Class Assignments and an Unexpected Turn

Tsunade did not stay in the village for long. On the third day after Nawaki woke up, she and Orochimaru headed to the front lines together.

Jiraiya alone had nearly been unable to withstand Sunagakure's fierce assault.

Most crucially, there was the poison developed by Chiyo of Sunagakure, the Kazekage's advisor. No one could cure it.

Konoha's morale was low.

However, not long after Tsunade arrived at the main battlefield on the western border, the situation quickly reversed.

Leaving aside how her and Orochimaru's arrival instantly added two top-tier combatants, the key was that Tsunade cracked Chiyo's custom-made poison in less than ten days.

With its Medical Ninja system far ahead of other nations, once the antidote formula reached the village, a steady stream of finished medicines and various resources was swiftly sent to the front lines.

After the poison was neutralized, Sunagakure's Puppeteer Squad lost the "fangs" that had let them run rampant across the battlefield.

As the strongest shinobi village in the Shinobi World, Konoha's ninja possessed excellent overall quality.

But Sunagakure was not some small shinobi village like Amegakure. As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha could not defeat Sunagakure overnight.

The Third Kazekage of Sunagakure, hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history, was unable to prevail against Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya working together. He was driven back time and again.

The Third Kazekage was already over forty, the peak of a ninja's life. Once past fifty, a ninja's physical abilities would decline drastically.

The Three Ninja, meanwhile, were only twenty-five or twenty-six, still in their prime years of growth.

After this battle, the name of Konoha's "Three Ninja" truly began to shake the Shinobi World.

Since Konoha's Third Hokage was still holding down the rear, Sunagakure did not dare go all in either.

The border battlefield became a meat grinder, swallowing hundreds and thousands of ninja in blood and fire.

When a war could not be won quickly, it inevitably turned into a war of attrition. At that point, it came down to which side had the deeper reserves.

And that was precisely Konoha's strength.

Konoha Year 36, March 12.

Today was the Ninja Academy's Graduation Briefing Session.

Whether they had graduated early or on schedule, all students had to gather here.

Becoming a Genin was only the beginning. Their future team assignments would be the first thing to determine their destinies.

Konoha and Sunagakure were currently at war. As high-end combat power, Jōnin were scarce resources, and there were very few Jōnin available to serve as Guiding Ninja.

Even students from Ninja Clans only had a chance of receiving guidance from a clan Jōnin if they were exceptionally talented, let alone students with no background at all.

The three-way melee between Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure in the Land of Rain had only lasted around a year.

But the great war between Sunagakure and Konoha had gone from localized clashes to full-scale war, then to the current war of attrition. It had already lasted nearly three years.

Some small and medium-sized Ninja Clans had suffered devastating losses in the war, even being wiped out entirely.

The Getsuko Clan, long renowned for Konoha-Style Swordsmanship, had fewer than two hundred members in total, yet its strength was not weak among small and medium-sized Ninja Clans.

Now, all four Jōnin of the Getsuko Clan had died in the war.

Chūnin were the backbone of the village, while Jōnin could participate in the village's major decisions and held voting rights.

After this war, it was easy to imagine that the Getsuko Clan's influence in the village would plummet.

That was reality.

Before long, Sakamoto Midorikawa entered the large classroom and stepped onto the podium. He cleared his throat and announced in a booming voice:

"Students, congratulations! Starting today, each of you will become an honored Konoha Genin.

"However, your ninja careers are only just beginning."

Sakamoto Midorikawa's impassioned speech completely stirred up some of the students. It was as though they were about to head straight to the battlefield to kill enemies and earn glory for the village.

Most of the Ninja Clan children, on the other hand, remained relatively calm. Through their clans, they understood just how brutal war truly was.

Shiraha looked at the hot-blooded youths in the class and sighed inwardly. Only when I watched Naruto in my first life as a teenager did I find it so exciting.

He did not feel that way at all now.

These people did not seem to realize that even Nawaki, the First Hokage's grandson, had nearly died on the battlefield after one moment of carelessness despite Orochimaru's protection. Who could they rely on?

"Of course, while I hope all of you remain motivated, you must obey your captain's orders. At the academy, you can fail countless times. But once you begin carrying out missions, a single failure may result in injury or even death. I hope you all remember my words!"

After firing up the students, Sakamoto Midorikawa poured a bucket of cold water over them. His words were earnest and deeply felt.

Only those in the lower ranks could truly understand that nothing came easy.

"Next, we will begin the team assignments." Seeing that the hot-blooded youths in the class had calmed down somewhat, Sakamoto Midorikawa picked up the assignment sheet from the podium and began reading.

"Team 1: Hyuga Toma, Sarutobi Keita, Uchiha Soujin. Guiding Jōnin..."

At this point, Sakamoto Midorikawa paused. His eyes suddenly widened. "Guiding Jōnin, Hatake Sakumo!"

"Hatake Sakumo?!"

"The Konoha White Fang?!"

"How could they put a Hyūga and an Uchiha on the same team?"

"Is that even allowed?!"

The classroom erupted the moment Sakamoto Midorikawa finished speaking.

