Early the next morning—
Naruto arrived at the classroom and waited with the rest of his classmates to be assigned to their teams.
“Naruto-kun!”
The moment Hinata spotted Naruto from across the room, she immediately ran over.
Today was one of the happiest days she could remember.
Starting from today, her father would no longer arrange for a bodyguard to follow her around.
And without a bodyguard constantly beside her, no one would be there to report her dates with Naruto to her father.
Naruto affectionately patted Hinata on the head.
“Good morning, Hinata.”
Hinata happily enjoyed his head pats.
Watching the two openly display their affection in front of everyone made quite a few of their classmates envious.
“I really don’t understand why a cute girl like Hinata would like that guy.”
“Seriously! The eldest daughter of the Hyūga clan actually likes a civilian ninja. Why couldn’t that civilian ninja be me? Waaaah~”
…
Naruto and Hinata sat down and quietly waited for their Jōnin instructors to arrive.
Before long, the first Jōnin instructor appeared—
Sarutobi Asuma!
“Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka. Come with me.”
Without wasting any words, Asuma turned around and walked out.
Shikamaru Nara left his seat with his usual indifferent expression.
Chōji Akimichi was still eating snacks.
Only Ino Yamanaka looked utterly devastated.
“Ahhh~ Why do I have to be on a team with those two? I wanted to be with Sasuke!”
“Bleh! Sasuke-kun is mine, Ino-pig!” Sakura immediately mocked her.
“Who are you calling a pig, Forehead?!”
The two bickered endlessly for another moment before Ino hurried after her Jōnin instructor.
One Jōnin after another soon appeared, calling away the newly graduated Genin one team at a time.
As more and more classmates left, Hinata gradually became nervous.
“Naruto-kun, I want to be on the same team as you!”
Hinata tightly hugged Naruto’s right arm.
This girl sure developed quickly.
Naruto wiped away the blood and smiled as he gently stroked Hinata’s hair with his left hand.
“I want to be on the same team as you too.”
Although he said that, Naruto knew perfectly well that it was impossible.
For one thing, Hiashi Hyūga had been unhappy all year about Naruto frequently walking Hinata home.
He might very well have pulled some strings.
More importantly, Naruto’s status as a Jinchūriki alone made it unlikely that he would ever be assigned to Hinata’s team.
If the Nine-Tails suddenly broke through its seal during a mission, who would be able to handle the consequences?
Of course, the current Naruto didn’t actually need to worry about the Nine-Tails breaking free.
The instability caused by its chakra had once interfered with Naruto’s ability to use his strength properly, so his ever-capable System had already solved the problem of controlling the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
As long as Naruto didn’t deliberately release the Nine-Tails himself, it had no chance of escaping.
Before long, Jōnin Yūhi Kurenai entered the classroom.
“Hinata Hyūga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame. Come with me.”
Hearing her name, Hinata’s expression immediately became disappointed.
She looked somewhat aggrieved.
Naruto noticed her sadness and gently patted her back.
“It’s okay. Even if we’re not on the same team, we can still see each other often. I’ll come find you.”
Warmth filled Hinata’s heart when she heard that, and she nodded firmly.
“Mm!”
Naruto watched Hinata leave and sighed inwardly.
The road to being together with Hinata was still a long one.
Naruto’s Jōnin instructor was still Kakashi.
And since that guy loved being late, he was undoubtedly going to be the last instructor to come pick up his Genin.
At some point, Naruto noticed that only he, Sasuke, and Sakura remained in the classroom.
His expression went blank.
“Two huge headaches.”
Naruto had said that aloud rather than thinking it, so both the aloof Sasuke and the impatient Sakura heard him.
Sakura was much more direct.
She stormed over to Naruto and slammed both hands onto his desk.
“Who are you calling a headache?!”
Naruto gave Sakura a flat glance.
He had no desire to argue with this idiotic woman.
“What kind of look is that—”
Sakura was just about to start another argument when Kakashi happened to push open the classroom door.
“Yo. You three arguing?”
Kakashi asked expressionlessly.
All three turned toward him, momentarily forgetting their earlier disagreement.
“Well, whatever. You three, come with me.”
With that, Kakashi turned around and walked out just like the other Jōnin instructors.
Sakura immediately began complaining.
“This guy is terrible! Not only is he late, but he looks completely irresponsible too. We’re seriously unlucky to end up with a Jōnin instructor like him.”
“Heh.”
Naruto let out a quiet sneer.
Sakura immediately turned toward him.
“What are you laughing at?!”
This time, Naruto didn’t remain silent.
With a faint smile, he said, “You’ll find out soon enough just how lucky you are to have this guy as your instructor.”
“After all, Konoha doesn’t have a Jōnin stronger than Kakashi.”
No Jōnin stronger than Kakashi?
Sasuke and Sakura both looked shocked.
Didn’t that mean this perpetually late Jōnin was the strongest Jōnin in Konoha?
Strictly speaking, though, Kakashi could only be considered the strongest in terms of overall ability.
If Guy opened the Seventh Gate, Kakashi without the Mangekyō Sharingan probably wouldn’t be his match.
Of course, Kakashi had one special rule attached to him—
The Fifty-Fifty Rule!
So even if Guy opened all Eight Gates, Naruto still wouldn’t confidently declare—
Guy was guaranteed to win.