During the era of the Second Hokage, the Ninja Academy was initially just a simple independent facility used to maintain the Village’s combat strength.
With the passing of both Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, the situation in the Ninja World returned to turmoil.
To respond in times of need, children would learn Ninjutsu here so they could immediately supplement the Village’s combat strength if it became insufficient.
However, this facility was soon refined by the Second Hokage, who transformed it into an “educational institution” for cultivating political and military talent, officially bestowing it with the name Ninja Academy.
The existence of the Ninja Academy was subsequently emulated by various nations.
While it is true that the resources owned by Ninja clans allow their younger generations to surpass the children of ordinary people right from the starting line, the Ninja Academy is by no means a hollow facility used merely for appeasement or to balance the conflicts between the nobility and commoners.
Especially after the Third Hokage took office, he followed the development policy set by the Second Hokage and further reformed the Ninja Academy, turning it into the institution it is today, fully capable of fulfilling its “educational” purpose.
Although the initial purpose of founding the Ninja Academy was cruel, for a Ninja World where the strong prey on the weak, the evolved and reformed Ninja Academy does indeed treat every student equally.
In a Ninja World where no one knows when the next war will come, the Ninja Academy gives everyone the same learning opportunities regardless of their background or talent, teaching students essential survival skills.
And this equality is most prominent in Konoha.
Unlike the schools in the Hidden Mist Village, which carry the theory of survival of the fittest to the extreme.
Many powerful civilian Ninjas have indeed been born from Konoha’s Ninja Academy.
The most famous among them is likely the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze—a genius envied by the heavens who passed away in his prime.
The strong do not become strong based on talent alone; effort plays an equally pivotal role.
Even a genius as powerful as Minato Namikaze likely only knew the hardships he faced in climbing to the position of Hokage step by step.
And the starting point of those hardships might very well have been the Ninja Academy.
Because the curriculum at the Ninja Academy is…
unexpectedly extensive.
To describe it using Sakura’s experience, it’s as if all students are treated equally and given an “elite class education.” As for whether they eventually become talented and successfully earn the title of Ninja, that is for the proctors of the graduation exam to worry about; the teaching staff’s job is simply to cram knowledge into the students.
Logically speaking, at five or six years old, a child in her previous life would still need to be coaxed by a kindergarten teacher, but the teaching intensity upon entering the Ninja Academy was almost no different from a college-prep high school in her past life.
The numerous courses at the Ninja Academy can be roughly divided into three categories: Theory, Practical Combat, and Ideological Education.
After a whole morning of theory classes, what followed was the “Practical Combat” portion.
The most common courses in practical combat are Ninjutsu application and Ninja sparring, which are courses with distinct Ninja World characteristics.
Among them, the “Ninja Survival Exercise,” which exists in the form of a “pop quiz,” is a course that can best showcase the students’ individual strength and team thinking.
However, for freshmen like Sakura and the others, the practical combat courses for at least the first month weren’t that special.
“It’s not just Chakra capacity that determines a Ninja’s strength; a Ninja’s physical fitness is also a key factor in winning a battle!”
After running an unknown number of laps around the school playground, Iruka finally called a halt to this group of tender children under his charge and began to teach them patiently.
He recorded everyone’s physical test results truthfully and finally called out Sakura’s name as if catching a “typical failing example.”
“Sakura, your physical fitness is quite poor. You need to strengthen your training in this area later. Don’t you dare slack off!”
Iruka looked at Sakura, who had stopped at the finish line and wasn’t moving forward.
Because there was some distance between them, Iruka had to shout loudly, worried that Sakura wouldn’t hear him.
Iruka truly lived up to the title of a “good teacher” as depicted in the original story.
Although he was strict, he always maintained the caring attitude a teacher should have toward their students.
He could maintain the necessary authority during the educational process without making the students so afraid of him that they couldn’t grow.
“Haah… huff… huff—haah—”
Sakura wanted to respond to Iruka with a loud shout as well, but just adjusting her rapid breathing took all her strength.
In the end, she was forced to pretend she hadn’t heard Iruka speaking, concentrating intently on trying to get her breathing back to normal over and over again.
She…
she didn’t think her physical fitness was that bad.
It was just that the other kids were too “abnormal.”
If you took someone in their physical prime and made them sprint twenty laps, they wouldn’t be able to handle it either.
Not to mention that Sakura’s current body was only five or six years old.
But in reality, everyone in the entire class finished the full twenty-lap long-distance run without any discomfort.
Especially Sasuke Uchiha; that guy was not only the first to finish the twenty laps, but he also had a completely calm and composed expression at the end, as if the twenty laps he ran were just twenty casual steps to him!
Even Hinata Hyuga, who looked delicate and was widely recognized as a “soft girl” in her previous life, only had a slightly flushed face after sprinting twenty laps; she wasn’t gasping for air like Sakura.
Only Sakura’s reaction after running twenty laps was truly pathetic.
No wonder she became the “negative example” for Iruka’s educational criticism.
As expected, these Ninjas in the Ninja World who can achieve the effect of “Body Flicker” using only Taijutsu cannot be judged by normal logic when it comes to physical limits.
In fact, the same was true for Sakura.
Although she was exhausted now, she didn’t feel like her body was “damaged” from “over-exercising”; she was just purely tired from running so many laps.
Don’t ask, the answer is the power of Chakra!
Indeed, those with the potential to become Ninjas, even if they remain a Genin for their entire lives, are still one-in-a-million compared to ordinary people.
“If you’re just a Genin, you won’t be able to earn enough money by age 20 to support yourself for the rest of your life.”
As if reading Sakura’s mind through some telepathy, Ino, who had moved next to her at some point, spoke up abruptly.
“Haah— I…”
Sakura wanted to say something, but as soon as she tried to draw breath, her chest felt uncomfortable.
She could only wave her hand at Ino, indicating that she was currently unable to take care of herself.
Even Ino could easily handle those twenty laps that almost took half her life!?
Looking at the rosy-cheeked Ino with her steady breathing, Sakura finally began to wonder if she really was a bit weak…
A sense of anxiety couldn’t help but rise in her heart.
Sakura had previously subconsciously felt that she could easily be promoted to Jonin—but she was, after all, not the smart and studious girl from the original story; she was shaping a brand-new life for “Sakura” with her own will.
If Ino was right and she could only be or would be a Genin for a long time…
her dream would be declared dead before it even began.
The maximum reward for a Genin mission is only one hundred thousand Ryo, and such a reward is something you can only hope for but not count on.
After all, the minimum reward for a Chunin mission is eighty thousand Ryo; a client could easily hire a Chunin to perform the task instead.
Moreover, of that hundred thousand Ryo, a portion is the Village’s handling fee, and Ninjas are mostly assigned missions in squads.
So the remaining money has to be split equally with other teammates after the mission is completed, and then you have to subtract your own expenses during the mission; what’s left is the actual commission you earn.
If I want to realize my dream, I have to work hard to become stronger first!
Those who don’t work hard have no right to be slackers!!!