Chapter 8: Start of Trouble

Can a god develop a God complex or is that just called a personality?

Today is the day where it all officially begins. Well, technically it all begins in five minutes. My three students are about to walk through that door and I haven't seen them since the day I beat them up. That was a stressful day.

The door to the old classroom opens with a loud creaking sound. I tried fixing that before this day came but it appears my Godly abilities did not include certain everyday skills. Like cooking, cleaning or fixing things.

Tsunade is in the lead and after her comes Jiraya and Orochimaru. Everyone is present for the first day, which is a good sign in any teachers book. Though Jiraya looks more dead than alive, obviously he isn't a morning person.

"Good morning, professor. How are you doing this fine day?"

"Suckup..."

"Shut up, Jiraya! I am just being nice!"

"Yeah, for some extra brownie points."

"Tsunade, Jiraya, you two have barely taken a step into this classroom. If this is going to be a regular occurrence, I rather like to know that now."

"You should count on them disagreeing on something every other minute, professor."

"Thanks, Orochimaru. For that, you get the front seat to this lecture. My star pupil might already be decided." I immediately sense oozing off Tsunade and relief oozing of Jiraya.

"Professor, Orochimaru just never talks so he doesn't land in arguments with people, you can't judge me by the morons around me!"

"I am not. I am currently judging your characters based on observation. Orochimaru is in possession of a character trait I like in my students. Calmness."

"I think you're mistaking calmness for deadness, Professor." Jiraya perks up. I choose to ignore that since it will only land me in more hot water.

"Take a seat so we can start."

As they pick their seats, I flip through my notes about this class quickly. And when I say quickly I mean QUICKLY. My brain can process information at mind-boggling speeds. One second is all I need to read a single page. It is very convenient.

"Today you will not learn anything new. Today I will only teach you one single thing... How ignorant you truly are." They look rightfully confused and angry. Shinobi are naturally arrogant. That I learn quickly.

"What you perceive as knowledge already mastered I will show you is only the beginning. For knowledge can not be mastered. " They watch as I draw an iceberg on the blackboard.

"Knowledge is like an iceberg. You can see the tip but you can not see the bottom of it." Only Orochimaru looks on with real curiosity.

"This tip and this infinitely vaster bottom portion are both parts of the thing we know as knowledge. This is what we know." I circle the tip. "And this is what we do not know." I circle the much bigger bottom.

"Any questions?"

Orochimaru looks like he's floating on cloud nine. Jiraya now looks on with some small amounts of interest, it's clear that the canon spy is buried in there somewhere deep. Tsunade looks the least interested of the three.

"Interesting analogy, I've never encountered it before. It is quite shocking to know we understand so little about the world." Orochimaru says quite shakily.

"Is it true though? Do we truly know so little?" The young blond princess asks.

"Yes," I answer honestly.

"How do you know that? Are you saying that you are smarter than the Hokage?" Tsunade looks at me in doubt. I know that her grandfather was the Hokage, she most likely respects that position. It is known as the position taken by the strongest and most knowledgeable Shinobi.

"Did I say that?"

"No, but you hinted at it!"

"Oh, Did I now? I do not think so. I said we understand so little, that includes myself. We as humans truly understand very little." Should I be included in that? Maybe not.

Soon I won't be human anymore and I can say that I am looking forward to what kind of knowledge Gods are allowed.

"Now, the one and the only question I will ask today. Why is that?"

"Why is what?" Jiraya looks up confused, maybe he wasn't listening to us.

"Why do humans understand so little about the world? And, counting Tsunade's point, is it true what I say? Do humans lack knowledge or have we conquered all knowledge?"

"How are we supposed to know that?"

"That is the point of the assignment, Jiraya. Not all questions have answers and not all require one even. But just because of that, you can not be afraid to ask the question."

"Now that is all for today," I say and I enjoy their expressions immensely.

"Wait, that is it? At the academy, classes are at least an hour each." Tsunade said.

"Yes. But this is not the academy. I believe in a different system. At the academy, you get multiple areas of shinobi life crammed into your brain each lesson. Only the truly brilliant can digest all that. In this class, every student will walk out understand everything I've taught them, as long as they work hard."

"What exactly will be different here?"

"Well, Orochimaru, that is easy to answer. The academy gives all their shinobi all the tools available to be used. I will not. I will give you only what you need and I will teach you to utilize it in any given situation."

What I can not tell them is my secret weapon. I don't have the capabilities of training them to be better shinobi than the ones going through the regular academy and then the three-man squads. But I have a way to circumvent that. A brand. An ability all Gods possess, fully Gods or not. Which is why I have it as well.

I can brand certain individuals with my Domain-mark. A little controversial maybe because they will be seen by other Gods as my property, but the benefits are amazing for mortals. It gives them a fraction of my potential. Mostly by enhancing their senses, giving them considerably more lifeforce (longevity) and greater enhanced physical attributes. They won't be counted as demi-gods since a brand cannot gift divinity, but as mortals, they'll be very strong.

I will still use knowledge to go hand in hand with my branding. But my brand will be the main reason people will look for my tutelage (unknowingly). Give me a cheat and expect me not to use it. Hmph.

"I don't know about that, it sounds worse not to have options available," Jiraya says quietly.

"Trust me Jiraya. What I will give you won't be taught anywhere else. I will also train you personally and if you don't see any results within the next month I promise to be the scapegoat for any of your perverted escapades."

"PROFESSOR! Do you truly realize what you're saying? He is a disgusting individual! Do you know what you're giving him here?!" Tsunade blows up instantly, as I suspected she would.

"YOU MEAN THAT?!"

"I do, Jiraya. I am absolutely confident in what I can teach you." Not to mention, I will teach Jiraya all about espionage, which they barely cover in the academy. A shinobi academy and seduction and basic espionage are barely covered.

"I guess my confidence in you has increased a little knowing what you have agreed to," Orochimaru says with a rare smile.

"Good. Now get the hell out of my classroom, I have things to do."

"Goodbye, professor! I knew from the first time I saw you that you were a proper man. Oh man, this is going to be awesome!" Jiraya's voice fades away slowly. He is a little too excited for someone who won't even get to enjoy those benefits. He will see results almost instantly.

The other two say their goodbyes with much less enthusiasm, and I immediately slump down on my chair as their voices disappear.

My nervousness is fading more and more. I can feel myself getting more confident, some might even say arrogant at times. I don't know if that is a good thing, but it should not be long before I start to see some truly Godlike nonsense appear around me. I am starting to feel something growing inside me, I think it's my divinity maturing or something, that is at least what my instincts tell me.

My Domain-mark is already on them, I applied it as we said goodbye and by tomorrow it will have showed the first signs of activation. They will get increased comprehension speed (not mine), and their senses will have improved. It shouldn't be enough to set off alarm clocks in their minds.

Now all I can do is wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will start their journey of relearning everything they know.

Time to write tomorrows class.

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End