Chapter 68
"Alright, that's it for the team assignments. You're dismissed for now. Come back to your classroom this afternoon—your squad leaders will be here to pick you up. Lastly, congratulations to all of you!"
Iruka's voice carried a hint of emotion. He had poured his heart into teaching this class, and now that every one of his students had successfully graduated, he felt proud... but also worried.
The path of a shinobi was full of dangers. He could only hope they'd all be safe and sound in the future.
After Iruka left, Naruto was torn between joy and frustration. On one hand, he got assigned to the same team as Sakura—awesome! But on the other hand, that smug Sasuke was on the team too. Sakura, meanwhile, was overjoyed and completely ignored Naruto. Just being on Sasuke's team made her happy.
"What a pity we didn't end up on the same team," Shino said with slight regret.
"Hehe, it is a bit of a shame. But no worries—we're still friends, still comrades in the same village." Natsuki smiled and reassured him.
In truth, he wasn't surprised by the team divisions—they were the same as the original story.
What did surprise him was that Hiruzen Sarutobi had assigned Yamashiro Aoba, a Special Jonin, to be his squad leader.
Yamashiro Aoba—Special Jonin of Konoha, part of the Intelligence Division. He excelled in sensory, reconnaissance, interrogation, support, and was skilled in mind reading, summoning, binding, Fire Release, and more. He could even use the "Scattered Thousand Crows Technique," and his taijutsu wasn't weak either. A true all-rounder support ninja.
In the original timeline, Aoba didn't get much screen time. His most memorable moment was during the rescue of Asuma.
Back then, when Asuma was fatally cursed by Hidan and Shikamaru and his team were in deep trouble, Aoba had rushed over with Raido, Choji, and Ino. He disrupted Hidan with a swarm of crows and even held his own in taijutsu against Kakuzu, going toe-to-toe. His Fire Release was pretty impressive, too.
But most impressive of all was his mind reading technique. He once even dove into Kisame's brain to extract memories.