Hokage's Office.
After finalizing the arrangement of ninja teams and their jonin instructors, Sarutobi Hiruzen dismissed Namikaze Minato, Yuhi Shizuka, and others.
Once everyone had left, Hiruzen sat quietly puffing on his pipe.
Truthfully, today's performance by Uchiha Mirai had surprised him slightly.
Many people believed Mirai had barely won, but Hiruzen knew that in both swordsmanship and ninjutsu, Kakashi Hatake had been completely outmatched by Uchiha Mirai.
In other words...
Mirai's strength had now surpassed Kakashi Hatake comprehensively.
Such a display reminded him of his late teammate from years ago—Uchiha Kagami.
That man too had been exceptionally brilliant, suddenly emerging with extraordinary talent, and was specially accepted by their teacher into the personal guard unit (elite ninja squad).
Because of that alone, the Uchiha Clan, which had gradually grown resentful toward the Hokage lineage, remained peaceful for quite some time.
Perhaps...
He should follow his teacher's example and train Mirai as a future elite bodyguard unit member.
Of course, this would depend on whether the boy could endure his trials.
"Hiruzen!"
"I want Uchiha Mirai placed under Root."
The office door slammed open as Danzo Shimura barged in without ceremony.
Hiruzen frowned. "Danzo, I've told you many times—knock before entering!"
Facing Hiruzen's reprimand, Danzo merely shrugged indifferently. "Hmph! If you spent less time peeking with your crystal ball, you wouldn't need to make up such rules."
His words turned Hiruzen's face dark with anger.
Slander!
Blatant slander!
"Of this year's new genin recruits, I only want Uchiha Mirai."
Danzo hadn't forgotten his original purpose here and repeated his demand.
"No. I have other plans for Uchiha Mirai."
Hiruzen firmly rejected Danzo's suggestion.
"You saw Mirai's performance yourself—he defeated Kakashi, a dangerous prodigy. Only within my Root is he safest."
"Do you really want another Madara Uchiha appearing in the village?"
Danzo added coldly.
"Danzo, your hostility toward the Uchiha is too extreme," Hiruzen replied calmly.
"The dangerously suspicious Uchiha..." Danzo scoffed at Hiruzen's rebuttal. "This was our teacher's own teaching back then!"
"Alas… Times are changing," Hiruzen sighed again. "Nowadays, the ninja world is growing increasingly unstable. If we keep singling out the Uchiha Clan like this, it could spark serious internal conflict within the village."
"Once other ninja villages seize this opportunity to wage war on the village, Konoha is likely to fall apart."
The decline of the Senju Clan, Tsunade's departure, Jiraiya's journey abroad, Sakumo Hatake's suicide...
At present, Konoha no longer possesses the absolute power needed to deter rival villages.
"At a time like this, adopting a conciliatory policy toward the Uchiha Clan is the most prudent course of action. That was also the path our teacher chose back then."
Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's explanation, Danzo Shimura showed no reaction: "The reason our village has reached this state is entirely because of your incompetence."
"Hiruzen, you should take responsibility and resign from the Hokage position!"
"Enough!" Seeing Danzo directly target himself, Hiruzen raised his voice in rebuke. "Danzo, my orders are what you will follow!"
"Hmph! You will regret this."
"Remember, I am still the Hokage!"
Bang!
A loud noise echoed through the room as Danzo left, the office door blocking his retreating figure.
"What an annoying bastard."
Hiruzen sighed helplessly, rubbing his temples.
He had naturally considered what Danzo said, but any genius needs a long period of time to grow into a true powerhouse.
Even Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha weren't exceptions in those days.
All the village's power was under his control, and he seriously doubted that even someone like Mirai Uchiha could cause much trouble.
If things ever got out of hand, it would be easy enough to deal with him then!
...
The next day.
Ninja Academy.
A group of young boys and girls who had just become genin sat in the classroom, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation.
In a moment, they would be assigned to their ninja teams.
Unless something unexpected happened, these teammates would fight side by side with them for a long time to come.
Everyone was guessing who they'd be assigned to a team with.
"Obito, who do you want to be on your team with?" Rin Nohara asked, smiling at Obito Uchiha.
Of course it would be you!
Obito shouted inwardly, but when the words reached his mouth, they came out differently: "Anyone is fine, just not those two guys—Mirai Uchiha or Kakashi Hatake."
"Eh? But Mirai and Kakashi are both excellent ninja. If we were teamed up with them, wouldn't that feel pretty reassuring?"
Hearing Rin's words, Obito let out an unhappy humph and felt even more irritated with Mirai and Kakashi than before.
In the back row, Kurenai Yuhi nudged Mirai Uchiha's arm: "Mirai, do you want to know who you're going to be assigned to a team with?"
Mirai Uchiha pretended to ponder for a moment before replying, "Probably with you."
"Eh? How did you know?"
"Kurenai, you really want to be on the same team as me, don't you?" Kurenai Yuhi asked excitedly.
"Well...not exactly," Mirai Uchiha replied while stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I heard your father is one of our supervising Jōnin this time."
"You must've begged him to put us on the same team, right?"
Upon hearing Mirai's analysis, Kurenai's face immediately flushed red. "Stop being so conceited! I would never do something like that!"
"I just happened to hear about the team members from my father beforehand."
"Cooking for my father, washing his clothes, cleaning around the house...there's no way I'd do all these chores just for you."
"So...even if we end up on the same team later, don't get any funny ideas!"
Oh my gosh~
You're basically giving yourself away right now.
Looking at the shy and stubborn Kurenai, a slight smile appeared on Mirai Uchiha's face.
She's definitely got major tsundere vibes going on.
Awesome!
Just then, Instructor Kunayama entered the classroom followed by many ninja filing in one by one.
Among them were Shizuka Yuhi and Minato Namikaze.
"Quiet down everyone! The village has arranged many excellent Supervising Jōnin for you. When your names are called, just follow your respective Supervising Jōnin."
As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom became completely silent.
"Mirai Uchiha, Kurenai Yuhi, and Asuma Sarutobi!"
"Obito Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, and Rin Nohara!"
"Genma Shiranami, Ebisu, and Might Guy!"
"..."
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