After reprimanding Kushina Uzumaki for her lack of manners, Dan Katō immediately bowed apologetically. "Lord Hokage, please forgive Kushina for not knowing the rules. I hope you'll be understanding."
The Third Hokage wasn't angry. Instead, he looked at Kushina Uzumaki kindly. "It's all right. Anyone would find this kind of order hard to accept. Besides, this girl has always been outspoken. I got used to it a long time ago. Heh heh."
"Though this may be rude, I still have to ask. Lord Hokage, why are you suddenly disbanding Team 6?" Uchiha Matsuri, who had been silent beside them, suddenly spoke up.
"Matsuri, you also..."
"All right, all right." The Third Hokage waved a hand, signaling Dan Katō not to scold Uchiha Matsuri, then continued in a calm voice, "Since you two have asked why, I'll tell you honestly."
"It's true that your Team 6 is the best team among your classmates. Both the number of missions you've completed and your success rate far exceed those of the other teams. But for various reasons, I have no choice but to disband your team."
"First, your leader, Jonin Dan Katō, was seriously injured during the last mission. I'm afraid he won't be able to lead a team on missions for another six months."
"Second, all the Jonin currently willing to lead teams have already been assigned one. If Team 6 continues taking missions, you'll be in the dangerous position of having no Jonin on your team for six months."
"Third, we need to reduce the number of teams. When you were first divided into teams, Orochimaru told you, didn't he? No matter how many teams each graduating class starts with, in the end, they must be reduced to the three strongest teams. Everyone else has to return to the Ninja Academy for further training or take on other work."
The Third Hokage paused, glancing at the three who were listening attentively, then continued:
"So, in order to keep the twelve members of the three strongest teams, I've decided to assign Uchiha Matsuri to Team 5, filling the vacancy left by Akimichi Dōtō, who had to retire due to injury.
"As for Kushina, Team 1 and Team 9 have no vacancies, so I'm sorry, but you can either work as Lady Tsunade's assistant or join the next graduating class."
"I'll be Lady Tsunade's assistant!" Kushina Uzumaki said firmly.
At this, the Third Hokage nodded, then turned his gaze to Uchiha Matsuri, as if waiting for him to respond.
"I agree." Since the Third Hokage had already made his decision, Uchiha Matsuri had no choice but to comply.
Seeing that they had both agreed, the Third Hokage smiled with satisfaction, then turned to Dan Katō. "Dan, make sure you take good care of your injuries over the next six months."
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Hokage. I'll recover as soon as I can," Dan Katō replied.
Three days later.
The results of the team reduction assessment were posted on the outer wall of the Ninja Academy.
To everyone's surprise, Team 6, which had ranked first in every category over the past year, wasn't among the three teams retained. The news sparked a flurry of discussion.
"Shikaku, Inoichi, look! Team 6, which has always done so well on missions, wasn't retained." Akimichi Chōza pointed at the assessment results posted on the wall in astonishment.
"Hey, you're right. Even Team 6 is gone. I really don't understand what the standards for this assessment are," Yamanaka Inoichi said, baffled.
"If you ask me, they shouldn't have held such a troublesome assessment in the first place," Shikaku Nara said, pursing his lips.
"Ahem."
At the sound of the cough, the three instinctively turned around.
"Teacher Yoshihiko." They bowed respectfully.
"What are you three discussing?" Sarutobi Yoshihiko asked, stern as ever.
"Teacher Yoshihiko, we're looking at the assessment results. They show that Team 5, Team 9, and our Team 1 all passed, even though their scores were extremely close. It's just..." Yamanaka Inoichi answered.
"Just what?"
"But Team 6, whose score was even higher, was unexpectedly eliminated," Akimichi Chōza cut in.
"What?" Sarutobi Yoshihiko gaped, then muttered, "That doesn't make sense. Team 6 is better than our three teams, both in terms of scores and everything else. How could they have failed?"
He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then suddenly opened them. "Wait, no. This must have been deliberate on my older brother's part."
"The Third Hokage did it deliberately?" Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza were confused by Sarutobi Yoshihiko's words.
"Just think about it. There are only three spots, and the scores for second through fourth place are all about the same. Wouldn't that give whoever made the rules a headache? No matter which two teams he picked from second through fourth place, the one left out would be dissatisfied. So the Hokage did the opposite of what you'd expect and set his sights on Team 6, which ranked first." Shikaku Nara folded his arms, looking unimpressed.
"Shikaku's right. Team 6's Jonin leader, Dan Katō, was injured, so he can't be considered. That leaves only Uchiha Matsuri and Kushina Uzumaki. Team 5 happens to be short one person, and assigning either Uchiha Matsuri or Kushina Uzumaki to Team 5 would break up Team 6." Sarutobi Yoshihiko took a drag from his pipe and analyzed the situation calmly.
Elsewhere.
Jiraiya was also checking the assessment results with two members of Team 5.
"Humph! Team 6 may have seemed so impressive before, but in the end, they got disbanded like everyone else," E Inuzuka said smugly.
"Don't say that, E. Team 6 really was better than us at completing missions. Even if they've been disbanded, we shouldn't make fun of them," Minato Namikaze said mildly.
Almost every team had come to check the results this time. Only Team 6 hadn't shown up, as if they'd known the outcome in advance. Not a single one of them had come to look. Minato Namikaze couldn't help finding it strange.
"Humph!" E Inuzuka hugged his Ninja Dog and retorted indignantly, "Tell me, Minato, why do you always take the other side?"
"Huh? Do I?" Minato Namikaze smiled awkwardly.
"Of course you do! Just like last time..."
Watching the two members of his team start bickering again, Jiraiya shook his head helplessly.
"If only these two could get along as well as Team 6," Jiraiya said with a wry smile.
Just as Jiraiya was getting a "headache," a somewhat chilly voice came from behind him.
"Jiraiya, your team doesn't seem to get along very well."
Turning around, he saw Orochimaru watching the two members of Team Jiraiya with a mocking look in his eyes.
"Orochimaru, you're not leading a team anymore, so why are you still interested in checking the assessment results?" Jiraiya asked with a frown.
Before you continue