Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 178 Ninja Higher Education School

Today is graduation day at the Ninja Academy.

As the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Xia Zuo naturally had to attend and deliver a speech to the graduates.

At the same time, there is another very important announcement to make today, which also happens to be related to the graduates of the Ninja Academy, so we can do it together.

When Xia Zuo appeared at the graduation ceremony, the students and parents of the Ninja Academy were ecstatic.

The Fifth Hokage and the Third Hokage were completely different.

The Third Hokage attached great importance to the Ninja Academy, inspecting it personally every few days and frequently giving speeches there.

The Third Hokage would often appear on the streets, greeting everyone he encountered and chatting with passersby with a smile, appearing very approachable.

The Fifth Hokage also valued the Ninja Academy, but he rarely appeared at the school. Instead, he would urge the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds to the Ministry of Education and then force the Ministry of Education to increase educational resources.

Taking the number of exams as an example, two years ago, when the Fifth Hokage had just taken office, students took exams twice a year.

But now, it's impossible to calculate.

A quiz is held every seven days, and this is called a weekly test.

There is a middle school entrance exam held once a month, which is called a monthly exam.

A comprehensive exam covering all subjects is conducted every three months, which is called a quarterly assessment.

A major practical exam is held every six months, and students are reassigned to different classes based on their rankings; this is called the ranking final exam.

And unscheduled exams.

The students at the ninja academy were all about to cry.

The Fifth Hokage was busy with his training and rarely appeared at the academy or in front of the Konoha ninjas. Many ninjas have never seen him up close.

However, the Fifth Hokage had a very high reputation.

Because what he did made the Konoha ninjas feel good, and just thinking about it would make their blood boil.

Not counting the events before he took office, nor the things that had to be kept secret, the Fifth Hokage accomplished a great deal in the past two years, practically sweeping across the ninja world.

Two years ago, the Fifth Hokage went to the Land of Fire's merchants' house alone because the Land of Earth's daimyo had seized their goods.

He defeated the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, destroyed half of the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Earth, and forced the Daimyo to pay ten times the amount in compensation.

It is said that the old man Onoki was beaten so badly by the Hokage that his face was covered in welts, and he spent half a year recovering from his injuries before reappearing in Iwagakure.

After the Third Shinobi World War, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind no longer trusted Sunagakure and transferred his commissions to Konoha. Konoha ninjas took the opportunity to seize half of the mission resources from the Land of Wind.

This happened during the reign of the Third Hokage. At that time, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was very dissatisfied with it, but he swallowed his anger and said nothing.

When the Fifth Hokage took office, the Fourth Kazekage, for some reason, thought he was so great that he started complaining openly.

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, even threatened Konoha: "If you continue to encroach on the interests of the Sand Village ninja, Konoha will lose the Sand Village as an ally!"

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Hokage, Natsusa, led the Uchiha clan chief, Izumi Uchiha, and launched a fierce attack on Sunagakure with only two men.

In that battle, thousands of Sunagakure ninjas, along with the Fourth Kazekage, besieged the Fifth Hokage.

However, the Fifth Hokage's strength was too great. His Wood Release: Advent of the World of Trees overwhelmed all the ninjas in Sunagakure. Whether it was wind release or fire release, including poison and puppets, they were all submerged by the endless trees.

What the Sand Village ninjas found unacceptable was that the Fifth Hokage disdained to fight the Fourth Kazekage.

He made Uchiha Izumi, the head of the Uchiha clan, challenge the Kazekage. The girl was only 16 years old at the time, which infuriated the Fourth Kazekage.

No one expected that 16-year-old Uchiha Izumi would defeat the Fourth Kazekage so decisively in front of thousands of Sunagakure ninjas.

The entire village of Sunagakure was in uproar, and morale subsequently collapsed.

The Fourth Kazekage was so ashamed that he lost his mind and directly revealed Sunagakure's trump card: Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast.

He even used the "Sand in the Pot Secret Technique" to unleash the full power of Shukaku.

However, the Fifth Hokage only used Wood Release: Thorn Binding to bind Shukaku tightly and frantically drain its chakra, preventing Shukaku from even stirring up a sandstorm.

Because Xia Zuo focused all his energy on the Bloodline Limit, he did not master the [Wood Release: Kouan-niku-tachi], and he was not even very proficient in the [Wood Release: Wood Human Technique].

The Fifth Hokage chose the most brutal method to subdue the One-Tailed Shukaku.

He condensed his Wood Release into a giant palm and slapped Shukaku 300 times, leaving the tanuki traumatized and causing it to voluntarily retreat back into Gaara's body.

