Your name was Susumu Yuki, the sixth son of the clan head of the Yuki clan and Jonin of Kirigakure, the village hidden in the mist. You were now standing in the personal office of the Mizukage alongside fifteen other Jonin, with the village leader being flanked on both sides by a man and a women. The man was around the same age as the Mizukage himself and looked like a personal bodyguard, while the woman was barely older than you and seemed not that skilled in combat, as shown by how nervous she was.
Your eyes darted around as you examined each of the Jonin in the room, all belonging to the different clans in the village. Knowing each and every one of them as your "comrades" (a word which you and everyone else there gagged from simply thinking about), you respected all of them, disliked almost all of them, hated some of them and tolerated very few of them.
You had known that right now almost all of the Jonin belonged to the clans, with only very few being clanless. Sure, it wasn't the fault of the clanless for being ordinary, unlike people like yourself who were extraordinary. That's why it was more impressive when one of them gained that rank. At least they were not meant to act like stepping stones for your clan, so they couldn't really be in your way, unlike the rest of them.
There were constant murmurs while you and the other Jonin watched the Mizukage looking through some files, so you allowed your mind to wander to different thoughts while the leader of the village and its strongest shinobi was working.
Those thoughts being all the plots that each clan was trying to pursue in order to gain political power in the Land of Water. Knowing that the Mizukage was already married to a third cousin of his, your father and any clan leader with a functioning brain in their head decided that in order to gain more political power and strengthen their position was to gain power in the court of the daimyo, the one who actually made sure that the village had a way to make enough money to maintain itself.
Unfortunately for your father's ambitions, the Terumi clan had managed to get one of their daughters to spread her legs in the daimyo's bed first, and later was upgraded into first wife when she got pregnant. This gave the Terumi clan a lot of influence over the Mizukage, a fact that the Mizukage himself hated since he was the head of the Hozuki clan, plus the fact that many of their members kept rubbing it in your face. Probably in the faces of any other clan member that they meet as well.
Now your father wanted your eldest sister to be the wife of the daimyo's spymaster just so your clan could plan the assassination of the daimyo and his entire bloodline in order to put said spymaster and the Yuki clan in the position of power. No doubt every clan had a similar plan but using a different noble in mind.
You were cut out of your thoughts when the Mizukage closed the last folder and you stood straight, as did everyone else.
"Good evening and apologies for keeping you all waiting." the man started talking as you opened your ears listening to every word. "As many or probably most of you know, today was the final exam for the first batch of graduates to ever come out of the academy." he started speaking as you didn't move a muscle. Of course you knew that, you had a little sister and two first cousins who finished their exams today, not to mention all the cousins and your nephew who were still studying in the academy.
The Mizukage continued speaking. "They are our first batch of shinobi in this new system that was founded by Konohagakure. Tomorrow onward, all of you in this room will teach this year's 45 academy graduates." he stated his declaration with nothing but a serious look in his eyes. "We will follow the Konohagakure system for now: a 15 man platoon composed of five Gennin squads lead by a single Jonin sensei each." he explained to everyone in the room while you gave an obedient nod.
Suddenly one of the other Jonin raised his hand as he started to speak. His very light, greenish-blonde hair was an indicator of him being of the Chinoike clan. Isshijin Chinoike, fourth son of the brother of the Chinoike clan's head and your junior by one year. A total psycho from what you remember, not unlike the rest of his clan, but more extreme than the rest.
"Excuse me, Mizukage-sama," he started speaking as all eyes in the room were now on him. "but why do have to go by the rules set by Konohagakure?" he asked with a bit of a disgruntled tone to his voice. "Why shouldn't we carve our own path in our teaching method by making them kill each other to create more quality shinobi?" he inquired with some questions.
Honestly, you weren't sure whether you liked the idea or not. Sure, it put a smile on your face to think of being allowed to kill members of other clans inside the village, but it was also a risk to your own clan, something you didn't want.
You then saw that the Mizukage's face darkened upon hearing this. He looked angry. "Because, Isshijin Chinoike, our shinobi forces are only at the hundreds right now. Quantity is just as important as quality, and as the first leader of this village, we must increase the number of our forces to the thousands." the man started answering the question, clearly upset, but he managed to keep his cool. Yeah, he definitely didn't like the idea.
The strongest shinobi in the village then looked over at his assistant. "Konuki, please assign the teachers the student files based on classes." he ordered a brown-haired woman who stood to his left.
The woman nodded and took fifteen specific files from the Mizukage's table and stood between it and all of the Jonin in the room. "I will now call all the Jonin who had been assigned to Class 1. You will be allowed to look at all fifteen files of the class's graduates and pick three of them to assemble as your team. Is that understood?" she explained the procedure to everyone as you just rolled your eyes silently.
Of course you understood, you weren't an idiot nor a child.
The woman, whom you knew as Mira Terumi, who was probably forced into the role by her family pushing the Mizukage around with their new political power. "Yakumo Hoshigaki, Izurame Kurry, Gato Michibane, Susumu Yuki and Kisame Doi, please step forward." the girl who worked as the leader's assistant and barely a year older than you spoke, nervously calling the names of five Jonin, you among them.
When you and the others who were called took a step forward, the Mizukage then performed several hand seals and finished by clapping his hands together, causing a long stone table to form between you and the Terumi girl, which startled her and caused her to nearly drop the files in her hands.
