Rooftop of the Ninja Academy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at the edge of the rooftop, leaning on his staff with both hands, his gaze falling on the street below.
Kakashi stood two steps to his side, one hand in his pocket, a black mask covering half his face, revealing only a lazy eye.
Earlier, the two of them had respectively visited the homes of Team 7’s three members to check on some situations, and had just arrived here.
After the wind blew for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke first.
“What do you think of this trio?”
Kakashi pinched his chin, the eye exposed outside narrowing slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said: “It’s a bit difficult.”
“Oh?”
“A Nine-Tails Jinchuriki plus an orphan of the Uchiha, and also a…
utterly ordinary girl.”
Kakashi’s tone could not be said to be complaining, more like confusion: “This lineup, someone not knowing would think it’s deliberately giving me a hard time.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled and exhaled a puff of smoke: “This roster is the conclusion I reached after careful consideration.”
“Although Sakura is not prominent in other aspects, her theoretical knowledge far surpasses the other two.”
“That is indeed true.”
Kakashi nodded, his gaze falling on the distant Hokage Monument: “I know her written test scores; she has always been ranked first.”
The wind blew for another while, and Kakashi pulled his hand out of his pocket, turning around to prepare to go downstairs: “I understand, I will do my best to guide these three students well.”
“Kakashi.”
This call was very soft; Kakashi’s footsteps stopped, and he turned his head sideways.
Hiruzen Sarutobi removed the pipe from his mouth, the smile on his face retracting a bit, and his tone also deepened: “You need to pay more attention and keep an eye on Naruto.”
“Hm?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused: “Three days ago, Naruto’s personality underwent some changes.”
“This change was very sudden, and also very obvious.”
“In addition…
you should have also heard about the matter of him defeating Mizuki.”
“Hm, what is it?”
Kakashi responded, that matter he just regarded as Mizuki being careless.
Hiruzen Sarutobi continued: “According to Anbu’s intelligence, Naruto has never contacted strangers, and no suspicious people have appeared around him.”
“Yet he learned a strange Ninjutsu.”
“No, it can’t even be determined whether it is Ninjutsu; he can conjure golden ropes out of thin air and tie Mizuki up.”
Kakashi pinched his chin, his eyebrows twitching slightly, and he retorted: “Could it be a trump card left behind by Minato-sensei?”
“For instance, a secret technique of the Uzumaki Clan?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent for a few seconds, raising his eyes to look at the distant rock wall carved with the portraits of past Hokage, his tone carrying something indescribable: “It’s not entirely impossible.”
“I have already handed the Flying Thunder God Technique over to him.”
“Although the time to master it might still take a long time…
regardless, I need you to keep a closer eye on him.”
Kakashi’s expression finally changed, and then he nodded.
“Understood.”
After saying these two words, he did not ask any more questions, turned around, and jumped down from the edge of the rooftop.
…
Naruto sat by the window, flipping through the scroll recording the Flying Thunder God formula in his hand, occasionally raising his head to glance outside the window.
Sasuke sat by the wall, arms folded across his chest, eyes closed.
Sakura sat next to Sasuke, her hands resting on the desk, looking at the clock on the wall for a moment, then looking at the doorway.
After a few more minutes, the door was pushed open.
A white-haired man leaned against the doorframe with a casual demeanor.
He wore a dark green Jonin vest, a mask covering half his face, a forehead protector worn slanted to cover his left eye, and the exposed eye carried a lazy smile.
He scanned the classroom, saw the three students, as if confirming something, and then slowly walked to the front of the podium, leaning against the edge of the podium.
“Sorry.”
“I got lost on the path of life, so I’m late.”
Naruto raised his head to glance at him, then dropped his gaze back to the scroll.
Sasuke opened his eyes.
Sakura’s expression on her face changed from expectation to disappointment; no matter how one looked at it, this teacher did not look like a reliable Ninja.
Kakashi didn’t mind the reaction of the three little ones, straightening up from the podium: “Anyway, right here, everyone let’s do a self-introduction first.”
“Shouldn’t you, the teacher, go first?”
Sakura spoke first, her tone carrying a bit of undisguised resentment.
After all, she had waited for almost an hour.
