After Team Tokuma left, several more children of appropriate age arrived.
Most of them were not orphans—at least one parent was still alive—and they came to the dojo accompanied by their families.
As for the remaining children whose parents had both died in war or missions, Minato arranged for Kakashi to bring them over.
At their core, both Makoto and Minato came from civilian backgrounds. So when implementing this pilot program of introducing sage training from childhood, they naturally didn't limit selection to ninja clan children—they also chose half from civilian families.
They shared the same view: ninja clans were the backbone of Konoha, while civilians were its foundation. Neither could be missing.
One of the Hokage's key responsibilities in daily governance was to balance these two forces—keeping them in healthy competition to maintain the village's vitality, while absolutely avoiding the kind of reckless practices of Kirigakure that dragged the village into civil war.
At this point, Kakashi was already close to adulthood. After his birthday this year, he would turn eighteen. Tall and lean, he looked nothing like the dispirited young man in Makoto's memories.
The only difference was that his eyes weren't as lifeless—there was still a trace of motivation left.
He was just one step away from evolving into his "perfect fifty-fifty slacker form"—all he lacked was one of Jiraiya's great literary works.
During the New Year, Jiraiya had returned to Konoha and told Minato that his new book would be published this year. But since Kushina was present, the old pervert didn't dare mention what the book was actually about.
Minato assumed it would be something similar to The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja, and even planned to ask his teacher for signed collector's editions to give to his disciples and the members of the Hokage Guard.
Whether he would still have the courage to hand them out after reading it… that remained to be seen.
Kakashi dumped the kids at the dojo and considered his job done.
"Mm, Makoto, I'll leave them to you."
"Thanks for the trouble, Kakashi-senpai."
Kakashi glanced back down the road with a lifeless, half-lidded stare.
"No… my trouble is coming from behind."
Behind him was a bizarre figure in a green jumpsuit, walking toward the dojo upside down on his hands.
That was his good friend Might Guy, who had spotted Kakashi earlier and followed him all the way.
Guy flipped forward and landed in the square.
"Yo, Kakashi! Let's have a match of youth!"
"Sorry, Guy. I've got a mission soon."
"Then let's compete to see who gets back to Konoha first!"
"I don't have time."
Although Kakashi verbally refused, his body was honest—he had already bolted ahead. Guy immediately chased after him, and the two dashed off toward the Hokage Rock in a blur of sparks and lightning.
Back at the dojo, after greeting Makoto, one of the children's parents—a man with a starfish-shaped hairstyle and an overly extroverted personality—laughed loudly: "Konoha's hero! My kid's in your care from now on!"
"Please rest assured, Kizashi-san."
"Hahaha! Just as polite as the rumors say. Truly worthy of being Konoha's hero. Well then, we're off!"
The man who left with the other parents had that peculiar starfish-like hair—he was Haruno Kizashi, father of Sakura.
A completely ordinary Konoha ninja—so average that, due to a lack of talent, he was even considering retiring to start a business with his wife.
Makoto glanced at the new children and, sure enough, spotted a pink-haired, wide-foreheaded little girl among them.
"Sakura-boy" was covering her face with one hand, her toes curling against the plaza tiles in sheer secondhand embarrassment.
She had been utterly embarrassed by her father's overly familiar personality.
...
After this group of children, four pairs of Byakugan arrived at the dojo.
Neji looked innocent, with a headband wrapped around his forehead to cover the Caged Bird Seal that had been engraved there during his younger sister's birthday last year.
But at this point, he still didn't understand the meaning of the seal, and since his father was still alive, his personality remained normal—not yet cold or distant.
Upon arriving at the dojo, he widened his pale eyes and curiously observed the unfamiliar surroundings.
In contrast, Hinata was much more timid. She kept her head lowered, not daring to look at anyone, her index fingers nervously poking against each other.
Hiashi watched his eldest daughter and sighed inwardly. As the heir of the main branch, her personality was… less than ideal.
Sometimes, he even thought that if Neji had been his child instead, things would have been better.
But fate had other plans. If things really didn't work out, he figured he might as well go home and try again with his wife.
After exchanging a few words with Makoto, the two brothers left.
Following them, Fugaku arrived last with Sasuke.
Honestly, for the strongest ninja clan in the world right now, did they really have to make such a dramatic entrance? Always showing up last?
At this point, Sasuke hadn't yet experienced the "entire clan wiped out" package. His personality wasn't bad, but he still carried the typical Uchiha arrogance.
After his father left, he wanted to blend into the group of children in the square—but didn't know how.
In the end, he simply put on a cold expression and stood quietly at the edge of the plaza.
At such a young age, he had already awakened the "posing style."
