"Tenzo Pass!"
One year had passed since that fateful day. Nothing noteworthy is happening. I was 13 now. Alright,
"Mina, Pass!"
This was the three-year assessment for all clan members. All 121 of them.
"Kaito, Pass!" Daizen continued.
Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? It takes 20 percent effort to get 80% results, and the last 80% effort only constitutes the last 20% results. Yeah, academy students weren't usually very diligent. Not that they were fools and useless. Only shitty novels will say that everyone else except the protagonist was slacking off. But most just didn't have the kind of drive deathbound kids like these have. Their Chakra control was still abysmal. While academy students by this time could do at least one jutsu to a major extent. The present academy has only had 5 years of training.
But what was more important was the fact that these guys had gained the physical strength, speed, and stamina qualifications required for graduation. I know most students gain that before the third year, that is, by eight. And all of mine were between 9 and 12. I know that by the time they graduate, growth bursts give them roughly 4 times the bare minimum strength. While mine will have roughly one and a half or two times only. Even if they were older. Because now their chakra training needs to commence in earnest, along with kunai throwing and kenjutsu. All they had trained so far was Chakra control, some theory, and physical fighting skills.
Our starting line was different. According to that. We had come very far. I distributed training swords and training Ninja tool bags as a present for them, after they were done. I know expensive. But once I had figured out the Storage scroll. Basic tools became a minor concern. It took me almost two weeks to make one. But it went for hundreds of thousands of Ryo. I wondered at how 300 had been an enormous sum to me once. Now our uniforms had proper stitching. No longer a simple plain cloth. The blue robe had gained white designs. The theme was still the same, but now more sophisticated and professional.
I had reduced the number of missions we took. Now we worked and trained in one week. While only trained in another. These kids were really shaping up. At this rate, they would be all genins before twenty. If their talent held that is.
I had noticed the way people and passing shinobi greeted us had changed. At first, we had become reliable chore doers. And the respect afforded to us was like that of municipal workers. People expected this clan to die out. But with me earning and investing so much. Things had changed. Now the ones with vision knew that by the time the next big thing happened in 6-8 years, this would probably turn into a proper minor shinobi clan. Nobody expected Jonins or more than 1-2 chunins. But honestly, a force of 100 genin demanded at least basic courtesy. Or maybe it was the fact that the Hokage had initially protected us. Even when not taking direct action. Those giants affected us.
It could be that Hokage had abandoned us. It could be that he was testing our independence. With that scheming professor and his comrades in charge, who knew?
I had started to feel the pressure of politics. Especially with the Hokage's active protection gone. The clans had attempted to take us under their influence. Thankfully, the major ones had too much pride and disdain. But medium ones like the Gekko clan. They were taking note. But nothing major had happened with them except greetings. You would think small clans would show hostility. But they, too, were too busy trying to survive just like us. No time for politics.
The Gekko clan had been particularly interested. Though what they wanted was still a mystery. Maybe they just wanted to keep an eye since they were the nearest medium clan to us.
But I knew we were actually shaping up to be a ragtag group. Our ninjutsu, when developed, won't have any real defining characteristics. And while those clans were common. To actually gain influence. We needed specialties.
I had initially thought of Fuinjutsu. But those hopes were getting bleaker by the day. Thirty boys and girls were still practicing it. But the new teachers I had hired for weekly sessions, Handa and one of his other friends, had told me that out of them all. Only 3 had real talent. Sayo, Mina, and a girl called Sayuri. Three had mediocre, like Handa himself. They will get to the explosion tags and detection tags by twenty. But never to the point of casting war seals and storage seals. Maybe on their deathbed, perhaps. Rest, one or two kinds of tags by maybe fifty.
Not the kind of force a clan specializing in Fuinjutsu has.
Anyways. I was still happy with the progress. Although I was still looking for something to make us unique.
At the end, the clan gathered in a neat military formation. It was the squad formation time. We actually did work too, so making squads not just made sense but was a requirement. The kids were free to choose their teammates. I thought it would foster more loyalty than a random assignment by me.
We had organized ourselves into 4 legions now. They had named themselves something, but those names changed every week. But now the legion structure had actually become solid. I the end, I decided to silence the debates by naming them after seasons.
30-man legions, with one Commander, one vice Commander, and 7 squads numbered 1 to 7 according to their cumulative ranks in the physical exams.
Winter Legion led by Sayo and vice-commander Sayuri. The Fuinjutsu legion.
Spiring led by Reina and Kaito. I didn't have much of an impression of anyone in this particular batch. But they had good scholastic ability, or so I've been told.
Summer led by Daichi and Hotaru. These guys had no girls and were pure hot-headed fighters.
Fall led by Haruto and Emiko. Yeah, no idea how that little one weasled her way to power. At first, I had thought it was nepotism, but apparently, she had a mind for strategy. The little gremlin they called her. Two words for these guys. Reliable and Smart. While not the strongest or most intelligent, in mock fights we had and their work, they usually had the best results. They were polite and had good common sense. Honestly, if I had to assign a mystery job to any legion. I would assign it to them.
After washing off the dust and grime, we gathered at the main house for a small feast and official badge assigning. Yeah, we had decided to give badges to the Commanders and squad Captains.
I turned in early. I have a mission tomorrow. A very important one at that.