Naruto: Skill Editing System

Hirakawa Yuuki could only sigh helplessly as he watched his two teammates step forward on their own.

"Yuuichi, since we're teammates now, let's get along from here on out."

He extended his right hand toward Uchiha Yuuichi.

Yuuichi didn't hesitate much and grasped it firmly.

"Fine. I'm still annoyed I lost to you, but as a teammate, I suppose you're reliable enough."

Yuuki smiled slightly at his response.

Uchiha Yuuichi had the typical cold, stone-faced demeanor of his clan—an expressionless type that looked hard to approach. But in truth, his personality wasn't bad at all, and his strength was something Yuuki could depend on.

At least when it came to future team coordination, Yuuki had no concerns about Yuuichi being a liability.

The other one, however…

"Shiina Kō, let's get along too."

Just like with Yuuichi, Yuuki extended his hand toward her.

"Okay, Yuuki."

Shiina Kō blushed as she reached out, gripping his hand tightly and shaking it up and down.

Looking at her flushed face, Yuuki felt a headache coming on.

It wasn't that he doubted her skills or worried about their team synergy.

The problem was… it felt kind of awkward to have a teammate who was obviously harboring a crush on him.

Sigh…

Yuuki let out a long sigh and accepted reality.

Aside from that one issue, he was actually quite satisfied with his team.

Uchiha Yuuichi was from the Uchiha clan, a naturally gifted and powerful ninja whose talents went without saying.

Shiina Kō, while from an ordinary family, had made it into the elite class through sheer determination and effort. Beyond her innate talent, Yuuki understood exactly how much work it must've taken.

Both of them had solid potential for the future.

But more importantly, Yuuki valued the fact that they were already familiar with one another. That meant they could skip the awkward getting-to-know-you phase and jump straight into training and building synergy.

Compared to the students who got randomly paired with strangers from other classes, they'd really lucked out.

After exchanging a few words, the three of them stayed put and began waiting for their squad leader to arrive.

In times of war, time was everything.

In less than ten minutes, most of the dense crowd around Konoha's gate had already thinned out. Most squads had been taken away by their assigned leaders.

The handful of students left behind were beginning to get restless.

Could they really be that unlucky? Was their leader going to be the type who didn't believe in punctuality?

Yuuki frowned, his gaze sweeping around out of idle boredom.

He wasn't expecting anything, but then his eyes landed on someone familiar.

"Minato? What are you still doing here?"

He brought his two teammates over to Namikaze Minato's squad.

"Huh? Yuuki."

Minato, who had been chatting with his own teammates, turned at the sound of Yuuki's voice.

"You haven't left yet?" Yuuki asked, clearly surprised.

Minato frowned and shook his head. "No choice. Our squad leader still hasn't shown up."

Yuuki frowned as well. That was strange.

Ten years might have blurred some details from the original Naruto storyline, but for key characters like Namikaze Minato, Yuuki remembered everything clearly.

Back then, Minato's team leader had been none other than Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin.

But wait… it was wartime now. As the Third Hokage's personal disciple, Jiraiya had probably already been deployed to the frontlines.

There was no way he'd be here today.

"If that's the case, then Minato still being here makes sense. He's probably waiting to join up with his teacher on the front lines in the Land of Rain."

Realizing that, Yuuki finally relaxed a little.

"But then why are we still here?"

He glanced around again and noticed that aside from his own team and Minato's, there was no one else left.

If Minato's delay was due to Jiraiya being at the front, then what about his team?

Yuuki couldn't figure it out. There was no way both their squad leaders were supposed to be Jiraiya.

Just then, a convoy of supply wagons came rolling down the road from the village.

Judging by the bulging cargo, they were clearly en route to deliver supplies to the front lines in the Land of Rain.

Seeing that they were standing in the convoy's direct path, Yuuki quickly motioned for his teammates to step aside.

Once the wagons passed and started heading out the village gate, Yuuki was about to dismiss them from his thoughts, until he noticed something odd.

One of the shinobi in the convoy, a captain-looking type in a deep green flak jacket, had just finished handing off departure paperwork to the gate guards. Then, without warning, he turned and walked straight toward them.

Yuuki glanced to either side. Aside from his team and Minato's, there was no one else here.

That meant this jōnin was clearly coming for them.

"You kids from this year's elite class? Squad Six and Squad Seven?"

Yuuki and Minato exchanged a look before both turned back to the jōnin and nodded.

Seeing their response, the jōnin gave a faint smile.

"Sorry for the wait. Took longer than expected hauling supplies out of the warehouse."

"Come with me."

And just like that, he turned and walked off toward the supply convoy, leaving Yuuki's entire group stunned.

"What's going on? That's our squad leader?"

Yuuichi's confused voice rang in Yuuki's ear.

"Can't be, right? He just called both our squads at once."

"I've never heard of two squads sharing the same squad leader."

Even Minato looked puzzled.

With no better option, and the jōnin already walking off, they decided to follow first and figure things out later.

Yuuki jogged up to the jōnin, sneaking a glance at his face.

Totally unfamiliar. No recollection of this guy at all. That meant he never appeared in the original series.

"Excuse me, are you our squad leader?"

Yuuki asked out of pure curiosity.

The others immediately perked up to listen in.

"Me? Squad leader?"

"Of course not."

The jōnin looked at him like the question was weird.

"Then why are we going with you to deliver supplies?"

"What? No one told you?"

The jōnin stopped walking and turned to face them with a frown.

"You're not my students, but I've been ordered to escort you to the Land of Rain."

"Your instructors are already waiting for you on the front lines."

That made Yuuki pause.

Jiraiya was stationed in the Land of Rain, so it made sense for Minato to go there.

But why would his team be sent too?

Did they also have a squad leader from the Legendary Sannin?

That thought sent a spark of excitement through him, and he asked quickly, "Then who's our instructor?"

Without turning around, the jōnin answered as he walked ahead.

"Jiraiya and Orochimaru."

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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter