"Minor injuries... severe injuries... or death?"
Sasuke furrowed his brow, a chill creeping up his back.
Naruto and Sakura were also stunned.
But once Naruto was sure he hadn't misheard, he stammered:
"Cangwu... Teacher Cangwu has to be joking, right?"
No one answered him.
"Death... We've only just become ninja, and we already have to face missions this dangerous?" Sakura swallowed, clasping her hands at her chest, her face full of unease.
"All right, see you tomorrow, three self-reliant ninja." As Cangwu's voice faded, his figure transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished.
"Huh?!"
"Teacher Cangwu wasn't joking!"
Naruto jumped up, his shoulders trembling slightly.
"Could it be... we're going to face ghosts?!"
"Hmph, idiot." Sasuke snorted, then stood and shoved his hands into his pockets.
Cangwu had already left, so there was no reason for him to keep hanging around with these two idiots.
Meanwhile, after leaving, Cangwu was still "caught."
Seeing the two people coming toward him,
Cangwu's mouth twitched.
No wonder they'd changed the Jonin Instructor assignments.
System, was this your doing?
I didn't! It wasn't me! I swear!!
"Yo~ Cangwu!"
The green watermelon-haired one spoke first.
"Cough, cough... Cangwu, long time no see."
Only then did the ailing Kakashi speak.
Kakashi took several deep breaths, trying to make his voice sound normal.
"Cangwu, what do you think of Team 7?"
"Pretty good. Reasonable." Cangwu's reply was clearly perfunctory.
"Reasonable?"
"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly.
Only in the past few days had he realized that Cangwu, whom he'd barely paid attention to before, was rather more surprising than he'd expected.
"Naruto's handsome, Sasuke's sunny, and Sakura's strong."
Kakashi: "???"
"I see... Great. Looks like Sasuke and our Third Squad are a perfect match~!" Might Guy gave a thumbs-up, his teeth gleaming.
Kakashi shook his head. "Don't start."
Cangwu smiled, then replied casually:
"Sasuke's a show-off, but he's a normal person. Other than that harmless little habit, he doesn't have any flaws."
"Sakura... let's skip her. You probably aren't interested in my assessment of her anyway."
"As for Naruto... I think he's the one you're most interested in."
Kakashi said nothing, only watching Cangwu calmly.
Whether he was calm inside was another matter.
"If I were Naruto, I probably would've considered defecting with the Scroll of Seals a few days ago, mastering its contents, then coming back for revenge."
"Overall, he's not exactly normal."
"What normal person could be bullied and mistreated by the whole village since childhood, yet still grin every day?"
"And even shout about becoming Hokage and earning everyone's recognition?"
"Cangwu!" Kakashi barked, then shook his head at him, signaling him to stop.
At the same time, Kakashi was deeply shaken.
He'd never imagined that this inheritor of the Will of Fire would say something like that in front of an outsider. Kakashi was completely at a loss.
Might Guy merely turned his head, pretending he hadn't heard anything.
Truthfully... he didn't understand what it meant either. He'd only noticed that Kakashi had become serious.
He didn't understand a thing, so he decided to act like he'd heard nothing.
"In fact, an unfortunate childhood is almost standard for a Jinchuriki."
"But who is he?"
"Uzumaki Naruto? Or... should he be called Namikaze Naruto?"
"For instance, only a few people left the village back then, yet somehow the Jinchuriki's identity became public knowledge."
"And then there are those two—one a shady rat, the other a scarecrow. Don't they fall short of the love their teacher's wife showed them?"
Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply.
He stared at Cangwu in disbelief.
Honestly, plenty of people knew about this, but very few talked about it. They were all old foxes.
But there were plenty who didn't know, too.
At least, as far as Kakashi knew, Cangwu shouldn't have known.
He'd been rather presumptuous.
A sheen of cold sweat broke across Kakashi's forehead. He had no idea what to say.
Talk like that was too dangerous in the village.
Of course, what made Kakashi sweat the most was Cangwu's final remark.
Cangwu glanced at the silent Kakashi, then smiled. "Guess who Naruto thinks cares about him?"
"Good grief... Team 7 really is a headache. What a miserable assignment. Still, those three are pretty good."
"Let me think. If I 'heroically' kick the bucket someday, at least someone will come visit my grave. And if I leave a little one behind, I'm sure someone will help look after them."
"Overall, this team feels much better than the previous Team 7."
With that, Cangwu walked right past Kakashi and Might Guy.
Kakashi's mind went blank.
Seeing how tense things had become, Might Guy simply smiled and waved goodbye to Cangwu.
Truthfully, Kakashi couldn't be blamed for everything.
Still, that was how things were.
He'd had chances to change things and make amends.
"Cangwu!"
Suddenly, Kakashi called out after him.
Cangwu stopped but didn't turn around.
"Please..."
Cangwu waved a hand and continued on his way.
After passing through several deserted alleys, he reached a bustling street.
Cangwu felt someone's gaze fixed on him.
He looked to the side and saw a beautiful middle-aged woman smiling at him.
His gaze shifted upward: Yamanaka Flower Shop.
When the woman noticed him looking, she beckoned him over.
Cangwu also noticed two figures behind her.
Ino, and... Hinata?
Since when had those two gotten so close?
Was it because of the fainting incident at the school gates last week?
Cangwu smiled and walked over.
"Long time no see, Teacher Cangwu."
Ino's mother, Yamanaka Rino.
She was a beautiful, elegant woman.
That might not paint a vivid enough picture... she was like Yamaguchi Momoe.
"Hello, Mrs. Yamanaka."
"Teacher Cangwu~!" Ino greeted him enthusiastically.
"Te... Teacher Cangwu..." Hinata lowered her head, her hands fidgeting awkwardly.
The girl was blushing slightly. Who knew what she was thinking about?
"My Ino's been talking about you a lot lately."
"Oh, and Hai mentioned a couple of days ago that you'd become one of this year's graduating class's Jonin Instructors."
As Ino and Hinata stared at him in surprise, Cangwu gave a slight nod.
"Congratulations," Yamanaka Rino said.
"Teacher Cangwu, you're a Jonin Instructor?!"
"Which team are you in charge of?"
"Why didn't I see you today?"
Ino hurriedly asked.
"Team 7."
Ino: "..."
I'm so jealous of Sakura x2.
"Excuse me, how much are these flowers?"
Hearing a customer, Yamanaka Rino gave Ino an encouraging look, then bowed slightly to Cangwu.
"Please excuse me."
Cangwu was about to take the opportunity to say goodbye.
Ino immediately pulled Hinata outside with him.
"Teacher Cangwu, you said last time you'd 'cure' Hinata."
"Great, I could use a little treatment too~"
"I-Ino~!" Hinata blushed and tugged at Ino's sleeve.
"Sounds good. I'm a little hungry too. Let's go have lunch—get 'treated,' I mean." Cangwu chuckled.
Hinata's head was practically smoking.
Ino quickly added the finishing blow.
Blushing, she pressed her lips to Hinata's ear and whispered:
"Hinata~"
"You're part of Teacher Cangwu's and my play~"
Mmm~!
Before you continue