Asuma was still too young

After leaving the Hokage Building, Chihane could not help taking a deep breath.

Facing an old fox like the Third Hokage, Chihane still lacked the strength to command respect, so he had to tread carefully. Even a powerhouse like the White Fang had been schemed against when he slipped out of their control, let alone Chihane as he was now.

"I finally caught you... You really made me work to find you!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Chihane slowly turned his head, and his vision nearly went black. The ninja behind him was none other than Shinku Yuhi, whom he had been avoiding for half a month.

"Come with me, brat. Let's find somewhere to talk alone. I'll see how much your ninjutsu has improved!"

Shinku Yuhi spoke with a dark expression, approaching Chihane as he did.

"Uncle, you know I can't use ninjutsu. Kakashi's waiting for me at home, so I'll be going!"

Looking at Shinku Yuhi's dark expression as he offered to teach him ninjutsu, Chihane knew exactly what he was after. He promptly declined and took off running.

"Genjutsu! Mist Servant Technique!"

Watching Chihane flee, Shinku Yuhi remembered how he had failed to catch him for half a month. If he missed this opportunity, who knew how long he would have to wait? He decisively cast a genjutsu on him.

Ding!

Foreign virus detected. Antivirus software activated. Virus successfully removed.

Hearing Shinku Yuhi's voice, Chihane immediately felt that something was terribly wrong. It seemed he would not escape today. But then the system's voice rang out, filling him with delight.

The system treated genjutsu as a virus. Did that mean he would be immune to genjutsu from now on? Genjutsu had always been one of Chihane's major weaknesses, and he had long worried about what he would do if he encountered a ninja who specialized in it. Even someone as powerful as Kirigakure's Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had been controlled by Obito's genjutsu.

Yagura was a jinchūriki who could perfectly control his tailed beast, a powerhouse who ranked among the best in the shinobi world.

Despite these thoughts, Chihane did not pause for a moment. He quickly left the Hokage Building, leaving a bewildered Shinku Yuhi behind.

"How is this possible? My genjutsu definitely worked. Could his willpower be strong enough to make him immune to my genjutsu? Looks like I'll have to test it on that boy from the Hatake Clan and see whether something went wrong."

Thinking this over, he returned to the Hokage Building. After all, he had missions to complete too.

Elsewhere, Kakashi, who was on a mission with Minato Namikaze, suddenly sneezed. He had a nagging feeling that something bad was about to happen and could not help pondering it. Seeing how troubled he looked, Minato Namikaze asked, "What's wrong, Kakashi?"

"Nothing, Minato-sensei. Let's hurry!"

Although he did not know what was going to happen, they were on a mission, after all. Kakashi pulled himself together and answered the concerned Minato Namikaze.

Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out a document.

It contained detailed information on the students about to graduate from this year's class at the Ninja Academy.

Chihane's personal information lay on top, but Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help hesitating. Chihane was far too specialized, a ninja who relied entirely on swordsmanship. If he were a little stronger, he would be well suited to joining ANBU as a sharp blade, just like the White Fang. But assigning him now was difficult. There was no suitable jonin teacher available who could teach him swordsmanship.

Minato's team did have two vacancies now. On their last mission, one genin had been severely injured and another had died.

But Minato was not suited to teaching Chihane either. Besides, putting both brothers on the same team was unwise. If something went wrong during a mission, they would lose two exceptionally talented ninja at once.

"Asuma... Obito Uchiha... Kurenai Yuhi... Rin Nohara... Might Guy..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi considered it for a moment, then made his choices.

First was Asuma.

Minato's missions were all dangerous, and Asuma was still young. With the shinobi world in such turmoil, it would be better for him to spend a few years doing D-Rank Missions inside the village. Once he had the strength of a jonin, he could become one of the Daimyo's Guardian Ninja. After all, assigning suitable ninja to suitable positions was his responsibility as Hokage.

As for Obito Uchiha, placing this child of the Uchiha Clan under Minato would keep the clan from raising too many objections to Minato succeeding him as Hokage.

Lastly, he would choose a child from a civilian family. Might Guy was a boy, while Rin Nohara was a suitable choice. A girl could help smooth things over between them in their daily interactions.

Having made his choices, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and smiled ruefully.

To think that he, the Hokage, had to spend so much time agonizing over ninja team assignments.

Then he considered Chihane's placement again, but no matter how he thought it over, he could not find a good candidate. Then it occurred to him that Orochimaru had clearly expressed interest in Chihane. He could assign Chihane to Orochimaru, making him another ninja in the Hokage's direct line.

That way, whether Orochimaru or Minato became Hokage in the future, either would have a student who could succeed him.

He would leave Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi to Shinku. For Kurenai Yuhi's safety, Yuan Qiu would surely support them spending a few more years doing missions within the village. It would also help settle Asuma's romantic prospects. After all, Asuma was still young.

Yes! That should keep things from going wrong.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi would never have imagined how deeply today's team assignments would scar Asuma. Once Asuma fell into Shinku Yuhi's hands, if he still tried to pursue Kurenai Yuhi, Shinku Yuhi would give him some very thorough ninjutsu lessons. He would even make Asuma feel afraid whenever he saw Kurenai Yuhi afterward.

After deciding Chihane's and Asuma's team assignments, Hiruzen Sarutobi had little interest in the other students. He put the documents on Chihane and the others back, tossed them aside, and stopped looking at them.

"I hope Danzo's operation can settle things down a little in Kirigakure."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the sky outside the window and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

What truly gave him a headache now was the situation in the shinobi world. Friction between the major ninja villages was constant, and it all revolved around Konoha.

After all, the Land of Fire was the country richest in resources. A place like Sunagakure was nothing but sand; even if it were offered to them, they would not want it. Moreover, Konoha had won the Second Shinobi World War. The Sannin's reputation resounded throughout the shinobi world, and the village had more powerful ninja than any other. That was why every village had set its sights on Konoha.

But he could not concede on this front. The current Hiruzen Sarutobi was still the shinobi world's Professor, the Shinobi Hero who had mastered all five types of ninjutsu. He was not the stooped, pathetic little old man from the original story, who did nothing but yield to provocations from other ninja villages and dared not say a word.

In the ninja world, one concession would lead to another. Only firm measures could warn off those coveting their land and preserve peace. The current Hiruzen Sarutobi understood that all too well.

So if the situation continued to deteriorate and the Third Shinobi World War became inevitable, Konoha would fight with all its strength and let war do the talking!

At that thought.

A cold glint flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

Konoha's location gave it abundant resources and an advantage in the number of chunin and jonin. As for its top fighters, although it had lost Konoha's White Fang, his students Orochimaru and Jiraiya were both ninja capable of holding their own. Though Tsunade could not fight at present, they also had rising powerhouses like Minato Namikaze.

Counting himself and Danzo, Konoha alone had five Kage Level fighters, plus Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

If war truly broke out, Konoha still had a very good chance of winning!