The next day, in the newly built lecture hall of the Ninja Academy by Danzo, the Infrastructure Chief, every seat was filled.
The first class of "Geography and History of the Ninja World" was taught by Sarutobi Hiruzen himself.
This news sent the entire Ninja Academy into a frenzy.
Not only the new students, but also many upperclassmen, and even some ninja on leave, secretly came to the outside of the classroom, wanting to witness the style of Lord Hokage's lecture.
Even the two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, came to the school to listen in because they were worried.
In the classroom, every seat was taken.
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not bring any lesson plans, but simply stood in front of a huge map of the ninja world.
"Class, let's look at this map."
He picked up a long pointer and pointed to the center of the map, the green area.
"Here is the land beneath our feet, the Land of Fire."
"As you can see, it is located in the center of the entire continent, with the mildest climate, the most fertile land, and the richest resources. Therefore, our Konoha is the wealthiest among the five great ninja villages."
Then, his pointer moved to the vast yellow area in the southwest corner.
"Here is the Land of Wind. Large deserts, scarce resources, and a harsh environment. Therefore, in order to survive, they must expand outwards and seize our resources. This is one of the root causes of the constant conflicts between us and Sunagakure."
His pointer then pointed to the rocky mountains in the northwest corner.
"The Land of Earth, mountainous and with inconvenient transportation, but rich in mineral resources. Their people are as stubborn and tenacious as the rocks under their feet."
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not talk about dry years and events.
In the most intuitive way, he closely linked geography, resources, and climate with the character, national policy, and causes of war of each country.
He talked about how Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had maneuvered across this vast land and finally chose to establish Konoha in this auspicious land of the Land of Fire.
How the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, had used the village's advantages to gradually develop and grow.
History was no longer just cold words on a scroll.
It had become a magnificent sandbox simulation, full of wisdom and strategy.
The children below the stage listened, captivated.
So, a battle was not just a clash of ninjutsu and taijutsu, but also a contest of geography and resources between nations.
He felt the door to a new world slowly opening for him.
In the classroom, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a look, both seeing deep shock in the other's eyes.
"Hiruzen... he's teaching them... how to become a Kage," Mitokado Homura murmured to himself.
He finally understood.
Hiruzen's purpose in setting up this course was not at all to make these children become geographers.
He was cultivating their sense of the bigger picture.
To let the future ninja of Konoha, from the very beginning, stand on a higher dimension to understand this world, to think about war and peace.
This was a game of chess on a grand scale.
The second class, "Basic Logic," was equally brilliant.
The teacher was the current head of the Nara clan, Nara Shikaku.
Of course, he was also "invited" by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Class, let's look at a case," Nara Shikaku said with a lazy yawn, drawing a simple scene on the blackboard.
"We are in a forest and find a string of footprints heading east. So, can we conclude that the enemy has gone east?"
"Yes!" most of the children answered without hesitation.
"Wrong," Nara Shikaku shook his head. "That's just one possibility."
"The enemy might have really gone east. But it's also possible that he deliberately left a false trail and actually went west. He might not have even left at all, but is hiding in a nearby tree, waiting for us to chase after him, and then ambush us from behind."
"A footprint can tell us a lot of information. But at the same time, it can also be a carefully laid trap by the enemy. What an excellent ninja needs to do is not to jump to conclusions, but to find out all the possibilities, and then, based on more intelligence, eliminate them one by one, and finally find the one and only truth."
"This is logic."
Nara Shikaku used a series of vivid and interesting ninja cases to explain to the children how to think logically, how to distinguish the authenticity of intelligence, and how not to be deceived by appearances.
This novel teaching method greatly stimulated the students' enthusiasm for learning.
For the first time, they discovered that thinking itself was also a powerful weapon.
The class ended.
But the entire Ninja Academy was immersed in a fervent atmosphere of learning because of these two new courses.
The children were no longer just competing in taijutsu and ninjutsu on the playground as before.
They began to gather in groups of three or five in the library, surrounding the huge map of the ninja world, arguing about where the next great war was most likely to break out.
They began to set logical traps for each other in training, competing to see whose trap was more clever.
A seed named "wisdom" was crazily taking root and sprouting in the hearts of Konoha's next generation.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood on the top floor of the Hokage building, watching all this, a gratified smile on his face.
He knew that what he was doing was something greater than winning any war.
He was fundamentally changing the future of Konoha.
And these seedlings, which he had personally watered, would surely grow into towering trees that could shelter Konoha from the wind and rain in the near future.
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