It's normal to get a kaleidoscope as a first deposit of six yuan, right?

Upon hearing Gaara's answer, Zhixue had three question marks appear above her head.

"A ninja recognized by the village"—that phrase sounds so familiar. No wonder Gaara and Naruto were entangled in a complicated relationship later on.

Chapter 160, Taking on Shara as an apprentice

"First of all, let me make it clear that I won't teach you much, and I also have very high expectations for my students."

Gaara, seeing Shiki's reminder, still made up his mind.

Is the headmaster testing him? No matter what happens, he will not give up!

Seeing Gaara nod his head, looking very enthusiastic, Zhixue took out two books from her pocket.

How to handle various affairs of the college

An Analysis of Student Psychological Problems

How to Properly Slack Off at Work

Gaara looked at the three books that Zhixue had taken out, and three question marks appeared above his head. These books didn't look very serious.

"Ahem, sorry, I took the wrong last one." Zhi Xue threw away the book she had been slacking off, and then pulled out a beautiful girl manga from another world from behind her back. The cover of this manga contained some kind of scene that was not suitable for children, which greatly shocked Gaara's young mind.

Is this the world of adults?

"Ahem, sorry, I took the wrong one. Just pretend you didn't see it." Zhi Xue blushed when she saw this, then put away the comic book and took out a book containing knowledge about greening.

Gaara looked at Zhixue as she stuffed the three books into his hands, his eyes filled with confusion. Was this a test of his willpower?

"Although I have subdued the monster inside you, this is not a long-term solution. After all, you are now my disciple, but without a perfect mindset, one cannot properly control power."

"Here, these books are tools for you to cultivate your character. When you can do the work perfectly and feel a sense of accomplishment, it means you are not far from success. You will learn these mindsets in the afternoon, and I will personally guide you in physical techniques and ninjutsu in the evening."

Zhi Xue, speaking vividly and earnestly, was teaching Gaara.

Listening to Zhixue's explanation about the issue of mindset, Gaara suddenly realized that he knew how sensitive he was psychologically. So his master wanted to train him to be a person with a strong will so that he could perfectly control his power and prevent it from going berserk?

Actually, Professor Zhi Xue had some ulterior motives in teaching Gaara's mindset. Cough cough, of course, she didn't want to be a hands-off manager. She just wanted to train Gaara's management skills so that he could succeed as Kazekage in the future. That's right!

The academy's affairs were not too busy, because the system had handled a lot of miscellaneous matters since the school was newly established, and most of the remaining matters were managed by the directors below. Only major matters would be decided by Zhi Xue.

As evening fell, Gaara, dressed in a brown training uniform, stood in the sandy training ground, surrounded by a few students who had come to watch the spectacle.

As the crowd around him grew and the gazes fell upon him, Gaara felt as if the deepest, most wounded part of his heart had been reopened. He feared that his classmates would, like the villagers, call him a monster, hate him, and despise him…

"Don't be afraid, this is my territory, no one dares to bully you." A delicate, white hand grasped Gaara's palm, and a clear, melodious voice entered Gaara's ears, dispelling the darkness that shrouded his heart.

Looking up at Zhixue's gentle smile, Gaara seemed to be captivated for a moment.

He wished he had such a gentle, beautiful older sister who cared for him. (Temari: So?)

Seeing Gaara standing there dumbfounded, Zhixue began her lesson, though not in the Water Release style. Gaara still found sand to be the most practical and authentic method, but Zhixue's approach differed slightly from the original.

For example, sand combined with fire can greatly enhance the penetrability and lethality of sand shuriken.

Sand + Wind refers to a series of territorial ninjutsu techniques adapted to their combat environment, including sandstorms.

Sand + Lightning can enhance control capabilities.

After Zhixue began teaching, Gaara also experienced kindness from people other than Yashamaru, which must have had a huge impact on his life.

A week later...

Sitting in the Kazekage's office, Rasa raised an eyebrow as he looked at the report on Gaara's current situation.

"How could the academy's dean actually calm Shukaku down? No, it could also be the work of that girl who spends all her time at the lumber mill nearby..."

As the first lucky person in the entire ninja world to be hit by Kotoamatsukami and unable to get up for half a day, Rasa was very clear about the terror of those eyes.

If the girl hadn't shown no desire to attack, the Land of Wind might have seen another missing Kazekage after the Third Kazekage. However, the Daimyo doesn't seem to like this new foreign force from the south.

