Questions and Answers

Three days later, Konoha, Ninja Academy.

Hyuga Kazuya and Hyuga Momona arrived at the classroom together early in the morning.

There were not many people in the classroom when they arrived, so the two of them chose seats in a corner and sat down.

It was a bright morning, and warm sunlight streamed through the glass, caressing Hyuga Kazuya's face.

Bathed in the warm sunlight, Hyuga Kazuya waited for his classmates to arrive one after another.

Come to think of it, Hyuga Kazuya truly felt that he was rather ordinary.

Other transmigrators either ended up in the same class as Naruto and Sasuke, or as classmates with Kakashi and Might Guy.

Going further back on the timeline, they would be in the same generation as the Konoha Sannin.

But in reality, not a single one of his classmates had even been named in the manga from his previous life.

A genius like Might Guy, who had graduated early, could only be considered someone from the same graduating class as him. Besides, Kazuya had never had much interaction with him.

If he only counted characters who had appeared in the anime—

The next graduating class had Namiashi Raidō and Yamashiro Aoba. According to Kazuya's memories, the two of them should have been members of the Fourth Hokage's personal guard.

The class after that was the one that included Might Guy and Kakashi's classmates.

The people from Might Guy and Kakashi's generation were truly protected by great fortune. Most of them survived until the Fourth Great Ninja War. In contrast, the few Ninja Academy classes before them either remained unknown or became cannon fodder.

Watching his classmates play and roughhouse in the classroom, Hyuga Kazuya could not help wondering: in a few years, how many of them would still be left?

"War is truly cruel. They are all playing so happily here now. It is hard to imagine that in a few years, their bodies will be scattered across the ninja world, lying in the freezing rain as it slowly eats away at them."

Hyuga Kazuya did not continue thinking about it. He knew he was not some saint; he was a selfish person. His classmates' deaths would make him sad, but they would not leave an irreplaceable wound in his heart.

That might include Hyuga Momona, or it might not. Before it happened, who could know what kind of impact it would truly have on him?

As for preventing everything that might happen?

That could be a goal, but the current Hyuga Kazuya could not accomplish it.

Very soon, the teacher's arrival interrupted Hyuga Kazuya's thoughts, and the noisy classroom seemed to fall silent as well.

"Although you have already graduated, many difficulties await you in the future. Do not forget your daily training and studies. At the same time, I sincerely hope that every one of you becomes an outstanding ninja."

Standing at the podium, the teacher offered both congratulations and earnest advice.

The teacher did not continue with a long speech. From that moment onward, it seemed that the teacher regarded them as true ninja—Konoha's basic fighting force—rather than children who still needed to be cared for.

Then the class assignments began, with the teacher reading out names one after another.

Hyuga Momona was assigned to a class with two other students.

It was somewhat strange that the entire class was made up of girls, but when Hyuga Kazuya looked at its members, he understood.

A Recon Special Class?

Hyuga Momona, Aburame Tomomi, and Inuzuka Hana. Their clans were obvious from their names: the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, the Aburame Clan's insects, and the Inuzuka Clan's Ninja Dogs were all ninja methods suited for specialized reconnaissance.

Apparently, special classes had not only begun to be formed during Naruto's era. It had been an established practice long before then.

That was good. It was better than being assigned to an ordinary class.

Besides, given Kazuya's teachings for Hyuga Momona, the basic survival principle of running when she could not win had been drilled into her quite thoroughly.

After the teacher finished reading out the members of each assigned class, Hyuga Kazuya's name still had not been called. He asked the teacher in surprise.

"Teacher, what about me?"

As he spoke, Hyuga Kazuya pointed at his own head, practically with a giant question mark floating above it.

"Because of your strength, Lord Hokage specifically instructed that he would personally arrange your class assignment. In a moment, I will take you to see Lord Hokage."

The teacher's expression was extremely complicated as he said this, as though he did not know whether he should feel happy, jealous, or something else entirely.

In an instant, everyone in the classroom focused their gazes on Hyuga Kazuya.

To have Lord Hokage personally arrange it—what an honor that was.

At that moment, the burning looks from everyone in the class, boys and girls alike, seemed ready to melt Hyuga Kazuya.

Faced with the entire class staring at him, even Hyuga Kazuya, who had once served as a temporary host at a workplace gala in his previous life, could not help feeling awkward.

Fortunately, the teacher promptly came to his rescue. "Students who have already been assigned, please immediately go find your team leaders."

