"Huh?"
"What's everyone doing here?"
A cheerful voice suddenly broke the silence in the hallway.
The Chunin turned to see who it was, and upon recognizing the newcomer, they all greeted him.
"Lord Jiraiya."
The newcomer was none other than the disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. With his long, spiky white hair and wooden clogs, he looked curiously at the Chunin standing in the hall.
However, after they had parted to make way, Jiraiya saw Li Anshi leaning against the wall.
"Lord Anshi, I didn't expect Tsunade to actually get you to come out."
As Tsunade's good friend, Jiraiya naturally knew how much she cared for her younger brother, Nawaki.
To protect him, Master Hiruzen had even made the three of them the supervising teachers for this year's graduating class.
With the three of them looking out for each other, no matter whose command Nawaki was assigned to, he would be well protected.
However, even with that, Tsunade still felt it wasn't safe enough.
In the Hokage's office, she had even said she wanted to ask Little Li's Flying Dagger, Li Anshi, to be Nawaki's squad-leading Jonin.
At the time, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru had been shocked to hear her say this.
Their impression of him was, to say the least, profound.
Whether it was the overwhelming strength that had instantly defeated them at their first meeting, the disbelief they had felt upon hearing of his battle record, or the bits and pieces they had learned about him from Tsunade and Master Hiruzen, he had left a deep impression on them.
However, his personality was as inscrutable as his daggers.
He possessed nearly invincible strength, yet he preferred to carve wood.
According to the information gathered by many ninjas, his behavior was no different from that of an ordinary commoner.
When he ran out of materials, he would come to the Hokage's building to post a mission.
When he was tired, he would occasionally close the shop for a few days to go and have fun in the entertainment district.
Well, Jiraiya had run into him there more than once or twice.
It was just that Li Anshi didn't know it.
Unlike him, Li Anshi was an adult and didn't use the Transformation Technique, so Jiraiya could recognize him.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, was not yet an adult and had to use the Transformation Technique to enter the entertainment district.
"Ha, what can I do? Lady Tsunade was on the verge of kneeling before me. How could I not come?"
Li Anshi opened his eyes and said to Jiraiya with a smile.
"That does sound like something Tsunade would do."
Jiraiya nodded in understanding.
For Nawaki's sake, Tsunade would indeed do such a thing.
However, what surprised him was that Li Anshi had actually agreed.
A squad-leading Jonin was different from an ordinary Jonin.
An ordinary Jonin would be given the intelligence related to a mission, and then it was up to them to decide whether to infiltrate, assassinate, or gather more information.
But a squad-leading Jonin was different.
The most important part of being a squad-leading Jonin was "leading the squad."
This was a special kind of care that the older generation of ninjas in the village provided for the new generation.
The newly promoted ninjas had just graduated from the Academy and had not yet had time to step into the cruel world of the ninja.
Many of them had not even seen blood.
If these children were to be sent on missions just like that, it was likely that only two or three out of ten would survive their first mission.
The village had spent six years cultivating these children into suitable ninjas. How could they bear to let them die so easily?
Therefore, after they graduated, Konoha would dispatch some experienced Chunin or even Jonin to take them as subordinates, to lead them in completing missions and gradually apply the knowledge they had learned in school to practice.
At the same time, if these Genin could gain the recognition of their squad leader, the squad leader might even truly take them on as disciples and teach them ninjutsu.
This was also the tradition of passing on the will of fire in Konoha.
A squad-leading ninja could only step down when all of their subordinates had died, or when one of them had become an independent Chunin.
Otherwise, even if there were casualties in the squad, new ninjas would be added to fill the gaps.
Team-based combat was the optimal combat formation for ninjas, a fact proven by the Warring States period and the First Great Ninja War.
Unless one possessed overwhelming power, a well-coordinated team could kill scattered enemies several times their own number.
It was even possible to fight and win against opponents of a higher rank.
From what Jiraiya knew of Li Anshi, it was impossible for him to agree to such a troublesome matter.
But the fact was, he had actually agreed.
And he was the first one to arrive.
It seems the relationship between Tsunade and him is not so simple...
These thoughts only swirled in Jiraiya's mind for a moment before he pushed them down.
Let alone the fact that there was nothing between them now, even if there was, what did it have to do with him?
What could he do?
It would only be a source of needless worry.
"But what are you doing?"
"Why haven't you gone in yet?"
Jiraiya was also curious as to why he was standing here.
"Ah, I just felt that this might be the last warm moment for these children. I couldn't bear to disturb it."
"So I thought, let's just let this moment last a little longer."
"In any case, for a ninja, waiting is also a form of training."
"Letting these children wait a little longer, to temper their restlessness, will be good for them in the future."
"Tsk, it had to be you."
Jiraiya let out a sigh.
As a ninja, he had also seen much of the world's bloodshed and darkness.
In his heart, the only ones who truly possessed the "Will of Fire" and carried it out to the end, besides the three Hokage, were Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake.
In addition, Tsunade also counted as one.
And besides the First and Second Hokage, the remaining three all had some connection with Li Anshi.
It could even be said that their own "Will of Fire" had been more or less influenced by him.
In other words, the "Will of Fire" in him was the strongest in Konoha.
But unfortunately, although he possessed the strongest Will of Fire, he himself was the laziest person.
Jiraiya suspected that during the First Great Ninja War, if Konoha had not been in a perilous situation, he would never have revealed his true strength.
And now, from his attitude towards the children in the classroom, Jiraiya himself felt that he could not compare to him.