To date, there has been no news of Yiwei going berserk again, which shows that it has truly been terrified.

During the battle, the Fifth Hokage's Wood Release destroyed the gates of Sunagakure, demolished almost all the houses, and left behind a lush forest, completely changing the face of Sunagakure.

However, the merciful Fifth Hokage did not kill a single Sand Village ninja.

Sunagakure became incredibly convenient from then on, preferring to endure hunger and reduce the size of their ninja force rather than compete with Konoha ninja for missions.

Under the wise leadership of the Fifth Hokage, the Land of Fire's economy has experienced a major boom since last year.

Businesses in various places were growing bigger and bigger, and the number of caravans transporting goods abroad and luxury goods back home was increasing dramatically.

The growth in the number of Konoha ninjas could not keep up with this surge, leading to a significant increase in the number of caravans being robbed abroad, which even resulted in the deaths of several Konoha genin.

The death of the Konoha ninja enraged the Fifth Hokage. He felt that the unstable state of the ninja world had to be changed, so he sent a notice to all the ninja villages, requesting all the Kage and leaders to come to Konoha to discuss matters of peace in the ninja world.

That's right, it wasn't an invitation but a notification, requiring all the leaders of the ninja villages, including the four Kage, to come and see him.

The Fifth Hokage's domineering aura was so overwhelming that not only the leaders of the various ninja villages in the ninja world, but even the entire village of Konoha felt uncomfortable with such a strong statement.

Many Konoha ninjas thought that Xia Zuo was too confident. What if the Kage of the four great ninja villages didn't come? Would the Fifth Hokage really beat up all four of them at once?

Xia Zuo didn't say anything, but Uchiha Shisui calmly stated, "If they dare not come, isn't it only natural that the Fifth Hokage would capture them?"

As a result, the Fourth Kazekage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the Fourth Raikage readily agreed, as did the ninja villages of various small countries.

Only the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure in the Land of Water, Yagura Karatachi, did not answer.

Xia Zuo didn't care whether Yagura hadn't received the letter, didn't want to talk to him, or simply refused. Once the deadline for replying passed, he rushed straight to Kirigakure.

The Fifth Hokage did not use the Wood Release technique this time. Instead, he first used the [Scorching Release: Fat Relic Wind Disaster] to clear away the thick fog that never dissipated in Kirigakure.

Despite the Hidden Mist ninjas' claims of hating the dense fog, when the Fifth Hokage dispelled it, they acted like naked swimmers after the tide had gone out, their faces filled with panic.

Influenced by the hatred in the eyes of the Hidden Mist ninja, the Fifth Hokage, Natsu, went all out this time.

【Storm Release: Hundred Styles: Light Fang】

A sudden barrage of lightning struck, bombarding all the buildings in Kirigakure Village, allowing all the residents to look up and see blue skies and white clouds.

【Magnetic Escape - Sandstorm】

By forcibly turning vegetation into sand grains and gathering the sand grains to form a sandstorm, the moisture in the body of the Hidden Mist Ninja will be completely drained, and it is believed that Master Yuan's old leg pain will not be a problem this year.

【Molten Escaping - Lava River】

Finally, the sand covering Kirigakure was melted, all the wood and flammable materials were set ablaze, leaving space for reconstruction and the land covered in obsidian.

The Hidden Mist ninja used all their strength, fighting bravely regardless of their own lives.

But the Fifth Hokage's attack was as unstoppable as a natural disaster. The Hidden Mist ninja's valiant efforts could not stop his attack, and they only paid with their own lives.

No one knows exactly how many Kirigakure ninja died in this battle, because Kirigakure had been in chaos for so long that they hadn't even kept track of how many ninja they had for many years.

So many Hidden Mist ninjas died in battle, but the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, did not appear, and Obito Uchiha, who was behind the scenes, also left no trace.

This is the only thing Xia Zuo regrets.

After this battle, the Fourth Mizukage bowed his head and accepted the Fifth Hokage's request.

The Hidden Mist Ninja are the most tolerant ninjas among the five great ninja villages. They can accept the brutality of the Fourth Mizukage, endure insane and unreasonable killings, and persevere in living in an environment where the sun never shines for years.

Even in extremely unfavorable circumstances, they would accept bowing down to the Hokage.

But they simply couldn't accept the Fourth Mizukage's cowardice and reluctance to fight.

Obito Uchiha was ultimately from Konoha, and he couldn't understand the emotions of the Hidden Mist ninja. His actions to avoid losing the puppets caused the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, to completely lose the support of the Hidden Mist ninja.

Shortly after the Ninja World Peace Conference, the Fourth Mizukage was overthrown by the Hidden Mist Ninja, a full four years earlier than originally recorded.