But deep down, he was desperately hoping someone would come talk to him—so he'd have an excuse to join them without it seeming like he wanted to.
Makoto casually smacked the back of his head. "Go on, Sasuke. Why are you still standing here?"
"Hmph, I get it, sensei!"
Sasuke snorted at his future teacher, but still obediently ran over to the group of kids his age. Judging by those brisk steps, where was the reluctance he had shown on the surface?
As expected of "Sunny Sasuke"—he always needed a smack before he behaved.
Makoto looked at the noisy, chattering brats on the plaza. Including his original disciple, Tenten, there were twenty in total.
Half came from ninja clans, while the other half were civilians or small families not much different from civilians. This was the first batch of Konoha's future, personally selected by Minato to undergo his natural energy pilot training.
Just as Makoto had expected, it seemed he had gathered the "Konoha Twelve" ahead of time.
But something felt off.
Makoto immediately realized the issue—he had counted Karin among them, making up the twelve, while the original Rock Lee was nowhere to be seen.
...
In the forest outside the dojo, Might Guy, who had just finished his life-and-death showdown with Kakashi, came running back.
"Yo, Makoto, I'm back again!"
As one of Makoto's friends, Guy—like Kakashi and Genma—often came to the dojo to train and was very familiar with the place.
Makoto was actually quite looking forward to seeing what kind of monstrous power this guy would unleash after strengthening his body further—or even after mastering Sage Mode—and then opening the Eight Gates.
"Guy-senpai, who won the match just now?"
"Of course it was… Kakashi. Damn it, that guy started early. No, that's not the point—come with me for a moment."
Hearing this, Makoto activated his active perception and quickly understood Guy's purpose.
When the two arrived at the forest outside the dojo barrier, they saw a young boy with thick black hair, bushy eyebrows, and round eyes training against a large tree.
As he kicked, he muttered to himself, "Five hundred side kicks—if I don't finish them, I'll add another five hundred straight punches!"
At such a young age, he had already learned Guy's self-imposed training method.
Makoto: "Is that your little brother?"
"???" Guy's face filled with question marks. "How could that be? I only noticed him by accident while racing Kakashi just now."
"But he looks a lot like you, and he's even using your self-imposed training method. Or maybe Might Duy didn't tell you something?"
"Impossible. Self-imposed training isn't some secret technique. Back when my dad and I trained all over the village, who knows how many people heard it? Is it strange for someone to imitate it?"
"Then you two really are fated. He'd make a perfect disciple for you."
"Heh, I think so too. But I've got missions to handle, so… Makoto, could you let him train with you for now?"
Makoto didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly appeared in front of the boy.
"Kid, what's your name? What are you doing here?"
The boy first looked at Guy and immediately felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Only then did he answer, "My name is Rock Lee. I'm training here."
"Why are you training here? This isn't a training ground."
"I heard people say the owner of this dojo is a very powerful ninja and would be accepting disciples today. I thought… if I work hard enough, maybe I could join."
Makoto's disciple selection wasn't a secret—everyone in Konoha knew about it. But since the matter was being handled by the Fourth Hokage, people would only bother him, not dare come here directly.
After all, Makoto's image with those two giant forms was still intimidating—no one dared try to force their way in.
Someone like Lee, who came on his own initiative, was the first.
Makoto pointed at Guy. "Kid, you're lucky. This is the dojo's owner."
Lee immediately performed a full prostration. "Please accept me as your disciple! I will definitely train hard!"
Guy laughed happily. "Alright, Rock Lee, was it? My name is Might Guy. From now on, you're my disciple. But unfortunately, I'm not the owner of this dojo—the one beside me is."
"???" The young Lee felt like he had pledged allegiance to the wrong person, but he quickly reacted. "Please accept me as your disciple, both of you!"
Makoto: "Looks slow, but surprisingly quick-witted. Alright, come with me."
"Ah—ha… haha!" Lee was overjoyed. He jumped in place, then immediately bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Guy-sensei! Thank you… this sensei!"
Guy: "Makoto, I'll leave him to you."
"Don't worry. I'll help him build a solid foundation."
For some reason, Makoto felt a small sense of accomplishment welling up inside him.
Now that was better—the Konoha Twelve were finally complete. He could summon…
Nothing.
Wait, something was still off. If Karin was included, didn't that make thirteen?
Whatever. The "Konoha Twelve" having thirteen people was perfectly normal.
Just like how the Four Heavenly Kings sometimes have five members, or the Four Demon Lords end up being five—it's completely reasonable. Absolutely reasonable.
Then, when Makoto brought the excited Lee back into the dojo, he saw that the plaza had already descended into chaos.
The energetic brats had successfully started a full-blown brawl.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---