nature and would never permit anyone except himself to conduct taboo research.
That was a contradiction with no middle ground.
Once those two powerful ninjas were gone, things would be different.
Using ninja from other villages as test material would be best.
Using Konoha ninja would only create trouble.
Toji had no desire to become a warning example like Orochimaru.
While thinking this, he suddenly sensed dozens of chakra signatures in the distance.
Though faint, his sharp perception still caught them.
Toji looked in that direction.
“That place is… Naka Shrine?” ** ** ** Thank you for reading!
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