A few days after the memorial service, Konoha held a promotion ceremony for its ninjas.
As Hyuga Shinichi had predicted, Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro were both formally promoted to Jonin by Sarutobi Hiruzen.
After the ceremony, Sarutobi Hiruzen invited the heads of the three clans in the Eye-Nose-Ear Team to an important meeting.
After much discussion, they reached an agreement: they would temporarily disband the original Eye-Nose-Ear Team and form two entirely new teams, each led by two members of the original team.
The Jonin assigned to lead the two new Eye-Nose-Ear Teams were naturally Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro.
Hyuga Shinichi had already applied to Sarutobi Hiruzen before the promotion ceremony, saying he was willing to serve as a team leader.
And so, Hyuga Shinichi successfully formed a squad of his own. Its members were Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, and Shirakumo Hayama, whom he had taken on as his disciple.
As soon as the squad was formed, Hyuga Shinichi led them on their first mission, leaving Konoha.
Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro wanted to celebrate their promotions to team leaders, but they couldn't find Hyuga Shinichi, so they had to take both squads out for barbecue instead.
After watching the two new Eye-Nose-Ear Teams leave the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen had finally finished dealing with his recent affairs.
As he leaned back in his chair and smoked, his thoughts drifted back to the meeting the village's leaders had held earlier.
Suddenly, he realized he'd forgotten something very important: researching the Kekkei Genkai known as Wood Style.
Why research Wood Style?
They had learned that, apart from Konoha and Sunagakure, which already had Jinchūriki, all the other great nations had begun researching Jinchūriki.
This meant that if every nation succeeded in mastering Jinchūriki, they would very likely appear on