It was a wonderful night.
At a Konoha izakaya, Hatake Sakumo—covered in dust and grime, Tsunade—her clothes tattered, and Orochimaru—his clothes slightly dirty, were all staring intently at the spotless Jiraiya.
The meaning was obvious.
How are you so clean?
Jiraiya immediately understood and burst out laughing without any restraint.
"Hahahaha! Why do all of you look so miserable? Don't tell me a simple team assignment test made you suffer that badly? Hahahaha!"
Tsunade nearly crushed her teeth from grinding them.
Seeing Jiraiya show off like this felt even worse than killing her.
That damn Ryoha… why did he have to make such a small test feel so intense? He got me all fired up too.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was deep in thought.
Something wasn't right. Very wrong.
Considering how seriously Sarutobi-sensei treated this batch, the students we received should all be around the same level. There was no reason for such a huge gap in performance.
Could it be that Jiraiya also thought of using a summoning beast for the test?
He glanced again at Jiraiya, who was laughing wildly.
Absolutely not. He doesn't have the brains for that.
Unless—
A flash of realization appeared in Orochimaru's mind.
His hoarse voice sounded again.
"Jiraiya… don't tell me you got taken down in a single move."
"What?! It was just a simple team assignment test. How could I possibly be one-shotted? I was only caught off guard by a small sneak attack."
Jiraiya stiffened his neck and replied stubbornly.
Unfortunately for him, that unnatural excuse was immediately seen through by his two old teammates.
"Hahahaha! Jiraiya, that's embarrassing! A kid who just graduated managed to one-shot you? You're really regressing the longer you live!"
So the reason you're so clean is because you're just too weak.
Now that's satisfying.
Tsunade laughed wildly as well.
"I didn't! Don't make things up!"
Jiraiya blushed as he tried to explain, waving his hands around frantically.
Sure enough, smiles never disappear—they just transfer to someone else.
Hatake Sakumo quietly took a small sip of the wine in his cup.
Is this what bonds feel like?
How enviable.
Looks like joining the Anbu early really was a loss.
I hope Kakashi will have a wonderful friendship in the future.
Unlike me.
Hatake Sakumo had already decided that if his unborn child were a son, he would name him Kakashi.
What if it's a daughter?
Then he'll just pick another name.
Hatake Sakumo thought to himself—do I look like some stubborn traditionalist?
"Oho, Sakumo-senpai. How did the students in your class perform?"
Orochimaru asked.
He was a little curious.
Even someone stronger than them like Sakumo-senpai had ended up looking like this.
He had heard that Sakumo-senpai was already close to reaching that level.
Ugh, this guy is really annoying.
Didn't you see me staying silent this whole time to avoid this topic? And you still had to ask. No sense of awareness at all.
Hatake Sakumo paused slightly with his raised cup and shot Orochimaru a glance.
"I was a little careless. The three of them worked together very well. Each one of them already has the qualifications to become a Chunin. When they cooperate, forget special jōnin—even most ordinary jōnin wouldn't be able to handle them."
As he said this, Sakumo suddenly remembered that pineapple-haired boy.
"This generation's Nara… his heart is very dark. Be careful."
Dark-hearted, huh?
Orochimaru compared that with his own students.
The Uchiha boy was hard to judge for now, but the two from the Aburame clan were definitely not good people.
Before dismissing them, he even deliberately asked how the kikaichū exploded—and how the power could be so great.
Only then did he learn the truth.
Those were fire-release-specialized kikaichū. They had been raised on fire oil since childhood, and each one carried a trace amount of explosive material on its back.
Millions of them.
Every single one carried just a little.
Giant snake… your death wasn't unjustified.
But perhaps this method could work for him as well.
There were plenty of snakes in Ryūchi Cave. Or perhaps he could simply cultivate a specialized batch himself.
Snakes: Don't come any closer!!!
Orochimaru licked his lips. The more he thought about it, the more promising the idea seemed.
Still, he offered a reminder—just in case his two foolish teammates suffered later.
As for Sakumo-senpai, that wasn't his business.
"The two boys from the Aburame clan… they're definitely not good people."
If even Orochimaru says someone isn't a good person…
Better stay far away from them in the future.
Jiraiya and Tsunade thought the exact same thing.
"On my side, they're a bunch of lunatics. The kind that don't care about their lives."
Tsunade remembered that Senju who came up saying he wanted to "test his body's toughness."
He didn't even bother to defend.
He just took one of her monstrous-strength punches head-on.
The sight of him coughing up blood made her teeth ache.
That must have broken four or five ribs.
Since when did the Senju clan produce such a reckless brute?
Then everyone turned their eyes toward Jiraiya.
Come on, tell us what kind of student managed to one-shot you.
Jiraiya broke out in cold sweat.
Are you sure your students and mine are from the same batch? The difference sounds enormous.
Mine only has one slightly troublesome one… Hyūga Hiyasu, whose mouth is a bit vicious.
Yes. Hyūga Hiyasu.
"There's one from the Hyūga clan. His mouth is extremely poisonous."
Hyūga Hiyasu: ???
After saying that, the four of them looked at each other.
None of us have it easy.
"Cheers."
...
Akimichi BBQ Restaurant.
Private Room No. 3.
The large table in the center had been pushed aside.
"So… why do you two look so miserable?"
Everyone surrounded Senju Hideki—who had a huge fist mark on his chest—and Inuzuka Ryoha—whose body was covered in flowing blood, discussing endlessly.
Aburame Shikuro, Uzumaki Kushina, and Hyūga Hiashi, who hadn't participated in the team assignment test, had also arrived.
Uzumaki Kushina kept tugging at Namikaze Minato's clothes, checking him all over.
"Little Sun, you didn't secretly get injured somewhere and are just pretending you're fine, right? Hurry, hurry—let me check!"
"Hey, Kushina, we just ate some barbecue and took a bell, then it ended. We barely even fought. How could I be injured?"
"Really?"
Kushina turned to look at Hyūga Hizashi.
You're the honest one in your class. I trust you.
Hyūga Hizashi nodded.
Only then did Kushina relax. It seemed Minato really hadn't been hurt.
As for why she didn't ask Hyūga Hiyasu—
Kushina's opinion was simple.
She would rather believe that people lived inside the moon than believe another word Hyūga Hiyasu said.
Hyūga Hiyasu: But people really do live inside the moon.
Meanwhile, Class Three and Class Ten were talking on the side.
No—
To be precise, it was Aburame Shiken and Nara Shikaku having a conversation.
A discussion between smart people.
Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chōza, Uchiha Kamito, Aburame Shibi: Who exactly are you calling not smart?
"What happened with you guys?"
"We killed a very big snake and passed. What about you?"
"A continuous combo without explanation. It went on for almost half an hour. We nearly exhausted all our chakra and still didn't touch that white-haired teacher even once."
"White hair? Did he have a ponytail? Was he carrying a short blade?"
"He had a ponytail. Didn't see a short blade."
"Then it should be about right. Hatake Sakumo. Former Anbu commander. Retired from the Anbu a few days ago. Codename: White Fang. Legend says his strength is close to the Kage level."
"So our teacher is that strong? By the way, where did your Aburame clan get that information? Can you give me a backup copy?"
"Pay more money."
"Deal. We'll negotiate the price later."
...
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