Dismissal

After reprimanding Kushina Uzumaki for her lack of decorum, Kato Dan immediately bowed in apology. "Lord Hokage, please forgive Kushina for her ignorance of the rules. I hope you will be lenient."

The Third Hokage did not show any anger; instead, he looked at Kushina Uzumaki with a kindly expression. "It is quite alright. Such an order is difficult for anyone to accept. Besides, this little girl has always been outspoken, and I have long since grown accustomed to it, haha."

"Although it is very offensive to ask, I must still inquire. Lord Hokage, why is the name of Team 6 being dissolved so suddenly?" Uchiha Matsuri, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"Matsuri, you too..."

"Alright, alright." The Third Hokage waved his hand, signaling Kato Dan not to reprimand Uchiha Matsuri, and then continued in a calm tone, "Since you both ask for the reason, I will tell you the truth."

"Admittedly, as the most outstanding team of your year, Team 6 has far surpassed other teams in both the number of missions completed and the success rate. However, due to various reasons, I have no choice but to dissolve your team."

"First, your captain, Jonin Kato Dan, was seriously injured in the last operation and will likely be unable to lead the team on missions for at least half a year."

"Second, the Jonin currently available to lead teams have already been assigned. If Team 6 were to continue executing missions, you would face the dangerous situation of being without a Jonin for half a year."

"Third, there is the matter of reducing the number of teams. When you were first divided into teams, Orochimaru told you that for every graduating class, no matter how many squads were formed, they would eventually be reduced to the three strongest. The remaining people must either return to the Ninja Academy for further study or take on other duties."

The Third Hokage paused, scanned the three people listening intently, and continued:

"Therefore, in order to keep the twelve members of the three strongest teams, I have decided to assign Uchiha Matsuri to Team 5 to fill the vacancy left by the injured Chōji Dōtō."

"As for Kushina, since there are no vacancies in Team 1 or Team 9, I am very sorry, but you may choose to become Tsunade's assistant, or I can arrange for you to join a class from the next year."

"I will be Lady Tsunade's assistant!" Kushina Uzumaki said firmly.

Hearing this, the Third Hokage nodded and then cast his gaze toward Uchiha Matsuri, seemingly waiting for his response.

"I agree." Since the Third Hokage had already spoken, Uchiha Matsuri had no choice but to comply.

Seeing that both had agreed, the Third Hokage smiled with satisfaction, then turned to Kato Dan and said, "Dan, you must take good care of your injuries over these next six months."

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Hokage. I will certainly recover as soon as possible," Kato Dan replied.

Three days later.

The results of the team evaluation were posted on the outer wall of the Ninja Academy.

Surprisingly, Team 6, which had ranked first in every metric within the year, was not among the three teams retained. This immediately sparked a heated discussion among the crowd.

"Shikaku, Inoichi, look, Team 6, which has always been excellent in executing missions, was not retained." Akimichi Chōza pointed at the evaluation results posted on the wall, saying in surprise.

"Eh, really? Even Team 6 is gone. I really don't understand what the criteria for this evaluation are," Yamanaka Inoichi said, puzzled.

"If you ask me, such a troublesome evaluation shouldn't have been conducted in the first place," Shikaku Nara said with a curl of his lip.

"Ahem."

Hearing the cough, the three of them instinctively turned around.

"Teacher Yoshihiko." The three bowed respectfully.

"What are you three discussing?" Sarutobi Yoshihiko asked with his usual serious expression.

"Teacher Yoshihiko, we were looking at the evaluation results. The results show that Team 5, Team 9, and our Team 1, whose scores were extremely close, all passed. It's just..." Yamanaka Inoichi replied.

"Just what?"

"Just that Team 6, which had better scores, unexpectedly failed to make the cut," Akimichi Chōza answered quickly.

"What?" Sarutobi Yoshihiko opened his mouth wide and couldn't help but mutter, "That shouldn't be. Whether in terms of grades or anything else, Team 6 is stronger than our three teams. How could they not have passed?"

After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, Sarutobi Yoshihiko suddenly opened them. "No, this must have been done on purpose by my older brother."

"Lord Third Hokage did it on purpose?" Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza were confused by Sarutobi Yoshihiko's words.

"Just think about it. There are only three spots, and the second through fourth places all have similar scores. That would give the rule-maker a headache! No matter which two are selected from second to fourth place, the team that is left out would be dissatisfied. So, the Hokage went against common logic and set his sights on the first-ranked Team 6," Shikaku Nara said, crossing his arms dismissively.

"Shikaku's analysis is correct. Team 6's captain, Senior Kato Dan, is injured, so there is no need to worry about him. That leaves only Uchiha Matsuri and Kushina Uzumaki. It just so happens that Team 5 is missing one person. Whether Uchiha Matsuri or Kushina Uzumaki is assigned to Team 5, it would lead to the dissolution of Team 6," Sarutobi Yoshihiko said, taking a puff of his cigarette and analyzing the situation with a calm expression.

On the other side.

Jiraiya was also inspecting the evaluation results with the two members of Team 5.

"Tch~ Don't look at how impressive Team 6 usually is; in the end, they were still cut during the evaluation," Kiba Inuzuka said triumphantly.

"Don't say that, Kiba. In terms of executing missions, Team 6 is indeed stronger than us. Even if they were cut, we shouldn't mock them," Minato Namikaze said slowly.

Almost every team had come to check the results, except for Team 6, who seemed to have known the outcome in advance and had not sent a single person to view the list. Minato Namikaze couldn't help but find this strange.

"Tch~" Kiba Inuzuka hugged his ninja dog and said to Minato Namikaze, unconvinced, "I'm telling you, Minato, how come I always find you taking their side?"

"Ah? Do I?" Minato Namikaze smiled with slight embarrassment.

"Of course you do, just like last time..."

Watching the two members of his team bickering again, Jiraiya shook his head helplessly.

"If only these two were as united as Team 6," Jiraiya said with a wry smile.

Just as Jiraiya was feeling a "headache," a slightly cold voice came from behind him.

"Jiraiya, your team doesn't seem very harmonious."

Turning around, he saw Orochimaru looking at the two members of Team Jiraiya with a mocking gaze, his eyes filled with disdain.

"Orochimaru, aren't you no longer a Jonin team leader? What mood are you in to come and check the evaluation results?" Jiraiya asked with a frown.