News of the Bloody Mist Village, the Third Summons Him

After finishing his meal in the office and chatting with a group of colleagues for a while, Hagoromo heard the bell ring and got up to check whether the students in his class had returned to the classroom.

A homeroom teacher at the Ninja Academy was different from a subject teacher. At the very least, he didn't have to fill in for other classes from time to time.

He only needed to manage his own class properly.

And with his system, Hagoromo naturally wasn't about to hand the chance to teach over to anyone else.

As he walked down the corridor, Hagoromo thought about the news he'd heard during class earlier.

There was a new missing-nin from Kirigakure: Zabuza Momochi, who had joined the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist just two years ago.

He'd heard that Zabuza had failed to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, and had now fled Kirigakure.

Kirigakure had also issued a wanted notice for Zabuza Momochi, with a bounty of thirty-five million ryo, dead or alive.

The only condition for collecting the bounty was that the Kubikiribōchō had to be returned.

The notice had reportedly caused a stir in the underground world. After all, only Jonin were qualified to join the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

And most of them had to be elite Jonin at that. More than that, it was because of Zabuza Momochi's defection.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were now even more of a name without substance. After all, their seven swords had been lost one by one starting ten years ago.

There wasn't any particular reason Hagoromo had paid attention to the news. If he remembered correctly...

It seemed that Zabuza Momochi had tried to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage because the Fourth Mizukage had brought back the Bloody Mist Village for a second time three years ago.

So Obito Uchiha had taken control of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, three years ago?

Having reached that conclusion, Hagoromo didn't think about it any further. After all, he wasn't qualified to get involved in such matters yet.

Just as he rounded a corner, a figure came rushing past him.

The figure kept muttering, "I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble! I went and overslept."

The corners of Hagoromo's mouth lifted, and he reached out and held the little fellow in front of him in place.

He said mildly, "Naruto, the bell rang a while ago, didn't it?"

Naruto, who had been grabbed by the shoulder, was about to fight back. When he heard Hagoromo's voice, he stopped and hung his head dejectedly.

"Sorry, Hagoromo-sensei. I fell asleep on the rooftop."

Hagoromo raised an eyebrow at the answer. After all, the students' break times were set.

In his two years as a teacher, Hagoromo had seen plenty of cases like Naruto's.

"All right, just keep an eye on the time from now on."

"No matter how much of a hurry you're in, don't go charging around blindly. Wouldn't bumping into someone just slow you down even more?"

Naruto, who had expected Hagoromo to scold him, lowered his head in embarrassment when he heard that.

"I understand, Hagoromo-sensei."

Hagoromo said no more after getting his response. He merely ruffled the blond prince's hair and said, "Come into the classroom with me now."

With that, he walked ahead of Naruto to the classroom door.

The students, who had still been chattering away, heard the sound and turned to look. When they saw Hagoromo, they quickly fell silent.

Hagoromo pushed Naruto out from behind him and into the room. "Sit down. It's time for class."

Hagoromo walked up to the lectern without opening his lesson notes.

After all, the afternoon lesson was only meant to let the little ones review what they had learned about Chakra.

After that, he would have them start extracting Chakra themselves.

It could only be said that anyone with hands could manage this step. After all, everyone on the continent was descended from Kaguya.

They were all continuations of the Chakra seed from ancient times to begin with.

Extracting it was one thing, but the amount really did depend somewhat on bloodline.

In any case, judging by the Chakra sensing Hagoromo had used just yesterday,

aside from the nine little strong, the others in this class all had more or less ordinary aptitude.

After asking a few students about some of the things he had explained that morning, Hagoromo had a general idea of their progress.

Only then did he start teaching again, going back over some points from the morning that the little ones hadn't paid attention to.

With a solid foundation, even those who lacked aptitude could improve through their own efforts later on.

Some of the civilian students might really have just listened and left it at that.

As for Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru, and the others from great clans, when they heard Hagoromo go over some of the morning's material again,

they didn't understand what was happening at first, but gradually understood what he meant as Hagoromo explained.

They all listened with serious expressions. Naruto, meanwhile, held a notebook and kept jotting down points.

The notebook in his hands was the one Hagoromo had given him that morning.

After all, Naruto was one of only two children of destiny, and Hagoromo felt he had to get Naruto's grades up somehow.

Trading one notebook for a huge return was a bargain any way he looked at it.

Just like that, time slipped through their fingers like fine sand.

When the bell rang, Hagoromo picked up his materials and said, "All right, class is over."

"Remember not to be late tomorrow."

As soon as Hagoromo said that, Naruto felt the teacher at the lectern looking at him and hurriedly sat up straight.

It was another way of telling Hagoromo that he, Naruto Uzumaki, absolutely wouldn't be late tomorrow!

Hagoromo smiled at the sight. Naruto was someone who would give everything he had in return for just a little care.

Someone like that wouldn't be disliked anywhere.

Well, except in the current Konoha.

After all, Danzo had deliberately brought it about, and Hiruzen had simply done nothing.

They had turned Naruto, the son of a hero, into the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox everyone hated.

The sound of the teaching settlement rang out in his mind, and Hagoromo had just walked out of the classroom and was about to check it when Iruka came rushing over and interrupted him.

"Hagoromo, Lord Hiruzen told you to go to the principal's office!"

"The principal's office?"

Hagoromo was a little puzzled. After all, he'd been a teacher for several years.

He had never even heard that there was a principal's office.

After all, aside from coming to give a speech at the start of the school year or occasionally interacting with the students,

the Third Hokage spent almost all his other time handling official business in the Hokage building.

"Yes, it's right above our office, in the same spot."

Seeing Hagoromo's expression, Iruka naturally knew what it meant and hurriedly told him where it was.

"All right, thanks. I'll go over now."

Hagoromo nodded. Then, as if remembering something, he asked Iruka, "Sorry for the trouble, but could you check whether there are any students still in the classroom before you close the door?"

"No problem. Leave it to me."

Iruka nodded and answered at once.

Once Iruka had agreed, Hagoromo turned and headed upstairs.

He'd often been to the floor above, but he really hadn't paid much attention to the principal's office Iruka had mentioned.

When he reached the spot, Hagoromo finally understood why he had never noticed it before.

After all, the office had never had a sign on it.

He'd thought it was a storage room.