Uchiha Mai sat idly in the back row by the window, waiting for the village's squad assignments.
Back row. Window seat. The king's homeland.
For the sake of farming Stylish Points, even this had been carefully calculated by Mai.
The little loli Yūhi Kurenai was still relentlessly chasing after her male god, dragging over a chair and sitting right beside him.
Seeing this, Asuma could only shrink into a corner, licking his emotional wounds while numbing himself with the thought that A-Hong is still young—she just doesn't understand yet.
Over the past month, Asuma had never once gone looking for trouble with Uchiha Mai.
Instead, he'd been blocked by Mai several times.
After all, the terms of their duel had been clear—lose, and you become a sparring partner for one month.
Behave yourself. Let me take a look.
During this time, Mai had tested quite a few new techniques on Asuma. The fearless king of the Ninja Academy could only return home each day with a bruised and swollen face.
Unknown chūnin entered and exited the classroom, holding name lists. After calling their assigned members, they would leave one after another.
The number of students in the room steadily dwindled.
Resting her chin in her hand, little Kurenai said boredly,
"Mai-kun, when will it finally be our turn?"
"Soon," Mai replied perfunctorily.
"Mai-kun, if we could be assigned to the same team, that would be wonderful, wouldn't it?"
"That's not something you or I get to decide."
Which students went to which team was determined long ago by the village. Neither students nor team leaders had any say in it.
After being brushed off twice in a row, Kurenai grew dissatisfied. She puffed out her cheeks and huffed.
"Mai-kun, can't you say a few more words for once~
By the way, what kind of person do you hope your future captain will be?"
Uchiha Mai pretended to ponder deeply for a long time before replying,
"Anyone's fine, really."
"Hmph!"
Seeing him brush her off again, the little girl snorted and turned away.
I'm not talking to you anymore.
Until you apologize, I won't say a single word!
Heaven knew—Mai hadn't meant to brush her off on purpose. It was just that her question was… nutritionally empty.
Team assignments after graduating the Academy weren't that important.
Aside from elite squads like Ino–Shika–Chō or the future Twelve Genin, most teams didn't last long at all. Depending on battle conditions and casualties, they could be disbanded and reorganized at any time.
Generally speaking, ordinary squads were led by chūnin. Their main role was guiding rookies in teamwork and helping them adapt to the cruelty of the world.
If Konoha needed to form elite forces, however, those captains might be transferred out, and new leaders would be promoted from among the genin.
Uchiha Mai believed that with his cheat, it wouldn't take long to reach chūnin rank anyway—so who his future captain was didn't really matter.
Unless he was placed into an elite team from the very beginning and groomed as a core member.
That possibility existed—and was fairly high—but so what?
At this stage, there weren't many jōnin in Konoha that Mai recognized. Ordinary jōnin might be stronger than him, sure, but they weren't worth caring about.
They weren't plot characters.
Hard to farm big Stylish Points from them.
Take a casual walk outside and you could bump into a dozen jōnin.
Just jōnin. Easy stuff.
Eventually, only six students remained in the classroom:
Uchiha Mai, Yūhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Might Guy, Nohara Rin, and Uchiha Obito.
There were age differences among them. Normally, they wouldn't have graduated in the same year.
But the Ninja Academy at this time wasn't very standardized—similar to rural schools from decades ago, where grades one through six all shared the same classroom.
Grade divisions were chaotic.
As long as your strength was sufficient, staying in the Academy for four to six years was enough to graduate.
That was why Kakashi—three years older than Gekko Hayate—was still considered the same "batch." Even though Kakashi had applied for early graduation only days after enrollment, they were technically classmates.
After waiting another half an hour, just as Mai was finally about to move desks aside to practice some dance moves, the classroom door opened again.
A young man with golden hair, wearing the standard green Konoha jōnin vest—
handsome, though just a little less handsome than half of Uchiha Mai—
entered the room.
Mai's pupils shrank.
Isn't that Naruto's dad… Namikaze Minato?
In the original story, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were indeed on the same team—and their captain was Minato.
But at this point, Obito was still half-baked, Rin was… average, and Kakashi was already a chūnin.
So Mai didn't believe the three of them would be placed together from the very beginning.
Could this be the will of the universe?
Namikaze Minato smiled sheepishly, looking gentle and harmless. He scratched his head and said,
"Sorry for making everyone wait so long.
On the way here, I ran into a granny who needed help crossing the road.
After helping her, I met another grandma who got lost.
After escorting her home, I found a black cat stuck in a tree.
Anyway… I didn't mean to be late. I'm really sorry."
Captain, I'm stuck in a tree.jpg
Uchiha Mai: "..."
Well then.
All the classic late excuses Kakashi loved to use in the original story—Minato just used them all in one go.
Coming from Minato's mouth, though, Mai actually believed it.
After all—good guy, little sun, honest and reliable young man, naturally airheaded genius, Konoha's model youth.
Who didn't know these titles?
Compared to Kakashi, who lied with a straight face, Minato's image was on an entirely different level.
"Alright," Minato said. "Next, when I call your name, please come with me."
He pulled out a piece of paper from his vest pocket and read aloud:
"Uchiha Mai.
Sarutobi Asuma.
Nohara Rin.
Yūhi Kurenai.
Might Guy.
Uchiha Obito."
"Is anyone not here? If you're absent, please raise your hand."
Uchiha Mai: "..."
Kurenai tugged lightly at his sleeve and whispered,
"This guy's kind of silly, isn't he~"
Mai nodded in deep agreement.
Sometimes, Namikaze Minato really was a bit silly.
Minato also realized his slip of the tongue. His face reddened slightly as he said,
"Ah—looks like everyone's here. Then please follow me to the training field."
With that, he hurried out of the classroom, escaping the awkward atmosphere.
The others followed the little sun outside.
As they walked, Mai pondered.
Standard Konoha squads usually consisted of three members—or three plus a captain—focused on small-team coordination.
Calling out six names at once…
What was this supposed to be?
Once everyone lined up neatly, Minato cleared his throat. He subtly glanced toward the office building and gave a slight nod.
Then he turned back to the group.
"Although you're all excellent children," he said gently,
"I must tell you some unfortunate news.
"My team already has one member.
"Among the six of you, only two will be able to join my squad.
"The remaining four… will be eliminated—and will not become ninja."
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