Soon.
The group arrived at the execution ground. As soon as they reached the entrance, a shinobi wearing a jonin combat uniform came out from inside.
Seeing Ryun Uchiha, his eyes lit up. "Lord Hokage."
Ryun nodded. "Is everything prepared inside?" Ryun inquired.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." The jonin's gaze was firm, but when he looked at the six children behind Ryun, he couldn't help but show emotion.
However, adhering to his professional ethics as an execution ground jonin, he didn't say anything, only looking at the six children with pity in his eyes.
At Ryun's signal, the execution ground jonin led the way in front. Ryun led the six children inside.
A distinct sour smell was detectable in the air, very unpleasant, mixed with the stench of feces, urine, and a bloody odor, making the six children frown.
"Teacher, where is this place?" Minato Namikaze suddenly asked.
Ryun did not answer. Instead, Danzo spoke up. "This is Konoha's execution ground, a place used to end criminals and rogue ninja."
Minato nodded. The other five's expressions changed. Fugaku Uchiha suddenly understood what Ryun intended to do. His mouth twitched.
Although he knew this day would come eventually, he had imagined it might be during their first bandit suppression mission or their first escort mission. He never thought it would involve making them do this.
Hiashi Hyūga and Shinnosuke Sarutobi, who hadn't rested well originally, were now also alert, their eyes grave as they looked at Ryun's back, unconsciously swallowing their saliva.
Inoichi Yamanaka and Chōza Akimichi didn't react too strongly. After all, they usually heard about so-and-so being executed, or so-and-so doing such and such. However, what they didn't know was that hearing about it and doing it personally, seeing it with their own eyes, were completely different things.
Ryun believed that letting them kill people for the first time during a battle or mission was too late and might affect their performance. It was better to let them personally kill some death row inmates now, so they could fight with full strength later.
As for psychological trauma? If they couldn't get past this hurdle, then they better not become shinobi and go home early.
Walking to the center of the execution ground, the execution ground jonin waved his hand. Immediately, twelve staff members escorted six struggling, hooded death row prisoners to the scene.
Then, Ryun ordered them to remove the prisoners' hoods.
In an instant, their faces were revealed. Some looked indifferent, some were crying bitterly, some were begging for mercy incessantly, and some had bloodthirsty expressions, looking at Ryun, looking at the six children.
The six children looked timid and somewhat ill at ease. Ryun spoke. "The jutsu I taught you, today you will practice on real people."
"You have thirty minutes to learn the chakra circulation pathways and the taijutsu chakra flow paths. Strive for a one hit kill later." Ryun seemed somewhat tired. The execution ground jonin immediately brought a stool and placed it behind him.
The six children hesitated, not moving forward. Ryun frowned. "What? Are my words not clear?"
Upon hearing this, the several of them instantly felt their scalps prickle. Minato took a deep breath, opened the Wind Style: Wind Dagger scroll, and comprehended it in just five minutes.
Then he circulated his chakra. Two curved wind blades appeared on his arms. He walked towards one of the death row prisoners who had a fierce appearance.
The death row prisoner was bound hand and foot, his face ferocious. Even though he had acted so bloodthirsty moments before, when the blade was about to strike off his head, he felt panic in his heart.
"No, don't come over. Brat, let me go, let me go, please." The death row prisoner trembled all over, yellow filth flowing from his lower body.
Minato ignored his words, raised his right hand, and the wind blade severed the death row prisoner's head. The prisoner, who had been trembling and wailing, no longer resisted. His body stiffened and fell forward.
A bloody smell spread from his body to the surroundings. The other death row prisoners' faces turned paler. Clearly, their earlier arrogance was just a facade.
Now, having seen blood, they were all reverted to their true selves. Minato's clothes were now stained with blood. The Wind Daggers retracted. His right hand trembled slightly, his heart cold.
"I... I killed someone." Minato felt somewhat numb now. After seeing the headless corpse he had slain, he couldn't help but vomit.
The other five children, seeing this scene, also couldn't help but vomit one after another.
"Vomit. It's better to vomit enough now than to be soft handed or vomit during future battles." Ryun said calmly.
"Minato, you did well. Rest first, empty your stomach. After resting, continue killing. Today, no one goes home until they have killed ten people each." The first half was praise for Minato's initiative, the second half was for the remaining five.
The others had already vomited up the food they ate at noon. The execution ground jonin nearby looked calm, but inwardly he greatly admired Ryun. 'You're something else. When I was 8, I was still playing house at school.'
However, it was foreseeable that after today, these six children would become true shinobi, true geniuses.
After vomiting for five minutes, Shinnosuke steeled his heart, his gaze turning fierce. He summoned his iron staff, then used Crimson Lotus Staff, performing heavy chops, sweeps, and diagonal chops, smashing the heads of five death row prisoners. Red and white matter splattered on the ground, being scorched by the flames.
A faint smell of roasted meat could be detected in the air. After finishing, Shinnosuke planted the blood stained end of the staff on the ground, panting heavily, his hands resting on the iron staff trembling slightly.
It wasn't due to excessive exertion, but rather the sensation from moments before, the mixed blood and brain matter, and the smell of roasted meat lingering in his mind.
He actually started crying. Ryun clapped his hands, signaling the twelve staff to go fetch more death row prisoners. He himself stood up and came to Shinnosuke's side, patting his shoulder.
"You did very well. The crimes committed by those five death row prisoners weren't enough to atone for even with ten deaths. What you did is accumulating virtue and doing good." Ryun rubbed Shinnosuke's head.
Soon, another six death row prisoners were pressed to the ground. The others also forced themselves to perk up.
After comforting Shinnosuke, Ryun signaled them to continue. In his heart, he kept count for each person. After tonight, they would mature a lot.
It continued until around 5 PM. When Hiashi Hyūga used Flash Through Arm from the Tai Chi Fist to shatter the last death row prisoner's head, he seemed to lose all his strength.
Ryun, standing behind him, supported him. The other five children had already adapted. After killing ten people each, they had become accustomed to it.
Moreover, they were all death row inmates. Coupled with Ryun's psychological guidance and mental preparation on the side, they easily accepted the fact of killing.
"Good children, well done. Let's go. Today, your teacher will treat you to a bath and buy you new clothes." Ryun said with a smile. Today, everyone's clothes were stained with blood, and they were all sweating profusely.
Tsunade hadn't gone home either. He would be bored going back alone, so he would treat the kids to the hot springs and buy clothes.
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