Originally, the daimyo wanted to use Shukaku's power to destroy Shiyuki's academy and then, as the owner of this land, annex the remaining property, including the forest industry. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the strength of his opponent, and Shiyuki didn't even take the daimyo's position seriously.

Rasa did not stop it because the daimyo controlled the financial lifeline of the Land of Wind, but he did not expect things to be so quiet.

"The intelligence should have reached the Daimyo Prefecture by now, right? Keep a close eye on intelligence transmission lately. If you receive any correspondence from there, send it to my office immediately."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage!" The ninja in charge of the transmission nodded and left, while Rasa himself picked up a dusty photograph on the side, which showed him with a beautiful woman.

"Karuta... I'm really frustrated being the Kazekage. I hope you can forgive me for being an incompetent father in the Pure Land. After all, it was all for the village..." Gently stroking the figure in the photo, Rasa closed his eyes and said with some sorrow.

……

Gaara was learning about management and the application of combined ninjutsu at Shiki's academy. He quickly became familiar with the environment and his mindset was no longer as sensitive and averse as it was in the village. Shiki was quite happy to see this change.

At least Gaara has gradually abandoned his former beliefs and is gradually returning to a normal mindset and lifestyle.

One day, when Zhixue had just returned from a mission with the Akatsuki organization, she suddenly received a message from her shadow clone.

An assassin has appeared in the academy, seemingly a ninja from Sunagakure, and his target is Gaara, who is currently in the training phase.

Upon hearing this news, Zhi Xue's forehead creased with a tic-tac-toe expression.

"What is that bastard Luo Sha up to?"

Sending an assassin to kill one's own son? What an outrageous premise! Even novels probably wouldn't dare to write something like that.

Chapter 161, The Wind Kingdom: Each with Their Own Thoughts

The Land of Winds—Daimyo City.

This is the heart of the Land of Wind, behind Sunagakure, a flat area surrounded by mountains. In this arid and barren country, it is considered fertile land, although the environment here is still much less fertile compared to the Land of Fire.

"What's wrong? Has that area in the south not been recovered yet?" Sitting on a chair in the earthen-yellow palace, a fat man holding a wine glass asked the servants below.

"My esteemed daimyo, it seems the Kazekage of Sunagakure has no plans to attack there, and the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, according to our intelligence, seems to be in a very stable state with no signs of going berserk."

Upon hearing what the servant said, the daimyo, his face contorted with rage, threw the wine cup and shattered it on the ground.

"That bastard Luo Sha, it seems he just doesn't want to carry out my orders. The commotion in the southern region was so great, and the rumors outside are saying that my Wind Kingdom is about to split apart, yet he can still sit in his chair and turn a blind eye? And the forest farms on my land, those are my property that should belong to me without my permission..."

Seeing that the daimyo was about to get angry, the servant also knelt down on the ground, trembling all over.

In this world of ninjas, the Kage of each village are practically the pinnacle of power in the entire ninja world. They are the highest commanders of the country's military and political affairs, but their power is limited to the military. Generally speaking, before the establishment of the ninja village system, the Daimyo were already the masters of this land.

However, in this era when the ninja village was established and gradually matured, the daimyo's power seemed to have diminished. Nevertheless, thanks to the Sunagakure village's high military expenditure, he could still keep this unruly village in check. But now, he seemed to be becoming somewhat disobedient.

The current daimyo of the Land of Wind only hopes that the southern regions will be sensible and refrain from any separatist activities, just as the Land of Whirlpools did many years ago. Any independent regime without a daimyo is heresy and should be eliminated...

"Lord Daimyo, should we continue writing to Sunagakure now?"

"Write it, of course I'll write it. There's no place in the Land of Wind that I can't govern. Even if the South is poor, it's still my territory! If he still tries to get away with just going through the motions and then sends out commissions underground, I refuse to believe I can't deal with these two brats!"

"Yes, Lord Daimyo..."

……

In Sunagakure, the ninja who went to assassinate Gaara had not yet returned, while Rasa had received intelligence from the scout ninja first.

The assassin ninja was captured by that little girl, and the method of dealing with him is still undecided. It seems to have caused some panic at the academy, but things have calmed down now. As for Gaara's situation, it is still unknown.

"Lord Kazekage, shall the assassination continue?" The Anbu of Sunagakure asked Rasa respectfully.

"There's no need to go for now. I just want to see Gaara's magnanimity. If he truly controls the Tailed Beast, he won't be easily swayed by emotions. Judging from this assassination attempt, he seems to have succeeded quite a bit. He truly deserves to be the ultimate weapon he's nurtured. However, it would be too one-sided to make a final judgment..."

