Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 219
🕑 Added 2025-03-11 21:41:33 +0000 UTCMasashi glanced through the team assignment list on a single sheet of paper and finished reading it in just a few moments.
In the original timeline, there was a term called the "Konoha 12," referring to the twelve early genin who had the highest screen time in the original story.
Among them, Neji, Lee, and Tenten were a year ahead of the other nine.
However, to say that these twelve were the only talented individuals of their generation would be obviously incorrect.
Take Sai, for example, who only made his debut in Shippuden. At fifteen years old, he had already taken down a jonin. At the time, Danzō even considered him the most outstanding ninja of his age group.
Of course, this was not in terms of raw destructive power but rather his proficiency in infiltration, intelligence gathering, and assassination—tasks that were the true essence of a ninja's role in that era.
Masashi also saw Sai's name on the list, but he was certain he had never seen this person during their time at the Ninja Academy.
Without a doubt, this was typical ANBU behavior.
It was understandable. After all, this generation had a lot of sensitive figures, so it was only natural for the Hokage to place some ANBU personnel among the students.
However, who came up with the name "Sai," though?
Regardless, Konoha's approach to grouping Academy students followed the principle of balance.
Each team aimed for a mix of strengths and weaknesses, ensuring an overall equilibrium among the teams.
In the original timeline, Team 7 was assigned based on school records: Sasuke was the top-ranked student in combat skills, Sakura was the best in academics, while Naruto ranked dead last in both categories.
Although Naruto had already learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu and had beaten Mizuki up before graduation, his classmates were unaware of this.
Thus, the original Team 7 was assembled strictly according to their school rankings.
However, if that principle were to be applied in this timeline, then Sasuke and Naruto shouldn't be in the same team. Among their generation, the top three in combat skills were Sasuke, Naruto, and Konohamaru. Placing the top two in the same team clearly disrupted the balance.
Masashi didn't say anything, though, because he knew the team assignments had been decided by the higher-ups—more specifically, Minato, Fugaku, and Hiruzen.
Even if he remained silent, someone was bound to speak up.
"Hokage-sama." The person who spoke was from the Aburame clan. "If I remember correctly, the purpose of team assignments is to ensure balanced strength. However, looking at the students' abilities, some of the teams this time don't seem to follow that principle."
"This year, we have many outstanding students, which made it more difficult to achieve perfect balance in team formation," said Minato.
Of course, a completely balanced distribution was impossible.
The Ino-Shika-Chō trio was a classic example.
Generations of their families had always been grouped together, which was inherently unfair to the other teams.
So, Minato had a justified stance.
After all, he wasn't the only one playing favorites, right? Besides, this year's students were exceptionally talented.
"But won't Team 7's combat ability far surpass the others? In addition to Naruto and Sasuke, they also have Hinata. With these three in one team, there's a clear power gap compared to the other groups. This would mean different testing standards, which could make other students feel the system is unfair."
The Aburame ninja who spoke seemed to be a straightforward person.
But he was no ordinary individual. He was Shikuro, the legendary wielder of the Rinkaichū, nano-sized venomous insects, and one of Konoha's elite jonin.
"A ninja's strength isn't solely about combat ability. Other skills are equally important," Fugaku replied. "Both Naruto and Sasuke… their scores in non-combat subjects were quite poor."
At this point, his eye twitched slightly.
Minato, standing beside him, had the same reaction.
Both fathers were deeply troubled.
These two kids must have been the top slackers in class.
It wasn't that they expected perfect scores, but at least a 90 should have been easy to achieve.
Yet neither of them had ever scored above 50!?
Meanwhile, Hiruzen watched with a big smile.
After all, his grandson, Konohamaru, had aced every subject. Truly his most beloved grandchild.
Unfortunately, since only two of the three could be placed in the same team, Konohamaru had to go to another group.
"In that case, wouldn't Sakura be a more suitable candidate?" Shikuro asked.
"Masashi, what do you think?"
Minato turned to Masashi with practiced ease.
