Yes, Ye Ning planned to take Sasuke and Naruto—the two protagonists of the original story—as his disciples. As for the final member of the team, it would be filled by the crown princess.
It wasn't that Ye Ning had any issue with Sakura. Well... he did have a little issue.
It was just that Ye Ning truly felt that Sakura was a poor fit for a team with the current Sasuke and Naruto.
In the original story, Sasuke had experienced the night of his clan's massacre, leaving him as the sole survivor of the entire Uchiha Clan, while Naruto had lost his parents and borne the title of demon fox. It made sense enough for the two of them to form a team with Sakura, a civilian ninja.
But now...
One was from Konoha's foremost noble clan, perhaps even the future foremost noble clan of the Shinobi World; the other had parents who were both Konoha jonin—one was the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, while the other was a candidate for Fifth Hokage.
And then adding Sakura, a civilian ninja, to that team...
It wasn't merely a mismatch anymore... it was utterly jarring!
Besides, Tsunade had already taken Rin as her disciple, and Rin had proven herself to be exceptionally capable... Tsunade most likely had no intention of taking on another disciple to teach.
So after thinking it over, Ye Ning still felt that Hinata was more suitable.
No matter what, she was Naruto's destined future partner. She was also the Hyuga Clan's young lady and possessed the purest Byakugan in the entire Hyuga Clan. It was perfectly reasonable for her to form a team with Sasuke and Naruto.
Ye Ning also had a few selfish motives of his own.
To evolve a pair of Byakugan into the Tenseigan, Hinata's blood would likely