Lunch passed in a haze of chatter and teasing.

When the break ended, afternoon training officially began.

Kitazawa, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kakashi, and the others who had been absent in the morning all returned to the classroom.

Only Kurenai was tied up with matters in the Film and Television Department and didn't come to the Ninja Academy; she was effectively half-retired already.

"Before we begin training, I have an announcement," Kitazawa said, stepping in front of the Genius Class.

"Kitazawa-sensei, we've already seen the notices!" Kiba shot his hand up and blurted out.

"I'm not talking about that," Kitazawa replied with a small chuckle. "What I want to talk about is this month's final exam."

"Is there a new format for the practical combat?" Naruto asked on reflex.

At that, Sasuke, Kimimaro, and the others all perked up, curiosity sparking in their eyes.

"No." Kitazawa shook his head. "It's the graduation exam."

"Graduation?" The members of the Genius Class looked around at one another, stunned by the sudden news.

"Under normal circumstances, you'd still have half a year before graduation," Kitazawa explained calmly. "But with your current strength, you can graduate early."

"At last, the day of graduation has arrived," Hiruzen said with a sigh, equal parts nostalgia and emotion.

"It's a pity I'm getting on in years. I'm not really suited to be their team leader," Kosuke said with some regret.

"There's no age limit for team leaders," Hiruzen replied with a smile. "If you really want to be one, you absolutely can."

"Let's leave the opportunities to the young people," Maruboshi waved him off casually. "Besides, the Genius Class still needs teachers." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

As far as he knew, Kitazawa, Tenzo, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Kurenai would all be leaving the genius class.

"I'll stay behind too," Chen said with a smile.

He was already old and didn't have many years left; he might as well spend the rest of them here with the Genius Class.

Hiruzen nodded. His thoughts were much the same as Kosuke's and Chen's.

At his age, he had no interest in leading a squad and running all over the village anymore.

"The graduation exam will be one-on-one practical combat with no restrictions," Kitazawa announced after giving the Genius Class time to digest the news.

Sasuke's eyes lit up the instant he heard it.

He could finally have an all-out battle with Naruto.

More importantly, this was the graduation exam—the final ranking for the Genius Class.

If he didn't take first place here, his position would be set forever, with no chance to change it.

"The final dance of youth, I will definitely give it my all!" Naruto clenched his fists, his whole body trembling as he spoke.

"Naruto!"

Lee burst into tears at the sight and shouted, "Youth will never stop here!"

The two of them suddenly threw their arms around each other.

Sasuke, Neji, and the others instinctively took two steps back, putting a little distance between themselves and the scene.

Hinata bit her lip.

Her mind was on something else entirely: the team leader she would get after graduation.

Once they graduated, each of them would be assigned to a team under a jōnin leader.

She naturally hoped her team leader would be Kitazawa.

But Kitazawa was about to become the Sixth Hokage. Would he still take on a squad?

"Everyone, keep training and prepare for the graduation exam in half a month," Kitazawa said with a shake of his head.

"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!"

With graduation so close, most of the genius class were more motivated than ever.

Hanabi, Moegi, and a few of the younger ones were the exceptions. They were still too young, and this early graduation didn't apply to them.

"Naruto, come here," Kitazawa called.

Naruto immediately broke away from Lee and walked over.

"You've already overcome the darkness in your heart. Next, it's time to overcome the Kyuubi," Kitazawa reminded him. "Get ready. We'll head to Turtle Island again in a couple of days."

"Okay, Kitazawa-sensei," Naruto replied with a nod.

"Don't move."

Kitazawa raised his hand, holding his palm a short distance from Naruto's forehead as his Byakugan flared to life.

In an instant, he pinpointed the chakra of Minato and Kushina within Naruto's sealing space.

Kitazawa began to simulate their chakra signatures, only lowering his hand once he'd matched them perfectly.

He didn't draw out Minato and Kushina's chakra yet.

That would wait until the formal training began.

"Go back to training," Kitazawa said casually. "I'll come find you then."

"Mm." Naruto answered and turned to leave.

Kitazawa then called Hinata and Neji over.

He began teaching them the Yin Release Chakra Mode.

If they were fast enough, they might master it before the final exam.

In essence, Yin Release Chakra Mode was a form of partial tailed beast transformation.

It only required coordination with the bows in their hands—Satori and the Zero-Tails.

Naturally, those two were unwilling to cooperate, so Kitazawa simply brought them under control with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

A new day dawned.

Kitazawa and Tsunade walked into the Hokage's office together.

Today, they would be selecting the jōnin sensei for the graduating students of the Genius Class.

In the past, this task had always been handled personally by the Hokage.

