These words made even the usually gentle Yakushi Nono furrow her brows.
"Then, teacher, could you tell me—what rank is this Teacher Baixing?"
The chūnin instructor took a deep breath, his expression solemn. Drawing upon every compliment he had accumulated over his entire life, he spoke:
"He is a very capable young man. At only eighteen, he has achieved a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate. That kind of record is something the village has only ever heard of in connection with the ANBU White Fang."
"So that's how it is—a genius jōnin, then. I can accept that."
Uchiha Mikoto finally relaxed, a bright smile spreading across her face. But suddenly, a thought struck her—if the village really had such a jōnin, why had no one in her clan, not even her grandfather, ever discussed or mentioned him?!
Her smile stiffened just as she was about to ask, and the chūnin instructor provided the answer.
"He is not a jōnin. At present, he is still classified as a genin."
The moment he said this, the chūnin instructor felt as if a breath he had been holding in his chest was finally released. When he first saw this assignment list, he had nearly gone to confront ANBU headquarters—but the document bore the Hokage's signature and seal. Matters like this could only have passed through the Hokage's hands.
In an instant, suppressed snickers spread throughout the classroom. Even Nara Hanene, who normally hated trouble, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Only two people stared daggers at the chūnin instructor, their expressions dark enough to kill.
The instructor could only smile bitterly. He wasn't some big shot—just a messenger. Even if both girls had excellent academic records—Uchiha Mikoto ranked first in class, Yakushi Nono above average—there was nothing he could do.
"I will report this truthfully to my clan," Uchiha Mikoto said coldly, convinced this was targeted pressure from the Hokage's faction. It was an open threat.
What could the chūnin instructor do? He could only nod, indicating he understood, then asked the students to remain in the classroom and wait patiently for their team instructor to arrive.
Inside the Hokage's office, a crystal ball reflecting the classroom scene replayed everything that had just occurred.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing the Hokage hat, watched Mikoto's anger with a helpless expression.
"Other jōnin wouldn't accept Duy joining their team," he muttered.
"Besides, not every jōnin can teach a freshly graduated student who already possesses strength comparable to a chūnin—like Uchiha Mikoto."
"No matter how you look at it, Baixing is the most suitable choice."
Might Duy trained his taijutsu day and night—Hiruzen had seen it all. But becoming a qualified chūnin wasn't something taijutsu alone could achieve.
Moreover, Duy's wife was reportedly pregnant. As a genin, he couldn't take C-rank missions, and his family didn't have much spare money left.
As for D-rank missions, Duy couldn't complete all of them alone. If he failed, he couldn't afford the penalty. Teams, meanwhile, disliked him for not knowing ninjutsu, seeing him as dead weight who only joined to split the pay.
Thus, in order to form a genin squad for Might Duy, the Hokage had truly gone to great lengths.
"Let's hope you pull through, kid," Hiruzen murmured. "Use that face of yours to win those two girls over."
His backup plan was simple—use Baixing's looks to reduce the girls' hostility as much as possible and minimize early team-management issues.
"Why hasn't he shown up yet?"
Inside the Fifth-Year Class A classroom, only Uchiha Mikoto and Yakushi Nono remained. Everyone else had already left.
Of course, they'd left after mocking them.
Uchiha Mikoto would never forget today's humiliation. She planned to crush that genin teacher with sheer strength, then return to her clan and report everything—letting her grandfather personally go to the Hokage Tower and give that old man a piece of his mind!
Yakushi Nono, meanwhile, looked calm on the surface. Her parents had died on a village mission, and her grades weren't outstanding. Still, her chakra control and memory were decent enough to keep her in the upper-middle ranks of Class A.
—And now, she was expected to accept a genin as her teacher.
"My future… is probably over," Nono thought bleakly.
Click.
The classroom door slowly opened. Uchiha Mikoto clenched her fist, ready to rush forward and punch someone—only for a young man in a strange green jumpsuit with thick eyebrows to hurriedly raise his hands and introduce himself.
"Um—uh—I'm Might Duy. I'm here to report in."
Faced with the ferocious-looking Uchiha girl, Duy awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"This… this is Fifth-Year Class A, right?"
"Hmph."
Upon realizing this wasn't that genin instructor but another "victim," Uchiha Mikoto restrained a bit of her temper. She snorted, sat back down, and nodded slightly, mocking herself as she spoke:
"You're not in the wrong place. But you don't know what kind of teacher our team has, do you?"
"A genin."
"I heard from classmates he's a genin who's failed the chūnin exams for six straight years!"
Just thinking about how even the worst graduating class had a special jōnin instructor—while theirs had a genin—made her feel like she might explode on the spot.
"Th-this… the Hokage-sama did tell me," Might Duy said, scratching his cheek as he cautiously walked into the classroom, a hint of nostalgia flashing through his eyes.
Back then, he had graduated alongside many famous ninja—only they'd graduated early, while he'd honestly waited until the standard time.
"He told you, and you still came?" Uchiha Mikoto stared at him in disbelief. "Are you insane? Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your head?"
Even Yakushi Nono beside her looked horrified.
Which department would this kind of patient register at in Konoha Hospital?!
Might Duy laughed awkwardly and didn't explain. After all, who would imagine that a genin who'd graduated years ago—because he only knew taijutsu—was on the verge of losing even his ninja livelihood?
Seeing his silence, both Mikoto and Nono sensed there was more to the story. They exchanged a glance and stopped questioning him, choosing instead to wait silently for that damned, weak, late, worthless genin teacher to finally arrive.
11:30 a.m.
It was nearly lunchtime, and Baixing had just finished a D-rank mission—helping an elderly woman plow several mu of farmland.
For a taijutsu ninja with poor chakra control, this kind of task could easily end with broken tools.
Second floor of the Hokage Building, Mission Office.
The chūnin clerk who received Baixing's report was still stuck in work mode, completely forgetting what had happened yesterday. He was immersed in the sadness and dead silence of wartime—units going missing, or worse, wiped out.
But when he handed Baixing the reward and saw his face, yesterday's incident suddenly came back to him.
"Genin Baixing…"
"Mm. The money's right—three thousand ryō." Baixing counted the bills, unconcerned.
"That's not it." The chūnin waved his hands. "I mean—weren't you assigned as a team instructor? Today's the graduation team assignment day, isn't it?!"
"Oh." Baixing made a sudden realization. The chūnin wiped his sweat, thinking Baixing had already finished his duties.
"I forgot. It's not too late if I go now, right?"
Thump—
The chūnin performed a classic two-dimensional move—falling over in his chair without even standing up. Baixing calmly pocketed his three thousand ryō, calculating that his savings of over four million should be enough to buy a small house. That way, he wouldn't have to pay rent or live in that cramped single room anymore.
Konoha these past years… there shouldn't have been Pain or the Nine-Tails wrecking buildings, right…
"Genin Baixing! What are you standing around for—go already!"
"I got it, got it."
The chūnin scrambled to his feet, his forehead slightly red—probably scraped. He roared at Baixing in frustration, while Baixing responded with a serious expression, as if he'd truly been thinking about nothing else just now.