At 10 a.m., Charlie finally woke up, unsurprisingly, he was the last one to get up. As the lord of both the Land of Grass and the Kusa Shinobi Village, his schedule had been packed, especially in these last few days of the year, dealing with numerous domestic issues.
This year had been one of steady growth for the Land of Grass. Thanks to advances in scientific shinobi tools, agriculture had improved significantly.
Meanwhile, KusaWood was gaining recognition beyond their borders. Although films were starting to appear elsewhere, the Kusa Shinobi Village still dominated the shinobi world's film industry.
Infrastructure was also progressing, with roads being built all the way to the border near the Land of Rain. The textile industry was expanding rapidly, easing some of the economic strain.
On top of that, they had recently acquired large quantities of explosive tags, kunai, and shuriken from outside vendors, prices for these had been rising sharply this past year, a clear sign that war might be looming.
Regarding scientific shinobi tools, their research institute had developed combat-ready models. Unfortunately, these hadn't been widely adopted.
None of the Five Great shinobi Villages seemed interested, Konoha, their closest neighbor and ally, rarely traded with the kusagakure. It probably came down to a lack of trust. After all, of what had happened in the past…
Yeah, that was definitely on them. But things had changed now. They wouldn't betray their allies so easily anymore. So why the distrust?
"Right before the New Year, Konoha sent a letter warning us to be cautious about Iwagakure," Kana said, breaking the silence. "The letter hinted that tensions in the shinobi world are rising."
"How come I didn't know about that?" Charlie asked.
"You had been extremely busy these past few days," Kana explained. "So he's been focusing on internal affairs and left all correspondence with other villages to Mujie."
Charlie fell silent for a moment, then remembered. With everything going on, he had handed off external matters to Mujie. That guy could be a bit of a pain but was also a skilled Kusa Shinobi, especially good at managing relations with other villages.
Charlie paused, deep in thought. "How did Mujie handle it?"
Mujie's response was simple: "No problem. You just have to trust us Kusa Shinobis!"
There was a pause, then more news came. Soon after, Konoha had strengthened their defenses along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.
"As expected, Konoha knew the Kusa Shinobis well." Kana added with a bitter smile, "Also, Mujie tried to sell our scientific shinobi tools to Konoha, but they completely ignored him.
He was furious, cursing and complaining, saying, 'With Konoha's attitude, how can they expect us to help? Even Iwagakure bought thirty million worth of tools!'"
"Forget it! It's the New Year. Let's not bother with them," Charlie said, shaking his head.
Not long ago, Charlie had toured the Shinwabi Bridge with the Iwagakure tourist group, and Konoha had seemed pretty relaxed afterward. Shameless, really, typical Kusa Shinobi behavior. But Charlie wasn't like that, he had a strong sense of morals and ideals.
Still, Konoha, as an ally, offered no real support, which made things difficult for the Kusa Shinobis. With those thoughts in mind, Charlie headed to the Nagato household.
Since it was New Year's, they planned to share a meal together. To be honest, though, most of their days were spent eating at Nagato's place or having meals brought over by Fuso, so this wasn't much of a change. Both were busy, after all.
"Charlie-sensei!" The three kids greeted him warmly. Seeing how much they had grown, Charlie's face softened into a gentle smile as he ruffled their heads.
Konan had arrived early to help out. Yahiko was there just for lunch, he still had to eat dinner later with his father, Mujie.
The three kids planned to hang out that evening. Yahiko was expecting two friends he had met in the Land of Rain, Renjiro and Kongo, to join them.
Earlier, Yahiko had invited those two to join his Akatsuki group to investigate the mysterious "ghost students" and "ghost worker," but both had declined. Kongo said he wanted to spend all his free time studying instead of wandering around, basically turning into a model worker, speaking very formally.
As for Renjiro, he was just the same as always, convinced he'd been tricked and refusing to trust Yahiko no matter what. But Nagato mentioned that Renjiro had secretly taken a part-time job and was often caught zoning out, watching the people working in the Land of Grass with a look full of envy, sadness, and mixed emotions.
In other words, the Akatsuki had mostly fallen apart. Nagato called it a joke of an organization. Kongo said he was too busy to care. Renjiro said he hated it.
Only Konan still found it interesting enough to join in occasionally. None of the original five or the three great shinobis had come back.
Konan was basically just along for the ride. Yahiko was the only one still fighting to keep things going. You can imagine how grim the future looked, it was almost a second-rate group.
"Hmph! I won't give up. One day, the Akatsuki will be known all across the shinobi world!" Yahiko said, clenching his fist with determination.
Then he smiled brightly at Charlie. "By the way, Charlie-sensei, can we graduate now?"
"Not even close! Six years of compulsory education is just the beginning," Charlie replied.
"But… Renjiro and Kongo say we're really strong and ready to graduate!"
"Our approach at the Kusa Shinobi Village is different. We focus more on ethic and morality education, building the right values. Look at other villages, students killing teachers, children hurting their own fathers!" Charlie yawned. "That's what happens when ethic and morality is ignored."
"By sticking with Charlie-sensei, and embracing the new Grass spirit as our core ideal, I already feel my spirit has grown! I'm a qualified Kusa Shinobi!"
"You still have a long way to go! You have to understand, my standards are pretty high…"
"What kind of standards?"
Charlie looked silently at the four curious faces staring back at him. Even Kana was watching eagerly, waiting to hear the graduation requirements.
With a sigh, Charlie straightened up. His eyes flickered as if an idea had just struck him, and he said seriously, "At minimum, you should be able to execute any jutsu you want, with just a clap."
The three stared at him in disbelief. "Impossible!" Yahiko exclaimed. "Even the greatest shinobi can't do that! How can that be enough to graduate?"
"The requirement might be tough, but I believe in you!" Charlie said firmly. "You have to believe in yourselves, too. Remember, having dreams is important."
Yahiko blinked, then caught the hopeful look on Charlie's face. His eyes brightened as if a new idea had just struck him, and he grinned. "So, Charlie-sensei, can you do it now?"
"Of course! Want to see?"
"Yes!"
Charlie smiled and nodded. "No need to go anywhere. Right here will do!"
Suddenly,
"???"
The three kids exchanged puzzled glances. Charlie's expression instantly stiffened, his eyes widening as he clapped his hands and called out loudly, "Paper Release: Winter Break Gift Pack Jutsu!"
"?!"
Before they could even react, piles of what looked like books appeared before them, each boldly labeled:
"Happy New Year!!!"
"What's this? Why do I feel dizzy all of a sudden?" The three shivered involuntarily.
Just then, Fuso appeared carrying dishes, smiling warmly. "Time to eat!" She noticed their stunned expressions. "What's wrong with you all?"
"They're… celebrating New Year! Happy!" Charlie chuckled as he sat down. "Come on, eat first! Even when you're happy, don't forget to eat! Happy New Year!"
"…"