Hanako looked at her husband, who seemed serious, as if making a solemn promise with their daughter. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Did something happen?"
"Don't worry," Kawaki said, shaking his head with a smile as he turned to her. "It's good news."
"Good news?" Hanako echoed, curious.
Kawaki glanced around before continuing, ready to share what had been on his mind.
The other workers, dressed in their labor uniforms, ate without paying them any attention. Kawaki leaned in and lowered his voice. "The captain told me there's an opening…"
As Kawaki spoke, Hanako's face changed from surprise to shock, then quickly lit up with excitement. "Is it true?"
"Yes! If I manage to win the Outstanding Employee award this year, Ruka will be able to go to school!"
"That's amazing!" Hanako squeezed Kawaki's hand eagerly. "the lord really is a good man!"
"Yes," Kawaki nodded sincerely. In fact, everyone who had been brought here felt grateful to the lord. They smiled genuinely and said, "the lord truly is a good man!"
"But won't this be hard on you, Kawaki?"
"I'll work hard!"
"I'll work hard too!"
"I'll work hard too~"
"Let's all work hard together! Tomorrow I'll go find the captain! For now…" Kawaki affectionately ruffled his daughter's hair. Since coming to the Land of Grass, their daughter had been much happier. Picking up his chopsticks, he said, "Let's eat!"
As he spoke, he watched his wife happily eating while gently reminding their daughter to study hard, and saw their daughter nodding seriously in agreement.
A strange, indescribable feeling welled up inside him. Before long, his eyes shone with newfound confidence. Tightening his grip on his chopsticks, he muttered, "We… will definitely get better!"
Meanwhile, in the Land of Grass lord's office, Charlie smiled warmly at the three little ones sitting before him, their ears perked up attentively. He took a sip of tea and said kindly, "You three really had quite the adventure, huh?"
The three kids chuckled awkwardly. They hadn't expected to be tricked and dragged back.
They had insisted that Mujie stay behind with them so they could fight together in the Land of Rain. Mujie had happily agreed. But that night, when it was time to rest…
They were suddenly knocked out, bagged, and brought back here. Truly, only veteran Kusa Shinobis could pull a stunt like that, just as sly as Charlie Sensei! They really were too inexperienced!
"Look at what you've done! You even dared to pick a fight inside the Amegakure?" Charlie rubbed his forehead, looking at the report Mujie had written with a headache. "You've got some nerve!"
The Land of Rain was furious over the unprovoked attacks, launching relentless manhunts to capture the culprits. Even Hanzo the Salamander, the half-god leader of the Rain Village, had spoken out, vowing to make them pay.
Luckily, these three were smart enough to flee right after the fight. Otherwise, when they met again in a few years, Nagato might jokingly say, "Next time, I'll keep my mouth shut and play dead."
"Charlie Sensei, I'm telling you! Many people in the Land of Rain are unhappy with Hanzo!" Yahiko said quickly, smiling.
"If we keep working hard, in a few years… the Land of Rain might belong to the Land of Grass! The Land of Rain wants peace too!"
He sighed deeply. "Even though I'm a Kusa Shinobi, I was born in the Land of Rain. I want to bring peace to this suffering country! Didn't you say, teacher, that with great power comes great responsibility?"
"That's true!" Charlie smiled warmly at Yahiko's earnest, if somewhat pained, expression and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "But right now, your most important job is to study. The adults will handle peace!"
"Homework…" they groaned.
"Teacher, my heart hurts! I'm tired and need rest!" one of them protested.
"No excuses!" Charlie replied firmly.
'You think you can fool me? I know you just don't want to do your homework!' Charlie said gently, "Doing your homework will calm you down. There are still sixty pages of assignments waiting for you at home, specially prepared!"
"sixty pages?!" the three kids blinked in disbelief. Yahiko's expression softened as he stared blankly at Charlie. "Wasn't it twenty pages?"
"That was a week ago. Now get home and do your homework! Once it's done, your heart won't hurt anymore." Charlie ruffled their heads affectionately.
"Nagato, your mother is very worried about you! And Konan, your sister Kana misses you a lot! As for Yahiko, your father personally came to bring you back!"
In the end, the three kids exchanged looks of mild grievance but, like three little bullied hamsters, perked up their ears and left. Just then, Mujie came in, his face twitching as he watched the kids go, then glanced at the laid-back lord sipping tea.
Mujie quickly stood at attention and said seriously, "lord!"
Charlie nodded with a sigh that mixed pride and regret. "You did well this time. You actually brought the kids back."
Mujie raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the hint of disappointment in Charlie's voice. Thankfully, he hadn't fallen for Yahiko's tempting words, "Dad, you don't want to go back and do homework, do you? Instead, he'd knocked all three out and brought them back under cover of night.
As expected, the lord was truly a lord, an outstanding Kusa Shinobi. Otherwise, Mujie would probably be buried under two tons of homework right now. He added earnestly, "We must firmly uphold the New Grass Spirit in our hearts and follow the lord without question."
Then Charlie smiled and leaned in. "Actually, Yahiko and the others aren't completely wrong. Things are pretty chaotic in the Land of Rain right now."
"I know!" Charlie waved his hand dismissively. "But this isn't the time to get distracted."
He wasn't about to casually recruit people from the Land of Rain. "Alright, get some rest. The war is coming soon. We can't let the Grass Village be the ones who start the Third Great shinobi War."
If the Land of Grass started the war, those guys would be the first to attack it. Seeing the lord's serious expression, Mujie seemed to understand and didn't press further.
But just as he was about to turn away, he hesitated. "By the way, lord, what should we do with the few shinobis Yahiko and the others brought back?"
Charlie frowned, thinking for a moment before sighing. "Forget it. Keep an eye on them. Send them all to the academy, night classes are starting anyway. Let them catch up on their studies too."