The Ninja World Peace Conference convened by the Fifth Hokage was a great success. It not only clearly defined the jurisdictional boundaries of each ninja village for the first time, but also set a timetable for improved public order.

The reason why such a significant achievement could be accomplished in just three days is because all the details were proposed by the Fifth Hokage, allowing the other ninja village leaders to choose whether to accept or not.

No one dared to refuse.

The four Kage were very unhappy. In their view, this so-called tournament was the Fifth Hokage declaring his hegemony and forcing them to acknowledge it.

The key is that they dare not deny it. Anyone who dares to stubbornly refuse to admit it will be immediately attacked by the Fifth Hokage, just like when the Fourth Mizukage refused.

The four Kage didn't even dare to complain loudly. The Fourth Kazekage was attacked by the Fifth Hokage because he complained loudly.

In contrast to the attitude of the four great ninja villages, the small ninja villages of the small country felt that this was great. They were extremely satisfied and wanted to support the Fifth Hokage with both hands and feet.

It's important to understand that the small countries in the ninja world exist as buffer zones and battlefields; they never have stable borders.

Because of border frictions, ninjas from small countries often fight each other, and the five great ninja villages often use the border as a pretext to launch attacks on small countries.

The most egregious example is Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village). The Fourth Raikage repeatedly used the pretext of conflict between the two small countries to rob one of them.

Sometimes, if he finds something good on both sides, he'll rob both of them.

Thanks to the extreme shamelessness of successive Raikage, Kumogakure was able to seize all sorts of resources and develop from the most barren land into the second strongest ninja village in the ninja world.

But small countries and small ninja villages suffer greatly.

Now that the Fifth Hokage is invincible, he has taken the initiative to plan the borders of various countries, much to the delight of the small ninja village.

After leaving the venue, the leaders of the smaller ninja villages raised their hands and shouted, "The Hokage is righteous and benevolent! Unparalleled in the world!"

"Long live the Fifth Hokage!"

"Long live Konoha!"

At that moment, the Konoha ninjas and villagers were so excited that they didn't know what to do, and in the end, they all cheered together.

Although the Fifth Hokage was not approachable, although he only interacted with a few Konoha ninjas, and although he was close to the arrogant Uchiha clan, none of this prevented Xia Zuo from being more popular than the Third Hokage.

The most important thing for the Hokage of the greatest ninja village in the ninja world is to bring victory and give everyone a sense of security and honor!

Because the Fifth Hokage rarely appears in public, the graduation ceremony of the Ninja Academy, which he inevitably attends, has become much more prestigious.

The ceremony was attended not only by graduates and their parents, but also by Konoha Jonin who were free, nobles from the Land of Fire, representatives of the Fire Daimyo, and leaders or messengers from other ninja villages.

Xia Zuo reached out and pressed down, and the ceremony hall immediately returned to silence.

He briefly congratulated the graduates on becoming official Konoha ninjas and wished them rapid growth in the future, so that they could become even stronger and more valuable Konoha ninjas.

Then Xia Zuo dropped the bombshell: "Soon, Konoha Village will establish a new ninja academy, which I will call 'The Academy.' This academy will not admit civilians, only official Konoha ninjas."

"Konoha genin under the age of 20 and Konoha chunin under the age of 25 can register for the entrance exam. Only those who pass the exam can enter the academy to study."

Xia Zuo looked at the graduates and said with a smile, "Graduates of the Ninja Academy who pass the Chunin Exams within three years will automatically enter the Ninja Higher Education Academy."

"Note that this is not only your opportunity, but also your obligation, and you are not allowed to refuse."

"The Ninja Higher Education Academy also has six grade levels. Only those who pass the exam can advance to the next grade, and those who fail will be eliminated."

"In other words, getting into college is difficult, but graduating is even more difficult."

"The curriculum taught at the Ninja Higher Education Academy includes C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, and even higher-level ninjutsu. Forbidden techniques and sealing techniques are optional courses that offer extra credit."

The Konoha ninjas' breathing became heavy, especially the civilian ninjas, whose eyes even turned red.

It's important to know that since the Second Hokage passed away, the common people of Konoha Village have had no access to advanced ninjutsu.

The fact that Might Guy learned the Forbidden Technique: Eight Gates and that Dan Kato mastered the Forbidden Technique: Spirit Transformation all happened while the Second Hokage was alive.

In the era of the Third Hokage, being able to learn a B-rank ninjutsu was the limit for ordinary ninjas, unless they were fortunate enough to become disciples of the Hokage's lineage.

Now that the Fifth Hokage has given them another chance, how could the Konoha ninjas not be excited?