Very quickly, the students who had already been assigned to teams gradually left the classroom.

After saying goodbye to Hyuga Kazuya with an envious expression, Hyuga Momona hurried away as well.

Hearing that the Third Hokage would arrange his team assignment personally gave Hyuga Kazuya quite a headache.

He had originally planned to spend a year or two as a Genin, taking D-rank and C-rank missions and just coasting along.

He wanted to buy time and store the mental energy required for his Overclocking. As long as he had enough time, his strength would increase in leaps and bounds.

But because of his outstanding performance in the graduation assessment, the Third Hokage had remembered him deeply and now intended to assign him to a new team.

Although he did not know exactly what team he would be assigned to, it probably would not be led by a Chunin. If it was not a Chunin-led team, he would not be able to casually grind D-rank and C-rank missions to coast through life.

Although Hyuga Kazuya sighed, he knew this could be both a good thing and a bad thing.

A Jonin-led team would not spend long carrying out simple missions, which meant the danger would be greater.

At the same time, it meant he could quickly grind missions and achievements—and die quickly too.

Hyuga Kazuya composed himself and stopped overthinking it. Things had already come to this; he could only accept it. Then he followed the teacher toward the Hokage Building.

To emphasize the Hokage's importance to the Ninja Academy, the Second Hokage had built it not far from the Hokage Building. This also made it convenient for the Hokage to visit the school regularly and earn some goodwill, so the two of them did not take long to arrive at the Hokage Building.

After passing the security inspection at the Hokage Building, Hyuga Kazuya and the teacher smoothly met with the Hokage.

The door opened.

"Lord Hokage."

"Lord Hokage."

Hyuga Kazuya and the teacher respectfully bowed to the Hokage, while the teacher indicated that he had brought Hyuga Kazuya over.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, paused his official work and nodded before turning his gaze toward Hyuga Kazuya.

There was no denying that Hyuga Kazuya was a genius, but geniuses were not scarce in Konoha.

Therefore, compared to a genius's talent, whether he possessed the right temperament was more important to Konoha.

"Kazuya, what do you think a Hokage is?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly asked an inexplicable and ambiguous question.

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Hyuga Kazuya's heart skipped a beat.

What was he trying to do? What did he mean? Why ask something like that all of a sudden? Had I been exposed?

Although Hyuga Kazuya did not understand why Hiruzen Sarutobi had asked this question—

After giving it some thought, he still gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a very formulaic answer.

"Lord Hokage, the Hokage is Konoha's beloved leader, and also the person in the village who stands at the very pinnacle in strength, character, and wisdom."

After a moment of silence, Hyuga Kazuya continued, "But I believe the Hokage's most important role is to be the button that holds the village together."

Those were also Hyuga Kazuya's "true feelings."

Well, that last sentence had deliberately catered to the Third Hokage's governing philosophy. Put simply, the Third Hokage valued stability above all else, and everything else could be set aside. Mentioning unity was another way of playing along with that philosophy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, took a deep drag from his large pipe, and asked another question without revealing the slightest expression.

"What do you think becoming Hokage means?"

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Hyuga Kazuya did not rush to answer, because this was a technique he had learned from civil service interviews in his previous life.

When an interviewer asked a sharp question, even if you already had an answer in mind, you should not immediately say it. It was better to pretend to think about it first, then give your answer carefully. That would leave a better impression on the interviewer.

Hyuga Kazuya furrowed his brows in thought for a moment.

"Lord Hokage, it means responsibility—the responsibility to protect Konoha and to maintain peace in the ninja world."

Although Hyuga Kazuya had been a civil servant in his previous life, he had merely been an unnoticed employee in some marginal department, so his political awareness could only be considered average.

Otherwise, he would not have had such a miserable life in his previous life.

Likewise, Hyuga Kazuya could not discern what Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly thinking, nor could he judge whether his answer would satisfy him.

But what Hyuga Kazuya did not know was that Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually quite satisfied with his answer.

Leaving aside the answer to the first question, the greatest sign that a Youth—or an adult—was maturing was learning that responsibility existed and gradually taking it on.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes, although this twelve-year-old Youth's answer was clumsy, being able to say the word "responsibility" already made him a perfect inheritor of the Will of Fire.

Having obtained the answer he wanted, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was no longer stern. He spoke gently to Hyuga Kazuya.

"From now on, Minato Namikaze will be your Team Leader Jonin. I will assign you to Minato's team."

"Tomorrow morning, he will be waiting for you at the Back Mountain Training Ground."