Dark side: ...

Watching Rasa deep in thought, the Anbu felt that the highest leader of Sunagakure always had an unusually clear thought process. They thought that the young master had been brainwashed, which was why they sent ninjas to conduct in-depth reconnaissance. But they didn't expect it to be for such an absurd reason. Aren't you afraid that he will turn evil and come to you to loot gold coins?

The Anbu only thought about it in their hearts, after all, they were just a small Anbu. In fact, from the perspective of the Five Great Nations, the Kazekage in front of them was already quite good. In the past few years, because the Daimyo repeatedly cut military spending, many ninjas in the village could hardly afford storage and summoning scrolls. It was the Fourth Kazekage who solved this crisis by using his Magnet Release to extract gold dust from the sand sea.

"Go find Yashamaru and bring him here. I have a very important task to hand over to him."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage."

……

While the Kazekage and Daimyo were still making their own plans on the land of wind, Shiyuki had already learned Rasa's purpose from the skulls of the Sand Village ninjas through the Sharingan's genjutsu.

"Damn it, how did you end up with such a father?" Zhi Xue closed her Sharingan and looked in surprise in the direction of Gaara behind her.

Gaara must have had the worst luck in the world to have a father like that. He was already ostracized and isolated as a child, and now he's gone all out and sent ninjas to assassinate him. He's practically driving Gaara to his death.

When Gaara learned that it was a ninja assassin sent by his own father, his eyes widened in disbelief.

The fact that someone from Sunagakure came to assassinate him only shows that they all see themselves as a scourge, the embodiment of disaster. But why was his father also...?

Although Rasa rarely interacted with Gaara due to his busy political affairs, and Yashamaru usually led the way, he still believed that his father's love was just a silent one. After all, if he didn't care about him, why would he teach him so many ninjutsu? But today he realized how ridiculous this broken relationship was.

Recalling that cold face, Gaara lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and wiped away silent tears with his sleeve. The dark circles under his eyes, which had begun to fade, seemed to look even more haggard because of this crying.

"No, I'm still undergoing my master's willpower training. I can't let this break me! Even if my father and the village don't approve of him, there's still my uncle. He's the best person to me. He would never deny my existence like the others!" Gaara thought to himself, holding back the tears that were about to fall. He recalled the books that Zhixue had given him and tried his best to calm himself down.

Looking at Gaara, who had transformed from disbelief to emotional breakdown and then to resilience, Zhixue placed her hand on his head and rubbed it.

"Oh, poor kid, I don't know how you survived before. But you can rest assured now. Even if your father and the village don't protect you, you still have the academy and me, right? Even if they want to cause you trouble, they'll have to get past me first. Next time I see Luo Sha, I'll definitely give him a good beating for you!"

With Zhixue's comforting words, Gaara also revealed a smile of joy that brought tears to his eyes.

Although his father seemed never to have loved him from the beginning, his master recognized the significance of his existence and filled the emptiness in his heart with an irreplaceable emotion.

After settling Gaara in properly, Zhixue returned to her residence and took out a blank A4 sheet of paper and a pencil.

He would occasionally slack off and complete Akatsuki missions, so he couldn't always keep an eye on Gaara. Therefore, the mechanical puppet needed to be developed as soon as possible, not only to guard against White Zetsu, but also against the ninjas sent by that bastard Rasa. After all, Gaara was now her student, and she wouldn't allow anyone to bully him!

Chapter 162, Assassination of the Academy Headmaster

While Gaara was still diligently studying, Shiki herself was in her room using her knowledge of puppetry to cobble together her first puppet, a creation of her own making.

Although his appearance is a bit exaggerated, as long as he uses his chakra well, combined with the chakra shield on his chest and the poison senbon, he can deal with ordinary Chunin without any problem. However, he may need to improve his work in protecting Gaara and the academy.

"Tongzi, give me two more cans, I'm afraid it won't be enough later."

Ding! Congratulations, host, you have purchased 2 cans of poisonous salamander. Your balance is -2000 taels.

Zhi Xue was in the room, holding a wrench in her left hand and a screwdriver in her right, looking as excited as if she had found a new toy.

"Is this the craftsmanship of puppet making? It's truly amazing; no wonder Scorpion is so obsessed with it..."

clap clap clap!

The crackling sound of electricity kept coming from Zhixue's room. Gaara had just walked over to ask about some words he didn't understand when he saw through the crack in the door that Zhixue had one foot on the table and was making an unidentified humanoid object with a chainsaw in both hands.