Although, on the surface, Tsunade's education of Nawaki was one of "monstrous strength," it was all just an incentive to make him train hard, knowing the future he would face.
Just like Tsunade herself, it had been fine when she was under Hiruzen's protection.
It was only when she was able to stand on her own and go on missions by herself that she had learned of the existence of the "black market" in the ninja world.
And the members of the Senju clan, the Uchiha's Sharingan, and the Hyuga's Byakugan were all among the most expensive items on that market.
As the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Tsunade was naturally a coveted existence.
It was only because of her own immense strength that she had been able to carve a bloody path through those who coveted her, making them afraid to target her any longer.
But Tsunade was Tsunade, and Nawaki was Nawaki.
After he became a ninja, everything she had experienced would inevitably be something he would have to face as well.
The Senju clan had integrated into Konoha. The only ones who still bore the "Senju" name were her and Nawaki.
The other clans had the protection of their own members.
She could protect him for a time, but not for a lifetime.
Unless he didn't become a ninja.
However, for a boy whose dream was to "become Hokage," to deny him the path of a ninja was undoubtedly to kill his spirit.
Presumably, if Nawaki had a choice, he would rather die on the path of a ninja than live a mediocre life as a commoner.
Even if Orochimaru became his squad leader, he couldn't just stay by his side every day, doing nothing.
Occasionally, he would have to go on some of the more difficult missions in the village.
Before Nawaki had grown up, this period would undoubtedly be his most dangerous.
After thinking it over and over, in the end, Tsunade felt that only Li Anshi could protect him until he was strong enough.
After all, he was different from the other ninjas of Konoha.
Although he was still a registered ninja, this was a status Hiruzen had preserved for him using his authority as Hokage.
He enjoyed all the benefits of a ninja, but did not have to fulfill the "duties" of one.
Over all these years, besides his own initiative to go to the Land of Whirlpools, Hiruzen had not assigned him a single mission.
Many ninjas in Konoha were aware of this, but they did not have the slightest dissatisfaction.
It could be said that as long as his ninja registration number remained in Konoha, he was a pillar of stability for the village!
If he became Nawaki's squad leader, the village would not assign him missions, and he would have more time to protect him.
However, she also knew that although he was powerful, he disliked trouble.
Any troublesome matter, he would either throw to Master Hiruzen, or hand over to Sakumo Hatake, or tell her to change it when she became Hokage.
It was then that she had realized that the reason Konoha had developed so differently from the other villages was all because of him!
To be honest, if there had been any other way, she would not have wanted to disrupt his peaceful life.
However, Nawaki was no less important to her than he was.
Therefore, between the two choices, she had decided to ask him to become Nawaki's squad leader.
Tsunade had been taken as a disciple by Hiruzen at the age of six, and had graduated from the Ninja Academy in the same year, becoming a Genin.
She had become a Chunin at the age of eight, and at ten, she had been recognized by Li Anshi, along with Jiraiya and Orochimaru, as being qualified to complete missions independently.
The year before last, at the age of fourteen, the three of them had successfully been promoted to Jonin, becoming the youngest Jonin on record in Konoha.
This was even earlier than both him and Sakumo.
At the age of fourteen, he had been drafted and sent to the Land of Wind battlefield with Sakumo.
A year later, the Uchiha clan had suppressed the Sand ninjas on the overall front, allowing some of their members, along with him, to go and support the Cloud battlefield.
And it was in that battle with the Cloud Village that he had, for the first time, reminded the ninja world of the terror of thrown weapons.
That year, he had been fifteen.
Sakumo had displayed his strength on the battlefield against the Stone ninjas, and had later single-handedly held off the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
In terms of becoming a Jonin, Sakumo had been slightly later than him.
The promotion record of Tsunade's group would probably not be broken until the future son of Sakumo, Kakashi Hatake.
Li Anshi estimated that for Tsunade to believe Nawaki had the strength to protect himself, he would need to be at least at the Jonin level.
He was not very familiar with Nawaki's talent.
But as the grandson of the First Hokage, even if his talent was not as good as Tsunade's, it couldn't be far off.
Tsunade had become a Jonin at fourteen. He felt that for Nawaki to become one before the age of sixteen would not be difficult.
It was only a matter of three or four years.
Thinking of this, he nodded.
"Alright, I agree."
He didn't make her wait, agreeing directly.
Who knew, Nawaki might even become his brother-in-law in the future.
As for his safety...
He could guarantee that, within a hundred meters of him, no one could touch Nawaki.
And outside a hundred meters, if he left a Flying Thunder God spatial marker on him, then as long as he was within his perception, and was not killed instantly, upon activating the marker with his chakra, he could instantly use the technique to either transport Nawaki to his side, or transport himself to his surroundings.
"Really?"
Hearing him agree, Tsunade was overjoyed.
"Would I lie about it?"
He gave her a roll of the eyes.
"You, you know, you could have just told me directly about this."
"You made me so nervous, I thought you were going to ask me to climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of fire."
"Hehehehe..."
Tsunade chuckled foolishly, for once not bickering with him.
"Stop that silly laugh."
"Now, first tell me when I need to go to the Ninja Academy..."
"Alright, alright..."
…
"A familiar sight..."
For a rare occasion, Li Anshi was wearing his Jonin flak jacket today.
It couldn't be helped. After all, he was going to be the supervising Jonin for the graduating students. He couldn't be too casual.
Besides, kids were kids. They were quite vain.
At school, they all wanted to be the top student.
