Early the next morning, Byakuya accompanied Yahiko and Konan to the Hokage Tower to meet the Fourth Hokage.
Compared to yesterday, the atmosphere was less formal and more familiar. They were, after all, fellow disciples with a common teacher.
After some pleasantries, the Fourth Hokage began to outline the day's itinerary.
He planned to take Yahiko and the others to visit the Ninja Academy in the morning and observe the combat exercises in the Forest of Death in the afternoon, discussing each other's experiences in village management.
Yahiko and his companions had no objections to these arrangements. They were keen to visit the Ninja Academy and see how the first ninja school established by Konoha was faring. This would greatly help them in reforming their own ninja school.
Accompanied by the Fourth Hokage, they quickly arrived at the Ninja Academy.
The Ninja Academy was not very large, and the number of students was relatively small, with only around three hundred students in total. Each graduating class consisted of about ninety ninjas.
Seeing so few ninja students, Yahiko and Konan were taken aback.
For Amegakure, the number of students was astonishing because the total number of ninjas in Amegakure was not much higher than the number of students here.
However, to Byakuya, this number seemed a bit small.
In his estimate, the Ninja Academy should graduate around five hundred ninjas each year to maintain the thousands of ninjas in Konoha.
But considering that training ninjas quickly wasn't too difficult, Byakuya leaned towards the idea that the Ninja Academy primarily trained Chūnin leaders.
As long as the number of Chūnin kept up, the lower-ranked ninjas could be mass-produced by the various ninja villages. Otherwise, there wouldn't be the legendary 3,000-strong Sarutobi ninja army in later years.
If the numbers were truly that terrifying, the Ninja Academy would have been filled to capacity long ago.
Upon entering the Ninja Academy, Minato Namikaze provided a detailed introduction to the school, including the standards for student graduation assessments and future plans for the academy.
The general idea was that Konoha planned to pursue an elite approach, developing ninjas in a well-rounded manner.
After detailing this, Minato looked at Yahiko and his companions, eager to see their surprised reactions.
Konoha's Ninja Academy was the only one focused on comprehensive development.
In contrast, other villages either trained lower-ranked ninjas to perform basic tasks after learning shuriken throwing and a few simple jutsu, or focused solely on combat skills.
Only Konoha emphasized all-around development, including tactics and teamwork, in training lower-ranked ninjas.
Unfortunately, Yahiko and Konan remained unmoved, even feeling like saying, "Is that it?" In Amegakure, the training of ninja students was already multi-faceted, with even Jōnin involved in their education.
This was all thanks to Byakuya's initiatives, indicating that Byakuya had a broader vision than Konoha.
At this moment, Byakuya appeared contemplative and asked, "Lord Hokage, how many years does it take to graduate from the Ninja Academy?"
"Three years…" Minato Namikaze answered without hesitation. Then he added, "However, during peacetime, I plan to extend it to five or even six years."
"Three years?" Byakuya was somewhat surprised by this answer.
In his impression, the Ninja Academy should have a six-year program. If it's only three years, then his nine-year education model might be a bit ahead of its time, which could make cost control difficult.
However, considering the graduation ages of the Sannin and Kakashi and others, Konoha had always been extending the graduation age. The Sannin initially graduated at six years old, a one-year system. Kakashi and his peers delayed to three years, graduating at nine, and it wasn't until Naruto's era that it became six years.
Thinking of this, Byakuya smiled at Minato and said, "Sorry, I was a bit distracted. Could you share your detailed plans with me? We in Amegakure are also considering extending the graduation time."
Minato glanced at Byakuya and nodded slightly, "Of course, but please note that plans can change at any time. I'm only sharing some preliminary thoughts."
This scene puzzled Yahiko and Konan.
Was Byakuya mocking Minato, or was he genuinely seeking advice? Regardless, they decided to carefully listen to their plans, as it would be very helpful for their future.
While Minato was showing Byakuya around the Ninja Academy, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage and others were observing the inspection team through a crystal ball.
Seeing Minato and Yahiko and the others chatting and laughing, the Third Hokage couldn't help but touch his pipe and chuckled, "Minato has grown a lot. He handles the exchange team with ease now."
"After the Amegakure delegation leaves, it should improve our village's diplomatic environment and foster deeper cooperation with those smaller ninja villages."
Hearing this, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado added, "This is all thanks to Jiraiya. We were initially opposed when he left the village without permission, but it turns out that the orphans he trained have grown into high-ranking officials in Amegakure."
"However, why did Hanzo the Salamander choose them as his successors?"
The Third Hokage took a couple of puffs from his pipe and explained, "I believe there are a few reasons. First, Hanzo did not train a competent successor. Second, he has lost his ambition."
"It's better to have Jiraiya's disciples confirmed as successors. This way, it resolves the succession issue and helps avoid chaos in the Land of Rain. But I suspect that Hanzo still holds the real power. Sending Yahiko and his group is probably just a gesture of goodwill."
Koharu nodded and then said, "That makes sense. But who is this Byakuya? He seems to have a good relationship with Yahiko and Konan."
The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke and continued, "According to reports from my Anbu, Yahiko was favored by Hanzo because of Byakuya, and ultimately, Byakuya was taken in as Hanzo's disciple."
"Ah, I see." Mitokado said with a newfound understanding. "But Byakuya looks so innocent. Is he really Hanzo the Salamander's disciple?"
Perhaps irritated by the smoke or feeling that the others' comments were absurd, Danzo's face darkened as he stood up and said, "Don't be fooled by Byakuya's innocent appearance. He's actually one of the most devious ninjas in Amegakure."
Danzo's statement caught the attention of the others. They looked at him, puzzled by his strong animosity toward Byakuya.
Byakuya seemed harmless and very interested in the Ninja Academy's plans. He appeared to be a pacifist ninja.
Was there some hidden truth behind this? Or was Danzo simply opposed to good-natured people?
The Third Hokage then asked Danzo, "Danzo, I remember that you were active in the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain about six months ago. Did you have any dealings with them?"