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For the next stretch of time, most of Hayato's days were spent shut away in the study. After Konan finished handling her daily affairs, she too would slip into the study, sitting with him to read and learn together.
But more often than not, even though a book was open in front of her, she'd just rest her chin in her hand, tilt her head, and quietly stare at Hayato. Her eyes brimmed with fascination, as if just watching him like this every day was enough to make her perfectly, overwhelmingly content.
After going through countless scrolls and books, Hayata's perspective broadened drastically. And the wider his view became, the more he realized just how crude—and even dangerous—his original training methods had been, especially if measured against what ordinary people might attempt.
So, he started adjusting them. Hayato picked apart his techniques, discarding anything unreasonable or pointless that didn't actually help him grow stronger. In their place, he tried to rebuild his training with methods that were more logical, more scientific, and ultimately safer.
Still, his chosen path was more or less set in stone—he was walking the way of taijutsu, training his body above all else. He wasn't aiming to seriously master ninjutsu. At best, he only had a rough grasp of a few jutsu: enough to understand how they worked, and more importantly, how to counter them if they were used against him.
"Hayato, these are some scrolls written by jōnin—training notes about ninjutsu, taijutsu, even genjutsu. You should check them out. As for the ones written by chūnin or genin, I don't think they'd be much use. I'll just throw them out." Konan appeared again with a bundle of scrolls in her arms.
"No, Konan," Hayato shook his head before she could move. "Keep them all here. Even if they're from chūnin or genin. Every one of these scrolls carries someone's effort, their thought process. Their rank doesn't matter. People think differently—sometimes even a small detail, a random insight, can spark something new. It'd be a waste to throw them away."
"Eh? Really? Then… okay. I'll put the chūnin and genin ones here too. But there are so many! With all the scrolls we already have, there won't be enough room in this study!" Konan puffed her cheeks but, of course, she always gave in to Hayato's decisions.
"Then build a library," Hayato said casually, flipping through a genin's training notes as he spoke. "A proper archive for all the scrolls—every jutsu, every piece of experience, constantly updated with new additions. Then, anyone who's earned enough merit can go in and study for a few hours.
That way, not only will people feel motivated to work harder, but the overall strength of the Land of Rain will rise. As for the name… call it the Scripture Pavilion." He finished speaking right as he reached the end of the genin's notes. The contents were unimpressive, riddled with flaws, so he tossed it aside without a second thought and picked up another.
To Hayato, it was just a passing idea, something he said without much weight. But Konan's eyes lit up the moment she heard it. To her, it was a brilliant plan. After all, in this world there were libraries here and there, but they were mostly owned by major villages like Konoha—and even then, the collections only held very basic ninjutsu. You'd be lucky to find anything beyond D-rank or C-rank techniques.
As for B-rank and above? Those were guarded like family heirlooms. Forget about ever seeing them in a public library. And training notes? A ninja's personal cultivation experience? Those were treasures that never left the hands of their owners.
Konan could already imagine what kind of change it would bring if a Scripture Pavilion like Hayato described really came to life in the Land of Rain.
She turned to look at him with eyes full of admiration. Hayato always seemed to come up with ideas like this in the most casual way, but every single one carried the potential to shape the future of their nation.
Of course, something like this could only ever happen in the Land of Rain. In the other villages, and even in the Land of Rain before Hayato's reforms, every jutsu was closely tied to the clans that developed them, never to be shared beyond their bloodline.
Look at Konoha: even its ninja academy only taught the three basic techniques. Anything more advanced couldn't be found there at all. If that was the case for a school, then what hope was there for outsiders?
Right now, in the Land of Rain, Hayato's name alone was enough to make the entire nation tremble. Nobody dared defy him. Because of that, Konan was able to collect ninjutsu techniques from the shinobi under their command—sometimes even their personal training notes.
The truth was, even if those same shinobi had already been subdued, if Konan had just asked them to contribute their techniques for something like a "library," most of them would never have agreed.
But the timing now was perfect. Everything lined up—circumstances, location, and people. It was all on their side. Which meant there was no doubt anymore: the archive was going to be built.
In the days that followed, Hayato kept pouring over every kind of training journal he could get his hands on. It didn't matter whether it was written by a jonin, chunin, or even a lowly genin—he studied them all. More than once, he found himself inspired by the insights buried in a genin's notes.
While Hayato was absorbed in reading, Konan threw herself into the work. She was hardly ever around him anymore, and even when she did appear, it was just in passing. Nearly all of her focus went into setting up the archive.
After all, this was the very first archive in shinobi history. Nothing like it had ever existed. Unsurprisingly, nearly every ninja opposed the idea. At the same time, though, their hearts burned with curiosity. They wanted to rush in and see what the archive would hold.
Because that was the paradox. No one wanted to share their own training notes or expose their secret techniques. But everyone desperately wanted to peek at someone else's.
People are just that contradictory. And because of that, the creation of the archive stirred up the entire shinobi community.
But Konan had already made up her mind. More importantly, this idea had originally come from Hayato—even if he'd only mentioned it in passing.
So, in the end, she invoked his name and crushed all opposition. One by one, she forced them to agree. And so, the archive officially came to life in the Land of Rain.
The archive was to be the most important institution in the nation, so the materials used to build it were carefully chosen. After the structure went up, Konan went a step further and laid down barrier seals around it. With so many secret techniques and personal training insights gathered in one place, there was no room for carelessness.
Entry into the archive wasn't open to just anyone, either. Eligibility, requirements, merit-based qualifications—all of it was discussed and hammered out in detail.
And after three full months of work, the archive finally stood completed.
"....."