Bell-Snatching Operation

Tsunade entered and greeted the group, saying, "Sorry, I'm better at taijutsu. Your teacher probably hasn't arrived yet."

She turned to another small team and said, "Team Six, follow me. Starting today, I, Tsunade, will be training you!"

"Eh, why is it like this? I thought Sister Tsunade would be our Jonin Leader."

Watching the familiar Sister Tsunade leave, Kushina deflated like a balloon.

"Don't worry, the good stuff always comes last," Sen said with a smile, trying to comfort her.

He had a rough idea of who it would be. Several familiar people had already appeared, even Hatake Sakumo, Dan Katō, and one of the Sannin, Tsunade.

He guessed the remaining ones would be Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

It was more likely to be Jiraiya. If Orochimaru were assigned to lead rookies, he probably wouldn't be willing. Orochimaru's interest seemed to be dissecting people, not nurturing them.

As he was thinking, a voice arrived before its owner did.

"Tsunade—! Long time no see, you've gotten even prettier!"

A roar echoed from the hallway, "Get lost!"

Jiraiya muttered, "Her chest and temper have both gotten bigger," as he pulled open the classroom door.

Seeing the three people in the classroom, he immediately became serious, tidied his silver-white hair, and walked to the podium:

"You must be Team Seven? I'm really late today. If I had come earlier, the other students could have seen my glorious appearance! I am your Jonin Leader, the Mount Myōboku Sage, Jiraiya-sama."

After speaking, he struck a pose he thought was cool, making a peace sign.

Kushina put her hand to her forehead. This Jonin seemed unreliable. She felt he was worse than their previous teacher, Murashita Ryukawa.

Sen felt similarly. He sized up Jiraiya, who was only in his early twenties. Compared to his middle-aged self, he seemed even more carefree now.

"So handsome! Do all Sages have white hair?" Only Minato gave a thumbs-up, his face beaming with praise and admiration.

Jiraiya looked at the three of them and felt his enthusiasm dampen. Two of them weren't very interested in him, and the last kid who spoke seemed a bit slow...

I, Jiraiya, am called a Sage because I'm handsome, what does that have to do with white hair?

If it had to do with hair, wouldn't two of you be Sages?

Jiraiya shook his head. "Let's go, find an open space to get acquainted."

The group then proceeded to a clearing used for training.

Jiraiya spoke first:

"My name is Jiraiya, a disciple of the Third Hokage. I only recently returned to the village and am skilled in many things. As for my ideals, you brats wouldn't understand even if I told you. You should introduce yourselves now."

Minato spoke first, "My name is Namikaze Minato. I'm good at basic techniques like the Substitution Technique, and I've also learned Shadow Clone. My dream is to become Hokage! I hope Jiraiya-sensei will take good care of me."

Jiraiya nodded. This matched the intel from the mission briefing. Namikaze Minato, a genius from a civilian family.

"Next."

Kushina raised her fist and declared, "He's not going to be Hokage! I, Uzumaki Kushina, will definitely be Hokage!

Although I can only do very simple sealing jutsu right now, I will learn more ninjutsu from Grandma Mito in the future. Everyone in the village will know my name."

After a month of training with Sen, Kushina was full of confidence in her abilities.

Jiraiya's eyes showed a hint of seriousness. Is this the Jinchuriki I must protect at all costs according to the mission?

Such a vibrant girl, destined to become a Jinchuriki in a cage. What a pity.

His gaze shifted to the last person, Uchiha Sen.

This is the last mission objective: monitor whether he has a sense of belonging to the village.

Sen looked at the three of them looking at him and said, "My name is Uchiha Sen. I didn't have anything I particularly liked before, but now I like tomatoes. My dream is to protect the people I cherish."

Kushina's face instantly turned red.

Jiraiya watched this scene and understood.

This 'tomato' must refer to Kushina's nickname.

It seems this kid isn't as cold as other Uchihas.

However...

He subconsciously touched the bell in his ninja pouch.

With war imminent, is it really okay to let these three nine-year-olds graduate?

Perhaps... letting them fail under me and avoid this war is the best protection for them.

Having reached a conclusion, Jiraiya took out two bells, held them by the string, and said to the three of them, "Since you've all introduced yourselves, you don't think you've become ninja just because you've graduated, do you?

You still need to pass my test. If you pass, you can truly become Genin. Otherwise, you'll have to repeat school! Back in the day,"

Jiraiya reluctantly recalled the memory of himself being tied to a tree stump, his eyes darting around as he said, "I fought Teacher Hiruzen for over three hours just to get one. Let me see what you've got!"

Kushina and Minato stood ramrod straight upon hearing this. They both thought they had already graduated, so why would there still be an exam?

Sen shook his head, not exposing Jiraiya's past as a dead last. He stepped forward to examine the bells and said, "Jiraiya, you have great taste. These bells are really nice. Where did you buy them?"

"Naturally, my taste as Jiraiya-sama is top-notch." Seeing Sen get too close, Jiraiya changed his tune. "Don't think about snatching them. It doesn't count if it hasn't started yet! Also, you should call me Jiraiya-sensei!"

Sen looked at the bells for two more seconds and said with disappointment, "Ah, you saw through me. Alright, I understand, Jiraiya."

Minato immediately noticed the problem. "Sensei, there are three of us, but only two bells..."

"Clever. The one who doesn't get a bell will go back to the academy and repeat the year!" Jiraiya chuckled and continued, "I imagine it would be quite prestigious for you to be senior students like that, wouldn't it?"

Minato and Kushina immediately flushed red. Going back to school with the junior students would be utterly humiliating...

What dream of becoming Hokage? Might as well lie down with the First Hokage...

"Cheer up!" Sen interrupted them. "Let's get the bells first! Sensei, this is a team operation, can we discuss tactics first?"

Jiraiya praised him inwardly. The Uchiha clan, except when it came to emotions, was generally extremely calm, which was very advantageous for missions.

"You have ten minutes!"

Jiraiya watched the three negotiate with an approving gaze, but in the next second, Sen and Minato were already arguing.

Minato yelled, "The hand seals for the Shadow Clone Jutsu are clearly the 'Tiger' seal with both hands! What do you mean 'cross seal'? There's no such seal!"

Sen retorted, "You idiot, don't you know how? I'll summon two Shadow Clones for you right now!"

With that, he used the cross seal to summon two Shadow Clones.

Seeing the suddenly appearing Shadow Clones, Minato's face showed envy and surprise, then he scratched his head and said, "So I remembered wrong. That was the Transformation Technique just now..."

Sen said displeased, "Idiot, remember to cooperate with me later. I'm not proficient with Shadow Clones yet, these two clones aren't very useful. I'll dismiss them!"

As he spoke, the two Shadow Clones disappeared in a puff of white smoke. Just as the smoke vanished, Sen sneakily palmed something.

Seeing this, Jiraiya's eyes went black.

He had just praised Uchiha Sen for being capable, but now it seemed he was only skilled in ninjutsu and had no strategic thinking at all.

At the very least, he shouldn't have dismissed the Shadow Clones like that. They would have been great for combat! Such a waste of Chakra.

These idiots, he'd probably send them all back to the academy later!

Kushina saw that the two were still arguing and yelled, "Stop arguing! It's already been ten minutes! We're going to fight Jiraiya-sensei without even planning tactics! What are you guys doing?"

At this moment, Jiraiya tucked the bells into his waistband and took a step forward, his eyes sharp:

"The three of you have no chance of succeeding! Prepare to go back to the academy!"