Minato Namikaze looked at Takayama Haru and said, "Haru-kun, you pick first."
Haru smiled and replied, "Alright then, I won't be polite—I'll take Team 7."
The Will of 7 really seemed to be everywhere.
This year's Team 7 was destined to change the world.
Obito Uchiha, who originally had the weakest abilities, ended up becoming Madara's pawn and even rose to be one of the biggest bosses opposing the Hokage. Not to mention Kakashi, who also played a critical role in history.
Haru suddenly wondered: would his presence alter the course of Team 7's destiny?
If Obito hadn't been seriously injured during the mission at Kannabi Bridge, would he still have taken that dark path?
If Haru could somehow control the Three-Tails inside Rin, could he prevent the tragedy from happening?
And then there was Sakumo Hatake's suicide, too...
The more Haru thought about it, the more intriguing it became.
When Minato saw that Haru had chosen Team 7, he sighed. Team 7 had always been his favorite.
Hearing Haru pick Team 7 left him with a strange sense of loss—like something precious had just slipped through his fingers.
But Minato nodded and said, "Alright, then let's head to Team 7."
Haru asked, "What about you?"
Minato smiled and replied, "No worries, I'll take whatever's left. You go ahead and meet your students first. Oh, and here's a teaching guide for you—take a look when you have time."
Haru took the book titled The New Ninja Teaching Manual and casually flipped through it.
The first page? The Will of Fire.
"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns. The fire's shadow will shine upon the village, and new leaves will sprout."
Haru rolled his eyes dramatically and glanced at the cover, where the author's name read: Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Figures.
That line was basically Sarutobi's catchphrase. He recited it constantly, carved it onto trees, and it had spread through the entire village like gospel.
Well, the ideological work was definitely solid, Haru thought.
Flipping the page, the first section was all about the moral standards of being a teacher: first, you must have the ability to educate and nurture students; second, you need tolerance and a noble sense of ethics to lead by example and inspire students to become better people.
Even as assassins, ninjas had to have "virtue"? That was… pretty wild.
The second section got into the practical side of things: as a teacher, how to organize various missions to train competent students.
A "qualified" student meant someone who could become a Genin, Chūnin, or even a Jōnin—basically, someone ready to step onto the battlefield.
Whether for the Land of Fire or Konoha, fresh blood was always needed to maintain their standing.
That was the core of the ninja way.
The first task? Organize a wilderness survival training mission for your team of three.
Before starting, you had to emphasize the difficulty of the mission to your students.
For example: out of 30 graduates, only 10 would officially become ninjas. The rest would be sent back to school and have to retake the exam next year.
It was a way to make students take things seriously—no slacking.
The survival training involved heading out into the wild, where the students had to grab a bell by a set deadline—say, by noon—to develop their ninjutsu skills and teamwork.
At the same time, it allowed students to witness firsthand the strength of ninjas who'd seen real combat.
Using tricks like denying them lunch if they didn't get a bell was a great way to fuel their determination.
The main goal was to ensure that, once these grads hit the battlefield, they'd at least know how to protect themselves.
Then came D-rank missions, followed by C-rank missions.
That was the standard process of veteran ninjas mentoring rookies in Konoha.
Reading through the guide, Haru couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu…
"Well, let's go meet them," he muttered.
Haru stood outside the classroom door and overheard a soft, girlish voice say, "Hey, Obito, why do you think our teacher isn't here yet?"
"I dunno, Rin," came a boy's voice.
That voice had to be Uchiha Obito.
"Huh? Are you still making excuses like 'helping an old lady cross the street' again?" teased another boy.
"Come on, Kakashi, what's your problem?!" Obito shot back.
Kakashi, without even looking over, replied with his usual disdain.
Honestly, the "helping an old lady cross the street" excuse was getting old. Obito always used it like everyone was an idiot, so no wonder Kakashi couldn't stand him.
Ahem. Haru finally stepped in. "Hello there. I'm your new instructor."
As soon as he entered and laid eyes on the three kids, Haru froze for a second.
This wasn't quite what he had imagined.
The little girl and the two boys in front of him looked tiny—like elementary schoolers. At best, they looked like 5th or 6th graders!
Rin was the first to politely say, "Hello, Sensei!"
She thought to herself, Wow, our teacher's kinda handsome...
Obito, the black-haired boy with goggles, glanced at Haru and muttered, "Hello, Sensei."
In his head, Obito was thinking, This guy looks just like Kakashi—kind of clueless!
Lastly, Kakashi, wearing his mask and only showing his eyes, said simply, "Hello, Sensei."
Haru nodded and said, "Alright, let's start by introducing ourselves."
All three responded in unison, "You first, Sensei!"