Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

"YES!"

Naruto leapt straight up from his seat and shouted loudly in celebration.

His eyes curved into happy crescents as he excitedly waved toward Hinata and Sasuke.

"Please take care of me from now on! Please take care of me!"

"Mm!"

"Hmph…"

After the team assignments were announced, the students generally showed no complaints.

In fact, Konoha had clearly considered compatibility very carefully.

The newly graduated Genin had all been paired with teammates who matched them well.

"... Alright. Those are the final team assignments."

Iruka looked over the students before continuing:

"Until this afternoon, you are dismissed."

"Afterward, gather at your designated meeting spots with your teammates and wait for your assigned Jōnin instructors."

"Once again…"

"Congratulations on stepping onto the path of a shinobi!"

The moment Iruka finished speaking, several students led by Rock Lee burst into tears of emotion while crowding around him before leaving first.

Soon afterward, the others gradually filed out of the classroom as well, excited for their first official missions later that afternoon.

"Oi."

As Lee ran out of the classroom, Neji suddenly remembered something and called toward Sasuke while standing up from his seat.

A strange smile appeared on his face.

"What?"

"Now that Naruto's on your team and I'm not…"

Neji's smile became increasingly meaningful.

"Do you know what that means?"

"Just say what you want."

Sasuke frowned slightly, already sensing something hidden within Neji's tone.

"Naruto was the top rookie."

Neji calmly analyzed.

"And because team strength needs balancing, naturally the village wouldn't place the number one rookie together with the number two rookie."

His smile suddenly became openly mocking.

"That means the village's evaluation places me as second."

"And you…"

"You're only third."

"Heh."

Sasuke let out a cold laugh.

His eyes turned icy.

"If this is your pathetic attempt at provoking me, then fine."

"I accept."

"Afterward, let's fight."

"Then we'll see who's truly the second-ranked rookie."

"Sure."

Neji answered instantly, clearly satisfied after achieving his goal.

"Tomorrow night. Training ground. Don't be late."

Then Neji glanced toward Tenten—who still looked completely defensive and confused about everything happening—before leaving alone.

"This guy…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"He did that on purpose."

Given Neji's personality, Sasuke knew the Hyūga wasn't the type to provoke people over something so trivial.

Which meant—

Neji had definitely developed some kind of new trump card and wanted to test it against him.

Thinking that, Sasuke unconsciously looked toward Naruto, who was still chatting happily with Hinata.

After all…

The "small goal" he and Neji shared…

"Hey!"

Naruto's voice suddenly sounded right beside him.

Sasuke looked up in surprise.

Naruto had somehow already appeared behind him, one arm casually slung over his shoulders while grinning brightly.

"Since our group only needs to wait inside the classroom until afternoon, how about the three of us go get food together first?"

"Probably ramen again, right?"

Sasuke glanced toward Hinata knowingly before calmly answering:

"You two go."

"I'll see you this afternoon."

Then suddenly—

Bang!

Sasuke's figure transformed into smoke.

Ever since learning Naruto occasionally used Shadow Clones to attend classes, this kind of thing had basically become routine among them.

"He's still as antisocial as always."

Naruto shrugged helplessly before grinning again.

Then he happily grabbed Hinata's hand and chased after the others—

Straight toward Ichiraku Ramen to invite Iruka-sensei too.

Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's office—

The assigned Jōnin began preparing themselves.

Kakashi was naturally no exception.

However, the moment he stepped out of the Hokage building—

A powerful arm wrapped in dark green spandex suddenly hooked around his shoulders.

"Yo! My eternal rival Kakashi!"

"And your new squad—"

"It's way too hot for you to stand this close."

Before Guy could finish, Kakashi already slapped the arm away with visible disgust before sighing.

"Don't you need to prepare too?"

"Hahaha!"

Guy burst into laughter.

"I already know my students perfectly well!"

"They're all incredibly youthful youngsters!"

"They already passed my test inside my heart!"

