In the ninja world, sometimes names become more powerful than the individuals themselves. Three years ago, in a remote location, a name was recorded in the Bingo Book that no one has been able to find the owner of to this day: the man with the crow mask.
Rumors spread from village to village. It all began in the Land of Snow, where reports spoke of the theft of an treasure. The Hidden Village of Snow refused to provide an explanation, but they put a hefty bounty on the head of this mysterious thief. This huge reward caused other villages to join the search, and it didn't take long for them to realize they were dealing with a mysterious shinobi.
Reports showed that the Crow stole anything of value, from gold and money to tools, forbidden techniques, and even rare, sealed jutsu. Every time the name "the Crow" was mentioned, a major theft occurred somewhere in the ninja world, which is why he became the greatest thief in ninja history.
No one knew who he was, where he came from, or what his goal was. It was as if he knew all the security loopholes and knew how to disappear without leaving a single trace. There was no picture of him in the list of wanted ninjas, and because of his unknown identity and extreme danger, he was given a rank higher than S-level.
Konoha was calm. The vendors were just setting up their stalls. Mitsuro, with his usual cool and calm demeanor, was walking through a narrow alley toward the academy. To the passersby, he was nothing more than an ordinary teacher; calm, poised, and even a little bored. The school term had just ended, and today the newly graduated students were to be assigned to new Genin teams and placed under the supervision of a Jonin.
Suddenly, like a shadow from nowhere, an Anbu appeared in front of him. A white mask, a black vest, and a toneless voice. "Uchiha Mitsuro. The Hokage has summoned you immediately."
Mitsuro paused for a moment. It only took a blink of an eye for a friendly smile to appear on his face, and with the same calmness, he nodded. "Okay. I'll be right there."
Mitsuro knocked and entered the Hokage's office. The Hokage's office, always smelling of pipe tobacco and old paper, had a soft light coming in from the window. The Sandaime was sitting behind his desk, and nine Jonin ninjas stood around him. The presence of Hatake Kakashi, Yuhi Kurenai, and Sarutobi Asuma stood out among them.
Asuma, upon seeing Mitsuro, raised his hand and said, "Oh, Mitsuru, you're finally here? You're late!"
This... don't tell me!
Mitsuro walked calmly toward the Hokage's desk. "Hokage-sama..."
"Mitsuro... come here... we're going to decide on the new Genin teams."
"Hokage-sama... but I..."
Mitsuro felt that Sarutobi had put him in a position where he had no choice. Although he wanted to object, he didn't. "I understand."
The old man smiled and took a puff of his pipe, placing his hands on the crystal ball on the table. The ball slowly lit up and, like a security camera, began to show the image of a classroom.
"So these are this year's graduates."
The ball then zoomed in on the faces of each of the newly graduated students. Sarutobi Asuma said coolly, "So this is this year's top student? Uchiha Sasuke?"
The Hokage confirmed. "That's right."
A woman with red eyes and long black hair standing next to him said, "The last survivor of the Uchiha clan."
Asuma said in an authoritative voice, "Kurenai!"
Kurenai, as if she had come to her senses, looked at Mitsuru. "I didn't mean anything by it..."
Mitsuro calmly shook his head. "It's okay... you can look at him as the last survivor... After all, he's the only one who hasn't lost his potential yet."
"You mean the potential... that..."
"Yes... the Sharingan."
The Hokage had become serious and was lost in thought. He then pointed to a few files on his desk. "These are the groups of kids assigned to each of you."
The Jonin took the files one by one. "Testing them is up to you. You can give them whatever test you want and evaluate them by your own standards. I hope you will accept the best students as this year's Genin teams."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Mitsuro opened the file with a bored look.
Team ThreeTeacher:
Special Jonin, Uchiha Mitsuro
Genin:
Kazuma, Takeo, Rira
Three rookies with no special characteristics from civilian backgrounds.
Hmm... so the Hokage is testing me?
Among the students, Uchiha Mitsuro's name was definitely on everyone's lips. He had a mysterious quality that drew everyone to him; a ninja who had been away from the village for a long time and had suddenly come to the academy and become a strict but skilled teacher. No one saw him warm up to anyone or prefer one student over another. The kids had followed him a few times to catch him with a potential lover, but they hadn't found anything.
A few of the kids had also wanted to search his house, but they were all found caught in traps, tied up, and hanging in their classroom as a sign of their punishment! Of course, he didn't give them a failing grade, and he always held the next class as if nothing had happened. The kids took this behavior as a form of approval for their actions and were always trying to challenge him.
Udon was solving math problems, and the other kids were chatting with each other. Konohamaru was also a little down; he had asked Naruto to play with him that morning, but Naruto had already become a Genin and had an orientation meeting today. He had fallen one step behind his rival!
Mogen ran toward them and said, "Hot news, guys!"
All the kids' attention was drawn, and even Udon stopped solving his math problem. Konohamaru also took his hand from under his chin and looked at Mogen.
Mogen said excitedly, "They're saying Teacher Mitsuru isn't going to teach at the school anymore!"
One of the kids choked. "Huh?! Why?"
Udon sniffed and said in surprise, "That's not possible! You're lying!"
Mogen shook his head. "No... it's real! I just heard it from the teachers! They were talking about Teacher Mitsuru!"
Konohamaru seemed to want to show that he was happy. He put a hand on his chest and said, "Hmm! I knew Teacher Mitsuru wasn't a good teacher! They finally kicked him out!"
"Konohamaru, that's not it at all. Teacher Mitsuro was great!"
Konohamaru frowned proudly. Deep down, he also knew that Mitsuro was a good teacher and ninja, but he was upset with him... He felt that the teacher always deliberately bothered him. In fact, he wanted to be personally trained by Mitsuro, but he was too shy to ask.
Mogen, whose cheeks were redder than ever, gave a small, wicked laugh. "Heh heh... Konohamaru-chan, you're wrong! Teacher Mitsuro didn't get kicked out; I heard he was promoted to Jonin teacher!"
"Jonin teacher?! What's that?"
"I don't know! But it seems like a promotion! The teachers were telling each other that Mitsuro-sensei's level is too high for him to stay at the academy. Sooner or later, he had to choose his own students!"
Konohamaru was a little nervous. It seems I'm late! Grandpa was faster than me!