As the team assignments concluded, the jōnin inside the Hokage's office gradually departed, preparing to meet the students who would become both their disciples and subordinates that afternoon.
Makoto had already reviewed the files and knew which squad each of them would lead.
Asuma remained unchanged, still serving as the jōnin instructor for the Ino-Shika-Chō trio. The three clans had shared deep ties with the Sarutobi Clan since the Warring States era.
There was also no reason for Minato to reject the Third Hokage's rare suggestion and change the assigned instructor.
However, the squad led by Yūhi Kurenai had become Team 9, because Kurama Yakumo had originally been her student to begin with. In fact, if it had been Team 8 instead, she genuinely would not have known how to teach them.
As for Sai and Shin, both had previously received Root training and had already begun studying the ninjutsu they specialized in.
After leaving Root, Konoha acknowledged that they already possessed a solid foundation and continued providing them with the corresponding ninjutsu scrolls.
The instructor for Team 8 had become Hyūga Tokuma.
This brother of his was an honest man within the clan, but outside of it, he was far more free-spirited. He practically treated Makoto's dōjō like his own home. Whenever he encountered something he didn't understand in training, he would immediately ask his good brother for advice. He lacked neither talent nor diligence.
Perhaps he simply disliked the clan's rotten atmosphere.
Or perhaps, with his good brother, he had found a path leading toward freedom.
In any case, Tokuma was extremely devoted to Natural Energy Training. By now, he had already become one of the Hyūga Clan's top experts. Hyūga Hiashi had personally approached the Fourth Hokage and requested that Tokuma be assigned as his daughter's jōnin instructor.
Additionally, Team 8's composition was the same as Tokuma's old squad, so he also knew how to teach Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino.
Thanks to Meko and Muta, he understood quite a bit about the Inuzuka and Aburame clans anyway. And if all else failed, he could always shut the door and unleash his old teammates.
Finally, the remaining Team 7 naturally ended up under Higashino Makoto.
As for Hatake Kakashi? Half his ass was already planted in the position of ANBU Commander, loyally working himself to the bone for his teacher. Where would he find the time to babysit children?
Over the years, the ANBU had always been led by Gekkō Kumomi, who commanded many powerful shinobi under him. Kakashi, Shisui, Itachi, as well as Yamato, Hayate, and the others, had all grown into figures capable of standing on their own.
But over the past two years, after seeing his old friends Higashino Jirō and Uzuki Yūya gradually shift their focus toward natural energy training, how could Gekkō Kumomi possibly sit still?
He had already begun grooming Kakashi as his successor, planning to toss down the bucket and run away once the timing was right.
In fact, most of the ANBU's work was already being arranged by Kakashi now.
Inside the Hokage's office, only Higashino Makoto and Namikaze Minato remained.
Minato smiled.
"Makoto, I'll be entrusting Naruto to you."
"Not a problem. As long as you're not afraid I'll mess him up."
"Ahahaha, not at all, not at all. I have faith in both you and Naruto. It's just a shame Naruto doesn't have enough talent for the Flying Thunder God Technique. Reaching our level with it will probably be very difficult for him."
"It's fine if he can't learn it for now. Once his strength reaches a certain level later on, many techniques will become much easier to master."
"That's exactly why I'm handing him over to you. But Makoto, you can't play favorites. Naruto has me and Kushina, and Sasuke has the Uchiha Clan's inheritance. So you'll need to put extra care into Haruno Sakura."
Makoto replied, "You didn't even need to say that. She's already a student at my dōjō anyway. Though I'm curious—why did you arrange for her to join Team 7?"
Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"Well... sometimes that child reminds me of Kushina, so I just... ahahaha."
Makoto sighed.
"What heartfelt fatherly intentions. I just hope Kushina-sensei doesn't beat you up after finding out. She's always been quite fond of Karin, you know."
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid her hopes are doomed. Karin grew up together with Naruto and completely sees him as her younger brother."
"Ah, so it's the childhood-friends-to-sibling-zone route... Wait, does that make it even more exciting?"
Minato: "..."
For the first time, he suddenly felt that handing his son over to Makoto might have been a mistake.
...
After lunch, inside the ninja academy classroom, the number of students rapidly decreased as each squad was led away by their assigned jōnin instructor.
As they left the classroom, quite a few girls seemed to have coordinated beforehand, each one fiercely glaring at Haruno Sakura.
The little pink-haired girl proudly puffed out her modestly developed chest without the slightest fear, carrying herself with the attitude of, "If you've got the guts, then come beat me to death."
