章 16: Chapter 16

Turning to look he found none other than Uesu Taida.

The favorite for this year's top rookie.

He smiled. "Hey Taida."

The young man, smiled back. "Mind if I join you?"

He shifted a bit, shifting against Shizune to allow enough room for Taida to sit next to him.

He was big for a kid. The only classmate that matched his height was one of the two Akimichi, physically stronger than most kids their age too, though that came at a tradeoff of being somewhat slower than half the kids in the class too.

Though, truth be told given his family history that might not be exactly a bad thing.

While not of any Konoha clan, that did not mean the Uesu name was a run of the mill family.

It was a Samurai clan.

Samurai had always been the standing force of the Daimyo of the various states. As far as he remembered from his day, they never really played much of a part in the hidden village affairs. They were, frankly, glorified clients. Keep our borders safe from the other Daimyo, kill whoever we need you to kill without question and we'll line your pockets with enough money to keep this show running forever." Was the status quo.

This time around, the status quo was a bit more...skewed.

The first year curricula, in political and historical lessons had nearly held him back from meeting his own personal deadline of graduating in a single year.

While Ninja were a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield having unlocked the secrets of Chakra and the array of skills that came with such, Samurai were still very much the dominant military power of the continent.

One ninja was worth a handful of Samurai, but...there were a hell of a lot more Samurai than there were ninja in the Daimyo's employ.

Now, the Daimyo could do more than threaten them with cutting off the cash-flow. He could threaten them with war.

Or more likely extermination.

What's more, he could win.

It would be a brutal and bloody win for either side, that would effectively eviscerate both parties; leaving them as little more than carrion for the vultures that would swoop in from all sides to eat at the carcass, but now the Daimyo around the continent seem to have decided to hold onto some of their testicles when the villages were formed this time around.

That left them with some negotiating leeway.

One of those, in Konoha at least, was a student exchange program.

A child of a Samurai clan

A child of a Shinobi clan.

Leaving their homes to live and serve their new 'families' in whatever way was seen fit.

This was to 'promote a lasting peace, friendship, love and trust between the great houses'

Unofficially, it was the Samurai better preparing themselves for the eventuality of fighting Shinobi. If not domestic ones then definitely foreign.

No child from a Samurai clan would be taught the true fighting techniques of the Samurai beyond a handful of basics, when it came to sword wielding.

A child from a Shinobi clan though especially Hyuuga and Uchiha...that one had some trade to show off when he went off to his new home. That one could answer questions and teach them.

Then, when the kids went back home, the Samurai kid had five years Shinobi experience and secrets under his belt.

The Shinobi kid had three years of philosophical study and two, at best, of sword combat training, since most Samurai started training their children at the ages of fourteen. Not exactly a huge amount of time to learn things from grand masters and such.

But oh well. Such is life.

Half the time the Samurai kid just ended up buying learning sword techniques anyway so Konoha wasn't exactly a victim that "lived up to their side of the bargain" either, at any rate.

Taida sat and Naruto resisted the urge to poke some fun at Shizune who, quite obvious to him had something of a crush on the guy. It would get him a few laughs, but she knew where he lived.

The fight was decent as far as academy level students go. Both of them had their strengths and tried to use them. But one good kick that smacked against a forehead downed Adou and that was that.

The other fights were, for the most part, much the same, a good lucky hit normally ended them. Rarely was the fight reduced to out-brawling the other and only the Akimichi ever got their opponents to yield, and even then, only when they managed to get them in a good hold, which by now many students had learned to avoid by any means necessary.

"Kato Shizune and Kanbei Shin, take your places." Zae finally called.

Shizune took a breath before standing. "Wish me luck."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Good luck."

She marched down to the practice ring, standing opposite her opponent.

Kanbei wasn't anything particularly special from what he could tell, no real strengths, no real weak points either.