"Let me introduce my old classmate to you," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said as he stepped forward and stood beside Bai Xing.
Bai Xing kept his usual cold expression and said nothing, quietly listening.
Someone introducing him was great.
After all, the more one spoke, the more chances there were to slip up. If he accidentally revealed something, then the six years of effort he had spent building his persona would all go to waste.
"He grew up in an orphanage. His name is Bai Xing, eighteen years old this year—just recently had his birthday. He isn't picky with food and can eat almost anything. He has completed 1,803 D-rank missions…"
"…"
Bai Xing paused silently, adding in his mind:
Actually, it's 1,804 now.
As expected.
There were always people with status and power who had nothing better to do than secretly investigate him.
The girl Shinnosuke once had a crush on had been obsessively pursuing Bai Xing back then. Since then, Shinnosuke had regarded Bai Xing as his lifelong rival.
With his father being the Hokage and himself a Jonin, looking up someone's records was extremely easy.
Over the years, however, the girl he once admired had become a Chunin and then died a few years ago. He had almost forgotten about Bai Xing entirely.
But when his father mentioned Bai Xing's name again during the team assignments, the long-buried resentment resurfaced.
So he spent the entire night memorizing Bai Xing's records.
Just to seize this opportunity and humiliate him.
After Shinnosuke finished speaking, the three students on the steps wore complicated and shocked expressions.
Is this guy some kind of pervert who likes men?
How does he know Bai Xing so well?!
"Alright," Bai Xing finally said, interrupting their wild thoughts once Shinnosuke seemed tired.
"Thanks for the introduction, Shinnosuke. You can leave now."
He turned to the three students.
"Your turn. Introduce yourselves."
Shinnosuke nodded and was about to jump over the railing to leave the rooftop like a ninja.
Not bad, he thought.
Memorizing that all night finally paid off.
I've finally vented some of that school-day resentment—
Wait.
"Uh… I haven't introduced myself yet."
Just as Uchiha Mikoto was about to speak, Shinnosuke suddenly interrupted her, forcing her to swallow the speech she had prepared.
She stared at his honest-looking yet somewhat handsome face and felt the urge to punch him.
Bai Xing glanced at him.
"But you're not part of Team Eleven. What's the point of introducing yourself?"
"Well… of course there is…" Shinnosuke scratched his head awkwardly.
"We're old classmates, right? Maybe someday we'll end up on a mission together. It's good to know each other in advance."
If I don't show off and slap your face a bit, how can I avenge the hatred of you stealing the girl I liked back then?!
Bai Xing frowned slightly, sighed, and removed his forehead protector to wipe it before putting it back on.
"Jonin Shinnosuke."
"I'm only a Genin. I can't take C-rank or higher missions."
"So…"
He looked at Shinnosuke with a clear you-know-what-I-mean expression.
Shinnosuke really wanted to say that he didn't understand.
But three pairs of eyes were watching him—one of them belonging to an Uchiha clan prodigy.
If rumors spread that he, a Jonin, was bullying an old Genin classmate, his reputation would be ruined.
So Shinnosuke forced a polite smile onto his face.
Even though he was extremely dissatisfied inside, he patted Bai Xing's shoulder—despite Bai Xing being a full head taller.
"It's alright," he said comfortingly.
"I believe one day you'll finally become a Chunin and break the curse of failing the exam six times."
He deliberately emphasized the words six times.
Instead of feeling pleased, Bai Xing suddenly felt the hair on his back stand on end.
"Thank you for the 'blessing.' I hope it comes true as you wish."
"Mm."
Shinnosuke finally felt like he had regained some dignity.
In front of Bai Xing and the three Genin, he used the Body Flicker Technique, something only Jonin could perform proficiently, to show off.
His speed was incredibly fast.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared on a rooftop outside the academy.
My style of showing off is really improving, he thought proudly.
Then a sudden doubt appeared in his mind.
"Huh? 'As I wish'? Did my old classmate get emotional and misspeak after not seeing me for so long?"
"Hahaha—looks like my strength finally crushed the last straw in your heart!"
Chuckling happily to himself, Shinnosuke walked away without looking back.
With that small conflict between old classmates over, it was finally time for the three students to introduce themselves.
"My name is Uchiha Mikoto. I'm eleven years old. My hobby is training with shuriken. My favorite food is the grilled chicken meatballs from the stall run by Uncle Tu in our clan district."
"My dream is to become a powerful Uchiha ninja—"
She paused slightly.
"—and even surpass the strongest Uchiha of the past… our ancestor, Uchiha Madara!"
It was clear that Mikoto was still full of youthful confidence.
Bai Xing nodded slightly, acknowledging her confidence.
But he wasn't very optimistic.
This was a world where bloodlines mattered.
Even though he possessed the Surgery Fruit, his chakra reserves had obvious limits, and he only had a Fire Release chakra nature.
