"Alright then, if that's the case, my mission is complete. It's time for me to leave." Kakashi said comfortably while stretching his arms.
Right after, he stood up from the tree branch and disappeared into the woods with just a few jumps.
Shiki watched Kakashi vanish into the distance, wondering when he would ever become as powerful as him.
By that time, he thought, many of his responsibilities would probably also be fulfilled.
"Forget it. It's already late. I should head back to sleep too."
Shiki yawned, realizing how late it was, and then left the place as well.
The next time Shiki saw Naruto was in the Ninja Academy classroom.
Compared to before, it looked like there was some kind of sparkle in Naruto's eyes.
"Didn't he fail the graduation exam?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised to see Naruto here.
But the silver forehead protector on Naruto's head clearly showed otherwise.
Iruka stood at the front of the class, looking like he hadn't been hurt at all two days ago. He still seemed passionate and energetic, naturally improving everyone's mood.
"From today onward, you officially become independent ninjas."
"But you're still newbies among genin."
After skipping through some lengthy speeches, finally came the key part—team assignments.
There were no unusual occurrences during grouping—Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke formed one team. Others also followed standard arrangements.
One by one, names were announced, causing quite a stir in the classroom. Yet Shiki hadn't heard his own name being called for a long time.
However, Shiki wasn't anxious at all—he simply continued waiting until finally his name was mentioned last.
"Team Eleven: Shiki Uzumaki, Yuuma Akimoto, and Seiji Ito!"
What?
Shiki felt shocked.
Shouldn't teams only include members from the same class? That way training could begin earlier, minimizing adaptation time and ensuring smoother completion of future missions together.
Though Yuuma Akimoto was indeed one of the people he knew best, under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have wanted her on his team—he valued their sibling-like bond too much.
He disliked Yuuma's clinginess, but truthfully speaking, he hated even more seeing her cry or suffer bullying.
Yet knowing the storyline, could things really proceed smoothly completing each minor task?
Perhaps they'd start off doing small tasks together to build rapport, but eventually face much tougher challenges.
Having such a fragile girl like Yuuma always trailing behind him really didn't seem suitable.
Thinking this, Shiki quickly raised his hand.
"Iruka-sensei, aren't students from different classes assigned to separate teams?"
Shiki didn't notice, standing near the window, a pair of gentle eyes dimmed slightly again.
Brother Shiki really does hate me...
Standing silently behind Yuuma, Seiji Ito resembled a quiet samurai. In fact, he didn't particularly care whether he ended up on the same team as Shiki Uzumaki.
In Yuuma Akimoto's class, upon hearing about being grouped with Shiki Uzumaki, she happily ran to the classroom she often visited.
Hearing Shiki Uzumaki's words now, he couldn't quite figure out how to respond—words had never been his strong suit.
Iruka set the list down. "Well, since our class ended up with one extra student, someone had to be paired with a student from another group. Besides, aren't you close with Yuuma?"
"But—" Shiki tried to argue.
Iruka snapped sternly, "No buts! The arrangement is final and won't change for anyone!"
Actually, this was all according to The Third's plan, similar to how Naruto's team had been arranged. At this moment though, Iruka would never reveal that.
Seeing Shiki no longer objecting, Iruka nodded in satisfaction.
"This afternoon," he announced, "I will introduce you to your jonin instructor. You're dismissed until then."
As soon as dismissal was announced, the kids quickly dispersed in all directions.
Shiki tidied up his things as well, picking up the two medical books on his desk.
By the time afternoon came, he definitely had no interest in taking those two medical books home.
As he stepped through the doorway, a flash of sword light appeared.
Shiki immediately jumped back; the books in his hands—though not actual weapons—were thrown like shuriken.
Considering the force behind it, the attack actually wasn't weak at all.
However, the blade approached far too swiftly and cleanly, turning the books into flying paper scraps.
Was this some sort of 'post-graduation book tearing' ritual like back home?
But those two books were still useful to him. Did that mean he'd have to head to the bookstore later and buy new copies now?
Shiki allowed his imagination to run wild for a moment, thinking up self-deprecating jokes—even these situations were great for keeping one's mind healthy.
Yet suddenly narrowing his eyes, Shiki noticed—
Standing right before him was Seiji Ito, sword raised high. Under the blazing sunlight, the silver gleam of his blade was particularly dazzling.
At this point, Shiki expected Seiji Ito to say something.
Maybe something cliché like: "Shiki, I challenge you for Yuuma's sake!"
Or maybe something generous and friendly like: "Sorry, I thought this book looked too old, so I helped you toss it away. Let's go to the bookstore later and get fresh copies."
Of course, both these lines existed solely within Shiki's dull imagination.
Seiji Ito simply remained his usual quiet self, saying absolutely nothing.
He remained perfectly still as the paper fluttered down, not even brushing off the pieces that landed awkwardly on his head.
Just as Shiki was about to ask something, suddenly Seiji, much like any traditional old samurai, slowly sheathed his sword.
Puzzled by his intent, Shiki wondered whether this was some obscure custom unique to Konoha that he'd never heard of before.
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