Konoha Ninja Academy.The day after the graduation exam.
Today, Guy didn't come to the academy at all. He had already learned beforehand that he would be assigned to his father Might Duy's team.
Starting about two hours earlier, people had been coming one after another to take students away. By now, most of the students had already left the classroom.
The Third Great Ninja War had already entered its middle stage. Konoha had finally driven the invading forces of the various enemy nations out of the Land of Fire. While stabilizing the front lines, they had begun attempting counterattacks.
Although the situation showed signs of improvement, Konoha's outlook was still far from optimistic.
If Konoha wanted to win the war, it had to defeat its enemies on the battlefield. That meant going on the offensive—not just endlessly defending.
The problem was that even while maintaining a defensive strategy, Konoha's manpower already seemed insufficient. If they were to switch to an offensive stance, their forces would be pushed to the absolute limit.
That was why these students who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy would soon be sent to the battlefield.
They might not even have time to adapt before being thrown directly into combat.
Fortunately, because this was wartime, the academy's curriculum was far more practical and targeted than it would be in Naruto's later, more peaceful era.
Basic Chakra control techniques such as tree-climbing and water-walking were already standard courses taught at the academy.
Even so, these freshly graduated rookies still couldn't contribute much to the overall war effort.
Once they entered the battlefield, they could slightly make up for the manpower shortage—but for the time being, they didn't significantly improve the village's combat strength.
What Konoha was really doing was a cruel kind of natural selection.
The mediocre students would quickly be swallowed by the war, while the talented few would soon begin to stand out.
As for Hagoromo, he neither resisted nor particularly welcomed the idea of going to the front lines.
This second life of his had essentially been picked up for free, so at the moment his attitude was simply to go with the flow.
If he went to the battlefield as an ordinary Ninja, he would definitely be cannon fodder.
Fortunately, he had other abilities he could rely on.
In fact, that was also one of the reasons Hagoromo didn't have many friends.
Aside from some airheaded fangirls—and people like Guy and Obito, who were idiots to begin with—most students felt that Hagoromo was always somewhat mysterious. It was difficult for others to feel any real sense of trust from him.
Group after group of students followed their assigned instructors out of the classroom.
From time to time, Hagoromo's gaze drifted toward the classroom door.
He was curious about what kind of person his team leader would be.
If possible, he hoped the instructor would be someone highly capable. That way he could learn more Ninjutsu from them.
In a certain sense, the ability of the team leader determined the future achievements of the students under them.
Students of the same potential could end up with completely different futures depending on their teacher.
The importance of the instructor was obvious.
Then—
He saw a handsome blond Ninja with a gentle smile on his face walk into the classroom.
Following beside him was a white-haired masked boy who looked extremely smug.
That's right.
The blond man was the famous Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, one of Konoha's most prominent figures.
And the boy beside him was naturally Hatake Kakashi.
Hagoromo's gaze first swept over Kakashi.
Indeed, at this time Kakashi—bearing the title of the White Fang's son—was quite arrogant. At such a young age, he already held himself in very high regard.
Hagoromo curled his lips slightly.
Do you think you're Saiki Kusuo or Kakarot?
You're just Hatake Kakashi, that's all.
Well… Hagoromo's attitude clearly contained a hint of jealousy.
After all, prodigies like Kakashi who graduated early from the academy were extremely rare.
Most people, like Kamishiraishi Hagoromo, stayed at the academy for the full three years.
Of course, if Hagoromo had wanted to, he could have graduated early as well.
He had simply chosen to stay at the academy instead.
Kakashi certainly had the qualifications to be arrogant—not because of his father's reputation, but because of his own strength.
Kakashi had graduated from the Ninja Academy at the age of five.
Just one year later, he had already been promoted to Chunin.
Now, at only nine years old, he already possessed strength comparable to that of a Special Jonin.
Hagoromo's gaze shifted again, this time landing on Namikaze Minato.
The future Fourth Hokage.
To be honest, the fact that Orochimaru, one of the Three Ninja, lost to Minato in the competition for Hokage wasn't unfair at all.
Orochimaru might have been powerful, but his personality was cold and sinister.
Minato, on the other hand, was practically the perfect candidate for Hokage.
He came from a civilian background, possessed superb Ninjutsu, had a clear and sharp mind, and had both determination and kindness in his personality.
He perfectly embodied what people called the Will of Fire.
The Third Hokage's decision had not been wrong.
Jiraiya once said:
"Compared with the Fourth Hokage, anyone else pales in comparison.He possesses the greatest qualities of a Ninja in history."
That wasn't a teacher bragging about his own student.
It was simply the truth.
And it was also how the entire village of Konoha viewed Minato.
This was probably the most important figure in Konoha that Hagoromo had ever seen.
Well—aside from the Third Hokage, of course.
The Third often wandered around the Ninja Academy, appearing as friendly as an old neighbor.
Unfortunately, that approachable image lacked a certain sense of authority.
As a result, the students at the academy didn't really feel much awe toward the Third Hokage.
If it were possible, Hagoromo would have loved to become Minato's student.
But he knew that was impossible.
Even though he wasn't very familiar with the Naruto storyline, he still knew who the members of Minato's team were.
What he didn't know was that in the future, he would end up interacting with Minato in a rather unusual way.
If Minato walked down the street, he would definitely turn heads wherever he went.
But inside the Ninja Academy, although students had heard of the name Yellow Flash, they had no idea what he actually looked like.
So when their idol walked into the classroom, none of them realized it.
Besides, fewer than ten students were left in the room anyway.
"Uchiha Obito. Nohara Rin."
Sure enough, as soon as Minato entered the classroom, he called out Obito and Rin's names.
"Hey! You—you're Kakashi, aren't you?! Why are you here?!"
When Obito suddenly noticed a tuft of white hair in front of him, he looked closer.
After confirming that it wasn't Hagoromo's white hair, he immediately realized who it belonged to.
Then he instantly started shouting.
Unexpectedly, Obito failed to recognize Namikaze Minato, yet he immediately recognized Hatake Kakashi, whom he hadn't seen for three years.
Such deep-rooted attention engraved in both their minds and hearts…
Was this the legendary best-bro rivalry that lasts a lifetime?
The moment Kakashi's name was mentioned, everyone in the classroom turned their attention toward him.
"Obito, Rin—you two know Kakashi?"
Minato spoke before Kakashi could provoke Obito again—the guy who clearly had a skull but apparently nothing inside it.
"But you can talk about that after we leave here."