Konoha Village.
At the training ground.
Namikaze Minato flipped through the graduation records in his notebook, his usually bright and sunny face looking a bit strained.
Name: Nohara Rin
[Physical Test Score]
[Kunai Throwing Score]
[Three Basic Jutsu Score]
[Tactical Theory Score]
[Overall Evaluation: Lower]
Name: Uchiha Obito
[Physical Test Score]
[Kunai Throwing Score]
[Three Basic Jutsu Score]
[Tactical Theory: 4 points]
[Overall Evaluation: Lower]
If the first two records were disappointing, the last one was nothing short of a headache.
Name: Kuroya
[Physical Test Score]
[Kunai Throwing Score]
[Three Basic Jutsu Score]
[Tactical Theory Score]
[Overall Evaluation: None]
Looking at Kuroya's overall evaluation, Minato fully understood what that word "None" meant.
It was obvious—the instructors at the Academy had run out of words to describe this student.
And that raised a problem.
How on earth did someone like this even graduate from the Ninja Academy? Shouldn't he have been expelled?
"So the war is really coming… to the point that anyone can graduate now, huh?"
With a sigh, Minato forced a friendly smile.
After all, the three of them were standing right in front of him. And he, the newly assigned jōnin, had the honor of becoming their Team leader.
No—that wasn't entirely correct.
There were four of them.
Aside from these three hopeless cases, there was also the prodigy—Kakashi.
Clearing his throat, Minato began.
"I'll introduce myself first. My name is Namikaze Minato, a jōnin. My dream is to become Hokage! I'm honored to be your Team leader."
After speaking, he motioned for the four of them to introduce themselves.
Kakashi stood with arms crossed, silver hair falling over his black face mask, his tone aloof and proud.
"Hatake Kakashi. Chūnin. Mission first—don't drag me down."
The moment he finished, Obito pouted, then turned toward Kuroya.
"Hey, Kuroya, he just said you'll drag him down."
"Oh."
Kuroya replied lazily, hands still stuffed in his pockets.
"He's mocking you! Don't you have any reaction?" Obito fumed, trying to stir things up.
"It's your turn to introduce yourself," Kuroya reminded flatly.
"Uh…"
"I'm Uchiha Obito, currently a genin. My dream is also to become Hokage! And for the record, I won't be the one dragging anyone down."
As he spoke, he threw a defiant glare at Kakashi.
Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't even look his way, arms still folded in his cool pose.
Next came Rin's turn.
"I'm Nohara Rin. My rank is genin. My dream is to be with the person I like…"
Her voice trailed off as she snuck a glance at Kakashi.
"Your girl's cheating on you."
Kuroya nudged Obito.
"Huh?"
Obito blinked, then followed Kuroya's gaze.
And there it was—Rin stealing looks at Kakashi.
That was all it took.
Obito exploded.
"Rin? Kakashi only cares about missions—he doesn't even care about his comrades' safety! Why are you looking at him?"
"Obito, what are you saying!" Rin's face flushed red as she stomped her foot angrily.
"Clown," Kakashi muttered with disdain, turning his head aside.
"Obito, he just called you a clown," Kuroya added fuel to the fire.
"Kakashi, I challenge you to a duel!" Obito roared, rolling up his sleeves.
"Forget it—you can't beat him. And when you're injured, won't that just give Kakashi the perfect chance to go on a date with Rin?" Kuroya muttered.
"…You're right! I'll let you off this time!"
Obito rolled his sleeves back down, throwing out a threat.
Meanwhile, as their Team leader, Minato had silently witnessed the entire circus.
His eyes swept over Kakashi, Obito, and Rin before finally landing on Kuroya.
This guy…
Minato knew very well—the reason Obito had flown into a rage was because of Kuroya's offhand remark, "Your girl's cheating on you."
And the reason it all ended… was also because of Kuroya.
One had to admit—
For the dead last among dead lasts, this boy had a brain.
It just wasn't being used for the right things.
"Alright, tomorrow morning, same time and place. Don't be late!"
With that, Minato performed a Body Flicker and vanished.
And thus, Team 9's first assembly ended in chaos.
As Minato left, Kakashi immediately turned and walked away, unwilling to linger a second longer.
Seeing this, Rin hesitated.
"Um… since we're teammates now, shouldn't we walk with Kakashi?" she suggested timidly.
"Rin, do you know why Kakashi ended up in our Team?" Obito asked.
"I know."
Rin's eyes followed Kakashi's fading figure.
It wasn't just her—almost everyone in the Academy knew.
Originally, Kakashi was assigned to another team. But because of his habit of prioritizing missions over comrades, no one wanted to be paired with him.
And so, the genius was reassigned… to their Team of misfits.
Nohara Rin—third to last in the class.
Uchiha Obito—second to last.
Kuroya—dead last.
To be honest, if not for the looming war, the three of them would never have graduated from the Academy.
Especially Kuroya.
The teachers had unanimously dubbed him the worst student in Konoha's history.
The worst—bar none.
——
Leaving the training ground, Kuroya kept his hands in his pockets, strolling without a care.
Unlike Rin, weighed down with her thoughts, or Obito, restless with unspoken words, Kuroya seemed utterly carefree.
After all, he had no feelings for Rin in the first place—so he had none of these worries.
The three of them walked together in silence.
Once Rin went home, only Obito and Kuroya remained, and the atmosphere lightened.
"Kuroya… I think Rin's fallen for someone else," Obito said gravely.
"Oh? Aren't you overthinking it?" Kuroya nearly burst out laughing, but he managed to hold it in.
He really wanted to tell Obito—Rin had liked Kakashi all along. How could there be talk of her changing her heart?
"Our Team was just the three of us. But now that Kakashi's joined… I feel like I'm going to lose Rin." Obito sighed.
"Lose her? Did you ever have her?"
Kuroya shot back casually, hands still in his pockets, and walked off.