Ruri left a Chūnin to watch the five children and went to Sukiya for lunch.
Although Sukiya still had a purchase limit on sushi, its newly introduced rice balls could be bought without restriction. Made by Ono himself, even simple rice and seaweed had a uniquely delicious flavor.
After enjoying a satisfying lunch, Ruri returned to his office in the Takikage building. Eight hundred laps was no small number. To run eight hundred laps required not just the physical stamina, but also sufficiently dogged perseverance.
Ruri had confidence in Masashige, who had followed him all the way from the Land of Iron to the Land of Takī. But finishing eight hundred laps would probably take until evening. Rather than waiting around, it was better to use this time to continue his administrative work.
Being the Kage of a village was not just an honor; it was also a responsibility. He couldn't be as carefree as Hashirama, who largely ignored affairs and handed official duties over to Tobirama. Nor did he know a technique like Shadow Clone that could reduce his workload. He could only handle things personally.
'Once the student enrollment is settled, I'll need to start steel production and brewing... I wonder if following the winemaking process will produce grape wine. The brewing methods in this world are simply appalling...'
Ruri muttered to himself. He really wanted to taste wine. The only beverages in this world were sake and crudely made tea, which tasted worse than clear stream water. After all these years, Ruri was practically dying of thirst.
Come on! Fight to gacha Cola! Fight for the happy beverage! Ruri set Cola as his short-term goal. Once the matters of steel and brewing were dealt with, he would need to research what achievements could be accomplished. He needed to not only improve his own strength but also promote the village's development.
"Speaking of which, establishing the Ninja Academy counts as major village development, right? Once the academy is fully set up, I should receive a reward."
He had never been very clear about the village development tasks, but the Ninja Academy was a project that would benefit the village for a hundred years; there was definitely a reward, though it probably wouldn't be as good as an achievement reward.
He worked until the sky was completely dark, finally managing to process all the official business. Estimating that Masashige's eight hundred laps were probably almost done, he headed to the vacant lot.
"Lord Takikage." The Chūnin who had been standing guard ran over to report. Only three children remained on the field: two were still running, and one was sitting on the ground watching.
According to the Chūnin's report, two of the children who had left gave up after running over five hundred laps and were taken home by their parents. Another left immediately after finishing. As for Yuna, who was sitting on the ground... she had run a hundred laps intermittently, even fainting once during the process, and had finally given up, but she hadn't left.
Apart from Masashige, the other child still persisting was the thick-browed, dead-last boy. According to the Chūnin, he had already run six hundred laps.
It was admirable for a child to have such perseverance. Curious, Ruri used the system to check his stat panel and was startled.
[Name: Takayama Haruto]
[Comprehensive Strength: Below Standard]
[Talent: Jōnin]
[Attribute: Wind]
[Special Ability: None]
[Evaluation: Possesses good taijutsu talent and perseverance. However, has extreme difficulty controlling his own chakra. An absolute ninjutsu idiot.]
Uh... Ruri felt a sense of déjà vu from this panel. Wasn't this pretty much like Guy and Lee?!
Thinking about it, he found it normal. Hardworking taijutsu geniuses weren't rare; they just weren't valued in an era where ninjutsu defined a shinobi. Most such people were defined as having no shinobi talent. Even decades later, if Duy hadn't stumbled upon the Eight Gates and opened the eighth gate to criate the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, his son Guy, and Guy's student Lee, wouldn't have been valued.
"Lord Takikage, I beg you, please make him stop!"
While Ruri was pondering, a stubble-faced man fell to his knees before him with a thud.
"Uncle Gendo? Is he your child? What's the matter?"
He remembered this man was just an ordinary Genin with passable taijutsu skills and only knew one ninjutsu. He was probably Haruto's father.
"Haruto... he clearly can't go on, but he refuses to give up. He says he must enter the Ninja Academy this year, otherwise next year he'll be over seven years old..."
Gendo sighed. He had tried to persuade him countless times before that the Ninja Academy wasn't for incapable people like them, but Haruto turned a deaf ear.
"Since he's still persisting, still running, even if he's running very slowly, why not let him keep going?"
Ruri quite admired Haruto. He had excellent potential and great perseverance. With proper training, reaching Elite Jōnin level wasn't impossible. If they could somehow get the Eight Gates from Konoha, he would truly soar!
"But..." Gendo seemed to make a decision. "But he has no talent for being a shinobi! I know I'm an incompetent shinobi; I shouldn't place my expectations on Haruto. I can't let my child fulfill an adult's wishes!"
Ruri understood. It seemed that initially, Haruto's efforts were due to his father Gendo's demands. Gendo, feeling he'd only ever be a Genin, wanted his child to surpass him and placed his hopes on his son, which led to Haruto's persistent and arduous training.
But now, things were clearly different. A child who truly didn't want to be a shinobi wouldn't go to such lengths purely for his father's expectations, nor would he keep striving after his father had tried to stop him.
Years of hard work and effort had transformed his father's expectations into Haruto's own. What he aimed to achieve through effort wasn't just fulfilling his father's hopes but also proving that his ability was no worse than anyone else's.
Ruri sat and chatted with Gendo. As an observer, he saw things more clearly than Haruto's father. Having seen the experiences of Guy and Lee in the original story, he knew what to do. In a way, they were all the same kind of people. Hardworking geniuses should never be denied.
As they talked, Masashige finished his eight hundred laps. Even for him, finishing eight hundred laps pushed him to his limit; he was sustained solely by his inner conviction.
"Teacher, I didn't disgrace you!" Masashige ran to Ruri's side, gasping for breath.
"Well done. Come home with me." Ruri patted Masashige's shoulder. Because he always wore his mask, running eight hundred laps was even more strenuous for him than for an ordinary person.
Yuna walked over from the side and, producing a cup of water from somewhere, handed it to Masashige. Unable to easily remove his mask, Masashige took the water and poured it over his head.
"Thanks, Yuna!" Masashige returned the cup to Yuna and looked at Ruri. "Teacher, can we see her home first?"
Ruri nodded. It was so late, and Yuna was outside without her family; there was surely a story there.
"Dōichi," Ruri pointed at Haruto, "if this child finishes the eight hundred laps, count him as passed." He then turned to Gendo. "Uncle Gendo, if Haruto can finish the eight hundred laps before nightfall, I will personally instruct him."
Personal instruction? It wasn't taking him as a disciple, but the other party was the Takikage! The last trace of reluctance in Gendo's heart vanished, replaced by support for Haruto. "Haruto! Your talent is greater than your father's! You can do it!"
Somehow, Haruto's steps seemed to grow firmer.