"Next."
"My name is Yakushi Nono. I'm ten years old. My hobby is making handmade flower bouquets."
"I want to become a medical ninja and help people."
"My dream is to open an orphanage, so children without families can still experience the warmth of a home when they're young."
At that moment, Yakushi Nono showed her naturally gentle personality.
Even the proud Uchiha Mikoto unconsciously recalled how her grandfather once told her about her parents, who had died during a mission.
"What a wonderful dream! This is youth!" Might Dai suddenly burst out excitedly.
This rare display of enthusiasm from him was something that modern people might call Asperger-like behavior.
Bai Xing knew Dai had been suppressing his excitement for a long time.
Unlike Might Guy, who would later become a fearless man, Dai already had a wife and therefore behaved somewhat more restrained.
"You're quite a strange guy," Yakushi Nono said.
But she didn't dislike his odd personality, especially since he had affirmed her dream.
"Your turn, Uncle."
"Eh?! I'm only twenty-three! How am I an uncle?"
"I'm ten, she's eleven. What do you think, Uncle?"
"How could this be…"
Might Dai lowered his head gloomily.
But Bai Xing could tell that Dai was actually happy.
His new teammates didn't seem to dislike him.
"My name is Might Dai! I'm… oh, right, twenty-three years old. I'm already married, and my wife is pregnant with our child!"
"When the baby is born, I'll definitely invite you all to come see him!"
"Ahem," Bai Xing interrupted.
"Talk about your dream. Save those things for later."
He could see how excited Dai was about becoming a father.
But according to what he knew, Might Guy didn't seem to have a mother growing up.
Which meant there was a high probability that Dai's wife would die shortly after giving birth.
"Oh! Sorry, I got too excited, Bai Xing."
Dai scratched his head and continued.
"I'm a taijutsu ninja, specializing in hand-to-hand combat. My dream is to develop a technique that allows someone who only knows taijutsu to become a powerful ninja!"
"Very good. Introductions are finished."
"Starting tomorrow, we'll officially begin performing D-rank missions."
"Gather in front of the Hokage Building at 9:00 AM."
"That's all."
After saying this, Bai Xing flipped over the railing and jumped down.
With a graceful landing on the academy training ground below, his perfect chakra control allowed him to fall from several floors without the slightest injury.
Hands in his pockets, he walked toward the village bank.
He still hadn't deposited the 3,000 ryo he earned today.
On the rooftop, a completely confused Uchiha Mikoto blinked.
"Huh?! What about the survival exercise?!"
"As expected… having a Genin teacher is hopeless," Yakushi Nono said with lifeless eyes.
She finally couldn't hold on anymore and felt an urge to close her eyes and jump off the rooftop.
Might Dai scratched his head.
He understood Bai Xing's strength fairly well.
"Actually… Bai Xing's strength is about the same as mine. If we had a survival exercise, he probably couldn't perfectly deal with our attacks."
"So he decided to teach you what he's best at instead."
"That is… his experience from over a thousand D-rank missions."
Uchiha Mikoto pressed a hand to her face and stretched her cheeks in frustration.
"What's so difficult about those low-level missions?"
Dai gave an awkward smile.
His eyes briefly landed on the Uchiha clan crest on Mikoto's clothing.
A trace of envy appeared in his heart.
If I were a genius ninja too…
Then my wife wouldn't have to suffer with me.
The Next Morning
Bai Xing didn't arrive late.
Instead, he reached the front of the Hokage Building half an hour early.
After waiting for twenty minutes, he looked at the watch in his hand.
"A few more minutes."
"If someone is late, as the leader of Team Eleven, I should have the authority to reduce their share, right?"
When completing a D-rank mission alone, a ninja could only receive 40% of the reward.
But when performing D-rank missions as a team, due to the village's policy of training new Genin, the reward share could increase to 60%.
However, the instructor had to give a portion of the reward to the students.
In other words, the teacher often earned less money than when working alone.
On top of that, inexperienced Genin completed D-rank missions very slowly and might even fail.
Failure could mean paying compensation.
During the mission, the instructor also had to accompany, observe, and guide the students.
Overall, compared to being an academy teacher—a peaceful Chunin job with a stable salary—being a team instructor was not a popular position.
A few minutes later, Yakushi Nono and Might Dai arrived one after another with backpacks.
Bai Xing could tell Dai had woken up very early.
There was sweat on his forehead and on his green jumpsuit. He had clearly squeezed in time for training.
But when the clock reached 9:01, Uchiha Mikoto still hadn't appeared.
Bai Xing's expression darkened slightly.
Judging from Mikoto's attitude yesterday, she shouldn't have dared to disrespect her teacher like this on the first day.
"Let's go," he said.
"We'll check the Uchiha clan compound."
As their instructor, he had to understand the situation of his students.
Only then could he properly report back to his superiors.