The toad was completely dumbfounded. Holding a hoe that looked like a toothpick in his giant hand, he stared down at Jiraiya's hopeful, grinning face. `What was going on?`
Meanwhile, Charlie stretched lazily after finishing some official work. "Jiraiya should be working by now," he said. "Make sure he doesn't slack off."
"Already taken care of," Kana replied with a gentle smile. "Sir Kado and the others are keeping an eye on him. Nothing will go wrong." She glanced at the tired Charlie, cheeks flushing slightly as she added softly, "Hey Charlie, do you want a little break? Maybe some Replinish Chakra session?"
Charlie blinked, then nodded seriously. "Just what I needed. Thanks."
Before he could say more, there was a sudden knock at the door. Charlie stopped what he was doing, folded his hands under his chin, and called out, "Come in!"
The door creaked open, and an old man with gray-white hair stepped inside. It was Youjin Uzumaki, elder of the Uzumaki Clan. But what was he doing here now?
Youjin entered the room, eyes bright with anticipation as he spotted Charlie sitting solemnly at his desk. "lord!" he called out.
Charlie looked up, a calm yet serious expression on his face. "Elder Youjin, what brings you here?"
"I'm sorry to bother you," Youjin said, offering some documents with a hint of unease. "But the funding for this quarter, both for the research institute and the academy, has completely run out."
Charlie nodded thoughtfully as he scanned the funding requests. They seemed reasonable enough; after all, research requires money, and with the academy about to start classes, funds were definitely needed. He began to write his approval when he suddenly felt a subtle nudge at his side.
It was Kana. Her expression was hesitant, almost as if she was trying to say something. Did she not want him to approve the funds? Something felt off.
Under Youjin's confused gaze, Charlie looked again at the two applications, then at Kana's helpless look. It finally clicked, they really were out of money again.
Since the founding of the Land of Grass, the nation had been in constant development. Between the Chinoike, the Uzumaki clan, and several new departments, expenses were piling up. Plus, the spring planting season was just around the corner.
Building a country wasn't easy. But with Elder Youjin waiting expectantly for his reply, what could he say? Simply deny the funds? That would be humiliating.
Seeing the lord's face flicker between frustration and helplessness, Kana quietly called out, "lord..."
Charlie took a deep breath and refocused, folding his hands under his chin with renewed seriousness. "These two applications are fair and justified."
"Then, lord..." Youjin started to ask.
"But you all know how things stand! The Land of Grass is new, everything is just beginning, everywhere needs money!"
Charlie's voice grew firm and resolute. "The country is struggling, life is tough, but it is in hardship that the Kusa shinobi spirit shines brightest!"
He raised his fist, determination blazing in his eyes. "Persevere! Work hard! Rise up! Stronger, strongest! Push beyond your limits! I believe you can overcome every challenge with your own strength."
"If you run into problems, find a way to get past them!"
"The lord said that..."
"The country's out of money!"
"..."
Despite the Land of Grass facing financial difficulties, the Kusa Country Academy opened its doors as usual. Charlie had come here deliberately today.
As he walked down the hallway, the clear sound of students reading aloud filled the air, bringing him a surprising sense of comfort. "The academy's curriculum follows the lord's orders!" announced Youjin, the newly appointed headmaster, smiling brightly.
"Our focus is on the Kusa spirit, aiming to train shinobi from the Kusagakure who are well-rounded in virtue, wisdom, physical strength, aesthetics, and hard work."
Hearing a traditional shinobi emphasize the importance of developing shinobis with such balanced qualities genuinely warmed Charlie's heart. It was clear that Elder Youjin had paid close attention to everything Charlie had shared during their meetings. He was definitely the right person to trust as both the academy's headmaster and lord of the chakra capacity enhancement task force.
Youjin hadn't disappointed him, unlike Mujie, who had claimed to study all of Charlie's insights daily but ultimately failed to show any real progress. Charlie sighed inwardly, feeling a bit let down, but then smiled and nodded at Youjin. "Not bad."
"That's all thanks to the lord's support!" Youjin replied with a grateful smile.
The plan was all set; now it was just a matter of following through step by step. The real challenge was whether some people might slack off or disobey orders. Looking at the young lord from a few years ago, Youjin felt a deep respect.
The lord had a remarkably broad mind. When he saw the lord accept the Uzumaki clan without caring about the unwritten rules of the shinobi world, his admiration for the lord's almost godlike generosity only grew stronger. But now, it seemed they had underestimated just how open-minded the lord truly was.
Starting a shinobi academy wasn't unusual, the five great shinobi villages all had their own. But no village, not even Konoha, the strongest shinobi village in the world, included ninjutsu directly in textbooks for teachers to instruct children. Yet the Land of Grass shinobi Academy had done exactly that.
The lord himself personally wrote the textbooks, carefully organizing various ninjutsu techniques by grade level, from easy to difficult, from safe to dangerous. This was quite unusual because, typically, shinobi academies don't teach ninjutsu at all, not even the simple C-rank jutsu. Instead, they focus on the basics.
Ninjutsu was usually taught within one's own clan or passed down personally by a team lord after graduation. If you didn't have either of those, you had to complete missions and contribute to the village to earn the right to learn them.
As a result, some graduates left the academy without knowing any ninjutsu whatsoever. They could only rely on taijutsu, throwing kunai, or the Technique learned at the academy to defend themselves. Especially during wartime, many low-level shinobi died on the battlefield without ever having learned a single ninjutsu.
But the lord had a vision far greater than the First or Second Hokage. At first, he wondered why the lord spent so much time on courses that seemed irrelevant to shinobi. It felt like a waste.
After all, to be a shinobi, all you really needed was tough training and strength to protect the village. No shinobi would betray their own village without reason, that would make them despised by all.