Assigned to Team Seven

Two months later...

Over those two months, all Luo Mang had done was occasionally write in his diary and draw rewards.

The most important part of his entries was slipping in a little of his own agenda, writing them in a way that might bait the diary's owners into revealing themselves.

By now, he had fully confirmed that the two people with diaries were Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.

There was no helping it. Sasuke Uchiha was too obvious. He had changed so much that he was nothing like his original self, and he seemed to regard Luo Mang as a fellow clansman.

He was very friendly.

That was normal enough. After all, Luo Mang had written in the Diary that he had obtained the Sharingan, so it was understandable for Sasuke to see him as a fellow clansman.

It would have been hard not to suspect him. So a month ago, Luo Mang had chosen to fill in his answer, and the random reward had been ninjutsu.

[Ninjutsu: Water Release-Exploding Water Colliding Wave, mastery.]

It was pretty good. With a few quick hand seals, he could release enough water to form a lake. Even if it failed to hit anyone, the water could remain there, temporarily increasing the power of his Water Release Ninjutsu.

Over the past few days, Luo Mang had kept probing through the Diary to see whether Naruto Uzumaki or Sakura had one too, but the answer had been no for both.

As for the Diary Reward...

Knock, knock, knock!

While Luo Mang was still reflecting on the results of those two months, a sudden knock interrupted him.

Could it be Hinata?

No! Wasn't the graduation exam today? They would be assigned to teams afterward. How could she have time to come here?

"Who is it?"

"Anbu!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Anbu member flashed inside without even waiting for the door to open.

"You're trespassing!"

Luo Mang jumped down. Even an Anbu member had no right to barge into his home!

Besides, he was already angry. Hiruzen Sarutobi had promised him payment for the commission, but he had yet to see a single penny. Now the Anbu was barging in too. Were they really not afraid he would turn against them?! (=̴̶̷̤̄ ₃ =̴̶̷̤

"I'm here to give you your next assignment!"

The Anbu member's mask concealed his expression, but his tone carried displeasure too. He seemed annoyed at being sent to deliver an assignment to someone who was not even a Genin.

"Here."

This time, the Anbu member did not wait for Luo Mang to react. He simply tossed a forehead protector bearing the Konoha Symbol onto the table.

"This is your forehead protector. Lord Hokage asked me to pass on a message."

"Report to Jonin Kakashi's team in three days. You'll become his student and train with them, while looking after Naruto. If you take good care of him, you'll receive a reward next month!"

With that, the Anbu member left without waiting for Luo Mang's response. He was there to inform him, not ask him!

"Huh?"

Luo Mang looked utterly bewildered. He had not even taken the exam, yet he had somehow passed, received a forehead protector, and become a Genin. Wasn't that a little strange?

After a little thought, though, he worked out a likely explanation.

Kakashi had probably suggested it, and the Third Hokage probably did not have a Diary. If he did, he would know Luo Mang possessed the Sharingan and would surely take him more seriously instead of treating him like this.

As for why the Third Hokage had agreed, the answer lay in what the Anbu member had just said: he wanted Luo Mang to look after Naruto.

He might also want to observe him and find out why Kakashi was paying attention to him.

Luo Mang frowned. He did not want to go, but would refusing draw attention?

If he left Konoha, would the Diary send copies to other people?

If one ended up with someone like Danzo, that would be trouble.

Forget it. Better not make myself stand out. Since they've arranged it this way, I'll go. I can train alongside them anyway.

[Cloudy today. I was in the middle of reviewing things when an Anbu member suddenly barged into my house. Trespassing! How outrageous.]

At home, Kakashi Hatake was reading the information on the students he would be leading. When he sensed activity from the Diary, he quickly took it out to check.

[That old Third Hokage really is out of line. To give Naruto a bond with the village, he actually made me join Kakashi's team. Aren't teams supposed to have four people? Doesn't this count as abusing his authority?]

Kakashi immediately smiled when he read that.

His reason for wanting Luo Mang on his team was simple: he wanted him to train alongside them and gain some practical combat experience.

He was now the only person with a Sharingan who understood something about how it worked. He could hardly count on that missing-nin Uchiha Itachi. Teaching one student was still teaching, so why not teach two?

This was the solution he had come up with after watching Luo Mang fight those two Chunin last time.

It would also kill two birds with one stone. The second benefit was that Luo Mang might get bored during their training and complain in the Diary.

Those complaints might reveal plenty of information, and perhaps even another couple of videos.

That would let him learn about future battles in advance and prepare for them. There had been no videos for the past two months, leaving Kakashi constantly on edge.

Would that person who appeared afterward turn out to be an enemy?

Would there be more battles in the future? He could not go through the same setbacks shown in the video.

[Since I'm going, I might as well make the best of it. We'll only be doing a few D-Rank Missions to pass the time at first anyway. Nothing unexpected should happen, right?]

[Later, we'll accept a C-Rank Mission, but some information will have been concealed. Its actual rank should be at least A-Rank.]

Kakashi's pupils trembled as he read that.

"No wonder. No wonder."

Kakashi understood now. So someone had concealed information and falsely reported the mission's true rank?

He had thought his future self must have gone mad to take his students on such a dangerous mission. So that was what had happened.

[With me there, Zabuza definitely won't survive. But I can't kill him too soon. If I kill him too early and the wealthy man pulling the strings hires other ninja, that'll be a real headache.]

[I'll just follow the prophecy. Let him escape and let Haku rescue him. Then, when he comes back to cause trouble a second time, I'll finish him off!]

Inside the pocket world.

Luo Mang lounged casually on the sofa, slowly writing in his diary.

He could not kill Zabuza too early. He needed to let him be rescued and lure him into a second attack. Only then would Gato, the man who had hired him, come nearby. Luo Mang could kill him, take his wealth, and rob the rich to help the poor.

He would not even have to go looking for those wealthy men himself. A perfect plan.

As for Haku, a tool without a soul was no use even if he saved him. He could just die with Zabuza and be done with it.

[This will also be Naruto and Sasuke's first team-up battle. It might not be appropriate for me to intervene. Maybe I'll see how things go and lend a hand?]

The rest of the diary entry was just padding the word count.

At the Hatake Compound.

After reading that, Kakashi closed the book helplessly. He could read through the whole thing again later. Next, he needed to gather information on someone named Haku!

Without a video of what happened afterward, Kakashi had no idea he had been deceived. He assumed Haku was another powerful ninja who had rescued Zabuza from him!

He was very nervous.