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Minato Namikaze was not one to drag his feet. He immediately wrote a transfer order in his capacity as commander and dispatched a ninja.

Upon receiving the notice, Uchiha Gen hurried over at once.

After being granted permission to enter the tent, Uchiha Gen gave a slight bow. "Lord Minato."

"No need to be so reserved. Relax."

I'm not nervous, am I?

"I already know what happened. Starting today, you'll temporarily be assigned to Team 7, which reports directly to me."

"If you earn the approval of Kakashi, Rin, and me, I'll officially take you on as my disciple."

"Do your best."

Given Minato Namikaze's current background, strength, achievements, and status, he was qualified to say such things. Throughout Konoha, countless ninja wanted to become Minato Namikaze's disciple.

"I'll work hard."

Uchiha Gen said with an excited expression.

In truth, Uchiha Gen was not nearly as excited as he appeared. It would certainly be good to latch onto a powerful patron, but if he failed, he still had other options.

The main reason he had chosen to do so was simply to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Even if he failed to latch onto anyone, it would not matter much. At worst, his strength would improve a little more slowly.

He believed that even if he changed nothing and the night of the clan massacre still came, he would have gained enough strength to protect himself by then.

"Go on. Get to know Kakashi and Rin properly."

"You'll be teammates for a while. Maybe you'll even remain teammates for life..."

"Yes, Lord Minato."

With that, Minato Namikaze lowered his head and returned to handling official business. Seeing this, the three wisely took their leave.

The group left the camp and came to a small stream nearby. Its waters were crystal clear, glimmering beneath the light, while several silvery-white fish swam through it. The surrounding forest was lush, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.

"Let's introduce ourselves. As the captain, I'll go first."

Rin Nohara and Uchiha Gen were currently both Chunin, while Kakashi had already been promoted to Jonin, so he was naturally the captain.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. I'm twelve years old. My favorite foods are salt-grilled Pacific saury and eggplant miso soup. The food I dislike is tempura."

"My hobby is reading. My dream is to protect my companions. I specialize in swordsmanship and Lightning Release."

After speaking, Kakashi looked toward Rin Nohara.

Rin Nohara returned his gaze with a gentle smile. Then, with her hands behind her back and her body swaying slightly, she said softly, "My name is Rin Nohara. I'm twelve years old. I like strawberries, and I dislike richly stewed seafood."

"My hobby is collecting seashells. My dream is to save every injured Konoha Ninja I encounter. I specialize in Medical Ninjutsu."

After she finished, both of them turned their eyes toward Uchiha Gen.

Uchiha Gen naturally did not lose his nerve. Smiling slightly, he said, "My name is Uchiha Gen. I'm thirteen years old. I don't have any particular favorite foods, nor do I have any particular foods I dislike."

"As for hobbies, I have many, such as studying ninjutsu, cooking, music, reading, traveling, and so on."

"As for my dream, it's to live freely, I suppose. I specialize in genjutsu and Fire Release."

"To live freely?"

"Though it's rather self-centered, that really is a difficult dream," Kakashi said with a sigh.

For a ninja, how difficult was it to live freely?

Root Ninja had lost their sense of self. Other ninja were somewhat better off, but they still spent most of their time rushing about for missions, with leisure time being rare.

It was practically an impossible dream!

"Living freely doesn't mean doing whatever you want, does it?"

Hearing this, Uchiha Gen gave Rin Nohara a deep look. Was she probing his character?

If he said yes, he likely would not receive the approval of Rin Nohara, Kakashi, or Minato Namikaze at all.

That kind of thinking was far too dangerous!

Although it did not truly matter whether others approved of him, he still needed to earn their approval as much as possible for the sake of his plans.

"No, it doesn't."

"Living freely doesn't mean doing whatever you want or acting without restraint. It means that when your heart truly does not want to do something, you can choose not to do it, and no one can force you."

"That makes a lot of sense. I approve of your dream."

"I approve too."

Rin Nohara and Kakashi spoke one after the other.

"Your dreams aren't simple either. Each one is harder than the last."

"Our dreams aren't the hardest. Obito's dream is the hardest. His dream is to become Hokage!"

"Rin is right. Obito's dream is the hardest."

"Obito... I don't know him very well, but I do have some impression of him."

"Going by our clan genealogy, we're distant cousins. I'm more than half a month older than him, so technically, he should call me cousin."

"One generation of our ancestors were biological brothers."

Kakashi and Rin Nohara revealed surprised expressions. For a moment, the way they looked at Uchiha Gen became much gentler and more intimate.

Uchiha Gen was not making it up. According to the clan genealogy, he and Obito really were distant cousins.

Of course, to the darkened Obito, this relationship was utterly useless. He had caused both Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki to die.

Minato Namikaze still had an excuse: despite possessing the fastest speed in the ninja world, he was always one step too late.

That excuse was actually extremely strained.

Minato Namikaze was not the three children's nanny, nor was he their parent. He was busy carrying out missions everywhere himself, so how could he possibly watch over them at every moment?

The three had already graduated from the Ninja Academy as qualified Genin, and later became Chunin. They had long been ninja capable of carrying out missions independently.

Kushina Uzumaki had never done anything to wrong Obito Uchiha. On the contrary, she had been especially fond of Obito Uchiha, who had been at the bottom of the class.

During her pregnancy, the Nine-Tails was forcibly extracted from her. Throughout the process, Kushina was in such agony that she looked like an evil ghost, her face twisted and unrecognizable, terrifying to behold.

And he even put Exploding Tags on his own teacher and teacher's wife's child...

So just because his teacher's family could be "revived" in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, he could do whatever he wanted with a clear conscience?

What kind of people were the most terrifying?

Those who committed insane atrocities while believing they were saving the world!

Such people felt no guilt and suffered no pangs of conscience. They had their own logic for how they acted, and their destructive power was off the charts!

For Minato and Kushina to have a disciple like that, they truly had the worst luck imaginable!

Being a teacher in the ninja world was absolutely a high-risk profession!

If the two of them had not held value in building connections—especially Kakashi, who not only possessed exceptional abilities himself, but also carried the legacy of the Konoha White Fang—

The Konoha White Fang had once surpassed the Konoha Sannin. If no accident had occurred, he would undoubtedly have become the next generation's Hokage. His influence had been astonishing!

After Minato and Kushina died in the original story, Kakashi also carried the legacy of the Fourth Hokage. His buffs were practically stacked to the limit.

Whoever gained Kakashi's support could indirectly gain the support of a huge number of people.

As an ambitious man, he naturally could not let such talent slip away when he had the chance.

With this connection, the three quickly became familiar with one another. Their conversations gradually deepened, and they got along very harmoniously.

Though it was still far from the bond shared by the original Team 7, even if they did not form a team in the future, they could still be considered friends.

Don't stockpile chapters, don't stockpile chapters! It's very easy for a story to die that way!!!