Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Gang Rivalry

"Now, I'd like to talk a little bit about the Kumogakure international relationships. It's by far the most radiant point on today's geopolitical map so if you remember one thing after this course is done with and the exams are handed in – let it be that," a man with lively, dark hair and a full beard, donning a white gi and black hakama gestured toward the map of the world behind him.

Before the course started, he took some sweet time to place some pictures depicting various international relationship talking points as he now had both the means and the excuse to prod his bokken-like pointing tool at the location of Kumogakure and the picture depicting the Raikage's office in the middle of the day pinned nearby.

The general vibes in the room were pretty tense. There were plenty of Kumogakure ninja recruited to become Allied Ninja and the entire organization had their headquarters based in the Land of Lightning – a country best known for containing the entirety of the Cloud village within it. Mana had expected that perhaps these geopolitical courses would have a scent of Kumogakure bias because of it though she was pleasantly surprised by how fast things went right to the point of the problem.

"Yeah, I guess it's a bit unfortunate that I have to hammer this into your heads, after all, I used to be a Konoha ninja before joining the Allied Ninja so you might think I've got a personal agenda in dumping hot takes on Kumogakure external politics. That's a fair point for you to have, Konoha does have plenty to gain in criticizing Kumogakure who is its main rival in military power who isn't afraid of using said vast military power in gaining an advantage in other areas where Konoha has it beat. That being said, I am no longer a Konohagakure ninja so I just like I respect your right to take my opinion on the matter with a grain of salt, I'd like you to also humor me and at the very least hear it out," the tutor reading the course said.

From what little Mana had experienced of the prep courses so far – they had a rotation of Allied Ninja reading them to the recruits. Contrary to what she initially believed, the Allied Ninja did not employ people to just work as teachers and staff for the headquarters, instead, all Allied Ninja were staff when the need was present. Whoever wasn't out on a mission at the time might have been called up to watch the recruit hallways at night from trespassers, do yard work or teach classes to the recruits. Mana had chills running down her spine imagining teaching classes to recruits in the future, she could only hope that her experience working with an audience could supplement the lack of knowledge that she now felt like she had.

"Hmm... I expected Endo to be a bit more hot-headed about this topic but he seems perfectly calm," Mana whispered to Shige-H and Damisan, the tall ninja of the crew who preferred to wear masks and prosthetics and cloak his severely burnt and covered in scar tissue body from the Land of Wind whom she had a chance to meet since the crew first assembled.

"Heh, nice, Mana, glad to see you're keeping your eyes on the prize," Shige-H snickered, it did not seem like the failure to assemble the entirety of the squad she had in mind deterred the Kumogakure ninja in any way. Quite the contrary, she appeared to be even more determined and excited to get them into her crew now that they had a whiff of her intentions to recruit them.

"I'm... Not..." Mana's cheeks started feeling warm as she fumbled her way through the whispered words. "It's just an observation, he is from Kumogakure, Land of Lightning, around those parts, right? Kumogakure ninja are very stout, defensive, and patriotic about their race and their legacy and it doesn't seem like Endo is like that at all. That is all I meant."

"Sure..." Shige-H snickered with a full-teeth smile.

"Are the Kumogakure ninja any more nationalist than say Konoha's Will of Fire though..." Damisan wondered, his mechanical voice was not at all suited for muzzled conversation which immediately caught unwanted attention. Shige-H and Mana gave the absent-minded crewmate of theirs warning looks.