Even after being Hokage for over ten years, Minato still wasn't thick-skinned enough to handle this kind of situation alone.
Masashi, on the other hand, was speechless.
How did this become his problem?
Yet, since everyone was looking at him…
"I don't think it's a big issue," he said with a polite smile while inwardly cursing. "The fundamental principle of team formation isn't just about building early teamwork but also fostering healthy competition. It's not about achieving absolute balance—that would be both unrealistic and unreasonable."
"I'm not opposing this," Shikuro responded. "I've reviewed the student records. Naruto and Sasuke are indeed closely matched in strength, but their weaknesses in non-combat areas are also very similar. This might not promote effective competition. Splitting them into different teams could be better."
On stage, Minato and Fugaku both twitched at the corner of their mouths again.
How embarrassing!
Shikuro was already being polite. He hadn't outright said they were "all brawn and no brains."
"If the gap is too wide, it also fails to create meaningful competition," Masashi shrugged. "Shikuro, you're too strong yourself. Not everyone can be like you. People have different ceilings. If the difference is too great, it leads to discouragement rather than motivation."
"???" What do you mean I'm too strong? Leaving out the people on stage, aren't you the most absurdly powerful one here!?
"Look, these two kids have similar combat rankings. Only Konohamaru matches them, but we can't put all three in the same team. We need a teammate who can keep up with their pace and compensate for their weaknesses. Hinata's combat skills are average, but she possesses the Byakugan and Gentle Fist, and her academic scores are above average. Compared to the others, she is the only suitable choice. Sakura, though excellent in academics, wouldn't be able to keep up with their combat pace. She's actually a better fit for the team with Kiba and Shino."
Shikuro thought it over and found Masashi's explanation quite reasonable.
Naruto and Sasuke already outclassed most of their peers, except Konohamaru. If all three were placed together, they might as well skip the training phase and directly participate in the upcoming chunin Exams.
He wasn't truly against the team assignments; he just wanted the best arrangement for the students. But since Masashi had the most teaching experience and authority in this matter…
"I see," he nodded approvingly after reviewing the files again. "Your deep understanding of the students is impressive."
---
A group of Konoha's top brass were in the jonin meeting room, fostering relationships—no, actually, they were assigning teachers to their students. Meanwhile, those very students were causing a ruckus in the classroom as usual, full of energy.
However, today, the troublemaker duo was surprisingly well-behaved, making the other troublemakers feel a little out of place.
"Sasuke, did you get taller?" The first troublemaker who passed by was the first to notice that the other boy seemed a little different from usual.
He casually placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Where's your usual smug look?"
But instead of Sasuke's usual arrogant expression, what he got was—
"Ouch! Don't press on me!" Sasuke's face twisted in pain.
His butt, which had been beaten last night, was still sore, burning and quite red.
Beside him, Naruto grinned as if he wanted to laugh, but the actual result was an identical twisted expression.
The sight of the two contorted faces startled the troublemaker.
To be fair, Naruto got his butt whooped even more often than Sasuke, but their mothers had different ninja rankings.
So, in the end, the effects of their punishments were exactly the same.
As for why they got punished…
"It's all your fault! You changed the grades so badly that it was obvious!"
"Nonsense! It's because you didn't stick to the plan, you traitor!"
Nearby, Konohamaru felt like he understood something.
"So your test papers got found out, huh?"
He suddenly realized and then looked at them with a dumbfounded expression.
"Aren't your parents also ninjas? What's the point of changing the grades? Just by looking at your answers, they could tell you failed!"
"..."
"..."
Thinking back carefully… yeah, that was exactly how they got caught.
"It's all your fault! Why did you say it out loud? This is so embarrassing!"
"Do you want to fight?!"
"Bring it on!"
Watching the two of them wave their fists without actually moving their butts, Konohamaru lost interest and walked away.
The two bluffing boys immediately stopped their act and carefully protected their sore behinds.
Just then, the classroom door opened, and two Academy teachers in green vests walked in. One of them had silver hair.
