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"I was too careless!" The piles of matters made Tsunade feel extremely irritable.
The frustrating part was, she had thought that even if she skipped work, Kazuki would be holding the fort.
But as luck would have it, Kazuki also wanted to slack off.
So, they both ended up skipping on the same day.
Was this some kind of tacit agreement?
Tsunade was both angry and amused.
She had even thought about questioning Kazuki when he came to work, asking him why he skipped.
But considering Kazuki's personality, he would definitely retort with something like: 'How come you skipped work too?'
So, it was better to just drop it. Since both of them skipped, they should just pretend they didn't know.
Kazuki didn't go to the Hokage office building the entire day.
After getting up and eating, he went straight to Orochimaru's research laboratory.
The exams had concluded smoothly. Sasuke's training was as diligent as ever, with no signs of slacking off.
"Sasuke, stop for now."
"Yes, Elder."
Sasuke, sweating profusely and slightly flushed, stopped. With a flourish, he slid his weapon back into its scabbard.
He had been performing this action for several years now and was long accustomed to it.
But today, there was an accident. A pen flew over, hit the blade, causing the tip to tilt slightly. Instead of sliding into the scabbard, it almost injured Sasuke's own hand.
"Uh....."
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, looking at Kazuki in confusion.
He didn't quite understand why Kazuki had done that.
Orochimaru stood to the side with a knowing, almost mocking smile, watching the scene unfold without any intention of speaking.
"Perhaps you think drawing and sheathing your sword looks cool, full of flair, but I want you to change that habit. Either secure the scabbard properly or wear it on your back properly. Don't play with these flashy but impractical tricks. Also, you're not a child anymore. Don't carry yourself like some street loafer. Either take your clothes off properly or wear them properly."
Sasuke trained hard; he didn't lack perseverance. It was just that after his strength increased, he tended to get inflated.
Sure enough, some of the lazy habits from the original story were starting to appear.
Orochimaru never bothered to comment on this aspect. He only cared about whether Sasuke's strength was improving.
As for Sasuke's other habits, he wouldn't bother.
Over time, Sasuke had started to become a bit... flamboyant.
Even his way of dressing—leaving the sides of his Uchiha robe loose, as if the clothes were just casually draped over his body, as if casually hanging clothes and exposing his chest was considered cool.
"Yes!"
Having his faults pointed out, Sasuke's pupils contracted slightly.
Because based on his understanding of Kazuki, what followed wouldn't be pleasant.
"If you can't even handle your own weapon properly, then I suggest you return it to your teacher. And, if wearing your clothes properly is so uncomfortable, then don't wear them at all. I give you permission to run outside like that."
"....."
Sasuke quickly lowered his head, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Kazuki looked down at the bowing, apologetic Sasuke and spoke earnestly:
"Sasuke, you are a genius. Geniuses have their own quirks, I understand that. But don't forget, you are an Uchiha, the second son of the clan head. Don't let your personality run too wild and free."
"I understands. Please forgive me, Elder."
The signs of defiance were beginning to show, though not prominently yet.
It seemed anyone who inherited Indra's chakra had a innate ebellious streak.
They all seemed to have the potential to become ungrateful traitors.
It was a pity. In the original story, Sasuke could act recklessly, but not now.
At the slightest hint of this tendency, Kazuki would suppress it.
A rebellious bone?
He'd break it right off!
Let's see if you can still be rebellious then.
"Hmm."
Kazuki acknowledged his answer, then signaled for Sasuke to pick up his weapon properly.
"Starting today, your training here is over. Your teacher will no longer assist you. Tomorrow, you and Karin will go find Uchiha Kaze, he will be the Jonin leader of your three-person team."
Team Kakashi?
Forget it!
Putting Sasuke and Naruto together was just asking for trouble, not to mention adding a Sakura who at this stage would only hold them back.
Karin was a much better fit.
Add in Hinata, and the team was set!
As for whether Sakura would lose her 'love' because of this, it had nothing to do with him.
He cared about the growth of Sasuke, Karin, and Hinata.
As for Sakura, who had no connection to him whatsoever, who cared about her love life?
If Naruto liked Sakura so much, then he could have her.
Wasn't Jiraiya quite optimistic about Sakura anyway?
Then he could take on that love-struck fool.
It could be said that among the original twelve Konoha 11 teams, only Team 10 (Ino-Shika-Cho) remained intact; the others had all been split up.
Kazuki also wasn't comfortable placing Hinata in some other team.
But keeping Hinata confined to the village would be a kind of restraint for her.
Kazuki wouldn't keep her like a caged canary.
It just so happened that with Sasuke and Karin, he could propose Uchiha Kaze for the role of Jonin sensei for this new team.
With this seemingly aloof but capable man around, unless they encountered overwhelmingly powerful enemies, he could basically ensure the safety of the three team members.
As for Kakashi, he could go lead another team.
And techniques like Chidori... Kazuki wasn't too concerned about them.
To be honest, even after Sasuke learned it in the original story, his strength didn't become overwhelmingly powerful.
If necessary, after Sasuke graduated as a Chunin, he could just be handed over to Kakashi for a period of training.
"Yes."
Sasuke wasn't particularly concerned about who his teammates would be.
Because he would always be the strongest one!
Undoubtedly the most important member of the team.
As for Uchiha Kaze...
Well, that was someone he couldn't afford to mess with. As a former troublemaker within the clan and one of the earliest to follow Kazuki, he wouldn't indulge Sasuke.
To put it bluntly, if Sasuke made a mistake or started to let his rebellious ideas run wild, what awaited him would surely be a hard slap from Uchiha Kaze.
Others might not dare to hit him, but Kaze would.
And he could hit him with impunity!
Nothing would happen to him, and Sasuke would still face punishment when he returned.
With a personality like Sasuke's, if you didn't assign someone who could truly keep him in line to lead him, he would definitely cause trouble.
So, Kazuki needed to break off that little bit of rebellious bone that hadn't even fully emerged yet.
"Alright, follow me."
Signaling for Sasuke to follow, Kazuki left a message for Orochimaru without looking back:
"If you're feeling bored, you can go out for a stroll. The village recently caught a batch of spies. They can be handed over to you, but you cannot keep them within the village."
"Acceptable."
Orochimaru smiled, a genuinely pleased smile.
Kazuki's words meant that if he wanted to conduct some forbidden experiments, he should go out and do them himself, not mess around in Konoha, or even the Land of Fire.
As for the spies... letting them fall into Orochimaru's hands could be considered was making use of trash.