"Squad Four: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji."
Shikamaru looked completely calm, Ino had a mournful face. In the end, it was still like this.
Choji took a bite of his chips. He wasn't too disappointed, since Karin had already said it.
But the words that followed from Rengoku gave the three of them quite a scare.
"Squad leader… Uchiha Fugaku."
A strong figure walked in, and Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino immediately stood up in fright.
"All of you, come with me."
When Fugaku got serious, his pressure was terribly strong.
The three of them didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
After all, Fugaku was the former Uchiha clan head and an elder of the village.
Shikamaru and the others carefully followed Fugaku outside.
In these two years, Rengoku had sent Fugaku out on many missions, and the reputation of Sharingan Fugaku had once again spread across the ninja world.
Letting Fugaku be "wasted" as a squad leader now was mainly to pull in the Ino–Shika–Cho three clans.
To let them see how Uchiha valued them.
Now, only Kimimaro, Haku, Karin, Kurama Yakumo, Shion, and Gaara were left in the room.
These were all familiar faces, so Rengoku's expression became much softer.
"Squad Five: Kimimaro, Haku, Karin, Shion, Kurama Yakumo, Gaara."
Gaara was stunned when he heard his name and raised his head.
Rengoku smiled at him, "Your squad leader is me."
"Hooray!"
Karin cheered. It was also only today that she found out her squad leader was Rengoku.
Kimimaro and Haku looked at each other, and in each other's eyes they saw joy.
After all, it was Rengoku who brought them from Kirigakure to Konoha.
Him leading the squad was naturally the best.
Rengoku took four forehead protectors from his person and handed them out.
Shion and Gaara did not receive one.
"The reason your squad has six people is because you're the most special squad."
"Shion will succeed the priestess of Land of Demons in the future and will only be here temporarily."
"Yakumo's genjutsu is very strong but her body is very weak, so she needs more people to protect her."
"Gaara will leave Konoha in the future."
"Right now, I'm only gathering all of you together temporarily."
Karin stretched her head out, "What about me, what about me, you haven't said anything about me yet."
Rengoku flicked Karin, "What are you making a fuss for? You're the naughtiest one."
Karin rubbed her forehead and stuck out her tongue.
Rengoku instructed, "Shion and Karin are good at sealing and barrier techniques. With preparations, they will greatly help the mission."
"Gaara's sand defense is extremely strong, so use it well."
"Yakumo, your genjutsu can work together with Shion and Karin's barrier techniques."
"Kimimaro is the strongest among you and is suitable for breaking through enemy defenses, while Haku provides long-range support."
"Shion and Gaara won't stay with everyone for very long."
"So strictly speaking, Squad Five is really just the four of you."
"I will personally take you on missions, but at the beginning you'll need to get familiar with each other and build coordination."
"Tomorrow will be our first mission out of the village. I've already taught you in class how to prepare for going out."
"Get your things ready today and gather tomorrow morning at Training Ground Three."
"Next, make your own preparations."
After finishing the explanation in one go, Rengoku folded his arms and watched them.
Kimimaro was the oldest and strongest among them, but he didn't like to talk much.
So he immediately started quietly discussing things with Haku.
After they roughly decided the range, Haku separately explained things to the others.
Kimimaro and Haku had gone with Rengoku from the Fire Country border to Konoha; most of the time they had camped outside and were very experienced.
The distribution was reasonable. Since there were six of them, they had a lot to prepare. After bowing to Rengoku, they all left the classroom.
However, Gaara deliberately stayed until the very end.
"What is it? You have something you want to say to me?", Rengoku looked deeply at Gaara.
Gaara had a feeling that he was being seen through, and he started getting a little nervous.
After all, he was only ten years old and his mental toughness wasn't as strong as when he was the Kazekage in the future.
"Rengoku-sama, I don't want to leave Konoha."
"Mm…"
Rengoku replied, "Then you should know that you are a jinchuriki."
"The people of Sunagakure will not let Shukaku go."
Gaara said softly, "I don't want to be a jinchuriki."
Rengoku tapped his finger on the table, "You know what happens to a jinchuriki if they lose their tailed beast."
Gaara's expression dimmed and he fell silent for a moment.
Then suddenly he lifted his head and seriously looked at Rengoku, "Rengoku-sama, if that day really comes, I want to stay in Uchiha. Even if I die, I want to die as Uchiha."
Tears glimmered in Gaara's eyes.
Over these two years, since he came to Konoha, he had felt what love was.
He didn't want to go back to Sunagakure where assassins tried to kill him every day.
Rengoku reached his hand through the layer of sand and patted Gaara's red hair.
"You brat, you're still so small and talking about life and death?"
"I already told you, you have far more potential than Shukaku."
"If you don't want to go back, do you think I'd send you back?"
Gaara raised his head in surprise, "But Sunagakure…"
Rengoku chuckled coldly, "Rasa doesn't have that kind of strength."
Then he consoled him, "The tailed beast in your body is nothing more than a useless burden to me."
"To you as well, it's nothing but something that brings trouble."
"I can take your tailed beast out any time; it's just that right now I can't keep you alive afterward."
"When I can, I'll take it out for you, all right?"
Gaara cried. He stared blankly at Rengoku, tears dripping to the floor.
His biological father, Rasa, was like a madman, trying to assassinate him every day.
To Rasa, Gaara was nothing more than a container for Shukaku.
No one had ever asked if he wanted to be a jinchuriki. No one asked if he was in pain or if it was hard.
Not being able to sleep often was torture enough, and every time Rasa cursed him as a useless failure and tried to kill him.
Through these years of academic classes, Gaara had already realized that Sunagakure's sealing was the problem, yet they insisted on blaming everything on him.
Gaara felt wronged and hated Rasa's actions.
Compared to that, life in Uchiha felt like heaven.
Rengoku had never hidden anything from Gaara. Everything Gaara wanted to know, he told him.
Gaara also gradually learned what Rasa's real intentions were when he sent him to Konoha.
His sealing was redone by Rengoku, he was kept by Rengoku, and even arranged into the ninja school to meet so many people, letting him experience a normal childhood and feel love.
In this world, Rengoku was the one who treated him the best.
Rengoku reached out to wipe Gaara's tears and pulled him into his embrace.
"Uuuu… okay, Rengoku-sama. I want to stay here forever. Even if I die, I won't go back," Gaara wailed loudly.
Rengoku sighed in his heart and gently patted Gaara's back, while secretly making a revenge plan for him.
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