Ukiyo walks into the classroom standing tall and smile from cheek to cheek. She relished the opportunity to instill some critical thinking into these youths’ minds. They teach tactical critical thinking at the academy, but rarely do they teach about political or social thinking. Ukiyo hates the thought of the village raising shinobi for their own purpose, and would gladly take this mission every day if it meant preventing that. Ukiyo walked up to the teacher and shook his hand, the two of them exchanging a look of mild resentment. This was the same homeroom teacher she had, and the two of them rarely got along. Ukiyo was always questioning him, challenging not the teachings but the will behind his teachings. She often accused him of raising murderers, seeing as he wouldn’t give her “compassionate shinobi” ideal the time of day. The Chuunin stared back into her eyes and said, “Let’s see what effect one of your little rants has on these kids” backhandedly. Ukiyo smiled at him and turned her attention towards the class. All of the kids were behaving nicely. There was a few couples whispering, but Ukiyo didn’t mind.

“All of you will be trained to utilize the skills of a shinobi. You will learn many important things here, including jutsu, tactics, trust,” she turned towards the teacher, “though not compassion.” She turns back to the class. “I am here today to tell you that each of you will at one point or another hold a life in your hands. There will come a day where you have the opportunity to safe or take another shinobi’s life, and at that moment your true colors will shine. You will find out just who you really are in the midst of night, after fatal combat, when the one you put your life on the line to kill will lay on your lap looking only to you for redemption.”

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Ukiyo began pacing, looking up at the teacher occasionally and then to the class. “We are taught that, as Shinobi, it is a great honor to die in battle. Well,” The Chuunin instructor almost cut in before she said something drastic. “I couldn’t agree more.” The instructor backed down. “However, that is only when one dies defending a noble cause: when one sacrifices themselves for the good of their will. To die in combat for someone else’s will, however, is to die as scum. It is to die knowing you have been used, that you are nothing more than a tool and worse yet, a tool used for killing. If you truly wish to be great shinobi, you must know yourself fully. You must know your will, your purpose, why you are a shinobi. For every mission you choose to accept could be the one you die on. You must be confident, neigh, convinced that whatever mission that may be aligns with your ninja way and is noble enough to give your life for. There is no skill more valuable to a shinobi than this.”
Ukiyo stopped pacing and stared at the ground for a moment. She lifted her head, “So when you hold that shinobi’s life in your hands, you will look into his eyes. They will reflect their years of experience, their loved ones, and most of all, their will. See yourself as they see you and ask yourself if they are truly so wrong for their actions. Ask yourself if it is a cursed will or a terrible evil that resides in this ninja, for if it is not, then you should sooner turn the blade on yourself than to take the life of someone you don’t even know. Thank you.” With that, Ukiyo left, not sticking around for comments or questions.

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