"Huh? Mizuki-sensei doesn't look like he's in a good mood today?" Naruto glanced at the front and noticed that both teachers seemed off today—especially the silver-haired one. Something about him felt off.
"Idiot, he's not a teacher at the Academy anymore." Sasuke seized the chance to mock his friend mercilessly.
"So what if he isn't? Big deal!"
"It is a big deal. What are you gonna do about it?"
The two academic failures didn't stop for even a second and immediately started bickering again.
Their loud voices carried clearly to Mizuki on the stage.
This made his already sour mood even worse.
After all, from his perspective, these two little brats were using his misfortune as a joke.
You two spoiled brats… if it weren't for your backgrounds, you'd be nothing!
On the surface, however, he kept a smile on his face, still maintaining the image of a caring and dependable teacher.
But just as Sasuke had said, his teaching qualifications had already been revoked. The process wasn't fully completed yet, so he was still staying at the school for the time being.
Only the Hokage had the authority to revoke the qualifications of a Academy teacher. The one who pushed for it?
Masashi.
The reason was simple. During a mission, Mizuki deliberately let an injured teammate die just to complete the task.
Though he had covered his tracks well, there wasn't enough evidence.
However, Masashi happened to hear about this case from Fugaku one day. The silver-haired man left an impression on him, and with just one sentence from Masashi, Mizuki was dismissed.
It was just his bad luck—he was assigned to Sasuke's class, which was precisely why Fugaku paid attention to the case.
The bickering between Naruto and Sasuke was loud enough for the entire class to hear. Because of this, the way the students looked at Mizuki became strange. Iruka, who had entered with Mizuki, quickly clapped his hands on the podium.
"Naruto! Sasuke! You two! You can't use rumors as an excuse to argue! Actually—no! You're not allowed to argue at all! You two are the loudest every single day! I still hear your voices when I want to peacefully sleep!"
"It's fine, Iruka-sensei. Kids are adorable when they're full of energy," Mizuki said with a smile.
Do you really think this will make those rich brats like you? They look down on civilians like you! That was what Mizuki thought deep down. However, he was well aware that Iruka was an anomaly in the Ninja Academy.
Take Naruto and Sasuke, for example—two second-generation heirs who feared nothing and listened to no one. Yet, they actually obeyed Iruka.
Even the students' parents trusted Iruka.
The school administrators held him in high regard, and both the retired Third Hokage and the current Fourth Hokage remembered him clearly.
Mizuki and Iruka had grown up together. Both came from solid Konoha ninja families, yet Mizuki had noticed that those in power treated Iruka with kindness.
It made no sense!
They were both civilians!
So why did the elite families respect Iruka while treating him with nothing more than professional courtesy?
That guy was an idiot!
He didn't even know how to take advantage of his resources!
He was just a clueless fool!
Mizuki was different. He had worked tirelessly to become a teacher at the Ninja Academy, but not because he actually wanted to be a teacher!
It had always been like this. Everyone around them had always preferred Iruka.
What was so special about this idiot?!
Suppressing his jealousy, Mizuki maintained the gentle smile he had practiced countless times.
Meanwhile, Iruka scolded the duo until they finally quieted down, and the classroom settled into order.
"Now, I will announce the team assignments." Seeing the students return to discipline, he felt satisfied but also a little wistful.
He knew that once some of these children passed their final test, they would no longer be students. They would step into a new phase of life.
As genin, they would face many challenges, some of which could cost them their lives. Wars, for example, had always claimed the lives of many young genin.
Iruka had done his best to train them to the highest standards while they were still in school. But he himself was only a chunin—this was the best he could do.
Pushing his emotions aside, Iruka continued, "After being assigned to teams, you will begin carrying out missions under the guidance of a jonin instructor. What you've learned in school is not nearly enough to prepare you for the dangers you may face in the future. That's why you must follow your jonin's instructions and never miss a chance to learn. Understand?"
"Yes!" the students responded in unison.
Mischief aside, the children knew who genuinely cared about them—and who didn't.
This was the main reason why even the most privileged kids respected Iruka.
With that, Iruka began calling out the team assignments.
