Chapter 272: Ninja Academy Recruitment
More than a dozen carriages slowly entered the city gate, bearing the crest of the Yotsuki Clan, attracting the attention of passersby.
Dana stood by the roadside; his massive stature made him impossible to miss. The lead carriage stopped as it passed him, and his mother, Satomi, jumped down directly.
Dana hurried to support her, but she slapped his hand away.
"I'm not old enough to need support! Come here, let me look at you!"
Satomi couldn't help but look her son up and down; he had grown significantly taller.
Thinking back, when he was brought back to the village unconscious, he was immediately pickled in a jar at the research base. Then, to solve the trouble in the capital, he flew off via Heavenly Transfer Technique, so he hadn't seen his mother at all.
According to his Old Man, Satomi was very resentful and told Dana to be careful.
When he was unconscious, she was heartbroken. When he recovered, he flew away without even coming home to let her see him. Her heartbreak had turned into anger.
Satomi patted Dana's arm—mostly because she couldn't reach any higher.
"You're sturdier than before. That's a relief."
Then Satomi noticed the delicate girl in ninja attire standing next to Dana and smiled. "Is this your subordinate?"
"This is the Daimyo."
Satomi and Natsu's smiles froze on their faces simultaneously...
Satomi's smile remained fixed, but her eyes turned scary. "Dana... why didn't you say so earlier...?"
Dana looked confused. Wasn't that early enough? I introduced her right away!
Fortunately, Natsu reacted quickly. She bowed ninety degrees and said, "Hello, Auntie! I am Natsu Raihara. Um... please don't listen to Dana's nonsense about being Daimyo... I..."
Satomi rolled her eyes at Dana, then stepped forward to hold Natsu's hands affectionately. "Natsu-chan! I finally get to meet you in person. Thank you for picking me up here. Let's go; I haven't been to the capital in a long time."
As she walked away, Satomi didn't forget to grind her heel into Dana's foot.
Dana hissed in pain but could only smile awkwardly and follow behind.
People from the convoy asked Dana where to go. Dana told them all to go to Asuka Castle; his mother would likely stay there too.
To put it bluntly, the Land of Lightning now belonged to the Cloud, and Asuka Castle now belonged to the Yotsuki.
Dana caught up with the two women ahead. Natsu and his mother seemed to be chatting happily, but they were speaking too fast for Dana to catch the topic. Every time he tried to interject, his mother silenced him with a murderous glare.
So he simply followed behind, enjoying the peace.
This meeting was both accidental and intentional. He wanted his mother and Natsu to meet before the wedding to help them bond, especially now that Natsu had the added layer of being the Daimyo. This was necessary.
The three of them wandered around, revisiting all the places the couple had just visited. Many vendors were confused: Didn't this person just buy something a moment ago?
Natsu pretended not to see the vendors' questioning looks, not wanting to spoil Satomi's mood.
Satomi smiled throughout the entire trip. She was very satisfied with this daughter-in-law. Originally, she had some reservations about Natsu's status as a princess, and now she had gone from princess to Daimyo. When Satomi received the news as her future mother-in-law, she was stunned for a whole morning.
That was why she brought dozens of people and over ten carriages—she didn't want to lose any etiquette or face.
But seeing how easygoing Natsu was, Satomi felt relieved.
While buying daifuku, Dana noticed a poster for the Ninja Academy on the shop door.
"Boss, when was this poster put up?"
The owner paused, leaned out to check, and then remembered. "Just yesterday. It says the Ninja Academy is recruiting students."
Dana wanted to chat a bit. "Is anyone interested?"
The owner shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. The capital just recovered; people don't even have time to fix their houses, let alone spare money to send kids to school."
Dana reminded him, "The Ninja Academy is free if the child has chakra talent, you know?"
The owner choked on his words. Just then, a little boy popped out from the back of the shop, his face covered in flour, seemingly helping in the kitchen. He shouted, "Exactly, Grandpa! Why won't you let me go?! They said it's free! I want to become a ninja too!"
The owner turned red with anger and shooed the kid away sternly. "I forbid it! Ninja work is too dangerous! Go after I'm dead; no one will control you then!"
The flour-faced boy stomped away sulking. The owner didn't want to lose his temper in front of customers but clearly didn't want to discuss it further.
Dana smiled bitterly. It seemed that outside of Kumogakure, the acceptance of children becoming ninja wasn't high.
To fill the Ninja Academies quickly, they would need to properly advertise the benefits of being a ninja—income, social status, etc. And outside the village, these benefits needed to be implemented tangibly.
Only then would ordinary families be willing to send their children to the academy.
Although not everyone had the aptitude to refine chakra, the ratio wasn't low. According to statistics from the Cloud's Ninja Academy and orphanages over the years, about 2 to 4 out of every 10 children possessed the aptitude.
In society at large, the number of people who actually became ninja compared to those with the aptitude was a drop in the bucket.
This was an issue of chakra education popularity and the ninja village system. In the past, across the entire ninja world, there were only five Ninja Academies in the Five Great Villages providing training opportunities for commoners. The rest were clan inheritances or master-disciple relationships.
Roughly calculating, how much of the population could the Five Great Villages reach? How much of the Land of Lightning's population?
With such a massive base, could they produce a few civilian geniuses like Minato Namikaze?
Even if they couldn't produce a Minato, could they get a few dozen Konoha 12-level talents?
If Konoha alone had the Konoha 12, surely the Land of Lightning with its many cities could produce 108 heroes?
If one day, everyone in the Land of Lightning with the aptitude to refine chakra could enjoy the corresponding training opportunities, what kind of golden age would that create?
Remember, "ninja" in the Cloud no longer referred solely to combat-type ninja.
That would be a society with terrifyingly high productivity.
Dana never believed genius was predestined to specific people. Since the ninja world had hidden gems like Yoshitoki, perhaps right now in the Land of Lightning, the next Minato Namikaze, the next Might Guy, or the next whoever was hiding somewhere.
Otsutsuki bloodline? Indra, Asura?
Sorry, it's not like they can't be beaten. Bloodline determinism is just the wailing of the weak; the strong choose to try and kick open the grand finale.
Dana had enough time and confidence to face the future shenanigans of the Otsutsuki family. This confidence didn't come just from himself, but from Kumogakure.
But first, start with the step right under his feet.
Let's trick a few kids into going to school first.