Naruto: Mixed Heritage

16. The Real Will of Fire

"Imagine your team has been tasked with safeguarding a caravan of merchants travelling through the land of hills. Your mission is to safely escort the convoy to its destination while minimizing casualties and mitigating enemy threats.

But along the way, you encounter a group of rogue ninjas who want to target the caravan. What is the appropriate thing to do?" Ryuji asked his students on one fine morning.

They were currently having one of their theoretical classes, strategic thinking and planning or as Renjiro had shortened it, strategy 101.

"Ryuji sensei, shouldn't we just fight them so that we minimize any even of the rogue ninjas getting to the merchants?" Akimichi Gima, a new addition to the class asked.

With the start of the new year, there were some missing faces as well as new faces in the elite batch of the second year. Since the elite batch consisted of academy students showing promise, it was understandable that the academy had taken a merit-based approach.

Those who were at the bottom of the class during the end of the first year's exams were relegated, to the lower batches while those who were topping the lower baches were promoted.

This was to foster healthy competition between the young children and force them not to foster complacency at any given time.

"You can't just rush at them and leave the caravan unprotected Gima, that's an opening you are giving the enemy. What if some of them were hiding waiting for that opportunity?" Nara Hayate, who was sitting next to Gima, refuted his response.

"What's the fun in that? My big brother always says that the best defence is going on the offence." Inuzuka Makoto, one of the Inuzuka Triplet in class, added.

"Your mission is safeguarding the caravan. Your priority should be to ensure that the merchants in the caravan are safe. After doing that, then maybe you can engage with the rogue ninjas." Ryuji Sensei declared, intending to put the mini-debate to an end.

'They are basically raising child soldiers.' Renjiro, who was paying attention to class, surmised.

It had been close to three years since Renjiro came to this world but occasionally, he would still find normal things in the shinobi were strange to him.

It was not strange for him to learn the strategies employed in the ninja world since he was an adult trapped in a child's body, but thinking about prepubescent kids doing the same was weird. Wasn't there some right against this?

"What do I always say?" Ryuji Sensei asked.

"Listen to your Jounin Sensei and protect what or who you are supposed to protect first before doing anything else if it is a safeguarding mission!" The students said in unison.

"Why do we do that?"

"Because our Jounin Sensei are experienced and know best and perfectly accomplishing the mission means that the village gets more mission." The students replied in unison.

'This is the real will of fire.' Renjiro chuckled at the thought as class ended.

"Remember to complete the assignment that I had given yesterday. I will check it at the end of the week." Ryuji sensei said as the kids were leaving the class. His voice was drowned in the sea of chatter as the students were happy to be finally heading for lunch.

They only had one class left before calling it a day. Since the class was weapon throwing, then it made sense to have it in the afternoon.

===

"Swish!"

"Thud! Thunk!"

With a swift motion, Renjiro drew another kunai, the metallic gleam catching the sunlight as he aimed. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the kunai hurtling through the air, the sound of its trajectory slicing through the silence like a sharp whistle.