"So… you disguised yourself as an old man earlier to test Konan and me?"
After hearing Kizaru's explanation, Yahiko finally understood.
"But you still went too far!" Yahiko complained, even though he had only just finished crying.
Konan, standing beside him, nodded firmly in agreement.
As for this golden, shining Kizaru-nii who had tricked both her and Yahiko, Konan stared up at him with her large eyes, trying her best to look fierce.
"Ohh… how scary." Kizaru scratched the back of his head with a lazy smile. "Sorry, sorry."
"You don't sound sorry at all!" Yahiko snapped, folding his arms across his chest.
"That's embarrassing…" Kizaru said slowly, still smiling. "I'll try again next time."
"That's even worse!"
Yahiko glared at him, but Kizaru only bent down and placed his large hand on the boy's head.
He ruffled Yahiko's hair first, then gently patted Konan's head as well.
This time, the smile on his face faded a little.
"Sorry, Yahiko. Konan."
His voice was still slow, but there was no teasing in it now.
Yahiko blinked.
Then, almost immediately, the smile returned to his face.
"I forgive you, Kizaru-nii!"
Konan also looked up at him and said softly, "Me too, Kizaru-nii."
"Ohh… that's a relief."
Kizaru straightened his back again, his usual lazy smile returning.
"Kizaru-nii, then did we pass the test?" Yahiko asked nervously, looking up at him with clear expectation in his eyes.
Konan also held her breath slightly.
Looking down at the two children, Kizaru smiled without answering right away.
He deliberately let the silence stretch.
The longer he waited, the more nervous Yahiko and Konan became.
Only when Yahiko looked like he was about to explode from anxiety did Kizaru finally speak.
"You passed."
The moment those words fell, Yahiko and Konan's faces lit up.
They looked at each other, unable to hide their excitement.
Watching them, Kizaru also smiled.
If he took these two back to the village and trained them properly, they would certainly become excellent students—and in the future, reliable subordinates.
As for Yahiko's dream of returning to the Land of Rain after finishing his training and changing this country's fate, Kizaru was not particularly worried.
Once he brought Yahiko and Konan back to Konoha, he planned to send them to the Academy as soon as possible.
There, they would meet Nagato, make new friends, and slowly build bonds with Konoha.
And once those bonds took root, leaving Konoha would no longer be such a simple matter.
Even if Yahiko still held on to his childhood dream in the end and insisted on returning to the Land of Rain, Kizaru would not stop him.
No, rather than stopping him, Kizaru would support him fully.
After all, Yahiko would have grown up in Konoha, received his education there, been cared for by Kizaru himself, formed ties with the village's shinobi, and been influenced by the Will of Fire.
At that point, what difference would there be between Yahiko returning to the Land of Rain and becoming the new leader of Amegakure with Konoha's backing, and a Konoha shinobi becoming the leader of Amegakure?
Under Yahiko's leadership, Amegakure would naturally become Konoha's most loyal partner.
So whether Yahiko stayed in Konoha or eventually returned to the Land of Rain, either result would benefit the village.
In fact, Yahiko's dream gave Kizaru quite a bit of inspiration.
Borrowing from the methods of certain powerful countries in his previous life, Kizaru felt that if he became Hokage in the future, Konoha could establish an advanced shinobi academy.
On one hand, it could accept outstanding graduates from the regular Academy for further training.
On the other hand, it could create a system for foreign students.
Every year, Konoha could offer a limited number of free places—even exam-free places—to small shinobi villages outside the Five Great Nations.
With Konoha's reputation, along with access to some standard intermediate and advanced ninjutsu commonly seen in the Five Great Shinobi Villages, those free spots would be very tempting to smaller villages.
Kizaru knew some people in those villages would definitely see the hidden motive.
But in front of real benefits, there would always be people who could not resist.
As long as the foreign student system continued, Konoha would gradually gain a group of elite shinobi from other villages who had received Konoha's training and held a favorable impression of the village.
If those capable shinobi later rose to high positions in their own villages with Konoha's support, then Konoha's voice across the entire shinobi world would only grow stronger.
Of course, there would certainly be ingrates and spies mixed in.
But as long as the gains far outweighed the losses, that was enough.
Soon, a rough plan had already formed in Kizaru's mind.
"Kizaru-sensei, what are you thinking about?"
Standing beside him, Yahiko could not help asking after seeing Kizaru remain silent for so long.
Kizaru pulled his thoughts back and lowered his head to look at him.
"It's still a little early to call me sensei, Yahiko."
"Why? Didn't you just say we passed the test?" Yahiko asked anxiously.
"After you return to Konoha with me, you'll have to enter the Academy first," Kizaru explained with a smile. "Only after you graduate will I officially become your instructor."
"I understand!"
Yahiko clenched both fists in front of his chest, his eyes burning with determination.
"Then I'll graduate from the Academy as fast as possible!"
After saying that, he turned to Konan.
"Konan, let's work hard together!"
"Yeah!"
Konan nodded firmly.
Just as the two children were encouraging each other, the cry of a hawk sounded outside the cave.
The sound was not loud, but with Kizaru's senses, he still caught it clearly.
Sensing the familiar chakra, Kizaru knew it was one of Konoha's messenger hawks.
"Let's go outside."
Hearing him, Yahiko and Konan quickly followed Kizaru out of the cave.
Once outside, Kizaru first walked over to Matatabi, who had already risen to her feet, and patted her head under Yahiko and Konan's surprised gazes.
"This is Matatabi. My good friend."
Matatabi had just been about to get angry after having her head touched like a cat's, but the moment she heard Kizaru's words, she froze.
The anger in her heart vanished almost instantly.
Good friend?
This annoying man actually knew how to say something pleasant once in a while.
Feeling much better, the way Matatabi looked at Kizaru softened.
After introducing Matatabi to Yahiko and Konan, Kizaru ignored the two children's stunned excitement and looked up at the sky.
The messenger hawk circling above noticed Kizaru and immediately swooped down toward him.
"Kizaru-nii, be careful!" Yahiko shouted instinctively.
"Don't worry, brat," Matatabi lowered her head and said kindly. "That is a messenger hawk from Konoha."
"You can talk!?"
Yahiko pointed at Matatabi in shock.
"What a rude little brat."
Matatabi glared at him, her voice rising slightly.
"I-I'm sorry!"
Yahiko quickly bent forward and apologized.
Kizaru raised his right hand, letting the hawk drop the scroll tied to its talons.
"Go on back."
The hawk cried once more. After Kizaru caught the scroll, it spread its wings and flew back into the sky.
Watching it disappear, Kizaru lowered his gaze and opened the scroll.
"Negotiations with Kumogakure have stalled. Return immediately."
Reading the message, the smile on Kizaru's face became a little harder to read.
"Ohh… how troublesome."
He sighed and put the scroll away.
"What happened?" Matatabi asked, noticing the change.
"Matatabi," Kizaru said with a smile, "what should you do when a child refuses to listen?"
"A child refuses to listen?"
Matatabi was caught off guard by the sudden question.
"If a child refuses to listen…" Kizaru said slowly, his smile deepening, "it probably means they've been spoiled too much."
He raised one finger lazily.
"In that case, a good spanking should fix it."
Yahiko and Konan, both still children themselves, instinctively took one step back.
Kizaru-nii suddenly looked scary.
At that moment, the two of them reached the exact same conclusion in their hearts.
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