After passing the graduation exam and becoming ninjas, they all wanted their supervising teacher to be the strongest among all their classmates.
This was his way of backing up his disciples.
However, he had forgotten that in Konoha, there didn't seem to be any difference between a Chunin's flak jacket and a Jonin's.
One had to figure out for themselves whether someone was a Jonin or not.
However, there were only about fifty or sixty Jonin in a village. Even if one hadn't met them in person, one would have heard of their fame.
At the same time, the names and information of the Jonin were also available in the village.
For ninjas who could gather intelligence, knowing the Jonin of their own village, as well as those of the other four great villages, was a required course.
Otherwise, if one failed to recognize an enemy Jonin on a mission and rashly misjudged the strength of both sides, one would definitely suffer a great loss.
A loss that had to be paid for with one's life.
Even worse, if one's own side did not have a powerhouse to match the enemy, there was a high probability of being wiped out.
Entering the Ninja Academy and seeing the familiar sights around him, he didn't know whether to feel nostalgic or to complain.
He was already twenty-two this year.
In other words, it had been ten years since he had left the Academy.
But in those ten years, nothing much had changed.
The younger students were still learning to refine chakra, make traps, and practice disguise and recognition.
The older students, the only things they could learn were throwing kunai, practicing the three basic techniques, and sparring...
As for more advanced ninjutsu, he didn't know if Hiruzen was unaware of the Second Hokage's plan, or if he had been suppressed by the ninja clans.
In any case, for ten years, the ninjutsu that the students in the Academy could learn had not increased.
If nothing unexpected happened, even sixty years into Konoha's history, the Academy would still only teach the three basic techniques, basic taijutsu...
If this continued, unless there was a genius like Minato Namikaze among the commoner students, they would eventually be suppressed by the ninjas from the clans.
This was true even if many of the commoner students in Konoha had the blood of the Senju clan in their veins.
Although the Senju bloodline made them much stronger than true commoner ninjas, at most, it only allowed them to be on par with the students from ordinary ninja clans.
In the Academy, with their physical advantages, they might not be weaker than the clan students.
But once they left the Academy and became true ninjas, the gap between the two would be infinitely widened.
The clan ninjas had more Chunin and Jonin in their clans, and they also had more experience in how to cultivate their own members.
Under the education of their clan seniors, the clan students could quickly master the various powerful secret techniques of their family, form a strong combat force faster, and receive the greatest cultivation during their period of fastest growth.
And the ordinary commoner ninjas?
Without a background, they could only pray that the village would assign them a relatively reliable squad-leading Chunin.
But even so, the guidance of a squad-leading Chunin to his Genin subordinates would not be much.
Just like Kakashi Hatake, he would take his Genin on missions and tell them some of the experiences of a ninja's growth.
But in the end, the only disciple he had truly taught was Sasuke Uchiha.
Not to mention Naruto Uzumaki, Hiruzen would have arranged things for him.
And Sakura Haruno?
If she hadn't been noticed by Tsunade, how could she have possibly grown to that extent?
Of course, from the chakra control she displayed, and the "monstrous strength" she had shown from a young age, she must also have had the blood of the Senju clan.
Did they really think the Third Hokage would place an ordinary commoner ninja in a squad with Sasuke and Naruto?
What a joke!
The thing called "bonds" was only worth remembering when both sides were on an equal footing in terms of strength.
Just like the future Jiraiya and Orochimaru, they had loved and killed each other for a lifetime.
If Orochimaru had just been an ordinary Jonin who could be easily killed by Jiraiya, would Jiraiya have had such a deep obsession with him?
"I remember, the sixth year is in this direction, right..."
After wandering around the Academy for a while and savoring the feeling of his childhood, Li Anshi began to walk towards the classrooms.
The sixth-year classrooms were on the third floor.
Before he had even reached them, the clamor of the students had already reached his ears.
He could understand this.
After six years of hard training in the Academy, and having been recognized by their teachers, granted a ninja headband, and registered at the Hokage's office, receiving their own unique ninja number...
It could be said that from this moment on, they were already "ninjas."
For some of them, this was already the fulfillment of their dreams.
Therefore, while waiting for their supervising teachers to arrive, they all wanted to share their feelings with their good friends.
At the same time, they were also praying in their hearts that they would be assigned to a squad with the person they admired.
Although the children in the Academy were only twelve, in the grand scheme of the ninja world, they were no longer considered children.
Even an ordinary person could get married and have children at thirteen or fourteen.
Therefore, even for the God of Shinobi, the "children" in his dream of "not letting children go to the battlefield" only referred to those under the age of twelve.
Once one reached the age of twelve, they were no longer considered a child.
This was also the reason why, when Tobirama had established the Ninja Academy, one would enroll at the age of six, go through six years of grades, and only graduate at the age of twelve.
Hearing the cheerful laughter of these children, the smile that had been on his face a moment ago faded, for a rare moment.
In this day and age, to become a ninja meant that these children had already stepped onto a thorny path of slaughter.
Killing, being killed—these would be the bloody memories they could never erase for the rest of their lives.
He just didn't know how many of them would be able to survive in this cruel ninja world.
And for those who did survive, when they recalled the warmth of their classmates today, would their hearts still be moved?
Thinking of this, he let out a sigh, crossed his arms, and leaned against the classroom wall, unable to bear the thought of disturbing the last moments of warmth these children had.
After he had arrived, ninja after ninja, all wearing the green flak jacket, began to enter the Academy.
However, upon seeing him leaning against the wall of the sixth-year classroom, their expressions all changed, and they obediently stood to the side.