Sakurai Hideaki narrowed his eyes at the provocateur. While Seiryu and Kakashi were busy in the capital, this guy had already been a prison bully, using his bit of chakra from former ninja training to lord it over the other inmates. With most of the police force away, the jail used a half-lax management style—as long as they didn't cause big trouble, they were left alone.
So these guys had gotten comfortable, and forgotten the taste of the baton.
Sakurai snorted, then suddenly kicked Ryota in the chest, knocking him down. The other police swarmed in, letting them all remember the realignment therapy, and Ryota got special treatment.
"Hey, Naoki, your summon is a bear, right?" Sakurai asked a nearby officer.
"Yeah, Captain Hideaki. What's up?" Sanada Naoki replied. He'd contracted a chakra-mutated bear after graduation and, after training with the Inuzuka, developed joint man-bear jutsu.
"Let your partner get some exercise. I'll buy it honey later," Sakurai said.
Naoki nodded, summoned a nearly three-meter-tall bear, and after a brief exchange, let his bear be roped up.
The officers tied the other end of the rope to Ryota, and Naoki patted his bear's rump. The bear roared and dragged Ryota around the field.
Ryota's screams echoed as Sakurai addressed the other trainees: "Everyone, crawl back to the dorms!"
Hearing Ryota's suffering, everyone else obeyed without a word, crawling back.
"Shout the slogans!" Sakurai barked, striking a slowpoke with his baton.
"Spirit!"
"Self-cultivation!"
"Correction!"
"Goodness!"
Soon, the squad returned to their dorms.
The dorm was just two rows of bunks, twenty to a side.
On every bed was the squad's uniform—a green bodysuit. If they used Guy's training plan, they had to use his outfit, too.
"You have thirty seconds to change!" Sakurai ordered.
The men scrambled to change—no one cared how ugly the suit was now.
Once dressed, red-hatted Naoki paced between the bunks, barking commands.
"Front row, fall in!"
"Yes!"
"Back row, fall in!"
"Yes!"
"Down!"
"Yes!"
"Up!"
"Yes!"
And so on—the troublemakers were worn out.
Naoki was satisfied, about to nod in approval, when he heard odd laughter.
He looked over. Someone was standing at attention, grinning widely.
"Is this fun?" Naoki went up and asked.
"Fun!" the man replied loudly.
Naoki wanted to hit him, but every move had been perfect—there was no excuse.
"Really fun?" Naoki asked again.
"Really interesting!" the man answered, still smiling.
Naoki was speechless, wondering if he'd hit the guy too hard.
He looked around, then forced out: "Good. Training is fun!"
Another guy twitched, and Naoki, desperate to break the tension, dragged him out.
Everyone in the dorm was now deathly quiet. They realized that, while they could bully villagers, they were nothing compared to real ninja.
"Listen up," Sakurai Hideaki announced. "For the next six months, it's my job to reform your spirits. Will you obey my orders?"
"Yes!" everyone responded quickly.
"Too quiet! Will you obey my orders?" Sakurai repeated, louder.
"Yes!" they shouted even louder.
"Good." Sakurai nodded.
At that moment, the door opened, and the half-dead Ryota was thrown in like a rag doll.
Sakurai turned and left.
A few days later, Guy, specially promoted by Seiryu to Jonin Squad Captain, returned to the village after handling border patrol. As soon as he returned, he saw squads of trainees in green bodysuits running laps, shouting slogans.
Guy was moved to tears at the sight of so much youth.
He didn't know what was going on, but, being Guy, he immediately shouted "YOUTH!" and joined in.
For the Sannin Education trainees, it was torture.
It was bad enough to train to exhaustion, but every morning, as they ran, a green-suited madman would run by, shouting about youth.
The police instructors, giving Guy face as the new chief's best friend, always paused their corrections when Guy passed by.
One evening, after finishing work at the Hokage office, Seiryu had a small gathering with Kakashi and clan heads from the Inuzuka and Aburame.
Inuzuka and Aburame had split the assets of the now-vanished Koharu and Mitokado clans, and taken their places as the village's third and fourth great clans, after Uchiha, Hyuga, and Sarutobi. The minor clans like the Hayate, who had contributed during the coup, filled their old positions.
Sometimes, Inuzuka Ago couldn't help but sigh—Elder Hone was right: cautious action prepares you to go all-in when opportunity knocks. Choice is more important than effort.
With so many resources now, the Inuzuka would be swimming in Jonin before long.
As for the Aburame, they were in high spirits. With more funding, they could breed more, stronger insects, and their power was rising faster than the Inuzuka.
After several rounds of drinks, the older men inevitably turned to the younger generation's love lives.
Seiryu was only seventeen. Despite being the village's most eligible bachelor, his age was still a shield. Kakashi, at twenty-one, with a dwindling Hatake clan, became the main target.
Kakashi could only try to change the subject:
"By the way, our Sannin Education team is popular with the villagers. We've wiped out the criminal underworld—they're full of praise!" Kakashi said.
Indeed. Most of the troublemakers had been rounded up. The few who slipped through were caught later. The rest of the villagers were either ninja families or upstanding citizens like Teuchi, so everyone was happy.
"I say, we should've done this ages ago!" Raidō Namiashi agreed. "Those idiots even bullied the Fourth Hokage's orphan. If not for the old rules, I'd have taught them a lesson long ago."
"By the way, how's Naruto doing lately?" Seiryu asked.
"He's getting rowdier. He and Sasuke started a Seven Stars Club at the academy—skipping class and pulling pranks. Iruka has been running back and forth between my house and Fugaku's," Kakashi sighed.
Seiryu: …
"Haha, kids need some energy," Seiryu laughed awkwardly. He hadn't expected Sasuke to be involved, too.