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It didn't take long before the teacher finally arrived.
He pulled out a sheet of paper and began reading the team assignments.
"Class One… Class Two…"
"Class Three: Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, Ebisu."
The teacher kept calling out names.
Genma and Ebisu, who were laughing earlier, instantly stopped smiling.
Then, at last, it was Leo's turn.
"Class Seven: Leo, Yuhi Kurenai."
Kurenai blinked at Leo.
Thank goodness it was just one of them.
Sure, Leo and Guy were both hardworking and pretty strong, but the sparks that flew between them earlier had been way too much for a young girl like Kurenai to handle.
The teacher continued.
"Class Eight…"
Kurenai suddenly panicked.
Wait.
Why was it only the two of them?
Leo glanced at her and whispered, "Don't worry. We'll ask after this."
"O-okay."
Kurenai nodded, holding back her confusion.
Outside the classroom.
"Teacher, why does Class Seven only have two students? Isn't it normally one jōnin leader and three genin?"
Leo asked.
The instructor looked awkward and scratched his head. "Well… I don't know either. You'll understand once you meet your team leader this afternoon."
"Huh?"
Kurenai looked completely lost.
The teacher vanished in a blur, leaving Leo and Kurenai standing there, equally dumbfounded.
Well, almost equally.
Leo had a guess. He wasn't sure if it was right, but…
There was a certain unlucky pressure-magnet prodigy who made chūnin last year but couldn't get along with teammates to save his life.
Hatake Kakashi.
Could it be him?
2 p.m.
All newly assigned classes gathered inside the academy. Downstairs, the students who hadn't graduated yet were still in class. The new genin were waiting for their jōnin leaders.
Leo sat in his seat, thinking about his future.
He'd figured out a bit more about how the System worked.
Being placed with Kakashi… might actually have benefits.
But—
He had no idea who their jōnin instructor would be.
Minato?
He absentmindedly spun a kunai between his fingers as he thought.
Beside him, Kurenai finally couldn't hold back.
"Leo… can I ask you something?"
She was a year or two older than him, and not from the same class, so they weren't exactly close.
But since they'd be teammates now, getting familiar wasn't a bad idea.
Leo stopped twirling his kunai. "What's up?"
"Are you training finger dexterity or something?"
She pointed at the spinning kunai dancing around his fingertips.
Leo blinked, then let out a small laugh. "It's just a habit."
"A habit…"
Kurenai nodded and fell silent. But her eyes now held a bit of admiration.
Habits like that only came from years of training—hard training she couldn't even imagine.
No wonder he got along with Might Guy.
She let her imagination run wild.
Leo, unaware of whatever scenarios she was constructing, continued thinking:
Would building a good relationship help him farm more benefits from the System?
A moment later—
Knock knock.
The door slid open.
Leo looked up—and almost burst out laughing.
A silver-haired boy wearing a mask walked in, eyes half-lidded, pretending to be calm while looking painfully stiff.
Kurenai's jaw dropped.
She blinked hard, completely unable to believe it.
Then—
"You're… not our jōnin instructor, right?!"
"Hmph."
Kakashi turned his head away, refusing to answer.
Leo leaned over and whispered, "Kurenai, Kakashi only became a chūnin last year. No way he's a jōnin."
"Oh… right."
Kurenai's mind was a complete mess at this point.
Leo tried very hard not to laugh.
So it was him!
In that case…
"Kakashi, did you… repeat a year?"
"…"
Kakashi shot him a sideways glance, then stared straight ahead and didn't respond.
Tch.
Leo forced himself to sit properly, maintaining the tense silence filling the room.
Using game logic from his past life—
Kakashi, at this stage, was at least boss-tier difficulty. Definitely not a pushover like Guy or Kenji, who could be defeated with sheer talk-no-jutsu.
This would take time.
He shifted his attention back to the hallway. Footsteps approached.
All three of them turned to look.
Was that their teacher?
They waited.
The footsteps stopped… then continued elsewhere, clearly heading to another classroom.
A faint frown appeared on Kurenai's face.
"Our teacher… just disappeared."
Kakashi said calmly, "As shinobi, we simply wait."
"…"
Leo twitched at the corner of his mouth.
If Kurenai's sensory skills weren't mistaken—
That meant their teacher had a peculiar sense of humor and was observing the three of them on purpose.
Who could it be?
And when they finally met, how should he introduce himself?
Leo thought through possibilities.
Outside the room, Jiraiya let out a sigh.
Unbelievable.
At his age and rank, he had to personally take on a genin team again—including a bunch of fresh graduates.
All because of that old man.
He continued observing the three inside.
"The little girl is sharp, good with genjutsu, probably has sensory potential too… might be suited for medical and support roles."
"The silver-haired brat is… difficult. No wonder no one wants him. What a troublesome kid."
"And the last one…"
"Tch. Also not easy to handle. Why am I doing this to myself?"
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, thinking back to last night.
Inside the Hokage building—
"Old man, I just planned to leave the village for training. You're making me take students now? You're doing this on purpose!"
"The village needs you," Hiruzen said calmly.
Jiraiya clicked his tongue and paused for several seconds. "Are the three kids special?"
"There's Hatake Kakashi."
Jiraiya fell silent for a long moment. "…Isn't he already a chūnin?"
"Take a look."
Hiruzen handed him a stack of reports.
It was full of complaints from shinobi who had refused to work with Kakashi. At this point, no team wanted him.
Hiruzen could force a team to take him.
But the old man clearly wanted a Sannin to handle him instead.
Jiraiya thought of Sakumo and sighed. He didn't reject the request immediately.
His eyes drifted across the desk—
And then he noticed another file.
He picked it up.
That kid.
He read the entire thing carefully.
Details about Leo were listed.
A Senju descendant.
An orphan for over a year, withdrawn and strange since his parents died, not fitting in with his classmates.
A wartime orphan.
Jiraiya held the paper quietly.
During the Second Great Ninja War, the Sannin had risen to fame—yet countless shinobi had died under their command.
A hardworking child… with a painful background.
"The third one isn't fixed yet, right? Add him. I'm interested in this kid."
"You know him?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
That child…
Even though he'd graduated early today, Hiruzen barely remembered him—just that his substitution jutsu was excellent and his taijutsu quite good.
"A very hardworking, very smart kid. I think he has potential like Minato."
Jiraiya said.
Hiruzen was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Him, Kakashi… and the last one? You can choose."
"Doesn't matter."
Jiraiya scanned the remaining files and picked the one he liked best.
"Her."
"....."