As he laughed loudly, Guy continued enthusiastically slapping Kakashi's back, completely ignoring Kakashi's expression that clearly resembled someone staring at an idiot.

"Oh right, Kakashi."

Guy suddenly looked curious.

"Why'd you suddenly decide to return and become a Jōnin instructor this year?"

"I honestly thought you'd continue taking missions related to Kirigakure."

"So seeing you in the office earlier genuinely surprised me!"

"If the timing weren't so unfortunate, I'd definitely have challenged you to another rivalry match…"

"It was the Third Hokage's order."

Kakashi smoothly interrupted him.

"Probably because of Sasuke Uchiha."

"The Uchiha…"

Guy nodded immediately.

"That makes sense. Right now, among Konoha shinobi, the only person capable of properly teaching him how to use the Sharingan is probably you."

Then his expression gradually became more serious.

"But what are you planning to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"..."

Kakashi stopped walking.

Guy also looked directly at him with complete seriousness.

"When everyone was gathered earlier, nobody wanted to mention Naruto Uzumaki at first."

"We both understand the reason."

Guy's tone became calm and analytical.

"Because he's too strong."

"He's already surpassed the level ordinary Genin should even be capable of reaching."

"Although Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyūga also possess abilities beyond ordinary Genin…"

"They still clearly have flaws needing correction."

"But Naruto is different."

"Because his abilities are too balanced."

"There are very few Jōnin left in the village who can truly teach him anything anymore."

"That…"

Guy looked straight into Kakashi's eye.

"Will become a hidden danger."

"The pride and confidence that power gives him may eventually cause him to suffer a devastating price."

"Kakashi…"

"As his instructor, you absolutely must make him understand that."

While speaking, Guy carefully observed Kakashi's expression.

Clearly, he wanted Kakashi to understand his real meaning without directly touching old wounds.

If this were the Kakashi from years ago, Guy wouldn't have felt the need to remind him of anything.

But the current Kakashi had changed too drastically compared to before.

In fact, seeing him now even reminded Guy of the darkest period after Kakashi joined ANBU—

The era when he was called "Cold-Blooded Kakashi."

Thus, Guy expressed concern for his friend in his own awkward way.

"Guy."

Kakashi finally raised his head.

"Don't worry about my students."

"And don't worry about me either."

A genuine smile appeared within Kakashi's exposed eye.

It was such a straightforward display of goodwill that even Guy froze briefly.

Yet Kakashi truly understood the hidden meaning behind Guy's words.

Rather than talking about Naruto Uzumaki—

Guy was actually reminding him of something else.

Didn't the current situation resemble Minato-sensei's old team almost perfectly?

Kakashi naturally realized what Guy truly feared.

Because the current Naruto was even more outstanding than Kakashi himself once had been.

And if Naruto someday experienced that same helpless pain—

Then the regrets left behind would become even greater.

Since Kakashi himself had already climbed back out of darkness…

Then he absolutely could not allow someone else to repeat the same tragedy.

Unlike the image most people had of "Konoha's strange blue beast," Kakashi understood very clearly what kind of person Guy truly was.

After all—

Even during Kakashi's lowest period drowning within darkness, Guy had constantly stubbornly dragged him around under the excuse of "rivalry matches."

The meaning behind Guy's words—

Kakashi understood perfectly.

"So you really have thought things through!"

Seeing Kakashi understand his intentions, Guy instantly clenched his fists as flames burned in his eyes.

"Then as rival Jōnin instructors from the same generation…"

"The flames of youth are burning brightly once again!"

"How about this?!"

Guy suddenly leaned closer excitedly.

"Since the timing is perfect, let's compete again!"

"Which of us has superior teaching ability?"

"We'll see whose students become Chūnin first—"

"Eh? Kakashi, don't walk away!"

Watching Kakashi immediately turn and leave, Guy hurriedly chased after him.

However—

Kakashi instantly vanished with Body Flicker.

Only his final words remained drifting through the air.

"Next time, let's just play rock-paper-scissors instead."

"For this competition…"

"You're definitely going to lose."

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