Stop fighting, you guys!

Three days after the graduation exam, the Ninja Academy held its graduation team assignment ceremony.

"Huh? Kakashi? Didn't you graduate ages ago? What are you doing here?"

Obito Uchiha was surprised to see Kakashi.

"Kakashi, long time no see!" Rin Nohara smiled at him.

Kakashi ignored Obito Uchiha and politely nodded to Rin Nohara.

Obito turned his head away in jealousy.

"Kurenai, I wonder if we'll get assigned to the same team..."

Asuma spoke to Kurenai Yūhi.

After going home, he had made a rare request of his Hokage father, asking to be assigned to the same team as Kurenai Yūhi.

He had no idea whether his village chief of a father would agree.

"We'll now begin assigning teams!"

Taro Funano walked into the classroom with a roster in hand.

"Team One! Members: Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake."

"This is great, Rin! We're on the same team! As for that stuck-up Kakashi, he must've messed up and been sent back for retraining by Lord Hokage!"

"Tch."

Kakashi ignored Obito's snide remarks.

"Team Two! Members: Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yūhi, and Mitaraishi Anko."

"Great, Kurenai! I actually got assigned to your team!" ×2.

Asuma Sarutobi looked at Mitaraishi Anko in disgust, while Mitaraishi Anko looked back at him with disdain.

"You jerk! Stop copying me!" ×2.

"Hmph!" + heads turned away ×2.

Kurenai Yūhi: Why do I feel like I'm the third wheel here?

Above Hokage Rock, Orochimaru smiled at the three little kids before him.

"Wow! It's actually Lord Orochimaru!"

Mitaraishi Anko gazed at Orochimaru in admiration.

Her father, Shikun Mitarashi, was Orochimaru's most trusted subordinate. Clearly, Anko had been influenced by him.

So this is Lord Orochimaru?

Kurenai Yūhi had heard her father, Yūhi Shinku, speak of Orochimaru's fearsome reputation. Her father had also fought alongside him on the battlefields of the Land of Rain.

Orochimaru? That's it? Still, he does look a bit stronger than the old man.

That was Asuma, the delinquent.

With his newly learned Observation Haki active, Orochimaru listened to his three subordinates' thoughts.

The technique he had previously been close to completing was Observation Haki. Compared with Yang Release, Orochimaru seemed to have considerably more talent for Yin Release.

He had consulted quite a few sensory ninjutsu and reviewed some of the Yamanaka Clan's documents on the Mind Body Switch Technique. Though they contained neither the specific training process nor the core principles, they had given him plenty of directions to explore while developing Observation Haki.

At present, listening to the thoughts of three genin posed no problem, but it was far less effective against jōnin with stronger minds.

The main reason was that Orochimaru had only just developed Observation Haki. He might not even be able to use it effectively in actual combat yet, though more advanced ways of using it might emerge later.

"Now that you're members of the same team, let's introduce ourselves, whether you already know each other or not! Your hobbies, dreams, that sort of thing."

Orochimaru stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the three freshly graduated genin before him.

"Hey! Shouldn't you introduce yourself before telling everyone else to?"

Asuma Sarutobi shouted rebelliously, though his eyes were on Kurenai Yūhi. He hoped his fearless defiance of authority and willingness to fight would catch her attention.

"Idiot Asuma! Don't interrupt Orochimaru-sensei!"

Mitaraishi Anko punched Asuma Sarutobi on the head.

"It's all right, Anko. Asuma has a very good point."

Orochimaru smiled as he said it was fine, but inwardly, he was plotting how to make life difficult for Asuma Sarutobi later.

What if the old man complains?

I'm doing this because I see potential in your Asuma and intend to give him special training!

Would I, Orochimaru, ever be so petty?

"As Anko said, my name is Orochimaru. My hobby is researching new ninjutsu, and I dislike bugs. As for my dream... for now, it's to become Hokage, then use the Hokage's power to stop every war in this world."

As for how he would stop them?

Using war to stop war might work for a while, but it would never last.

If Orochimaru became Hokage, he would certainly consolidate the power of the entire Land of Fire and influence the whole world through its economy, culture, and every other avenue.

When you eat my food and use my goods, when the people employing you are mine and the people giving you work are mine too, how are you supposed to fight me?

When that time came, as long as he could ensure he had enough strength to avoid being brought down by certain greedy powers, the entire shinobi world would become his backyard.

"Me! I'll go first!"

Mitaraishi Anko raised her hand and spoke eagerly.

"My name is Mitaraishi Anko. I like Dango, I hate eating Kushina's cooking, and my dream is to become a great ninja like Orochimaru-sensei!"

Orochimaru nodded. Perhaps he could add Kushina's cooking to his list of dislikes too.

"Who's next? Who wants to go?"

"I'll go, Orochimaru-sensei."

Kurenai Yūhi spoke with easy confidence.

"My name is Kurenai Yūhi. My favorite food is octopus with wasabi, I hate Mom's cream cake, and my dream is to become the strongest master of genjutsu in the shinobi world!"

A master of genjutsu? With my guidance, that's possible, but becoming the strongest is pretty unlikely.

With that bunch of cheating Uchiha around, you don't stand a chance...

But why do all their introductions revolve around food?

"Kurenai, I'm sure your dream will come true!"

Asuma shamelessly fawned over her. Kurenai Yūhi smiled bashfully, while Anko wore a look of disgust.

"Asuma, it's your turn."

"Yeah. My name is Asuma. I like smoking, drinking, getting my hair permed, and... hehehe..."

Asuma looked at Kurenai with a lecherous grin.

Bong!

Without the slightest hesitation, Anko punched a large lump onto Asuma's head.

"What's wrong with you? Get on with it!"

"Oh! And I hate a certain nasty woman who likes hitting me! My dream is to understand what the king of the Land of Fire means..."

Bong!

Now the lumps on Asuma's head were symmetrical.

Asuma rubbed his lumps, glared at Anko, and lunged at her.

The two began trading wild, flailing punches.

"Stop fighting, you guys!"

Kurenai Yūhi shouted from the sidelines, trying to break them up.

"Exactly. You'll never kill anyone fighting like that!"

"Huh?" ×3.

Why did something seem a little off about what Orochimaru-sensei just said?

Bong! ×3.

"Orochimaru-sensei, why did you hit me too?!"

Kurenai Yūhi glared at him with her red eyes, looking deeply aggrieved as she demanded an explanation.

"Well... you're all on the same team, after all. It wouldn't really be fair to hit only the other two, would it?"

And hitting me for no reason is fair?

Kurenai Yūhi's eyes were naturally red, but now even the corners around them had reddened!

"Orochimaru-sensei, that was wrong of you!"

Bong!

Asuma, who had been planning to play the hero and rescue the beauty, now had symmetrical lumps on his head again.