In the ninja world, the teacher-student relationship was of great importance.

It represented the inheritance of power and ninjutsu.

With a powerful teacher, a ninja's chances of rising to greatness increased dramatically.

Take Minato, a ninja from a commoner family.

If he hadn't become Jiraiya's student, he never would have learned the Flying Thunder God.

For students born into clans, their assigned sensei involved even more complicated ties of power and interest.

For example, the Ino–Shika–Chō trio.

Historically, the team leaders for Ino–Shika–Chō had always come from the Sarutobi clan.

Tsunade didn't sit in the Hokage's chair; instead, she settled onto the sofa.

Kitazawa sat down beside her and, without hesitation, rested his left hand on her thigh.

Through the fabric of her trousers, he kneaded the firm muscle of her leg.

Unlike Kurenai and Konan, Tsunade's body was fuller and more mature, her curves and thighs noticeably softer and more voluptuous.

Kitazawa especially enjoyed having her curves in his hands and squashed to his body.

"The number of Jonin is limited."

Tsunade didn't mind his touch. Instead, she asked calmly, "How many leading Jonin do you think the Genius Class should have?"

A team leader's rank could be as low as Chunin and as high as Jonin, but it was impossible for every team leader to be a leading Jonin.

In the original story, only the team leaders of the Konoha 12 had been Jonin.

Kitazawa fell into deep thought.

Because of his butterfly effect, there were now more than twelve students in the Genius Class who could be compared to the original Konoha 12.

Strictly speaking, the top twenty-one students were all worthy of being led by a Jonin.

Even late arrivals like Chino and Hotaru had the potential to become Jonin.

"Seven," Kitazawa finally answered.

"This could be considered the class that requires the most leading Jonin in history," Tsunade said, unable to keep a small smile from forming.

"This is the list of team leaders I've selected," Kitazawa said casually, taking out a scroll.

"Did you write down every suitable ninja?" Tsunade glanced at it and saw a long list—over fifty names, with the lowest rank being Special Jonin.

"Pretty much," Kitazawa replied. "The students of the Genius Class all deserve to have a good teacher."

"Are you going to be a jonin-sensei?" Tsunade suddenly thought of something and looked at him.

"I am," Kitazawa said. "I want to form the new Konoha's Three Sannin."

"So your students are Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata?" Tsunade asked. She had heard him mention this so‑called new Konoha's Three Sannin before.

"Yeah," Kitazawa nodded. "Given their strength and status, there are very few ninja in Konoha who could be their sensei."

"You are indeed the best candidate," Tsunade agreed.

Naruto was the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki.

Sasuke and Hinata were the heirs of two of Konoha's major clans.

With those three grouped into one team, the bar for their jonin-sensei was incredibly high. Other than Kitazawa, it would be difficult to find anyone suitable in the village.

Hiruzen, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and a few others could handle it in terms of strength and experience, but the generational gap made them a poor fit.

"As for the remaining six Jonin, five have already been decided: Kakashi, Asuma, Tenzo, Guy, and Kurenai," Kitazawa said after thinking for a moment.

In the original story, Asuma, Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai had been the jonin-senseis for the Konoha 12.

Tenzo had temporarily served as Team 7's leader.

Now that there were more students, he could be assigned as a permanent jonin-sensei.

"As for the last Jonin, I have an idea," Tsunade said with a smile. "Anko Mitarashi."

Kitazawa was slightly taken aback.

He thought it over and realized it was actually a good choice.

In the original story, Anko =had been a Special Jonin.

But because of Kitazawa's butterfly effect, after Orochimaru returned to Konoha, she became the head of the Cursed Seal Ninja Unit.

Combined with the Cursed Seal of Heaven, her strength now far surpassed that of an ordinary Jonin.

Most importantly, the Genius Class also had three students bearing cursed seals:

Kimimaro, Jugo, and Tayuya.

It was very fitting for Anko to become the jonin-sensei of the former Otogakure trio.

After all, in the original story, Orochimaru had been the teacher of the Sound Five.

And in terms of personality, Anko was far more cheerful than Orochimaru.

"Then let it be her," Kitazawa agreed.

"What about Gaara and Fuu? Aren't they graduating?" Tsunade asked, realizing something.

"We won't assign them a jonin-sensei for now," Kitazawa explained. "We'll wait until the matter with the Tailed Beasts is handled."

"Fair enough." Tsunade more or less understood what he was thinking.

After all, neither Gaara nor Fuu had truly joined Konoha yet.

"Then let's discuss the distribution of the students," Kitazawa said after a moment. "Let's start with Kurenai. Her students will be Yakumo, Kiba, and Karin."

