"If properly nurtured, I believe they will surely embody the Will of Fire you hope for."
Watching Feizhu Qingting get knocked down by Asuma's three punches, Minato Namikaze offered sincere praise.
"Hahaha, that would be ideal."
Hiruzen laughed a few times, then stopped watching the field situation and turned to sit back in his chair.
Seeing Hiruzen's movement, Minato straightened up, sensing that something important was about to be discussed.
"Your teacher—that Jiraiya fellow—have you heard anything from him recently?"
Hiruzen opened by inquiring about Jiraiya's whereabouts.
All three of his disciples were troublemakers in their own ways.
Especially Jiraiya, who never stayed in the village but wandered everywhere, using "seeking inspiration" as an excuse to peep throughout the ninja world.
And he didn't even bother concealing his identity.
Everyone in the ninja world knew Jiraiya was Sarutobi Hiruzen's disciple. When his student got caught peeping and enjoyed himself, it was Hiruzen's reputation that suffered!
What made it even more infuriating was that Hiruzen himself had seen nothing! Yet his disciple had witnessed all those beautiful sights...
"Cough cough." Hiruzen, who had begun letting his imagination run wild, suddenly remembered someone else was present. He hurriedly suppressed his emotions and instinctively turned his face away, afraid Minato might notice the flush on his cheeks.
"Sensei sent word recently saying he was location scouting in the Land of Grass, but didn't reveal his specific whereabouts." Minato truthfully reported his teacher's location.
"I see. As long as there's contact, that's good. You've noticed too—the situation lately isn't peaceful. I estimate the ninja world will experience major upheaval within five years. The other villages have been making plenty of moves recently. If you get the chance, tell that kid not to wander around outside so much. When he has time, he should return to the village to visit this old man." Sarutobi Hiruzen set down his pipe and looked directly at Minato.
"Yes, Lord Third." Minato understood his meaning and knelt on one knee.
"Hehe, get up. Didn't I say? I called you here today just for casual conversation." Seeing Minato's obedience, Hiruzen cheerfully stood and helped him up.
"How about it—are you interested in taking on some students to form a squad?" Hiruzen asked seemingly casually.
Leading a team?
Minato instinctively looked at Hiruzen.
Was the Hokage asking, commanding, or hinting?
"I'll follow your instructions completely." After weighing the matter thoroughly, Minato gave his response.
For him, as long as he could uphold the Will of Fire, working anywhere would be fine.
"Hahaha, didn't I say? Today is just casual conversation. You're still young—if you really lead a team, it'll be several years from now. During this period, just follow my orders. As for which squad to assign you to..."
Hiruzen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head in front of Minato: "We'll decide after the right people arrive."
In his view, since Minato was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's lover, he needed to shoulder corresponding responsibilities.
Hiruzen was busy with affairs and couldn't handle everything personally. For certain matters, he needed Minato's actual teacher to resolve them.
Speaking of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki...
Hiruzen subconsciously thought of Danzo.
Regarding mastery of sealing techniques, throughout all of Konoha, aside from Kushina, only Danzo remained.
Unfortunately, Danzo's attitude toward jinchūriki had always been to treat them as strategic weapons.
The two had erupted into numerous arguments over jinchūriki treatment issues.
They'd performed countless iterations of "Saru, you will regret this," "Danzo, I am the Hokage," "Bang" dramas.
This situation only eased somewhat after Feng Bai's arrival.
"Achoo!"
Danzo, who was listening to reports in Root, sneezed again, spraying Bing's face.
Bing skillfully wiped the filth from his face and "respectfully" inquired: "Are you alright, Lord Danzo?"
"I'm fine." Danzo, not catching the underlying meaning, waved his hand: "Continue your report."
"Yes. Following your instructions, I've made the thirty-eighth adjustment to the Root base lighting. Most feedback received has been extremely positive."
Bing acknowledged and continued his report.
"Well done, Bing." Glancing at the lighting outside, Danzo nodded with satisfaction, gaining new appreciation for Bing's execution capabilities.
"You've worked hard during this period. I have a task I'm preparing to assign you." After rarely praising his subordinate, Danzo prepared to give him a new mission.
Hearing Danzo's words, Bing quickly raised both hands, preparing to receive a mission scroll as usual. But after waiting a long time without feeling anything in his hands, he looked up in confusion.
"This mission doesn't involve such troublesome documents. You have only one task: replace Aburame Ryōma and Yamanaka Zen in guiding Feng Bai's training." Danzo was very satisfied with his attitude, squinting toward Aburame Ryōma and others busy in the distance.
Although Yakushi Nonō was supervising, that woman's attitude toward Feng Bai was somewhat too gentle, which would make his son develop lazy habits. Therefore, Danzo decided to assign Bing—whose abilities were average and who wasn't particularly important to Root—to the task.
"From today, remove your mask, resume your real name Shimura Ikku, and go to Feng Bai's side."
"Yes!" As Danzo's words fell, Shimura Ikku removed the mask from his face, revealing a delicate countenance.
...
"Hmph, so much for Class Three's elite—I beat the elite fair and square! Now the old man should have nothing to say!" Asuma's excited voice rang out from inside the dango shop.
Asuma, who had been suppressed by Kakashi and Feng Bai until he nearly lost confidence, finally proved himself in today's battle.
Not only did he knock down Feizhu Qingting with a few punches, he also single-handedly used taijutsu to counter the combined assault of Binzu Leitong and Yamashiro Aoba.
Feng Bai and Kakashi enjoyed their leisure, providing support from the sidelines and tossing the occasional tool.
[Hmph, I can't beat Feng Bai and Kakashi, but I can still beat you guys, right?]
Asuma thought to himself.
At this time, Asuma was far from his mature adult composure—a small victory was enough to make him smug.
Kurenai beside him simply smiled at him without speaking.
"Alright, Asuma, stop showing off. Compared to our Exploding Ball Kid, you're still far behind." Feng Bai raised his teacup and called out toward Asuma.
"Bang!"
Hearing this, Hyūga Iroha slammed his fist on the table and immediately prepared to fight Feng Bai.
"You despicable bastard! Because of you, I can't even hold my head up in the Hyūga clan anymore, you know?!" Thinking of how his clansmen treated him after acquiring his nickname, Hyūga Iroha completely lost his composure.
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