"Mm, very good. First, Team 1: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Ayane Sakura, Nao Toyama!"
"Yes!"
"Team 2: Hiroshi Nagano, Saburo Shinoda, Takami Yoshimoto!"
"Yes!"
"Team 3..."
The team assignments were announced one after another. On the surface, these were fair and impartial assignments made according to certain rules, but in reality, only those from ordinary civilian backgrounds were assigned this way, and only these youngsters would believe it. For anyone with any background, their team assignments had been decided from the very beginning.
The clearest example was the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi ninja clans of Konohagakure in the original story. Known as the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, whenever members of the same age studied and graduated together, they would invariably form a team upon graduation!
Here in Kirigakure, although no ninja clans shared bonds as close as those of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans, they still had ties of varying degrees to one another. The Kirigakure officials responsible for the team assignments had to take this into account.
Never mind Kei, a transmigrator-even among those present, anyone from a ninja clan understood this to some extent.
Those from distinguished clans, those with special identities, or those whose gifts and abilities had consistently earned the recognition of the Ninja Academy's higher-ups would never be teamed with mediocre students. That would be irresponsible, and an even greater waste of human resources!
How geniuses should be trained and how cannon fodder should be used had long since become an unspoken, universally accepted rule among the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
The leaders of every shinobi village knew this perfectly well.
They occasionally misjudged someone, but those were decidedly rare exceptions!
What team assignments would maximize the use of their human resources was the only thing these village higher-ups needed to consider.
And as Minato announced these team assignments.
Kei was also paying somewhat closer attention.
After all, Kei could disregard the assignments of the other civilians, but those from the three great ninja clans, as well as Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki-two people who could be called Kirigakure's future stars-were people he had to pay particular attention to.
Kei wanted to see what sort of teams these people would be assigned to, and, ideally, learn what level of ninja would lead them. Chunin or Jonin?
This was all important information.
"Team 7!"
And just as Kei was silently considering this.
At the front of the room.
After Minato had announced a full six teams that could almost all be considered cannon fodder squads, it was time for Team 7!
"Minazuki Kei!"
That first name called out.
"Hm!?"
Instantly snapped Kei out of his thoughts.
It also drew the attention of the vast majority of the classroom, because this was the first person from the three great ninja clans to be called.
Team 7?
While Kei was still feeling a little surprised by the "coincidence."
The next two names Minato uttered made Kei's eyes widen instantly, an expression of disbelief appearing on his face.
"Mei Terumi, Kisame Hoshigaki!"
It was a team assignment that went far beyond his expectations. At that moment, Kei felt as though he had been struck by lightning, shaken from head to toe.
Although this particular team assignment had flashed through his mind for an instant before, it had clearly been something almost impossible to realize. Yet now it was right before his eyes!
It was like hoping to pull just one guaranteed card, only to pull an SSR instead-and two in a row at that.
How could Kei possibly not be shocked!?
And it was not just Kei. Elsewhere in the classroom, Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki both showed varying degrees of astonishment upon hearing Minato announce the team assignments up front. Neither had expected to be assigned to the same team as Kei.
What should they call this?
A fated connection!?
Mei Terumi glanced over with her beautiful eyes. When she saw Kei looking just as surprised, the corners of the girl's eyes curved into lovely arcs.
Hehe! It looks like this really was fate, Kei-kun.
Mei Terumi covered her mouth and chuckled softly, thinking this to herself.
And in the corner on the left, Kisame Hoshigaki gave Kei a long look, a somewhat "sinister smile" on his face.
The same team? Heh heh, this is ten times better than the assignment I expected, Minazuki Kei!!
Almost identical surprise turned into different thoughts under the influence of different feelings. Aside from the three people involved, quite a few of the other graduates in the classroom showed visible disappointment upon hearing this team assignment.
Yes, all of them were "shallow" young boys.
The reason was already obvious.
They only cared that they had not been placed on the same team as Mei Terumi, the school beauty.
Beyond that, they had no other thoughts, while the remaining students cared even less.
After his initial astonishment, Kei slowly began to make sense of it.
Kisame Hoshigaki and Mei Terumi were rare SSR-level figures in Kirigakure, but that was part of the "original plot" that only he knew!
In this life, at this stage, the two could only be considered geniuses with considerable potential. As a member of the prestigious Yuki Clan, Kei himself had performed excellently at the Ninja Academy and in the graduation assessment. Putting outstanding people on the same team had always been a rule the Ninja Academy consistently followed. Thus, the composition of his team was not completely impossible, as he had previously thought.
Rather, it should simply have been a normal result of probability!
There was absolutely no need for him to be excessively surprised or shocked.
Still, being on the same team as these two, and Team 7 at that? All I can say is that fate really is impossible to fathom!
Kei raised his eyebrows, a faint, unusual glint appearing in his eyes as he silently pondered this.
After all, the others did not know the "makeup" of his team.
But how could Kei himself not understand it?
This also meant Kei had to make some slight adjustments to the plans he had previously settled on. Leaving their potential aside, their team's current strength alone could already rival that of some Chunin squads!
On that basis, if they were also given a sufficiently powerful captain, they could absolutely undertake some high-intensity missions!
Now it just comes down to who the captain is. Which Jonin in Kirigakure were the right age during this period again?
Although Jonin were a shinobi village's most important combat resources and would not readily be assigned to lead new graduates, in any village, a team worthy of being led by a Jonin had to consist of recognized geniuses at the very least!
Thus, the odds of getting a Jonin leader really were very low. Among Naruto's graduating class in the original story, only three teams had received Jonin leaders. Take another look at the identities and traits of those three teams' members, and it became clear!
Kei understood this too, of course.
Still, with teammates this strong and capable, Kei had no reason not to entertain the hope of being assigned a Jonin to lead them!