Uchiha Maí was slouched in the back row by the window, waiting for the village to announce the team assignments. Back row, window seat - the homeland of kings. To keep his style points on trend, he'd even calculated that detail in advance.
The little girl Yūhi Kurenai was still relentlessly chasing her male idol, completely shameless. She dragged over a chair and sat right beside Maí.
Seeing this, Asuma could only curl up in a corner, licking his wounds while numbing himself with the thought that Kurenai was still young and didn't understand these things yet.
For an entire month, Asuma hadn't gone looking for trouble with Maí. On the contrary, Maí had blocked him a few times instead. Back during their match, they'd agreed - whoever lost would act as a sparring partner for a month.
"Behave. Let me take a look."
During that time, Maí had tested plenty of new techniques on Asuma. The fearless top dog of the Ninja Academy could only go home every day with a bruised face and a swollen head.
An unfamiliar chūnin kept entering and leaving the classroom with a list in hand. He called out names, gathered his members, and left. Little by little, the classroom grew emptier.
Kurenai rested her chin on one hand, clearly bored.
- Maí-kun, when will it be our turn?
- Soon enough, he replied halfheartedly.
- If we ended up on the same team, that would be so nice…
- That's not something you and I get to decide.
Team assignments were decided by the village long in advance. Neither the students nor the future captains had any say in it.
After being brushed off twice in a row, Kurenai grew dissatisfied, puffed out her cheeks, and complained sweetly:
- Maí-kun, can't you say a few more words to me?
- By the way… what kind of person do you hope your future team leader will be?
Maí pretended to think long and hard before answering:
- Anyone is fine.
- Hmph!
Annoyed, Kurenai turned her head away.
- I'm not talking to you anymore until you apologize. That's final!
Heaven be my witness - Maí hadn't brushed her off on purpose. The problem was that her questions simply weren't worth much thought.
Team assignments for Academy graduates rarely mattered.
Aside from elite teams like Ino–Shika–Chō, most squads didn't last long. Depending on battlefield conditions and casualties, teams could be dissolved and reorganized at any time.
Normally, an ordinary squad was led by a chūnin whose main job was to teach cooperation and help young ninjas adapt to the cruelty of the world.
If Konoha needed to form a special unit, even those leaders could be reassigned, promoting capable genin to become new squad leaders.
With his cheat ability in hand, Maí was confident it wouldn't take long for him to become a chūnin himself. So who his future leader was didn't really matter.
Unless he was placed into an elite team from the very beginning and trained as a top talent. That possibility existed - and was quite high. But so what?
At this point in time, there weren't many jōnin in Konoha that Maí recognized. Against an ordinary jōnin, he might not win, but he didn't care much either. After all, non–story characters rarely provided high style points.
Just going out for a casual walk, you could bump into more than ten jōnin. A mere jōnin or two? No big deal.
In the end, only six students remained in the classroom: Uchiha Maí, Yūhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Might Guy, Nohara Rin, and Uchiha Obito.
There were age differences among them; logically, they shouldn't have graduated in the same year.
But the Ninja Academy back then wasn't very standardized, more like schools in remote regions decades ago - grades one through six all in one classroom, with chaotic grade divisions.
As long as your strength was sufficient and you stayed at the Academy for four to six years, you could graduate.
That was why Kakashi Hatake, three years older than Gekkō Hayate, was considered part of the same generation. Even though Hayate enrolled at age three and Kakashi applied for early graduation shortly after, they were classmates for only a few days.
The six waited for more than half an hour. Just as Maí was about to lose patience and move the desks aside to practice some moves, the classroom door was pushed open again.
A young man with golden hair walked in, wearing the standard green jōnin vest of Konoha. Handsome - only a little less than half as handsome as Maí - and with a gentle, trustworthy aura.
Maí's pupils contracted.
Wasn't this Naruto's father - Minato Namikaze?
In the original storyline, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were indeed on the same team, with Minato as their leader.
But at this point, Obito was still mediocre, Rin wasn't particularly outstanding, and Kakashi was already a chūnin. Maí didn't believe the three of them would be grouped together from the very start.
Was this the will of the universe itself?
Minato smiled shyly, scratched his head, and spoke apologetically:
- Sorry for making you wait so long.
- On the way here, I helped an old lady cross the street. Then I met another grandmother who was lost. After escorting her home, I ran into a black cat stuck in a tree…
- Anyway, I didn't mean to be late. I'm really sorry.
Maí fell silent.
Perfect. Every classic excuse Kakashi would later use for being late - Minato had just used all of them at once.
And coming from Minato Namikaze, Maí actually believed him.
Konoha's good guy, the walking little sun, honest and reliable, slightly airheaded, slightly naive - a model young hero of the village. Who didn't know that reputation?
Compared to Kakashi's shameless lies, Minato was on an entirely different level.
- Alright, Minato said, straightening up. - When I call your name, come with me.
He took a piece of paper from his vest pocket and read aloud:
- Uchiha Maí, Sarutobi Asuma, Nohara Rin, Yūhi Kurenai, Might Guy, Uchiha Obito.
- Is anyone absent? If you're not here, raise your hand.
Silence.
Kurenai quietly tugged on Maí's sleeve and whispered:
- This guy's kind of silly, huh…?
Maí nodded in agreement. Sometimes, Minato really was a bit dense.
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Minato blushed slightly.
- Well… looks like everyone's here. Then please follow me to the training field.
He quickly left the classroom, clearly trying to escape the awkward atmosphere.
The six followed after him, trailing behind the little sun.
As they walked, Maí thought about it: Konoha's standard squads usually consisted of three members, or three plus a leader, focused on small-scale coordination.
Calling out six names at once… what was going on?
Once they lined up on the training field, Minato cleared his throat, cast a subtle glance toward the administration building, and gave a slight nod.
Then he spoke solemnly:
- You're all outstanding children, but I have to give you some bad news.
- My team already has one fixed member. Among the six of you, only two will be able to join my team.
(End of Chapter)
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