Aftermath 1

Looking at his students, standing before him clearly mentally exhausted from taking their first life, Ren decided to hold his thoughts to himself until they got some rest, they clearly weren't in the frame of mind for him to tell them what they did wrong while trying to kill someone.

Ren turned to lead the way back to the village when he heard a voice ask a question he didn't think any of them would.

"How was it sensei?" asks Kitsuchi

Completely surprised not only by the question but who asked it as Kitsuchi had looked the worse out of all of them Ren answers anyway truthfully since he wanted to know.

"your performance was terrible Kitsuchi, from wasting time talking to the enemy to hesitating to kill him, I see a lot that could be improved even your Jutsu choice could have been better to end the battle faster, you performed below what I expected from you Kitsuchi as the leader of the team," says Ren being brutally honest as Kitsuchi expression worsens.

"What about me sensei," asks Ami

"Ami, I would say you performed well, from carrying out the orders you were given to Killing your target the first chance you got, I may have shaken you but at least you waited until you had neutralized your target, getting yourself out of danger," says Ren.

"Gari, you could have ended the fight easily, if you had not insisted on using the explosive release once you realise your chakra control wasn't to the level where you could use it in a fight, but you insisted on using it causing yourself damage that could have been avoided, your lucky you opponent had no training otherwise you would be dead right now."

"You three might think I'm being hard on you, but I'm not, you three have the potential to become some of the strongest ninjas in the world, but your mindset is not at that level yet, and yes it a lot asking kids your age to have that mindset but that id just the era we live in, I ask you do you have what it takes to kill hundreds even thousands all for the sake of protecting the village that has raised and protect you?"

"..."

"....."

Silence, none of them spoke, there was no way they could answer this question now, it was too much, the three of them stood in front of Ren, fists clenched as tears flowed down Kitsuchi's and Gari's face while Ami stood there quietly.

"We will return to the village now, you all we dismissed from training for the next two days when we return."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

It wasn't long before they returned to the village, as they entered the main gates Ren turned to his students.

"These two days, think about what this village has done for you and what you are willing to do for it and the people who care about you who live in it, if after two days you can't steal your heart and feeling to commit to the dark and cruel ninja world then don't appear on the training grounds, come with the intention of killing all enemies of the village man woman and child, while coming to terms with the fact that you may just die protecting this village."

"I am not telling you to become emotionless, no, emotions are important, never become so accustomed to killing you do it as easily as breathing, use the positive feeling you have for the village and its people to balance everything, once you find just how far you are willing to go for this village and it people, you will know if you are able to be a ninja in this era," says Ren as he disappears leaving his students on their own.

(Tsuchikage office)

Ren appeared and just dropped down on the couch to the side of the room, without any regard for Onoki as he began to complain.

"Hey, old man, why didn't you tell me nurturing the next generation was this much work? if I had known there is no way in hell I would have taken this job," says Ren

"I take it they did well?"

"They did alright, They aren't me who could just brush off their first kill like it was nothing, but they will bounce back after they reaffirm their love for this village, when I'm finished with them they would be ready to kill hundreds if it meant the village and its people could continue to exist."

"That's good."

"Kitsuchi will come looking for you in the next two days, most probably to ask you what a shinobi should be."

"What a shinobi should be huh, every village wants the same kind of shinobi, the kind that would do anything including dying for the village without asking questions or seeking political power."

"I'm guessing you are not going to tell him that right?"

"Of course not, I said that what every village wants but each Kage would have a different view on what a shinobi should be."