That Year, at Nineteen, Standing Like a Lackey

On an autumn afternoon, warm sunlight bathed the Hokage Building.

It cast a golden glow over the building, which had stood for decades and had already grown somewhat mottled and weathered.

Inside the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in his Hokage Battle Robe, quickly flipped through the "Year 46 Ninja Academy Graduates List" and the "Ninja Squad Vacancy List" on his desk.

He combined the strengths and weaknesses of each genin into relatively well-balanced teams and assigned suitable squad leaders to them.

The situation in the Ninja World had grown increasingly unstable over the past two years.

The increasingly frequent small-scale conflicts between the various ninja villages had caused many of Konoha's ninja squads to suffer casualties.

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew very well that organized ninja squads were an important guarantee of a ninja's mission success rate, survival rate, and combat power.

Whether it was to deal with a war that might break out at any time or to ensure the safety of his subordinates,

the arrangement of squad members had to be handled with the utmost caution.

More than an hour later, after repeatedly checking the grouping draft in his hands several times and confirming that it was the best choice he could currently think of,

Sarutobi Hiruzen began summoning one squad-leading jonin after another.

Akimichi Choza, Aburame Shibi, Namikaze Minato, Umino Iruka, Kunugi Mokume, Mimura Hayaki... Yamanaka Kei.

Before he knew it, evening was approaching.

When he heard another knock at the door, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up at the last jonin he had summoned that day.

He was eighteen or nineteen years old, a little over 1.8 meters tall, with a slender, straight figure honed through long-term training.

Combined with his bright golden short hair and handsome face,

if not for the dark circles beneath his eyes, which made him look terribly listless,

that handsome face alone would probably have kept countless Konoha girls tossing and turning late into the night.

"Good afternoon, Lord Hokage."

Yamanaka Kei greeted Sarutobi Hiruzen with a wave, a fatigue he could barely conceal on his face.

He had stayed up late training until midnight the night before. After coming to work that afternoon and catching a little sleep, he had been summoned to wait on the first floor of the Hokage Building.

Who could withstand this?

"Kei, you should relax occasionally. Your training will be more effective that way."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had long been aware of how diligently Yamanaka Kei trained every day, so he did not mind the latter's languid appearance.

After offering a brief reminder out of concern, he went straight to the purpose of summoning him that day.

"I discussed this with Haiichi, Shikaku, and the others. We're transferring you out of the Analysis Team and into the regular forces to carry out missions. These are your transfer order and your subordinates' information."

"Yes."

Yamanaka Kei took the documents, tucked the transfer order into the Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist, and looked at the information on his subordinates.

Yamanaka Inoichi had already spoken to him beforehand, so he had been prepared for the transfer out of the Intelligence Department.

He was merely being assigned to a regular ninja squad to lead a few genin.

He could carry out one or two missions a month and then take as much time off as he pleased.

It was just a change of place to slack off.

But when he saw three familiar names, he could not help raising his brows in surprise.

Yuhi Kurenai, Might Guy, and Shiranui Genma.

These three had been a squad?

No, that couldn't be right...

Shouldn't Might Guy and Shiranui Genma's teammate have been Ebisu?

Besides, weren't they graduates from a different class?

"New leaves need the patient guidance of their seniors to grow strong, just as the Will of Fire is passed down from generation to generation. Now, it's time for you to lead the children of the new generation."

Sarutobi Hiruzen clearly had no intention of explaining in detail why he had arranged the teams this way and instead began proclaiming his Will of Fire.

"...Please rest assured, Lord Hokage. I'll teach them properly."

Yamanaka Kei suppressed his doubts, straightened out his languid posture, and gave a suitably solemn assurance.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was clearly very satisfied with that attitude.

After instructing him to report to the Jonin Waiting Station tomorrow and then go to Konoha Training Ground 4 to collect his team, he waved his hand and dismissed him.

After leaving the Hokage Building,

Yamanaka Kei greeted several familiar ninjas before walking toward the Yamanaka Clan compound beneath the setting sun.

He had only just reached the halfway point

when a mechanical notification suddenly sounded in his mind.

Ding~ System repair complete. Database organization complete. Energy absorption progress has reached 100%. System dormancy ended. Career Entry System activated.

Personal panel activated. Investigation function activated. Entry extraction, gifting, copying, upgrading, and removal functions activated.

Career binding complete. Bound career: Ninja.

Complete career missions and major career events for a chance to obtain opportunities to extract, gift, copy, upgrade, or remove entries.

Newbie gift pack opened. Obtained three entry extraction opportunities and one gifting opportunity.

Yamanaka Kei's figure paused slightly, and a momentary unnatural look appeared on his face before vanishing as quickly as it came.

As usual, he bought a boxed meal from a roadside restaurant and returned home.

"Five Direction Anti-Sensing Barrier! Activate!"

Forming the "Boar" hand seal, Yamanaka Kei circulated the Chakra in his body and slapped one hand against the floor, activating the Barrier technique he had set up at home long ago.

Buzz~

A pale-blue, translucent Barrier enveloped the entire room. The intricate runes on its surface flickered faintly, completely isolating everything inside the house from the outside world.

Yamanaka Kei stood in the center of the living room. His expression shifted several times, but after finally letting out a long breath, he quietly sat down in front of the coffee table.

He had once imagined loudly cursing the System for being nineteen years late when it activated.

He had also imagined crying and laughing, wantonly venting all the dissatisfaction and excitement in his heart.

Perhaps, however, all that dissatisfaction and resentment had been worn away over the long years. When this moment truly arrived, he was far calmer than he had expected.

Host: Yamanaka Kei

Career: Ninja

Activated Entries: Transmigrator (Red), Yin Release Master (Purple), Handsome (Blue), Slightly Understand (Green)

Unactivated Entries: None

Entry Extractions: 3

Entry Gifts: 1

Transmigrator (Red): As a transmigrator who has lived two lives, your soul and spiritual strength, growth speed, and growth limit have increased tremendously.

Yin Release Master (Purple): After more than a decade of painstaking study and training, you have nearly perfected your control over the nature and form transformations of multiple Yin Release ninjutsu. When learning, studying, improving, or creating Yin Release ninjutsu, your efficiency increases drastically; the casting speed, power, and effects of Yin Release ninjutsu increase drastically; your resistance to Yin Release ninjutsu increases drastically.

Handsome (Blue): Favored by the world, you were born with extraordinary looks. Your affinity and attraction to the opposite sex have increased.

Slightly Understand (Green): After investigating ninja memories for a long time, you acquired a vast amount of intelligence and knowledge from them. Through constant practice, you have initially mastered many types of ninjutsu with multiple attributes. Your learning speed and memory have increased slightly.

"It wasn't for nothing that I trained myself half to death every day for more than a decade."

Seeing the detailed explanations of his entries, Yamanaka Kei curled his lips into a satisfied smile.

Without hesitation, he immediately began extracting new entries.