"Having said that, Minato Namikaze used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from the spot."
The first gathering of Team 9 ended in such an anticlimactic fashion.
As Minato left, Kakashi turned around and walked off without hesitation, unwilling to stay another second.
Once he left, Nohara Rin found herself conflicted.
"Um, we're teammates from now on. I think we should walk with Kakashi," Rin suggested.
"Rin, do you know why Kakashi was assigned to our team?" Obito reminded her.
"I know."
Nohara Rin answered while watching Kakashi's back grow farther and farther away.
It wasn't just her. Almost every team knew.
Originally, Kakashi had been a member of another team. However, in order to complete missions, Kakashi often disregarded his teammates' safety, making many people unwilling to team up with him anymore.
Given the circumstances, this genius ninja had been transferred to their team of stragglers.
Nohara Rin had ranked third from the bottom in the entire class.
Obito had ranked second from the bottom.
Hankuang had ranked last in the entire class.
To be honest, if war hadn't been approaching, the three of them would never have graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Especially Hankuang.
He had been praised by the school's teachers as the worst student in Konoha's history, without exception.
After leaving Training Ground No. 4, Hankuang still kept both hands in his pockets, looking completely unconcerned.
Compared to Rin's troubled thoughts and Obito's hesitant words, Hankuang was far more carefree.
That was because he didn't like Nohara Rin at all, so naturally, he didn't have that sort of worry.
The three of them walked together without anyone speaking first.
By the time Rin returned home, only Obito and Hankuang remained, and the atmosphere finally returned to normal.
"Hankuang, I feel like Rin's changed her mind about me," Obito said seriously.
"Oh? Aren't you overthinking it?" Hankuang wanted badly to laugh, but he struggled to hold it in.
He really wanted to tell Obito that Nohara Rin had always liked genius Kakashi. How could that be called changing her mind?
"Our team originally had only the three of us, but now Kakashi's joined. I feel like I'm going to lose Rin," Obito sighed.
"Lose her? Have you ever had her?"
Hankuang shot back before walking away with his hands in his pockets.
Chapter Two: The Golden Finger Goes Online, Hankuang's Path to Ultimate Strength!
After crossing the central street, Hankuang turned into an alley.
He opened the somewhat rusty gate, revealing a courtyard that wasn't particularly spacious.
This was Hankuang's home.
More precisely, it was the home his parents had left behind.
His parents had died in the war, leaving behind this residence and a pension.
Sitting on the wooden chair in the courtyard, Hankuang began his daily daze.
"Tomorrow. The system will activate tomorrow."
As he muttered to himself, an almost transparent screen appeared before his eyes.
[Daily Doubling System Activation Countdown: hours minutes seconds] Name: Hankuang Age: years Strength: Constitution: Agility: Spirit: Chakra: 4 Skills: None Ninjutsu: None Overall Strength Rating: Trainee Genin
His gaze fell on the words "Trainee," and a smile appeared at the corners of Hankuang's mouth.
The reason he hadn't learned the Three Body Technique or Kunai Throwing at the Ninja Academy was this system, which had yet to activate.
After all, he still didn't know exactly what this doubling would double—an attribute or a skill.
"If it randomly doubles something every day, then every additional skill I master will mean a lower chance of it randomly landing on an attribute."
"Rather than that, I might as well learn nothing and wait for the system to activate."
Hankuang's plan was very clear.
First, he would double his four basic attributes, preferably all the way to Kage Level or even Super Kage-level.
Then he would learn skills and Ninjutsu.
That way, although he wouldn't know any Ninjutsu, his physical strength alone would be enough to protect himself.
Conversely,
if he hurried to learn Kunai Throwing, the Three Body Technique, or even some low-level Ninjutsu, his strength would become broad but shallow during this period.
Of course, if the system doubled everything, then he wouldn't need to worry about any of this.
He closed the system screen and silently began counting.
As he counted, he fell asleep.
It was truly an excellent way to lull himself to sleep.
In a two-story residence,
Minato Namikaze knocked on the door before walking in.
"Huh? Minato, weren't you supposed to lead a new team today?" Kushina asked in surprise, pausing while folding clothes.
She and Minato were lovers, though they hadn't married yet.
Whenever Minato had something on his mind, he would come to Kushina to confide in her.
"Ugh! That team is a long story."
Minato sighed and began describing the bizarre composition of the team.
"The bottom three in the class, plus Kakashi, whom nobody wants to team up with. The Third Hokage really gave me a huge problem."
"So what are you planning to do?" Kushina asked with a smile.
"I've decided to start developing the four of them's sense of teamwork tomorrow."
"How will you do that?"
"Steal the bells."
"That old-fashioned?"
"We'll try it first."
To be honest, Minato didn't have any particularly good ideas either.
Every team had to go through the bell-stealing exercise. Its purpose was to develop teamwork and coordination within the squad.
"Then you may be disappointed. At the very least, Kakashi definitely won't cooperate. He'll fight alone instead," Kushina pointed out.
She knew a little about Kakashi's situation.
Strong, aloof, and antisocial.
Influenced by Hatake Sakumo's suicide, Kakashi disregarded his teammates' safety on every mission and treated completing the mission as his ultimate goal. That was why he had been ostracized, with no one willing to team up with him anymore.
For someone like that, trying to achieve teamwork through bell stealing would be difficult.
"Actually, Kakashi isn't the one I'm worried about. I'm more worried about Hankuang, who ranked last."
Before you continue