Class Assignment

Jiraiya's expression turned grave as he listened to Tsunade.

"Are you saying that Uchiha brat might possess talent on the level of Uchiha Madara? And that given the growth rate of his mental energy, he is likely to become the next Uchiha Madara?"

Tsunade nodded.

Jiraiya fell silent, pouring another cup of sake down his throat to ensure he wasn't dreaming, his expression turning solemn.

"Does the teacher know about this?"

"I haven't told the teacher. You know how many people in the upper echelons feel about the Uchiha Clan; doing so would only put him in danger." Tsunade sighed.

"Fair point."

Jiraiya did not argue. Even if he wasn't interested in such politics, it didn't mean he was completely ignorant of them.

"In that case, I will help you keep an eye on him."

"Thank you." Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and thanked him sincerely.

"Don't thank me. You are the one who has the most reason to hate the Uchiha, yet you are willing to do this. My help is merely trivial in comparison." Jiraiya looked at Tsunade with a complex expression.

Tsunade remained silent for a moment before pouring more wine.

"Come, drink a few more cups with me."

"With pleasure!"

A long time later, Tsunade left alone, leaving Jiraiya behind, his face flushed red as he sat in a daze.

Jiraiya muttered to himself.

"I feel like I forgot to ask something... oh well, forget it. If I managed to forget it, it must not have been important!"

With that, he downed another cup of wine.

In the end, Jiraiya had to be carried back by the bartender; after all, he was well-known in Konoha as the disciple of the Third Hokage.

When Jiraiya finally sobered up the next day and recalled the events of the previous night, he suddenly realized what he had forgotten to ask and let out a miserable cry.

"Uchiha Nagi is one thing, but could Uchiha Mikoto really be refused? The teacher will definitely beat me up for both Uchihas!"

Unfortunately, Jiraiya checked the time and realized it was likely too late to go and confirm things with Tsunade now.

Unless Uchiha Mikoto had a sufficiently special reason...

Forget it. Jiraiya gritted his teeth and headed toward the Hokage's office. If he was going to get scolded, so be it!

In a massive classroom, the students who had passed the assessment were gathered, waiting for the team assignments.

Uchiha Nagi looked at the bustling crowd of students and shook his head.

In times of peace, this number of graduates would be unthinkable. In the protagonist's generation, only a handful of people passed the graduation exam to become genin.

But now, due to the special circumstances, Konoha needed fresh blood, so the difficulty of the assessment had been lowered significantly.

The current situation was actually considered decent; who knew when things might take a turn for the worse, forcing lower-grade students to enlist not by choice, but by mandate.

However, Uchiha Nagi had no intention of commenting on that.

In this world, under the rules of the ninja villages, these were not children—they were genin capable of executing lethal missions.

Treating them as children or clinging to the notion of protecting them was a futile endeavor.

Moreover, compared to Konoha, the situation in other ninja villages was only worse.

Therefore, wanting to change all of this meant changing the world itself.

Uchiha Nagi happened to have absolutely no interest in changing the world; it was far too much trouble.

With that kind of time, he would rather sleep more or hunt for good food.

At that moment, the teacher on the podium picked up the roster and began calling names.

"Sister Tsunade didn't send me any further notice, which means things must have gone smoothly, right?"

Uchiha Nagi pondered this; sometimes, no news was an answer in itself.

During the process, he heard some familiar names, such as Nawaki, who was placed on a team with two strangers.

He also heard that the older generation of Ino-Shika-Cho had been placed on a team together, as expected.

A long time later, after most people had been called and taken away by their respective instructors, the room was nearly empty.

"A bit pitiful. Most of these people's instructors are likely just chunin."

Uchiha Nagi muttered to himself; Konoha didn't have that many jonin or special jonin to go around.

"Hmm, although these assignments look random, they probably still depend on specific talent to catch the eye of a jonin."

Namikaze Minato saw through this quite clearly.

"Minato, are you worried about your instructor?" Uchiha Nagi asked suddenly.

Namikaze Minato shook his head. "Whoever ends up being my instructor, their experience is worth learning from."

Uchiha Nagi was noncommittal about this. It was true—no matter who Namikaze Minato's instructor was, at least for the first few years, it would be better than Jiraiya, who had spent three years in the Land of Rain.

It was just that without this connection, Namikaze Minato would never be able to obtain the Flying Thunder God technique from then on...

"This... that simply won't do; I'm still waiting for Minato to carry me to victory."

Uchiha Nagi could not accept such an outcome; Namikaze Minato had to become the powerhouse he could cling to!

As for him obtaining the Flying Thunder God technique himself? What a joke!

Not to mention whether he could even learn it, would an Uchiha like him ever be qualified to study any of the ninjutsu contained within the Scroll of Seals?

"Besides..." Namikaze Minato chuckled.

"Didn't Nagi say there was a connection? So I believe our instructor should be quite excellent."

"That's for sure, he is the legendary San..." Uchiha Nagi suddenly paused, realizing that at this moment, Jiraiya was seemingly not yet one of the Sannin.

To be precise, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were only dubbed the Sannin after their battle against the demigod Hanzo, a title bestowed upon them by the man himself.

And right now, they hadn't even engaged him in battle yet, so where would the title of Sannin come from?

"Minato, even without my connection, you would definitely be scouted by him regardless." Uchiha Nagi casually shifted the topic.

"Then I'll take your word for it." Namikaze Minato continued to smile gently, though his eyes revealed a glimmer of confidence.

While he was gentle and polite, he never denied his own talent.

Meanwhile, on the other side, a beautiful figure was feeling somewhat anxious.

She was Uchiha Mikoto, and as she watched her classmates being assigned to teams and led away by their respective instructors, she was the only one left in the classroom.

Why was this?

Uchiha Mikoto felt a bit strange and somewhat worried, though she wasn't overly concerned.

Since she had already passed the graduation exam, she would inevitably be assigned to a team.

It was just a pity; if she had a choice, she would have preferred to be assigned to a team with people she was familiar with.

Looking at it now, that idea had been dashed.

Finally, the teacher in charge of announcing the team assignments spoke up once more, and she was the first to hear her own name.

"Uchiha Mikoto, Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Nagi!"