As the victor, she feared no challenge.
In the end, only the three members of Team 7 remained inside the classroom, and the atmosphere gradually began turning strange.
Sasuke and Naruto sat quietly in their seats, both seemingly very patient.
Sakura paced back and forth, secretly guessing who their jōnin instructor would be.
Finally, she turned toward the boy of her dreams.
"Hey, Sasuke, aren't you curious about who our instructor is going to be?"
Sasuke did not ignore her. After all, they had grown up together at the dōjō since childhood.
"It doesn't matter. I only hope they aren't too weak."
Naruto had two strands of blond hair hanging beside his ears, a hairstyle similar to his father's. People even called him Konoha's Little Fourth.
Unlike in the original timeline, he was not loud and hyperactive. On the contrary, he was rather calm.
"Sasuke, are you dreaming? That's one of Konoha's jōnin. How could they possibly be weak?"
"Hmph, hard to say. If they can't even beat me, then they're not qualified to lead Team 7."
"Oh? So you think you already have jōnin-level strength? How arrogant. As expected of an Uchiha."
"Bastard Naruto, are you looking down on the Uchiha Clan?"
"No. I'm just looking down on you specifically."
Sasuke suddenly laughed.
"Heh, looking down on me? In our matches, you're the one who's lost more often."
Sakura immediately chimed in to support him.
"Exactly! Naruto, talk after you actually beat Sasuke first."
Naruto: "..."
He secretly clenched his fists, swearing to train even harder in the future. If he could not even handle Sasuke, then how was he supposed to surpass his Hokage father one day?
The two locked eyes once more, sparks practically crackling through the air.
Sakura suddenly felt like maybe she should not even be here.
But there was no way she would back down.
She immediately joined Sasuke in launching murderous glares at Naruto together.
Sakura was a devoted girl. She was not like those fickle girls constantly wavering between Naruto and Sasuke.
Her heart belonged solely to Sasuke.
That said, she did not dislike Naruto. She just had issues with how he was always picking fights with Sasuke.
Silence once again settled over the classroom.
Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other for a long time. Perhaps realizing the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, the two simultaneously let out a "hmph" and turned their heads in opposite directions.
Sakura felt like the awkward atmosphere was driving her insane, and she began viciously cursing that damned jōnin instructor in her heart for still not showing up.
'Damn it. If you're actually weak—so weak that even Sasuke can beat you—I'm definitely going to stomp you a few times too for wasting my precious time.'
At that moment, an unfamiliar jōnin pushed open the classroom door.
"I feel like I just heard someone complaining about me in their heart."
Sakura immediately shook her head frantically.
"No, no, how could that be? Ahaha... um, are you our jōnin instructor?"
"Yep, that's me."
After speaking, the unfamiliar jōnin turned and glanced toward the upper corner of the classroom's sliding door.
Sakura blinked.
"Sensei, what are you looking at?"
"I'm checking whether something familiar might fall from up there. Sadly, nothing did. Sigh... my poor precious memories."
Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura: This teacher is kind of weird. He doesn't seem mentally stable.
Sakura hurriedly dragged the increasingly bizarre conversation back on track.
"Um, Sensei, now that you're finally here, we can start doing missions, right?"
"Missions? What missions?"
"Well, we already graduated and became genin, and you're our jōnin instructor, so shouldn't you be taking us on missions now?"
"Haruno Sakura, I know you're anxious, but calm down a little. We haven't even introduced ourselves or gotten to know each other yet."
Sakura immediately replied, "Then let's hurry up and start introducing ourselves."
The unfamiliar jōnin tilted his head.
"Introductions? What introductions? Let me ask you something. As shinobi, what's the most important thing before taking action?"
Sakura: "..."
Inner Sakura: This bastard is so annoying! Why won't he follow the normal script?!
Sasuke and Naruto answered at the same time.
"Intelligence."
"Correct~ As your jōnin instructor, I thoroughly investigated your backgrounds beforehand. But what about you three? You didn't even bother conducting any prior investigation.
"Because you didn't investigate, you don't even know who I am. As shinobi, making such a huge mistake means you're completely unqualified to graduate.
"Sorry, but according to my standards, I can't approve your graduation. Go back to the academy and repeat another year."
Sakura: "..."
It was over.
The victory she had only just obtained was gone.
She would no longer be able to spend every day together with Sasuke.
From this day onward, her life would sink into endless darkness.
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