Perhaps some people did not know the name Hatake Sakumo, but the Konoha White Fang's name shook the Shinobi World. His prestige even surpassed that of the current Three Ninja, making him unquestionably Konoha's number one Jōnin.

Hyuga Toma and Sarutobi Keita had originally been the first- and second-ranked graduates of this class.

Uchiha Soujin was even more extraordinary. He had been the Top Graduate three graduating classes ago. Putting those three together was already a combination of the strongest, yet their Guiding Jōnin was actually the Konoha White Fang.

That was even more outrageous than having one of the Three Ninja as their Guiding Jōnin.

What an absurdly stacked team, Shiraha grumbled inwardly. Under normal circumstances, team assignments generally took the balance among graduates into consideration.

But now, it was obvious that the higher-ups were looking after this year's outstanding graduates.

Of course, Shiraha was not jealous in the slightest.

Being inserted into a team generally only happened when that team had lost a member. In the better case, one member had been promoted to Chūnin and gone off to lead another team.

In the worse case, they had been reassigned due to injury or disability, or had simply died.

With Team 1's lineup, there was no way they would be assigned low-level missions like finding cats or cleaning up trash.

"Quiet!" Sakamoto Midorikawa raised his voice. He had already regained his composure. A Hyūga genius, a genius from Lord Third Hokage's clan, and the White Fang as their leading Jōnin—it was understandable.

"Team 2..."

"..."

Sakamoto Midorikawa continued reading.

Soon, he reached Shiraha.

"Team 12. Student Shiraha, you have been assigned to Jōnin Oshima Shuichi's team, alongside Uchiha Chiho and Hyuga Hideto from two graduating classes before yours."

Sakamoto Midorikawa offered the reminder, and he was also happy for Shiraha.

"I heard from my father that Oshima Shuichi is very strong. He often carries out missions with the White Fang!"

"Why does he get to be on a team with an Uchiha and a Hyūga?!"

Several students in the class began discussing it.

Starting from Team 5, Special Jōnin and Chūnin began appearing among the team leaders. Normally, the later the team, the worse the resources. Yet Shiraha's assignment was second only to Team 1.

Most importantly, Shiraha's team assignment surpassed that of many students with better grades than his.

"That concludes all team assignments for this round."

"Teacher, what about me?!" Seeing Sakamoto Midorikawa put away the assignment sheet, Kushina hurriedly stood and asked.

"Student Kushina..." Sakamoto Midorikawa froze for a moment, looking troubled. "There are no arrangements for you on the assignment sheet. I believe Lord Third Hokage must have other plans for you?"

Logically speaking, Kushina's grades were quite good. She should not have been left without even a Chūnin assignment, yet the assignment sheet showed nothing, and the academy leaders had also told him not to concern himself with it.

The moment he finished speaking, the boys whom Kushina had beaten before began mocking her.

"Hmph! Outsider! Being allowed to stay in Konoha is already a gift to you, yet you still want to be assigned with us? What a joke!"

"Exactly! Who would want to be on the same team as you?"

"Get lost already. Stop standing here and being an eyesore."

Though they could not beat Kushina, the boys became bolder when they were together.

Bang!

Kushina slammed her hand against the desk. With a sharp crack, the desk in the back row split apart and died on the spot.

Her red hair rose without wind, and a terrifying aura radiated from her body as she clenched her fists.

"I think you want a beating, you know!"

At the sight of the Red Hot Habanero showing her might, the boys immediately fell silent.

Shiraha stood up and gently patted the back of Kushina's hand, soothing her before turning to Sakamoto Midorikawa.

"Teacher, if possible, I would like to be on the same team as Kushina."

Following Shiraha's instructions, Kushina had hidden her true strength. The ability she displayed was only around the top ten in the class and around thirtieth in the grade.

But in reality, Kushina had caught up from behind and broken through Crimson Dragon Calamity to the Formal Knight stage by the end of last year. Combined with her terrifying Chakra and strength, although Shadow Clone was the only ninjutsu she knew and her combat skills were not particularly exceptional, ordinary Jōnin were no match for her.

As for Shiraha, he had also reached the Formal Knight stage last month, and had learned the Rank A Medical Ninjutsu, Mystical Palm Technique.

He felt that his overall strength was probably comparable to a Jōnin, though he was likely still a notch below Kushina when she fully unleashed her Breathing Technique.

The main reason was that after Kushina's relationship with Kurama eased, the amount of Chakra she could use kept increasing. During training, she would casually unleash Shadow Clone swarm tactics on Shiraha, sending dozens of people at him alone. No matter how great his stamina was, he could not withstand it.

Compared to teaming up with others, Shiraha naturally hoped to have Kushina, someone he could entrust his back to, as his teammate.

"I'm sorry, Student Shiraha, but Lord Third Hokage decided the team assignments. I have no authority to change them." Sakamoto Midorikawa shook his head.

"Then I'll go find Lord Third Hokage!" Kushina ran straight out of the classroom.

"Sorry, Teacher. I'll go check on her." Shiraha hurried after her.