Two days later.
Their break was over.
The number of people from other villages in Konoha had visibly dwindled, returning to what it had been before the Chunin Ninja Exams.
The Jonin had finished their work as well.
And since Sasuke Uchiha, who was rather different from his original self, had not defected, there had been no retrieval arc. Things were now back to normal.
It was the height of summer.
Even early in the morning, before the sun had risen very high, the heat was already intense.
Luo Mang stood by the river with the three kids-no, the four kids.
Luo Mang stayed beside Sakura Haruno. The two of them stood by the river, dipping their hands into the water to cool off.
Splash, splash~
Before he could say anything, Naruto Uzumaki folded his arms beside him and spoke with displeasure written all over his face.
"Didn't Kakashi-sensei say we'd be training today? This would've been a good chance for our new team to get used to each other, so why is he late again?"
Luo Mang nodded at that. "Yeah, exactly."
He wanted to complain too. Kakashi had come to notify them the evening before last, telling them to arrive early in the morning. Luo Mang had assumed there was some special arrangement that required urgency to prevent anything unexpected.
Instead, it was the same old routine. He was late again.
Even if the information in the Diary had been so shocking that he had lost control of his emotions, surely he should have recovered after three days...
And if his Jonin work was not finished, why start taking missions now?
"It's honestly hard to know what to say."
Even Sasuke Uchiha offered a rare opinion, complaining that Kakashi Hatake had failed to keep his promise.
Karin did