It was time for team assignments.
Inside the Ninja Academy classroom, students were gradually called away by their assigned squad leaders.
"Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara, and Uchiha Obito, I am your Jonin instructor. Please come with me." A blond-haired man with a sun-like smile walked into the classroom.
This was the future Fourth Hokage of Konoha Village. Look at his irresistible charm; powerful yet not arrogant, humble yet not appearing weak or easily bullied.
No wonder Orochimaru lost to him. Orochimaru looked gloomy and indifferent, and in terms of appearance and demeanor alone, he was far outmatched.
Compared to other Shinobi Villages, Konoha Village's leader, the Hokage, not only needed sufficient strength but also charisma.
"What, Kakashi, I'm not dreaming, am I? Our teacher is the Yellow Flash!" Obito pinched his face hard, realizing he wasn't dreaming.
"Don't shout. Let's go." Kakashi, feigning coolness, called out to Obito. He didn't want to leave Minato Namikaze with a reckless impression.
After Rin and Mitsuki briefly said goodbye, the group followed Minato Namikaze and left.
Watching them leave, Mitsuki also started to wonder what kind of person his own instructor would be.
His teammate was Uchiha Ruri. The instructor for the top two students of the year should at least be a Jonin, right?
"Shimizu Mitsuki, Uchiha Ruri, come with me." Under Mitsuki's gaze, a man with a long ponytail and wearing a Ninja vest walked into the classroom.
After greeting Yuhi and Anko, Mitsuki also left the classroom.
...At a clearing in a forest within the Village.
"I am Inoichi Yamanaka, your instructor, and the captain of Inoichi Squad. Heiji, come and say hello to your teammates." After Inoichi Yamanaka introduced himself, he spoke to the other member of the squad waiting there.
This member was a boy of about twelve or thirteen, with long, straight black hair and white eyes. Clearly, he was a Ninja from the Hyuga Clan.
"My name is Hyuga Heiji." Hyuga Heiji's expression was very cold. It was unclear if he was stoic like Kakashi or if there was some other reason.
"My name is Shimizu Mitsuki. Please take care of me in the future." Mitsuki considered himself a very polite person, and in the greater Ninja World, those who were overly enthusiastic upon meeting were often more dangerous.
"I am Uchiha Ruri. I hope this squad won't be assigned any boring missions." Faced with the grim-faced Hyuga Clan member, Uchiha Ruri naturally didn't show a pleasant expression either.
"Haha, don't mind Heiji; he's just not good at expressing himself. And he's only two years older than you two, so it's fine to consider you three as peers." Inoichi Yamanaka, seeing the atmosphere grow cold, quickly smoothed things over.
Leading a team isn't easy. I hope these little ones can build bonds during missions, Teacher Haiyi sighed internally.
"You all seem very energetic. Let's chat more, like what you're good at, and what your current goals are. For example, I'm good at Perception Ninjutsu, and my current goal is to help the Village win this war as quickly as possible and bring about peace. Heiji, you go next." Teacher Haiyi clapped his hands.
"As you can see, I am from the Hyuga Clan. I specialize in Taijutsu and Perception. As for my goal, it's currently to survive this war."
Hyuga Heiji's introduction was not beyond Mitsuki's expectation. Everyone in the Ninja World knew what the Hyuga Clan specialized in, just like the Uchiha's Genjutsu and Fire Release.
"I specialize in the Uchiha Clan's Genjutsu and Fire Release. My current goal is to improve my strength. Besides that, I have no other thoughts." Uchiha Ruri tilted her head slightly, her expression proud.
This woman, ever since she learned she would be going to the battlefield after the graduation exam, seemed quite... happy?
Mitsuki couldn't quite understand the mindset of a battle maniac like Uchiha Ruri. She couldn't possibly be looking forward to war, could she? Even the most hawkish members of the Uchiha didn't like war.
If that were truly the case, then Uchiha Ruri was born in the wrong era. If she had been there when Madara left Konoha, she definitely wouldn't have let Madara leave alone.
"I specialize in Lightning Release, Earth Release, and Perception Ninjutsu. My goal, for now, is also to survive this war."
And then settle accounts with Hidden Mist. He didn't say that part out loud; after all, it would be too fantastical for a newly graduated Ninja Academy student to say he was going to settle accounts with one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
"Oh, I see you're carrying a short sword. I thought you specialized in Kenjutsu?" Teacher Haiyi pointed at the sword hanging at Mitsuki's lower back.
"This sword," Mitsuki said as he drew it. "It's called kiriichimonji. It was a birthday gift from my father and his teammates."
When Mitsuki said "teammates," he couldn't help but glance at Ruri next to him.
Uchiha Ruri looked at Mitsuki strangely. Why was he looking at her when introducing his sword?
It seemed there wasn't much communication between Uchiha En and Uchiha Ruri, father and daughter.
Mitsuki had no intention of intervening in other people's family disputes for now. His main focus currently was the war at hand.
"That's a beautiful sword." Teacher Haiyi praised it, feeling a bit awkward internally.
After learning the team assignments, he had proactively looked into Mitsuki and Ruri's information and naturally knew that Mitsuki's parents had died in the war.
He didn't want to continue discussing that topic.
Heiji, standing nearby, felt he should say something to join in and was about to praise Mitsuki's sword as well.
But Teacher Haiyi quickly interjected, changing the subject: "Now that everyone seems familiar, how about we all go eat some ramen? My treat."
"Sounds good."
"Alright."
"I'll pass. Since there's nothing else, I need to go back and train." Uchiha Ruri didn't want to waste time on pointless things.
"Ah, this is a bit troublesome." Teacher Haiyi looked a little troubled.
"Ruri, let's go together. If squad members aren't familiar enough with each other, their coordination won't be good, and it might affect mission efficiency in the future." Mitsuki, having been classmates with Ruri for so many years, had a specific way of talking to her.
Uchiha Ruri imagined a future where poor coordination constantly slowed down mission progress.
She looked at Mitsuki, then quickly turned her gaze away, reluctantly saying: "...Fine, if it might affect mission efficiency, then there's no choice. Let's go quickly."
On the way to the ramen shop, Haiyi secretly gave Mitsuki a thumbs-up from behind.
"Thumbs up.jpg"
"By the way, Teacher Haiyi."
"Yes, what is it, Mitsuki?"
"I heard that newly formed squads usually have some kind of test from their captain."
"Oh, that. There's no need for that. You and Ruri are the top two graduates of this class. If you two aren't qualified, then all the graduates this year would have to repeat the Ninja Academy, haha."
"I see."
...After eating ramen.
Teacher Haiyi instructed the three youngsters.
"Inoichi Squad, listen up. After you return today, prepare your gear. Tomorrow morning at 7 AM, gather at the Village gate. We have a mission to escort supplies to the Sunagakure front line in the Land of Rivers. I will explain the specific mission details to you on the way tomorrow. Any questions?"
"No."
"Very good. Inoichi Squad, dismissed."
..."Dismissed so quickly." After being dismissed, Mitsuki strolled through the streets of Konoha.
He wondered what was happening with Rin's team. Given Minato's personality, he wouldn't make the three of them fight for bells, would he?
Should he use Six Eyes to look? No, he decided against it; he'd feel like a pervert. Mitsuki internally rejected the idea.
"Well then, I'll go practice Ninjutsu." Feeling that he had nothing to pack even if he went home, Mitsuki decided to go to his and Rin's secret training ground to continue researching Ninjutsu.