Konoha.
Neji Hyuga had just returned to Konoha with his teammates Lee and Tenten after completing a mission along with Might Guy.
"To celebrate finishing such a difficult task, I'll treat you both to some barbecue!" Might Guy shouted loudly, looking extremely enthusiastic about treating everyone to dinner.
Lee matched Guy's energy as he yelled enthusiastically, "Yes, Sensei Guy!"
Tenten lowered her head in embarrassment as people around them shot them weird looks. She quietly urged, "You two shouldn't act like this out on the street."
However, Might Guy and Lee completely ignored the stares from others.
"Lee, let's do handstands all the way to the barbecue restaurant!"
"Great idea! I was just thinking the same thing!"
"In that case, after eating our fill, we can do one thousand push-ups and five hundred kicks!"
"No, Sensei Guy! Let's make it one thousand kicks too!"
"That's my boy! Sweat is what makes youth shine! Then let's go, Lee!"
"Right!"
Might Guy and Lee immediately ran toward the barbecue restaurant while doing handstands.
Tenten sighed before saying to Neji standing beside her, "Neji, shall we go too?"
Neji coldly declined, "I'm not going. I have something else to attend to."
Tenten asked curiously, "What's up?"
Without answering, Neji directly used the Shifting Body Technique and vanished.
Tenten sighed again.
Her teammates were either total hotheads or completely aloof.
Ever since Neji joined Guy's team for missions, he barely spoke at all.
Neji arrived at an empty alley.
"Kakashi-senpai."
Kakashi appeared behind Neji and asked, "How is everything? Is it going smoothly?"
Neji nodded, "So far so good. My teammates have been hiding very well without being discovered by the Hyuga Clan."
Kakashi reminded him, "Later, I'll be leading a new team. If you need me urgently, there might be times I can't make it in time. In urgent situations, contact our teacher directly instead of forcing yourself to handle things alone."
Neji agreed, "I understand, Kakashi-senpai. Now I must consider the safety of my companions first, so I won't take unnecessary risks. By the way, your new team should include Naruto, right? Considering the timing, he should be graduating from the Ninja Academy soon too."
Kakashi replied, "The graduation exam at the Ninja Academy will be held in a week. However, whether I'll end up being his team leader depends entirely on Lord Third. But I'll try my best to make sure it happens. Before leaving Konoha, our teacher told me to look after both of you."
He said, "Well then, you take care of yourself. I'm off."
Neji bid farewell, "Alright. See you later, Kakashi-senpai."
Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Neji left the alley and made his way toward the Hyuga Clan Grounds.
Lately, Lord Third Sarutobi checked in on Minato Namikaze almost every day.
Right now, Hiruzen Sarutobi was really torn.
For Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze was a figure of both affection and resentment.
The affection stemmed from Konoha's desperate need for someone as immensely powerful as Minato. Before being sealed away, Minato had been an extremely loyal shinobi—one willing to sacrifice even his wife and child for the village—and a Hokage who gave everything for Konoha.
The resentment came from the threat Minato's return posed to Hiruzen's power. After awakening, would Minato still remain devoted to Konoha, knowing his wife had defected and his son had been mistreated? Hiruzen couldn't say.
Previously, Hiruzen had considered that if Minato remained loyal, he might willingly return the Hokage title to him. Yet, at the same time, he worried deeply.
Hiruzen had to admit—he was getting old. If he stepped back and started pulling strings from behind the scenes, how long could he truly hold onto this authority?
Eventually, that power would slip away entirely.
So for Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze was a complicated matter. He wanted him awake, yet also feared what would happen if he came back into power.
Minato's return carried too many unknowns, and Hiruzen hated unpredictability.
With mixed emotions, Hiruzen returned to the Hokage Tower.
After returning to his office, he received a list. It contained the names of students about to take the Ninja Academy graduation exam.
As the headmaster of the Ninja Academy, Hiruzen reviewed this list every year; it served not only as a class register but also as a ranking of comprehensive academic performance. The names of those excelling academically appeared near the top.
While scanning the list, Hiruzen paused on several names.
The names he paused on were mostly those of children from prominent ninja clans—like Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyuga.
At the very top space of the list sat Sasuke Uchiha's name.
Naruto Uzumaki's name occupied the eighth position.
Since Naruto dared not reveal his full [Wind Breathing All Sword Techniques], and although he was no longer the dead last, he actively avoided drawing attention. So, during every year's graduation exam, he deliberately kept his results hovering around the tenth place.
Tenth place was solidly average—more than enough to pass and graduate without issue.
Hiruzen fell into deep thought, pondering who should lead Team 7 with Naruto, while also considering Sasuke Uchiha.
This decision required careful thought because of Itachi Uchiha behind Sasuke.
Itachi knew far too many of his secrets, and currently assisted in investigating the Akatsuki Organization and the organization associated with Chinya.
Hiruzen planned to place Naruto and Sasuke on the same team.
Keeping them together made it easier to keep an eye on them. As for who should be the third member—anyone would do.
Now, his main dilemma was choosing the appropriate Jonin instructor.
His first choice was his own son, Asuma Sarutobi.
But almost immediately, Asuma was eliminated from consideration.
The reason was Asuma's personality—he acted based purely on personal likes and dislikes.
In other words, Asuma Sarutobi was known to be quite impulsive. From Hiruzen Sarutobi's perspective, the candidate chosen to lead Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki needed to be calm and level-headed, not prone to rash decisions.
At this point, Konoha actually had very few suitable candidates—most Jonin were already leading teams, and not all were available or willing to become Team-Leading Jonin. Only those who had volunteered to serve as Team-Leading Jonin could be assigned Ninja Academy graduates under their command.
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up another list—this one contained the names of those eligible to become Team-Leading Jonin.
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