Mastermind of the Akatsuki

The next morning, after a night of rest, Jiraiya arrived at the Amegakure building. Yahiko, who had been waiting for quite some time, came forward, ready to guide Jiraiya on a tour of Amegakure to showcase the village's growth and changes over the years.

Jiraiya did not decline Yahiko's offer; he also wanted to walk around Amegakure and see firsthand how this village had transformed from a small, poor shinobi village to its current state.

If possible, he hoped to bring back this knowledge to Konohagakure and have his teacher, the Third Hokage, learn from it.

After all these events, Konoha was no longer the unparalleled first shinobi village in the world. Not only had it suffered setbacks in battles against Kumogakure and Iwagakure, but even Amegakure had now surpassed it.

Pulling himself out of his wandering thoughts, Jiraiya silently followed behind Yahiko and began his tour of Amegakure.

Yahiko took Jiraiya to their first stop, the Ninja Academy.

Unlike Konoha's semi-open Ninja Academy, Amegakure's academy was a tall building with a cold exterior of steel and concrete. However, inside, it presented a completely different scene, looking like a hidden paradise.

Inside the building, there were not only numerous green plants but even a small stadium.

The arrival of Yahiko and his group immediately caught the attention of the academy's teachers and students. They quickly gathered around, calling out "Leader Yahiko," to which Yahiko responded with a smile.

Yahiko's calm and unhurried demeanor reminded Jiraiya of his own teacher, the Third Hokage, filling him with mixed emotions.

The once-wandering orphans he had trained had now grown into a formidable leader of a shinobi village and had earned the love and respect of Amegakure's people.

And here he was, their former teacher, who had made no significant progress over the years and seemed to be moving backward in life.

After a moment of reflection, Jiraiya continued to follow Yahiko, visiting classrooms, the library, and finally arriving at the office of the academy's principal.

Opening the door, Jiraiya saw a familiar figure: Konan.

Though Konan was responsible for Amegakure's finances and logistics, she also held roles as the academy principal and the head of the village's welfare center.

Jiraiya greeted Konan and immediately inquired about Amegakure's Ninja Academy. He was very curious about its history.

Upon her teacher's request, Konan naturally obliged and began to recount the history of Amegakure's academy.

Unlike Konoha, which had established its Ninja Academy early on, Amegakure's academy was founded quite late, almost right after the end of the Second Great Shinobi War, when Hanzo the Salamander decided to follow the example of the Second Hokage and set up a ninja school.

During Hanzo's rule, however, the academy was almost monopolized by a few powerful clans, making it incredibly difficult for ordinary people to enter. Even after three years of training, many could only serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield.

Hearing this, Jiraiya nodded.

This account of Hanzo's Ninja Academy fit his expectations of Amegakure—a small shinobi village that could only realistically support a few hundred ninjas at most.

This number matched the ninja counts of the larger families.

However, he was more curious about how Amegakure's academy had evolved from Hanzo's era of clan monopolies into its current state.

Although he hadn't been keeping track on purpose, he had roughly estimated the number of academy students.

The number of students at Amegakure's Ninja Academy was certainly over 200, possibly even 500 or 600. This number of ninja students was greater than that of Konoha's Ninja Academy, which was astonishing.

Noticing Jiraiya's look of surprise, Konan explained the current state of Amegakure's academy after describing the school during Hanzo's time.

The current Amegakure academy, unlike those in other villages, no longer trained mercenary-type ninjas.

Aside from a few students required to learn escort and assassination techniques, most only need to master the Three Basic Jutsu. The rest of their time can be spent taking elective courses, such as medical ninjutsu, chakra industrial technology, and chakra biological sciences.

Only after fully mastering one of these subjects can students officially graduate from the academy.

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya felt somewhat relieved. But he then thought of something and asked Konan, "It's good for ninjas to avoid constant fighting, but isn't this graduation requirement a bit harsh? For ordinary people, just mastering the Three Basic Jutsu is challenging enough."

"Harsh?" Konan shook her head and explained, "So far, no students have graduated, but unlike Konoha, our education system isn't three years—it's between seven and nine years."

"Seven to nine years!?"

Jiraiya was astonished. He had thought that when his old teacher extended Konoha's ninja academy to six years, it was already quite lengthy. He never imagined that Amegakure's program would last seven to nine years.

Back in his day, he graduated as a genin after less than two years of training. Minato's generation had stricter standards, but even then, graduation only took three years. Ninjas today are living in a much easier time.

At this point, Yahiko stepped forward to explain,

"The seven-to-nine-year program was initially proposed by Byakuya. I later discussed it with Brother Minato, and we both agreed that delaying the graduation age for ninjas was necessary. Ninja is a brutal profession. Exposing young students to the cruel shinobi world too early can lead them down a dark path. They need to be mature enough to make that final decision on their own."

Pausing for a moment, Yahiko continued, "However, Nagato and I are more inclined toward making ninjutsu more accessible to the general public than solely producing the next generation of ninjas. Many young people, although lacking the talent to become ninjas, can still learn a few basic techniques to improve their lives. Amegakure's development over the past few years would have been impossible without their contributions."

Yahiko smiled genuinely as he spoke, having witnessed firsthand the transformation of Amegakure.

Jiraiya was moved to silence, feeling a pang in his heart. It wasn't only because Yahiko had mentioned Minato—his most cherished student and the Fourth Hokage, who had given his life to protect the village on the night of the Nine-Tails attack.

It was also because the many reforms Minato had initiated as the Fourth Hokage had all been discarded.

Under Minato's leadership, Konoha's major departments had been divided, and even the police force saw civilians among its ranks for the first time. But after Minato's death, when the old man returned to the Hokage's office, everything reverted to the old ways.

Jiraiya didn't mean that the old man's policies were entirely wrong. He had at least preserved the village through several wars, preventing it from fracturing.

But comparisons are inevitable. With Yahiko and Amegakure as reference points, the old man seemed ineffective, mired in trivialities.

After barely finishing the skirmishes with Kumogakure, the old man showed no intentions of furthering the village's development, instead focusing on suppressing the Uchiha clan and allowing someone like Danzo, a disruptive meddler, to be active on Konoha's stage.

If things continue this way, Konoha's future will be in grave danger.