The classroom buzzed with noise.
Newly promoted genin crowded together, excitedly talking about the upcoming team assignments. For most of them, this wasn't just about grouping. It meant deciding who they'd be fighting and surviving with for the next few years.
Landing a strong jonin instructor, or teammates with a kekkei genkai, could multiply your chances of staying alive in a time like this.
Toru Nishikawa sat by the window in the corner, twirling a pen between his fingers. His eyes rested on the rain outside, but his ears sifted through the chatter around him.
"I heard a lot of the instructors this time are elite chunin just back from the front lines."
"If it's Hatake-sama or Orochimaru-sama, that'd be amazing…"
"Keep dreaming. They're all stuck on the Land of Rain front."
Toru's gaze flickered.
From what he remembered of his past life, Minato Namikaze really was Jiraiya's student. But at this point in time, with the Second Shinobi World War raging at full intensity, Jiraiya was one of the frontline commanders. Would he really have the time to return to the village just to lead a bunch of newly graduated rookies?
"Quiet!"
Daikoku entered with the assignment list in hand, his expression severe. The room fell silent at once.
"Given the urgency of the front line situation, there will be no adjustment period after teams are assigned. You will be sent directly to logistics or reconnaissance units and deployed to the border."
One sentence drained the color from the children's faces.
No drills. No transitional missions. Step outside, and it was the battlefield.
Daikoku began reading names.
"Team One…"
"Team Two…"
As names were called, some students cheered while others slumped in disappointment.
Soon, the list neared its end.
"Team Five." Daikoku paused, his eyes sweeping over Toru in the corner, then shifting to Minato in the front row. His expression turned strange. "Toru Nishikawa. Minato Namikaze."
The classroom erupted.
One was average across the board, with chakra reserves near the bottom. A textbook mediocre nobody. The other had shattered records and was hailed as a once-in-decades civilian prodigy.
Putting those two together was an extreme pairing.
Minato turned around and flashed Toru a bright smile, looking more than happy with his teammate.
Being placed on a team with the future Fourth Hokage wasn't necessarily a good thing, Toru thought. Still, he returned the nod politely.
"And…" Daikoku glanced at the note beside their names and swallowed. "Your jonin instructor is Jiraiya-sama."
Boom.
The classroom exploded.
"Jiraiya-sama? The Hokage's student?!"
"No way. Those two are insanely lucky!"
"Why does a dead-last like Toru get into an elite team like that?"
Jealous, envious, stunned stares shot toward the corner like arrows.
Then Daikoku's next words doused the excitement with cold water.
"However, Jiraiya-sama is currently stationed on the Land of Rain front and cannot return to the village. Therefore, the village has assigned a temporary team leader to escort you safely to the main encampment."
A temporary leader?
As confusion spread, the classroom's sliding door was yanked open.
A wave of cold, damp air mixed with a faint scent of blood rolled into the warm room.
A boy around fifteen or sixteen stood in the doorway.
He wore a dark blue, high-collared shirt under a green tactical vest covered in pockets and marked with obvious repairs. His black hair was messy, rain-soaked, clinging to his forehead. And his eyes weren't the usual black, but—
Crimson.
Three black tomoe rotated slowly within blood-red pupils, radiating suffocating pressure.
Fugaku Uchiha.
Though he had yet to become the future head of the Uchiha clan, the pride of a noble first son and the killing intent forged on real battlefields were already enough to make these newly graduated fledglings tremble.
The classroom went dead silent.
Fugaku scanned the room. His gaze didn't linger on the cowering students. Instead, it locked precisely onto Minato Namikaze and Toru Nishikawa.
"Team Five. Come with me."
His voice was cold, thick with impatience.
---
The academy rooftop.
Rain continued to fall, rattling against the railing.
Fugaku stood with his arms crossed, leaning against it. His Sharingan had already closed, returning to black, but his tightly furrowed brow betrayed his foul mood.
"Skip the introductions. Waste of time."
He spoke flatly, his gaze cutting across the two like a blade. "I'm Fugaku Uchiha, recently promoted to special jonin. I'll be leading you on this assignment."
His eyes settled on Minato first, easing slightly. "Minato Namikaze. I know you. Civilian genius. Let's hope you don't use your Body Flicker to run away in real combat."
Minato wasn't intimidated. He stood straight, even scratching his head with a grin. "I'll do my best not to hold you back, senpai."
"Hmph."
Fugaku snorted, then turned to Toru.
The look in his eyes was the kind reserved for dead weight.
"Toru Nishikawa. Below-average chakra reserves. Mediocre taijutsu. Aside from perfect theory scores and that mildly flashy shuriken trick, you're useless." Fugaku didn't hold back. "Honestly, I don't know what the village was thinking. Bringing you along will significantly lower this team's survival rate."
Faced with such blunt, near-insulting judgment, most kids would have been humiliated or too scared to speak.
Toru simply met Fugaku's gaze calmly. "Fugaku-senpai."
"On the battlefield, not everyone needs to charge head-on. My chakra is limited, but I'm good at intelligence analysis, trap setup, and… basic medical first aid. That should cover some of the team's weaknesses."
"Medical?" Fugaku raised a brow, clearly skeptical. "A freshly graduated genin knows medicine?"
"Just the basics. Stopping bleeding, bandaging wounds." Toru didn't elaborate.
At this time, Konoha hadn't yet reached the point where every squad had a dedicated medical ninja. Anyone with first aid knowledge was genuinely useful.
Fugaku stared at Toru for a long moment, as if trying to find fear in the boy's eyes.
He found none.
Those black eyes were far too steady for a brand-new genin.
"Fine. It'd better be true."
Fugaku pulled an orange toad from his vest and tossed it to Minato.
"This is Jiraiya-sama's contact toad. Orders are simple. Depart immediately, cross the Land of Fire border, and enter the Land of Rain war zone to rendezvous with the main force."
As he spoke, the air around Fugaku changed. It was the heavy killing intent of someone who had actually taken lives.
He stepped closer, looking down at them as he warned, "Iwa and Suna guerrilla units are active near the border. Once you're on the battlefield, don't expect me to babysit you. If you can't keep up with my pace…"
He paused.
"I'll abandon you without hesitation. The Uchiha don't carry dead weight."
Minato dropped his smile and nodded seriously.
Toru glanced down at the customized smoke bombs in his pouch and thought quietly, Don't worry. If it comes to that, who gets left behind isn't so clear.
"Move out!"
With Fugaku's command, his figure vanished into the curtain of rain.
Minato followed close behind, blond hair leaving a streak of gold in the air.
Toru took a deep breath of damp air, gathered chakra to his feet, and chased after them. He wasn't as fast as the other two, but he kept pace steadily.