Even though he kept an eye on those two little brats from time to time, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew the proper procedures had to be followed—if anything, they needed to be stricter than usual.
After all, those two were his grand-disciples. The Jonin assigned to lead them had to be strong enough—there was no room for mediocrity.
It was a pity he'd already sent Orochimaru and the others to Amegakure. If they were still around, letting them take charge of his students would've been perfect.
Hiruzen quickly ran through the list of available candidates in his head, trying to figure out who would be the best fit to guide the two young shinobi standing before him.
A regular Jonin simply wouldn't cut it. It'd be downright embarrassing if the instructor didn't even know as many jutsu as the students.
Maybe... Gousuke?
Gousuke had the skills to teach them, and his experience was solid. The only problem was, he was still stationed at the border.
That made things tricky—Hiruzen was genuinely stumped. There really wasn't anyone obviously suitable.
Until he saw Uchiha Kaien... and a spark of inspiration hit.
Kagami!
He'd been forced to take medical leave again due to a mission injury. He was one of the few who hadn't attended the jonin meeting yesterday. With his current downtime, this was a perfect chance to put him to use—and keep him connected with his clan.
Besides, Kagami genuinely seemed fond of young Kaien. Hiruzen's eyes then shifted to Namikaze Minato.
If he remembered correctly, Minato had somehow mastered the Uchiha clan's close-quarters technique—Uchiha Taijutsu.
A style that normally required the Sharingan to pull off, and yet this golden-haired boy had learned it without a kekkei genkai and managed to use it effectively in actual combat.
Minato was clearly more gifted than Hiruzen had originally thought.
Kagami could help Kaien further unlock the potential of his Sharingan, and as for Minato—if he could learn something like Uchiha Taijutsu, he could certainly handle the rest. Learning from Kagami would be a huge benefit for both of them.
No wonder Jiraiya had taken an interest in this kid.
Hiruzen subconsciously picked up his pipe. With a flick of his fingers, a spark ignited, and he lit it with practiced ease.
"I'll schedule the graduation exam for seven days from now," he said. "That'll give you both a little more time to prepare."
By then, Kagami should be out of the hospital.
Minato and Kaien looked puzzled by the delay, but neither protested. Whether the exam happened sooner or later didn't really matter. A week was nothing.
...
"How're you feeling, Kagami? Any better?"
Hiruzen pushed the door open and stepped inside Uchiha Kagami's hospital room.
The harsh smell of disinfectant overpowered even the tobacco on his robes. Kagami turned his head toward the sound of Hiruzen's voice.
"You're here, Hiruzen."
"What happened this time?"
Hiruzen let out a sigh, rubbing his temple. At this point, he'd grown almost used to Kagami getting seriously hurt at least once a year.
"Alright. Walk me through what happened this time, Kagami."
As Tobirama's student, Kagami was undeniably at the kage level. For someone of his caliber to end up this badly injured… the opponent had to be formidable.
"I ran into a shinobi whose fighting style was eerily similar to yours—skilled in all five nature transformations, with seamless coordination between his techniques. For a while, he had me completely on the defensive."
"And his body… it was constantly emitting black threads. Normal jutsu seemed to have no effect on him at all."
"But the strangest part—after I pierced his heart, he didn't die. I'm absolutely sure I struck a fatal blow… but he kept moving."
"When I realized something was seriously wrong, I chose to retreat. The mission was already complete anyway, and I had no interest in sticking around to fight something that bizarre."
"So you were injured during the retreat?" Hiruzen asked, beginning to piece things together.
Kagami nodded. "Yes—but not by that guy. These wounds came from an earlier attack, the one I ran into back in the Land of Iron."
"Those people… they're still tracking me."
The truth behind Kaien's parents' deaths was likely even darker than Hiruzen had imagined. They must have uncovered something they shouldn't have, prompting a group like that to silence them.
The upcoming Second Great Ninja War was already a looming threat, and now there were these powerful, unknown enemies in the mix? Hiruzen fell silent, concern written all over his face.
Just then, a bright voice rang out from outside the door before it creaked open.
"Kagami-san! I came to see you!"
"…Eh? Lord Hokage's here too?"
It was Kaien.
After hearing that his beloved uncle had been hospitalized, Kaien had quickly put together a small gift and rushed over to visit.
Kagami had taught him quite a bit about the Sharingan, and these visits were a good way to strengthen their bond—and raise [affection].
But seeing Hiruzen already there made Kaien pause. Why was the Hokage involved? For a graduation exam, Hiruzen could just assign any jonin to test them. So why the delay?
Then he glanced at Kagami and understood.
There weren't many people in Konoha who could properly train him anymore.
Disciples of Orochimaru and Jiraiya wouldn't be assigned to just any jonin. Most regular jonin might be able to share mission experience, but they couldn't teach someone like Kaien—or Minato—much more.
Originally, Kaien had assumed Hiruzen was waiting for Hatake Sakumo to return before assigning him and Minato their final exam.
But now… it looked like Kagami might be their squad leader.
True to his odd brand of straightforwardness, Kaien set down the fruit he brought and asked directly:
"Lord Hokage, are you planning to wait until Kagami-san recovers before having Minato and me take the graduation exam?"
"Ahaha, sharp as ever, Kaien."
That level of insight and analysis—despite Kaien's seemingly simple personality—was proof of his excellent instincts. A fine representative of the Uchiha clan indeed.
Hiruzen's opinion of Kaien rose once again.
A new generation of kind-hearted yet perceptive shinobi, embodying the Will of Fire—this was Konoha's future.
[Affection from Sarutobi Hiruzen +1]
"You flatter me, Lord Hokage."
"Wait, hold on," Kagami said, completely lost. "Graduation exam? Hiruzen, what are you two talking about?"
Kaien's applying for early graduation? And Hiruzen wants him to proctor the exam? Since when?!
Ah. So this wasn't a casual visit. Hiruzen had actually come here to recruit him for this.
"Yes," Hiruzen said calmly. "The academy isn't giving Kaien the challenge he needs anymore. So he and Jiraiya's student are applying for early graduation. Naturally, you were the first person I thought of to oversee it..."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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