Hearing these words, Kakashi’s eyes curved slightly, and he nodded readily: “Alright then.”
“My name is Kakashi Hatake, and I don’t have any particular likes or dislikes.”
“Speaking of dreams…
it seems there’s nothing much, as for hobbies, there are quite a few.”
The classroom fell silent for two seconds.
Sakura’s mouth twitched, she turned her head to look in the direction of Sasuke and Naruto, and lowered her voice to say: “In the end, aside from his name, he didn’t say anything at all.”
Sasuke didn’t reply, but his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Naruto closed the scroll, looking toward the podium, his face expressionless, but the meaning in his eyes was similar to Sakura’s.
The personality of this guidance Jonin felt somewhat strange.
As if he hadn’t heard Sakura’s complaint, Kakashi raised a hand and pointed at her: “Then let’s start with this girl.”
Sakura was stunned, not expecting to be called upon first, opened her mouth, and after organizing her words, said: “My name is Sakura Haruno.”
“If it’s about what I like, it’s ‘a life of love forever’.”
As she reached the end, her voice drifted a bit, she turned her head to glance at Sasuke beside her, and her ears began to turn red: “As for my dream…
rather than calling it a dream, it’s the person I like.”
After finishing these words, she slumped onto the desk, burying her face in her arms.
The classroom quieted down.
Kakashi sighed softly, moving his gaze away from her to the other side: “Next.”
Sasuke braced his hands on the desk, his body leaning forward slightly, his voice icy: “My name is Sasuke Uchiha.”
“Rather than a dream, it is ambition.”
“I will revive the Uchiha Clan…
and then, kill that man.”
The eye Kakashi had exposed narrowed slightly.
As expected.
Come to think of it, in memories from long ago, both he and Sasuke were equally lonely existences.
But now it was different.
He had a master like family, and a home called the Magic Association.
“It’s your turn.”
Kakashi’s voice woke Naruto from his deep thoughts.
Naruto raised his head and spoke in a calm tone: “My name is Naruto Uzumaki.”
“As for my dream…
it is to protect the people and home I cherish, and I want to stay by their sides for a lifetime.”
As his voice fell.
Kakashi looked at the blond teenager before him, the laziness in his gaze fading a bit, replaced by a softer layer.
He couldn’t tell what kind of feeling that was, but it was completely different from the strangeness described by the Third Hokage.
Hokage-sama might have been overthinking.
“Since the introductions are all done.”
Kakashi straightened his body, hands shoved into his pockets, his tone reverting to that lazy tune: “Tomorrow morning at five, gather at Training Ground 3.”
“We will conduct a wilderness survival drill.”
Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed: “A drill?
We’ve already done that many times at the academy, shouldn’t we execute missions first?”
Kakashi extended his right hand, using his palm to cover the lower half of his face, his exposed eye deliberately lowering its angle, gaze leaking out from between his fingers, and his voice also sank: “Heh heh, this drill is no ordinary one.”
“This is a traditional drill handed down in Konoha, with a passing rate of only one-third.”
“If you fail, you will have to return to the Ninja Academy and repeat a grade.”
Sakura was completely stunned, her face full of tension and unease.
She had finally graduated, and was even in the same group as Sasuke, if she went back to the academy…
Although Sasuke still maintained calmness on the surface, his heart was actually somewhat shaken.
Naruto sat in his seat, his expression unchanged.
Kakashi kept his gaze on Naruto’s calm face, and seeing that the atmosphere was about right, he added another sentence: “Remember, do not eat breakfast.”
His tone pressed even lower, as if he were instructing some life-or-death details.
“You’ll vomit.”
Having said that, without waiting for anyone to speak, he turned around, pushed open the classroom door, and walked out.
The classroom fell silent for a moment.
Sakura broke the silence first, her voice a bit faint: “What the…
one-third…
isn’t this way too exaggerated?”
Sasuke didn’t speak.
Naruto sat by the window without moving, his fingers tapping gently on the desk twice.
A passing rate of one-third.
It sounded quite scary indeed.
But compared to how to pass tomorrow’s drill, he cared more about another matter.
That Kakashi-sensei, when hearing him say ‘protect the people I cherish’, the slight change that flashed through his eyes.
Naruto could feel that he knew his father.