In the original story, the three students led by Kurenai were Hinata, Kiba, and Shino.

How should he put it?

As a Genjutsu Jonin, Kurenai hadn't really matched well with her three original students.

Hinata and the other two were all specialists in sensing and reconnaissance.

Now that Hinata had been assigned to Kitazawa's squad, she naturally couldn't remain under Kurenai's tutelage.

Kiba could stay to handle the team's tracking and recon.

Karin, of course, was both a medical ninja and a sealing specialist. If she awakened Kagura's Mind's Eye and the Adamantine Sealing Chains in the future, she would become even more fearsome.

But with just those two, the team's offensive power was still lacking for now. Adding Yakumo would make up for that shortcoming.

With a genjutsu kekkei genkai on par with the Mangekyō Sharingan, there were few ninja in the entire world who could do anything against her.

This way, the squad would be nicely balanced: perception, control, offense, and healing all covered.

" You're certainly good to Kurenai."

Tsunade lifted her arm and nudged him with her elbow.

"Honest to God, I'm very good to you too."

As Kitazawa spoke, he raised his hand and pressed it against her chest.

His palm immediately brushed against the familiar texture of her necklace.

"During work hours, you are to maintain respect for the Hokage."

Tsunade smacked his hand away without hesitation.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Kitazawa blinked, then asked, "Does Hokage-sama have any suggestions for Kakashi's students?"

In the original timeline, Kakashi's students were Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

Now, only Sakura remained.

"You're the teacher of the Genius Class. You should be the one giving suggestions."

Tsunade tossed the question right back at him.

"Kakashi is a rare shinobi who's good in all seven nature transformations. He can lead any kind of team."

After thinking for a moment, Kitazawa said, "Shino, Chino, and Sakura."

Shino was now far more complete than in the original story, a solid elite jōnin who could fit into any formation.

Chino, though she didn't have the Sharingan, possessed the Ketsuryugan, which was similar in many ways.

The two of them had a lot in common, so Kakashi would be able to guide her.

And Sakura was both a medical nin and a water release user.

Like the previous setup, this team would be well-rounded, with perception, control, offense, and healing.

"That works."

Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"As for Asuma, according to tradition, he'll take charge of the new Ino–Shika–Chō."

Kitazawa ultimately didn't change the jōnin leader for Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.

All three of them had received epic buffs and could easily carry a team now.

Asuma himself was a good man as well.

Besides, breaking up the alliance between Ino–Shika–Chō and the Sarutobi clan would only invite needless speculation.

In the ninja world, strength was what truly mattered.

He didn't care about their so-called alliance.

"Anko is in charge of the Cursed Seal Ninja Unit, so her students should preferably have cursed seals too."

Kitazawa continued, "Kimimaro, Jugo, and Tayuya will do."

"Now only Tenzo and Guy are left," Tsunade reminded him.

Kitazawa fell silent, lost in thought.

In the original story, Guy's students had been Neji, Tenten, and Lee.

He had originally planned to keep that arrangement, but that would make Tenzo's team feel a bit too weak.

Aside from Neji's group, only Shion, Haku, and Hotaru were left.

After some thought, Kitazawa decided to split them.

He mainly took Might Guy's strength into account.

"Guy's three students will be Haku, Hotaru, and Rock Lee," Kitazawa said after pondering for a while. "Tenzo's three students will be Neji, Tenten, and Shion."

By mixing the two original teams, their overall strength would be more evenly distributed.

And honestly, Guy wasn't the best fit as a teacher for Neji and Tenten; there wasn't much he could actually teach them.

Neji's path was Gentle Fist and bow-type secret techniques.

Tenten specialized in ninja tool summons and summoning beasts.

Neither field had much overlap with Guy's pure taijutsu. Moving them to Tenzo's squad wouldn't cause any problems.

The only one who couldn't be moved was Rock Lee.

Rock Lee was a pure Taijutsu ninja; paired with Haku's Ice Release and Hotaru's Water Release, the team would have both long-range and close-quarters options.

Of course, the strongest one in that squad was still Might Guy.

With even seven gates opened, his power rivaled the strongest ninja in the world.

"I have no objections."

Tsunade accepted his arrangements without complaint.

"Then let's discuss how to group the remaining students," Kitazawa said with a smile.

The remaining students couldn't compare to the top twenty-one, but anyone who made it into the Genius Class still had solid talent and strength.

Unlike the elite groups, their team leaders wouldn't be full Jonin, but Special Jonin instead.

Half an hour later, the team assignments for every student in the Genius Class were finalized.

They would be officially announced on the day of the graduation exam.

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