After a few seconds she somewhat calmed down enough to quickly put all of the fifteen files on the table in an orderly fashion. "Y-you may now look at the files and p-pick your students. Hehehe." she said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly before running back to the side of the Mizukage's table.
You simply rolled your eyes at the silly way that nervous wreck was displaying herself and walked towards the files alongside your other four compatriots, studying the files and carefully.
Students of Class 1 of the first class of the academy (Pick 3 to form your team):
[ ] Byako Wakatabi: A clanless boy whom his teachers noted to be "Silent but attentive". His test scores in the written are among the highest in the class and his practical scores in Taijutsu skills are noted to be good even for a Genin. Despite the lack of any Kekkei Genkai, he seems to be right up your alley.
[ ] Suijin Hozuki: A young boy from the Hozuki clan, he is noted to be a prodigy when it comes to Ninjutsu and chakra control, allowing him to use several jutsu in a row. However, his skills in other departments have been lacking according to the notes. He seems to be needing a lot of improvement in his skills.
[ ] Samuke Yuki: One of your first cousins who had just finished the academy. According to the notes, he is pretty average in combat, but was noted to be incredibly interested in the world of espionage. He is the only family member in this class, so it is natural that you would pick him, but you should be bias.
[ ] Fuyumi Hinamori: A clanless girl from a merchant family who has been noted to be above average in both Genjutsu and with weapons. However, the notes also say that she is below average in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, as well as having a kind and bubbly personality.
[ ] Ruruka Doi: A girl from the Doi clan who is noted to be a prodigy and a jack-of-all-traits, but it's also said that she is a spoiled, egotistical, petty, disrespectful brat. While she seems like a pain, putting a halt on her attitude problem would do wonders for her and her team. Plus, embarrassing a Doi is going to be fun.
[ ] Izumi Kanon: A clanless girl who is noted to be completely average on all fronts, be it in written or practical exams. The only exception to that being that she has a great amount of charisma and is easy to make friends with. Maybe even that part of her personality could be cultivated into an effective weapon as well?
[ ] Yoko Kaguya: A boy from the Kaguya clan. The notes all appear to imply that he is skilled but also terrified everyone around him, which isn't surprising. Anyway, he is good about using his Kekkei Genkai with Taijutsu, but is below average in terms of Ninjutsu ad Genjutsu.
[ ] Mei Ubonaga: A clanless girl who was noted to have potential in many fields. while she is very hard to judge simply because her tests results are all over the place, she is noted to be a quick learner. That's a good thing that you want to have in a student.
[ ] Aio Chinoike: A boy from the Chinoike clan, he is noted as above average with the Ketsuryugan, but aside from that he is completely average in combat skill. Knowing the kind of cruel personality those people possess is not something you'd like to deal with, but he does have potential and that's what counts.
[ ] Torukane Kurry: A boy from the Kurry clan. His results in written exams are rather below average, but all of his skills in combat are above average. He definitely has skills and could be nurtured further, but he is also rash and headstrong according to his teachers' notes.
[ ] Miyu Hoshigaki: A girl from the Hoshigaki clan who was noted by her teachers to be interested in Bukijutsu, especially in the branch of Bojutsu. You might have been a perfect teacher for her because of your skills, but you do not specialize in Bojutsu. Unfortunately she has allowed her other skills to grow simply to be average. That can be fixed.
[ ] Ryunosuke Momoka: A clanless boy who is noted to have a "bright and optimistic" personality. He is noted to have a harder time understanding things, but also appears to try and specialize in Kenjutsu. He might be a good fit after all.
[ ] Shota Koruzumi: A clanless boy who is noted to study a lot of Fuinjutsu on his own and has shown a lot of interest in it. While he is below average in Taijutsu, he is a very interesting prospect.
[ ] Chie Chinoike: The twin sister of Aio Chinoike, she is also a member of Chinoike clan. She is also noted to be more skilled with other skills rather than her own Kekkei Genkai, which is unique.
[ ] Akane Kurry: A boy from the Kurry clan and second cousin of Torukane Kurry, he is noted by his teachers to be a "lazy and laid-back boy with a lot of skill and no interest whatsoever". From those notes he seems like someone who was forced into the academy, but he still has the highest scores in the class in written exams and is a prodigy in Genjutsu.
Looking at the files, you took the three that seemed to be the ones that you liked the most, not caring if anyone else wanted some of those that you picked, and walked to the Mizukage's table, putting the files on it.
"That's my team." you told him with an emotionless expression on your face as you waited his response.
The only response that you got was simply an eyebrow raise from the man before he spoke. "That's interesting indeed. You will report to the academy tomorrow at 7:50 AM sharp. Dismissed." he told you as you simply gave him a salute and left the office.
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And that's the update. I know that there isn't much on the students thus far, but you will have more information on them after meeting them, with a list of skills included.
Until then, I do not want you to start voting just yet. Instead I want you to discuss among yourselves who you want for the team and why. What could be the pros and cons of each student as you are still in the dark about their actual skills.
Also, what do you think about everything else in the update?
I will open the vote tomorrow in about 9-10 hours from now. Until then stay healthy, stay safe and have a great day.
), so while I have the CK2 way of things in mind, I also have some EU4 way of thinking as well.