Little Butterfly, Flap Flap

Sitting in the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage peered at Naruto's class while rubbing his temples in frustration.

To satisfy the Hyuga Clan's demands, Hinata's teammates could not be ordinary civilian ninja, and her assigned Jonin had to be one of the strongest Jonin.

There were currently only three people who met both conditions and still had time to lead Genin: Kakashi, Asuma, and Might Guy.

There was no need to consider that one-track-minded Might Guy. Though he was a taijutsu specialist, he belonged to the Steel Fist school, which differed greatly from the Gentle Fist, and he could not offer Hinata much guidance.

Asuma had to lead the Ino-Shika-Cho combination; the Third had arranged that long ago.

Whether there was a reconnaissance team or not did not matter, but the Ino-Shika-Cho combination absolutely could not be separated.

So... Kakashi was currently the most suitable choice.

And Kakashi was likely the person Hyuga Hiashi had his eye on as well.

Kakashi had only just been transferred out of the Anbu when the Third arranged for him to lead rookies, and Hyuga Hiashi immediately approached the Third with his request.

Not only was Kakashi powerful, he was also the Fourth Hokage's disciple—a true direct inheritor of the Hokage line.

If Shimura Danzō, that old schemer, was not counted, then among Konoha's younger generation, the only ones most likely to inherit the Hokage Position were Kakashi and Asuma.

The Third Hokage was actually quite biased. To support Asuma, he not only gave him the Ino-Shika-Cho combination, but in the Original Story, he even gave the direct descendants of the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans to Asuma's lover, Kurenai Yuhi.

But among ordinary ninja, the calls for Kakashi to become Hokage were actually louder.

Hyuga Hiashi's decision to have Hinata follow Kakashi was also motivated by political considerations.

Whether Kakashi became Hokage had nothing to do with the Hyuga Clan, but the Hyuga Clan had to become part of the Hokage faction.

Hyuga Hiashi's idea was actually quite good. If Naruto had not existed, the Third would have wanted to do this long ago.

As he pondered it... and pondered it some more, the Third Hokage suddenly figured it out.

Damn it, Naruto and Hinata had gotten together ages ago. Even if they didn't become teammates, their relationship wouldn't fall apart in the future because of that.

Since that was the case, putting them on the same team did not really matter.

It was just that teammates often had to live and die together, entrust their backs to one another, and were more likely to form bonds amid life-and-death situations.

When the Third thought about it carefully, all the Hyuga Clan wanted was self-preservation.

And if they wanted to protect themselves, they would not harbor thoughts of seizing power.

Thinking of it that way, the Third felt much more at ease.

Hyuga Hiashi truly had worried himself sick over Hinata and the clan.

Hinata's talent was too formidable. Once she became a true Kage-level powerhouse in the future, those elders within the clan would inevitably start getting ideas.

Some of those elders were even older than Konoha itself, and they did not have particularly deep feelings for Konoha.

If they saw a chance to seize power, the Hyuga might become the next Uchiha.

Hyuga Hiashi did not want the Hyuga Clan to split into two factions.

Making Hinata part of the Hokage faction would not entirely prevent ambition from growing, but it would allow her to compete for the Hokage Position through legitimate means.

Rather than secretly plotting a rebellion like the Uchiha.

Having made his decision, the Third stopped watching Naruto and turned the Crystal Ball's view, intending to see what Hinata was doing.

"Hmm? Didn't Hinata always like sitting in the front row?"

The Third Hokage searched the classroom and finally found Hinata in the last row.

At that moment, Hinata was competing with Choji for snacks.

Snacks only tasted good when you fought over them.

"Just as the rumors said. Her talent is strong, but her personality is a little unreliable..."

Although this little butterfly, Hinata, had always been loafing around, her wings had finally begun to flap.

And the first person Hinata affected happened to be Sakura.

Though Sakura came from a civilian family, her theoretical grades were even better than Sasuke's, so the Third naturally paid attention to talented children from civilian families.

Even Kakashi had said in the Original Story that Sakura was well suited to learning Genjutsu.

If Sakura followed Kurenai Yuhi, Konoha should gain a powerful Genjutsu ninja in the future.

Although the Third had placed Sakura in Kakashi's group in the Original Story, his initial intention had merely been to have her act as a buffer between Naruto and Sasuke. After all, the three of them were in a love triangle.

But once Naruto ignored Sakura, the Third naturally would not place much importance on her either.

The Third Hokage happily decided Naruto's team assignment. A matter that had troubled him for years could finally be put to rest.

After all, this class not only had the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the Uchiha orphan, but everyone else was also an heir to one of Konoha's ninja clans.

If he could not satisfy all sides, the Third Hokage's Office would soon become very lively.

Hinata clearly had not expected her arrival to squeeze Sakura out of Team 7, but it was only reasonable.

Whether considering Naruto and Sasuke's feelings or the Hyuga Clan's attitude, the Third Hokage had no choice but to arrange things this way.

Hinata was eating snacks with Choji, but her mind was on the future.

She was already in her fifth year, so Hinata had no choice but to give some thought to her future.

I can't keep being so carefree!

In terms of strength, Hinata was actually quite satisfied with herself.

Even though she had not trained particularly hard, Hinata already possessed strength close to that of a Jonin. By the time she graduated, she was confident she could fight a Jonin.

Of course, she meant an ordinary Jonin, not an Elite Jonin like Kakashi.

What Hinata lacked was not raw strength, but combat experience.

As long as she went through a few real battles, her strength would quickly rise.

Hinata possessed an enormous amount of chakra. Under the Byakugan's observation, her chakra reserves were only a tiny bit less than Hyuga Hiashi's.

She would probably surpass Hyuga Hiashi completely next year.

As for chakra control, Hinata far surpassed Hyuga Hiashi.

In terms of the Gentle Fist, Hinata had already learned every secret technique of the clan and had even created the Twenty Gods Vacuum Attack.

With the help of the clan's vast collection of ninjutsu materials, the Twenty Gods Vacuum Attack had already been initially perfected. Not only could Hinata condense Chakra Fists with both hands, she had also formed the meridian systems of four pairs of hands within the two Chakra Fists.

In other words, Hinata could use Air Palm eight times in an instant, or Mountain Breaker four times.

Mountain Breaker in particular would spread out in a fan-shaped attack before Hinata once unleashed. Unless the opponent could ascend to Heaven or burrow into the earth, there was simply no way to dodge it.

Over the past half year, Hinata had fought Hyuga Hiashi at full strength more than once. Although she managed to leave him somewhat disheveled each time, Hinata was always the one who lost in the end.

According to Hyuga Hiashi, Hinata still could not perfectly apply her Gentle Fist in actual combat. Whenever her opponent changed moves, she would not know how to respond for a brief moment.

And whenever danger approached, Hinata would always become somewhat flustered without realizing it.

These flaws were all fatal in a real battle.