A three-man squad

While Hiruzen Sarutobi was still in the Hokage's office nursing a headache over the increasingly uncontrollable Danzo and a murder case involving his own student, Madara Uchiha smoothly completed the paperwork to withdraw from school and began a long vacation.

After all, he had withdrawn only a few days into the new school term, and the previous class of graduates had already received their assignments. Although he had become a Genin, he would still have to wait a while before he could actually carry out missions.

A year passed in the blink of an eye amid this peaceful life. Throughout that year, Madara Uchiha behaved so well that both the Third Hokage and Danzo forgot he even existed. One noteworthy development was that the Third Hokage's student, Orochimaru, was discovered conducting Human Experimentation on fellow villagers and was ultimately expelled from Konoha.

Madara Uchiha deeply regretted Orochimaru's departure. The Third Hokage pursued peace at every turn, yet every action he took planted another time bomb in Konoha's future.

For the sake of peace within the village, he refused to personally end Danzo's rule from the shadows, allowing Konoha's policies to grow increasingly extreme under Danzo's influence. For the sake of peace with other villages, the Third Hokage swallowed every insult, insisting on maintaining the status quo even when their diplomatic interests suffered. Yet he failed to understand that only the strongest power had the right to make everyone else sit down at the negotiating table. If your village was weak, war would come no matter how many concessions you made.

While Iwagakure and Kumogakure strengthened their villages by any means necessary, Konoha clung to its old ways and refused to innovate. They were all ninja—who among them had never carried out a dishonorable assassination mission? If they could undertake such missions, then putting enemy corpses to use was, in Madara's view, the most natural thing in the world.

Take Hiruzen Sarutobi's own teacher, Tobirama Senju, for example. He was the one who had started Human Experimentation in the first place. Now that Orochimaru showed such talent, the village should have actively supported him. Instead, Hiruzen Sarutobi insisted on maintaining a veneer of morality and refused to give his student that support, ultimately forcing Orochimaru to take the desperate risk of experimenting on his fellow villagers. How utterly foolish.

Now that Orochimaru had been driven away, Konoha had lost more than an elite fighter capable of matching a Kage-level powerhouse. It had also lost a shortcut that could have allowed it to overtake Kumogakure and Iwagakure in strength.

Faced with the Third Hokage's hypocritical approach, wanting everything while accomplishing nothing, Madara Uchiha once again wondered: why had Tobirama Senju chosen someone like this to be the Third Hokage?

"Graduates, starting today, you will carry out missions assigned by the village. From now on, you will form three-man squads, each led by a Jōnin teacher. You will carry out your missions under that teacher's guidance."

At the graduates' briefing, several Jōnin stood at the front of the classroom and began explaining the upcoming arrangements to Madara Uchiha and the other graduates.

"Now, we'll announce the team assignments."

Three-man squads?

Madara Uchiha frowned when he heard he would have to join another team. He had no desire to have anyone holding him back on missions. Whatever. If my teammates are completely useless, I'll find an opportunity to kill them all.

"Uchiha Itachi, Hayato Hyuga, Sōsuke Aburame. The three of you will form a team under Kazuhiko Sarutobi."

When Madara Uchiha heard that his teammates belonged to the Hyuga Clan and the Aburame Clan, his expression remained blank, but he was already laughing inwardly. When he heard that his team's Jōnin instructor was actually Kazuhiko Sarutobi of the Sarutobi Clan, his inward laughter grew even merrier.

Clearly, his team assignment had not been random. Someone had arranged it.

The Hyuga Clan and the Aburame Clan were the two clans most loyal to Konoha. Hayato Hyuga and Sōsuke Aburame were most likely young spies sent by Danzo and the Third Hokage to watch him, and Kazuhiko Sarutobi's presence confirmed Madara Uchiha's suspicions.

As the Hokage who represented Konoha's light and the leader of Root who represented its darkness, these two could turn even something as trivial as watching him into a power struggle. No wonder Konoha was constantly being pushed around by Kumogakure and Iwagakure abroad.

"Hey, hello there! My name is Kazuhiko Sarutobi, and I'll be your instructor. Why don't you introduce yourselves first? That's an order from your captain, so no refusing."

After the teams were assigned, Kazuhiko Sarutobi took Madara Uchiha, Hayato Hyuga, and Sōsuke Aburame to a training ground. Since this was their first meeting, Kazuhiko Sarutobi introduced himself first, then motioned for Madara Uchiha and the others to do the same.

Madara Uchiha studied Kazuhiko Sarutobi carefully. He appeared to be in his twenties, with a thin face and prominent cheekbones that gave him a somewhat sly look at first glance. But his eyes gleamed, bright and alert. Thanks to those lively eyes, although Kazuhiko Sarutobi was not handsome, he carried himself with a distinctive air.

"Sōsuke Aburame."

In response to Kazuhiko Sarutobi's order, the boy from the Aburame Clan simply gave his name, then fell silent.

As a member of the Aburame Clan's younger generation, Sōsuke Aburame wore a black, high-collared sweatshirt and long trousers, along with a pair of black goggles over his eyes. Combined with his long, smooth hair, they gave him an unapproachable air. Judging by the way he answered Kazuhiko Sarutobi, he was probably not much of a talker either.

"Hayato Hyuga. I'm from the Hyuga Clan. I like omelet rice, hate green peppers, and specialize in Taijutsu. I've already awakened my Byakugan, too. Teacher Sarutobi, is this little kid the famous genius from the Uchiha Clan? He looks so young. Is he really up to this? He won't hold us back, will he? I don't want to have to protect some dead weight while I'm on a mission! If he dies, we won't be held responsible, will we?"

In stark contrast to the taciturn Sōsuke Aburame, the moment Hayato Hyuga opened his mouth, his words came out like machine-gun fire. His disdain for Madara Uchiha was plain to hear.

It was reasonable enough, in a way. Even if Madara Uchiha had graduated early, he was still only seven years old. Compared with the twelve-year-old Sōsuke Aburame and Hayato Hyuga, he was noticeably shorter, and to ordinary people, a five-year gap truly was an insurmountable gulf.

"Uchiha Itachi."

Ignoring Hayato Hyuga's doubts about him, Madara Uchiha simply gave the name he bore in this life.

"Very good. I can see you're all getting along wonderfully. But I must tell you that Ninja Academy Graduation was only your first test. To truly become Genin, you still need to pass my assessment. Anyone who fails will be sent straight back to school. Itachi, that includes you."