Chapter 3

Nodding, Kanade turned to Ishi.

"I am Ishi Rotaro. I love training in genjutsu and kenjutsu, miso soup, and my friends. I dislike it when people mock others and arrogant individuals who personally don't accomplish anything but boast about their family's achievements as their own. My dream is to start a family and become one of the strongest shinobi."

"Excellent, Rotaro, now only Ryo is left," the kunoichi smiled.

"My name is Ryo Nara. I love training. I dislike lazy people and those without goals. My dream is to become as powerful as the Senju brothers. My immediate goal is to surpass the students of the current Hokage by the age of twenty and become the first Nara shinobi to achieve S-rank since the founding of the village."

The silence that hung over the field after the introduction of the last member of the trio could be cut with a knife. The onlookers stared at the composed genius, their jaws dropped. The first to recover was the tokubetsu jonin, whose brain experienced a sudden halt upon hearing that someone had appeared in the lazy clan who didn't share their penchant for rest and, moreover, loved training!

"Wow, excellent, now that we've gotten to know each other a bit, it's time for a little warm-up, and then some taijutsu sparring. Since I specialize mainly in hand-to-hand combat and ninjutsu, that's what I'll be teaching, along with teamwork. So, I need to assess your approximate level, understand?"

After receiving a chorus of agreement from the trio of students, Hyuga nodded satisfactorily and sent them to do a few laps around the field. Watching the obedient genin run, she smirked — it seemed that being a jonin mentor had its perks, besides a very substantial increase in income from missions.

Three hours later, a tired and battered Kanade Hyuga knocked on the door of the Hokage's office and, after the ensuing invitation, entered.

"Tokubetsu jonin Kanade Hyuga is ready to report on the abilities assessment of Team Five!" she announced, stopping in the middle of the room and straightening up in front of the acting Hokage.

"Excellent, Kanade-san," the ANBU commander tore his gaze from the papers, "I've read the reports from the Academy, but I would like to hear your impressions from personal interaction with them. You can skip the formalities."

"Ishi and Inuzuka hardly differ from other graduates in terms of expected skills, except that Tsume is slightly stronger than other clan members in taijutsu, but given her parents, this is expected. As for Nara...," the kunoichi hesitated. "Is he even a Nara?!"

"Without a doubt, even though it's hard to believe. His mother is Saya Nara, the clan head's sister, and his father was an Uzumaki, although he died a long time ago."

"At least now the size and color of his hair make sense," Hyuga smirked. "As for his abilities — if it weren't for some lack of experience, he could already be awarded the rank of chuunin — in taijutsu, he is almost on par with me."

"And what about his other abilities?"

"So far, the assessment has only been in close combat, but considering the approximate size of his chakra reserve, I doubt that Ryo is weak in ninjutsu," Kanade sighed, "however, because of his strange attire, almost completely covered in seals, I couldn't accurately assess the amount of chakra in his reserves or the size of the main tenketsu, but clearly not every jonin or ANBU possesses such reserves. Given his goal to become stronger than Sandaime's students by twenty, I don't think it's unattainable."

"Hmm, this could pose a small problem," the commander frowned, leaning back in his chair, tiredly rubbing his nose.

Seeing the surprised look of his subordinate, he decided to explain some things specifically about this particular genin.

"Let Ryo-san wish to achieve such a goal, but it is associated with a great risk of gaining the necessary experience. To do this, one must fight on the front lines, which the village's interests do not allow at the moment. This specific genin is not only a third-degree iryo-nin, of which there are few in Konoha at the moment, but also the only seal master supplying our forces with high-quality and reliable seals of various types. The recently opened shop belongs to him. Of course, there are other masters in the village, but the quality of their work is significantly worse, not to mention the somewhat limited range of seals produced. And that's not to mention more complex fuinjutsu patterns, such as kekkei genkai and sensory seals. Since Ryo-san is a clan shinobi, I cannot forbid him from taking on missions or working in a team, risking damaging relations with the Naras and their allies."

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