Chapter 26: Shiki’s Politicking I

"So! Obaa-sama said you like training a lot?" Nawaki inquisitively started a conversation with Shiki.

The white haired pondered a bit before responding.

"It's not so much that I like training but more a case of enjoying the results. I like the feeling of getting stronger and more skilled as well as the satisfaction of learning something new, that's why I like training and studying both-" Shiki paused.

"Well, so long as I have a personal interest in the subject. Otherwise studying sucks." He added.

Nawaki welled up with laughter.

"Hahahaha! I totally get it. Training feels all worth it when you get stronger but studying, especially when it's about something I don't like, is so boring."

"But in my case I don't particularly like studying in general. Hehehe." Nawaki mischievously added.

"So you've started training with Obaa-sama or did you do stuff before?" The brown haired boy curiously continued.

"I tried to imitate what I saw shinobi do while I lived at the orphanage but I only figured out how to do basic stuff like tree and water walking. The rest came from training with Mito-sama." Shiki replied, careful not to overshare and reveal his original jutsu just yet.

"Wow! You've figured out tree and water walking on your own!? I mean, they're not really hard but I think it would have taken me quite a while if I didn't have a teacher." Nawaki commented.

Tsunade seemed quite impressed as well but along with Mito, she just happily watched the two boys getting along. Both women were quite pleased at how the kids found friends in one another, it had been one of Mito's objectives in fact.

The Uzumaki matriarch believed that Shiki could use a friend his age so as to not grow up too isolated and Nawaki having a new friend who she was sure had no one suspicious behind, was a great bonus as well.

The dinner proceeded with that kind of small talk and soon, it was quite deep in the night. Nawaki had a mission the next day, still a D-rank one but he could not be late and so, he returned home to ready his ninja tools despite there being a 99% chance he would not need them.

That was just how D-rank missions went after all.

As for the remaining three, they gathered in a room secured by seals to discuss matters of greater importance.

"Uhh . . . Obaa-sama, are sure you want to get the kid involved in this kind of thing." Tsunade interjected before the real discussion began.

'You were saying before that you didn't like Nawaki graduating early at nine but this kid looks barely over half of that at the most.' She thought.

"Heh." Mito scoffed.

"Although I do not want to get Shiki involved in this kind of thing at his current age. Others will involve him regardless and with his wits, he'll start figuring things out immediately so might as well include him from the start." She explained.

"Besides-" The redhead paused briefly, looking at her granddaughter with a half exasperated, half judgemental gaze.

Tsunade squirmed uncomfortably in place.

"I sincerely believe he is better at reading the situation and judging character than you are." The Uzumaki matriarch concluded.

"Not to mention there are very few people in the whole village that I can fully trust. Either due to loyalty concerns or lacking ability." She added.

Tsunade looked unconvinced, especially at the part that Shiki was more reliable than her when it came to sensitive matters in the village.

'I might dislike getting involved but that doesn't mean I can't do it properly when I try.' The blonde naively thought.

"Unconvinced?" Mito questioned.

"Then let us put it to the test shall we?" She continued.

"Any objections Shiki?" The Uzumaki matriarch inquired.

Shiki shrugged.

'I guessed being adopted by Mito would inevitably draw me into village politics and since it is inevitable, I do prefer to be kept in the loop.' He thought.

'But still . . . I'm still four. Is early mental development that common that people think nothing of involving a four year old child in this kind of discussion? Normal four year olds back on earth can barely count to ten' The boy wondered but his response to the mistress was not delayed.

"No objections Mito-sama."

"Excellent. The subject matter will be the Shinobi Academy." Mito started.

"When my brother-in-Law created the Shinobi Academy, he placed it under the jurisdiction of the Hokage so its rules and curriculum could not be arbitrarily changed by others in order to protect the children aiming to be Konoha shinobi."

"The minimum graduation age was set to 12-13 years of age, no exceptions and graduate genin could only take D-rank missions until they either passed the Chunin Exams which were meant as a non lethal simulation of war, or accumulated at least 4 to 5 years of experience as a genin."

"Now, when his successor, the current Hokage took over, after his position was stabilized, he implemented early graduation procedures and made some modifications to the Chunin Exams, adding a survival exercise in the Forest of Death to it."

Having finished her explanation about the circumstances around the test question, Mito turned to Shiki.

"Are you familiar with the places and terminology?"

"Yes Mito-sama. I learned then in my self studies or while I was out doing errands for you in the village." The white haired boy replied.

"Very good." The redhead acknowledged and then put forth the testing question.

"The question is: Why do you think the Third Hokage made these changes?"

"Tsunade, you first." The Uzumaki matriarch commanded.

Not wanting to be shown up by a kid, Tsunade pondered before trying to answer. Since she had been speaking of this matter with her grandmother earlier, the blondie had already started mulling it over since then.

"Well . . . Since Konoha was just out of the Great Shinobi War, implementing early graduation so sufficiently advanced students could be recruited to replenish the village's forces for stability while the peace was the least likely to be broken seems reasonable." The Senju princess started.

"With fewer shinobi to do missions, lowering the requirements for shinobi taking them, allowing young and lower ranked shinobi to do more work was likely a necessity." She continued.

"Modifying the Chunin Exams could be to increase war readiness through a harsher test so Konoha shinobi would be of higher quality and less likely to falter in war." Tsunade proposed.

After giving it a little more thought, the blonde felt her answer was pretty good and so nodded, signaling that was her answer.

"What do you think Shiki?" Mito bade Shiki to give his answer.

The white haired boy briefly considered not giving a full answer and keeping some things he thought to himself so he would not put his age into question. After all, even if chakra promoted early mental development, there had to be limits.

But he did not want to act fake for Mito and, having already shown exceedingly monstrous talent and intelligence in regards to the technical elements of jutsu, Shiki decided to be fully transparent with his thoughts.

He would not mention his reincarnator knowledge but there was plenty he could deduce about the situation because of his history research in Mito's library as well as his observations of the village and the fact that he knew the characters and world.

"I don't think there is anything overtly wrong with Tsunade-sama's answer and the official reasoning should coincide with it." Shiki started.

"But if we were to look at things from a more cynical perspective, there are certain things that don't quite add up in my opinion." The white haired boy stated.

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