He always thought of more things, and in a more considerate way, than everyone else.
Yes, after leaving this classroom, what awaits these children is a road of no return.
Either they kill the enemy and achieve fame and success.
Or they fail in a mission and become a credit to the enemy.
In short, once they left here, there was no turning back. What would accompany them for the rest of their lives was a storm of blood and gore.
Even Jiraiya himself did not think he would have a good end.
The Chunin waiting in the hallway had naturally also heard the conversation between him and Jiraiya.
To be recognized by the Third Hokage as squad-leading Chunin, these people might not be as strong as the elite Chunin who specialized in killing.
However, the "Will of Fire" of each of them was beyond question.
Originally, the Third Hokage had made them squad-leading Chunin in the hope that they would pass on the "Will of Fire."
Everyone had their own "Will of Fire."
However, protecting Konoha and protecting one's family was the most fundamental part of it.
Home is the smallest village, and the village is the largest home.
Protecting one's home and village is the undeniable duty of a ninja!
In other words, these squad-leading Chunin were all ninjas with a soft spot in their hearts.
They were also the ones who least wanted to see the children fall on a mission before they had a chance to grow up.
With such a sense of responsibility, they would do their best to cultivate the next generation.
Now, hearing his words, their hearts were filled with even more emotion.
Indeed, Lord Anshi is worthy of being Konoha's "Little Li's Flying Dagger." He is truly gentle towards the children of the village.
I could cry...
"Huh, what's everyone doing here?"
Just as everyone was immersed in the warmth constructed by his words, Tsunade and Orochimaru arrived.
"Lady Tsunade, Lord Orochimaru."
The Chunin all greeted them.
Although they said that everyone in Konoha was family, the concept of "hierarchy" was something that neither the First, Second, nor Third Hokage had tried to change.
Jonin were already the upper echelons of the village.
Even if one was not a Jonin's subordinate, when meeting one, one had to use "Lord" or "Senior" as a form of address.
Without a doubt, among the squad-leading ninjas of this year, he, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were the three with the highest status.
The same was true for their strength.
"Haha, wasn't it Lord Anshi who said that this is the last warm moment for these little guys?"
"So, we're just letting them enjoy it a little longer."
Hearing Jiraiya say this, even Orochimaru showed a surprised expression.
Tsunade, on the other hand, did not seem to have much nostalgia for such a warm scene.
Rolling her eyes, she walked past Jiraiya and said to Li Anshi, "Anshi, sometimes, excessive gentleness can harm both yourself and others!"
After spending so many years with him, she could be said to know him extremely well.
If he were an enemy, then without a doubt, he would be a qualified ninja.
In the war with the Cloud, and in the incident to rescue the Uzumaki clan, he had undoubtedly shown his ruthless methods to the outside world.
This had raised the deterrence of Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger to its limit.
Even the other four great villages did not want to provoke him.
However, perhaps it was precisely because of this that he had a certain tolerance for those who were not his enemies.
She was not saying this was a bad thing.
On the contrary, it was precisely this kind of personality that had attracted her.
However, she did not want him to teach this personality to Nawaki.
He had the strength to be gentle, but Nawaki, if he could not awaken his grandfather's Wood Release, then his future limit would at most be at her own level.
She herself did not have the strength to show gentleness to the outside world, let alone Nawaki.
"Rather than letting them indulge in pleasure now, it's better to let them understand what they are about to face in the future."
"If you don't want to die, if you don't want your friends around you to die, then from now on, you will train with your lives on the line!"
Seeing her speak to him like this, the gazes of the group of ninjas towards her couldn't help but change a little.
What a joke. This is the great Lord Li Anshi, whose daggers never miss their mark!
Probably, in the entire Konoha, only Lady Tsunade can speak to him like that.
Even the Hokage, when he runs into Lord Anshi posting a mission at the Hokage's building, has to chat with him with a smile before going up to his own office on the second floor.
Tsunade did not pay any mind to the thoughts of these Chunin.
After reminding him, she directly pushed open the classroom door with a slam.
"Listen up, you brats!"
"From today on, I will be the one to lead you into hell."
With her grand entrance, the previously noisy students in the classroom all gaped in astonishment.
"Lady Tsunade, am I seeing things?"
"Could Lady Tsunade actually be our supervising teacher?"
After a moment of silence, many of the girls let out screams of pleasant surprise.
As the director of the Konoha Hospital, the first person in the entire ninja world to propose a complete "medical ninja" system, and the recognized medical sage of the ninja world, Tsunade was the idol of female ninjas everywhere.
Even in the other four great villages, even if they had to fight her, they would still speak to her politely.
They might be her enemies because of their positions.
But as ninjas, they were also beneficiaries of her medical ninja system.
"Tsk, this bunch of brats!"
Hearing their excited screams, even Tsunade couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth curl up slightly.
The recognition of these children was her motivation to move forward.
She also hoped that one day in the future, the people of this world would all specialize in medical ninjutsu, no longer using it as a tool for slaughter, but as a medicine to save the dying and heal the wounded.
But unfortunately, she herself also knew that this idea was far too naive.
As long as humans existed in this world, fighting and killing would be inevitable.
Before the birth of ninjas, this world was a collection of warring states, and fighting had never ceased.
It was only after the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya Ōtsutsuki ate the chakra fruit, became the sole "god" of the world, and unified it that peace had come.
However, after her two sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, had sealed her away, neither of them had the ability to govern the nations, and could only let them fall into chaos.