The Bell Scramble Begins

Yu walked to the front of the group and saw his teammates and teacher.

Sai, exceptionally fair-skinned, stood to his left and gave him a wide, beaming smile. However, it was clear Sai's smile was fake, giving off an unpleasant vibe.

Knowing Sai's true identity and personality, Yu naturally didn't show any unusual expression. Instead, he also offered Sai a radiant, sunny smile.

Standing to his right was Fujiwara Chima, a girl with long black hair who appeared quite aloof. She had a longbow strapped to her back and two short clubs at her waist. She wore her Ninja Academy forehead protector as a necklace around her neck.

Fujiwara Chima didn't seem easy to get along with. She merely gave her teammates a cold nod as a greeting, a stark contrast to the smiles of Yu and Sai.

"You three, follow me."

Yamashiro Aoba said to the three of them.

The four of them left the Ninja Academy and headed to a restaurant on the street.

"Since this is our first meeting, let's start with introductions. My name is Yamashiro Aoba, a Special Jonin of Konoha. I know many things, which you'll learn gradually," Yamashiro Aoba told the three, while also gesturing for the shopkeeper to bring some small dishes.

"My name is Uchiha Yu, and I'm currently a Genin. But I believe I'll become the strongest ninja in the future. I like anything that brings me joy, and I dislike anything that causes me trouble." Yu stood up first after Yamashiro Aoba finished his introduction.

His words didn't reveal much and were a very ordinary introduction.

"My name is Sai, and I'm also a Genin. I like drawing, and I dislike the same things Yu-kun does. I hope to become friends with everyone in the time to come." Sai stood up second, still with his signature empty smile. After speaking, he politely bowed to the three of them.

Finally, it was Fujiwara Chima's turn.

"Fujiwara Chima."

These four words were Fujiwara Chima's entire self-introduction. As expected, Fujiwara Chima's personality matched her appearance perfectly; she was very cold. Even when they sat together, she sat alone in one corner, and her gaze rarely fell on her teammates. She was an entity separate from the team.

Sigh! This is a complete 180-degree turn from the teammates I wanted, Yu sighed inwardly. He had wanted teammates who were easy to get along with, but it seemed none of his current teammates were.

He was familiar with Sai, as Sai had followed the protagonist group and was the fourth member of Team 7. Sai had many scenes in the Naruto anime, but more importantly, Sai was from Root.

He had no impression of Fujiwara Chima at all. She didn't appear in Naruto, and he had never even seen her at the Ninja Academy.

As for Yamashiro Aoba, he was one of the most popular supporting characters in Konoha, a ninja with strong abilities in many areas. Of course, his most important role was as a confidant of the Hokage.

Danzo's man and Hiruzen Sarutobi's man, what does this mean? Are they trying to monitor me completely? Yu thought to himself.

Sai was originally a pawn that Danzo would later place in Team 7. Now, Danzo had released Sai so early, clearly targeting him. As for Yamashiro Aoba, it was even more obvious. As a Special Jonin, Yamashiro Aoba had always worked for the Hokage and didn't usually take on team leader roles, so Yamashiro Aoba was also clearly targeting him.

It seems Konoha is still uneasy about my existence. After parting ways with the Anbu last time, I thought Konoha wouldn't pay attention to me anymore.

Yu had genuinely thought that, because he hadn't encountered any trouble in the past two years. Who would have thought everything was waiting for him here!

However, Yu wasn't worried about this situation. Firstly, in terms of strength, all three of them combined weren't enough to fight him with one hand. Even Yamashiro Aoba, as their teacher, he wasn't afraid of at all, because Yamashiro Aoba wasn't a ninja specializing in combat. Otherwise, he wouldn't be a Special Jonin.

Yamashiro Aoba's role should be that of a support ninja specializing in reconnaissance, cover, assistance, and interrogation. Of course, his own strength was decent, but it depended on who he was compared to.

So, Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Sai and Yamashiro Aoba to my side to gather intelligence on me, Yu thought.

Next came building rapport over food and drinks. Yu had to admit that Yamashiro Aoba was truly an excellent support ninja.

During this first group meal, he was always the one to initiate conversation, never letting the atmosphere cool down. Even the aloof Fujiwara Chima was affected and shared some of her background.

Fujiwara Chima wasn't originally a Konoha ninja. She was from another country besides the Land of Fire. Her country didn't have ninja villages, only small ninja clans, and Fujiwara Chima was a member of one such clan.

Her country and another nation were in a territorial dispute, leading to war, and these ninja clans had to participate.

However, the enemy country had recruited many powerful ninjas from somewhere. The strongest ninja in Fujiwara Chima's clan was only a Chunin, while the enemy country had several Jonin-level existences among their ninjas.

As a result, the war became a one-sided affair. Almost all the ninjas in Fujiwara Chima's clan were wiped out, and the clan disintegrated.

In the most dangerous moment, the Land of Fire signed a mutual aid treaty with Fujiwara Chima's country. With Konoha's involvement, the enemy ninjas were no match, and the war ended quickly.

Subsequently, Fujiwara Chima, who had considerable ninja talent, was recruited into Konoha. After some training, she participated in this graduation exam and was then assigned to Yu's team.

Seeing the cold young lady spill out all her personal information so easily, Yu couldn't help but shake his head.

No matter what, she's still a little girl inside! Her guard is too low.

Although Yu and Sai were also active, they kept their conversations brief and didn't get led astray by Yamashiro Aoba.

The meal lasted until evening.

Outside the restaurant, although it was Yamashiro Aoba's first time as a team leader, he was clear about the process.

"Tomorrow, I will conduct an exam for you. If you fail, you will lose your qualification to be a ninja and will have to return to the Ninja Academy for another year of study.

I hope you all prepare well. We will meet here punctually at nine tomorrow." Yamashiro Aoba said to Yu and the other two.

"Understood, Teacher Aoba." Yu and Sai said in unison. Fujiwara Chima next to them also nodded slightly, still maintaining her cold demeanor.

"Good."

Yamashiro Aoba nodded with satisfaction. Although this was his first time as a team leader, he felt he had done a good job and could give himself an eight out of ten, leaving two points for improvement.

"Bell-snatching battle, this is really interesting!" Yu waved goodbye to the other three and smiled, looking at the moon that was beginning to show its form in the sky.

However, Yamashiro Aoba, still caught up in the excitement of being a teacher for the first time, had no idea what he would face tomorrow.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi had appointed Yamashiro Aoba as a team leader and instructed him to gather intelligence on the three team members, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not told Yamashiro Aoba about Yu's strength, only telling him to be careful.