Chapter 168: Missing Takuya During His One-Month Away

The Special Jonin leading Nawaki and Minato wasn't exactly reliable.

And their strength wasn't much better than Nawaki and Minato's, either.

So, it was wishful thinking to expect them to handle all the trouble. It was already a miracle if they made it back alive.

At this point, it wasn't just Nawaki missing Takuya—Minato felt the same way.

Things were so much easier with Takuya around.

Without him, it was exhausting.

"Maybe he'll be back soon. After today's mission, I'll ask Jiraiya-sensei again," Minato said, though even he was starting to doubt whether Takuya was still part of their squad.

What kind of mission was he on that took over a month to complete?

They had waited anxiously for so long, but there was still no sign of him.

"You've said that so many times already," Nawaki replied, unimpressed.

Minato gave a sheepish smile and shrugged. He didn't know what else to say.

Oh well, they had no choice but to keep waiting. Time to head out on patrol again!

The puppet forces from the Sand Village were a real pain.

Dragging their tired bodies, they set out for another day of missions.

They managed to survive another day without incident, and when they returned to camp, they ran into Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who had just returned from a mission.

The four of them sat down to eat together.

Before Minato could say anything, Nawaki immediately asked:

"Orochimaru-sensei, why hasn't Takuya come to the front lines yet? It's been over a month."

Orochimaru smiled slightly.

"Maybe the village has other plans for him."

Minato looked to Jiraiya, who gave a bitter smile.

"I'm not sure either. The old man told me Takuya would join us soon. Maybe the mission he's on turned out to be more complicated, so it's taking longer than expected."

Neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru knew exactly what mission Takuya had been assigned.

They knew he had gone with Tsunade to the Rain Village, but who knew if the village had given him other tasks afterward?

"In any case, both of you should eat quickly and get some rest. I'm sure that once Takuya finishes his mission, he'll come to the camp right away."

"Let's hope so," Nawaki muttered, looking exhausted.

Minato wasn't doing much better.

In addition to fighting enemies and completing missions, he had been spending every spare moment studying sealing techniques as preparation for mastering the Flying Thunder God technique.

Minato had become obsessed with the Flying Thunder God technique, so much so that Jiraiya was starting to worry. He feared Minato would push himself too hard and collapse before mastering it.

Seriously, who even came up with such a stressful jutsu?

"Cough, cough!"

As Jiraiya grumbled internally, he suddenly realized—wasn't that technique created by the Second Hokage?

Okay, can't complain about that one.

What's wrong with you? Orochimaru glanced back at Jiraiya, who alternated between looking angry, thoughtful, and then sheepish. Orochimaru instinctively scooted away from him, just in case Jiraiya's mood was contagious.

What Minato and Nawaki didn't know was that they wouldn't be seeing Takuya on the battlefield at all.

As of today, Takuya has officially become a Jonin instructor.

Even if he did come to the front lines, it wouldn't be as part of their squad.

The day of the new recruits' graduation had arrived.

The newly graduated students sat nervously in the classroom, waiting for their assigned instructors to come and collect them.

Those who didn't get assigned to a Jonin instructor would have to form their own squads and try to make it on their own.

Konoha only had a few hundred Jonin in total, and with most of them off fighting in the war, there weren't enough Jonin available to mentor all the new recruits.

Only a small portion of each graduating class would be lucky enough to join a squad led by a Jonin.

The number of students in the classroom dwindled as more and more were called away.

Uchiha Ryoji tapped his fingers on the desk impatiently.

Meanwhile, Aida, a civilian-born genius, kept glancing around, sneaking the occasional look at Hyuga Suzune, who was sitting in front of him.

Of the three, Suzune was the calmest. She knew she would be assigned to a strong Jonin squad.

And the Jonin leading that squad was known as a village prodigy.

Fifth-year, Class One. A familiar place, but without the familiar faces.

Takuya sighed as he looked at the sign on the door, then pushed it open and walked into the classroom.

It felt like something was missing.

As he stepped inside, Takuya instinctively glanced up at the doorframe.

It seemed no one in this class had Naruto's guts to prank their instructor, nor did they have someone like Kakashi, dumb enough to fall for it.

"Who are you?" one of the students asked as Takuya walked in.

After glancing at the student, Takuya ignored him and pointed to the three students who would be in his squad.

"Hyuga Suzune, Uchiha Ryoji, Aida—you three, come with me."

"???"

He can't be our instructor, can he?

The three of them were dumbfounded as they looked at Takuya, who was standing at the door. He wasn't much taller than them, and he didn't seem that much older either.

Uchiha Ryoji was the first to snap out of it.

"Yagami Takuya!!"

"Bang!!"

"Ow!"

Ryoji clutched his head in pain after Takuya threw an eraser at him for calling his name out loud. Takuya dusted off his hand and said:

"Call me that again, and next time I'll throw something heavier."

Clapping his hands together, Takuya spoke with a serious tone.

"My name is Yagami Takuya. I'm only a little older than you, and maybe you've heard of me. Maybe you haven't. Either way, I'm your Jonin instructor.

There's no need to question it. Here's my Jonin identification. Now, come with me."

"Or, if you prefer, you can stay here and repeat the year."

Waving his hand dismissively, Takuya turned and walked out. Aida hesitated for a moment before quickly following.

Suzune frowned but followed as well.

Uchiha Ryoji, rubbing the bump on his forehead, gritted his teeth and followed along.

The others might not understand how dangerous Takuya could be, but Ryoji knew all too well. Thanks to his grandfather, he knew more about Takuya than the other two did.

"Damn it, he actually threw an eraser at me."

Ryoji muttered under his breath.

The bump on his forehead was throbbing, and he suspected Takuya had done it on purpose.

This was definitely a personal grudge.

Leading his three students—two bewildered and one grumbling—Takuya brought them to the secluded Training Ground 13.

Since he hadn't graduated too many years ago, rumors about Takuya still floated around the academy.

As for anything else, it was rarely mentioned because the village didn't like to spread such news. In fact, the higher-ups, including the Third Hokage, even suppressed some of the information.

As a result, aside from Uchiha Ryoji, Hyuga Suzune and Aida knew very little about Takuya.

Being a traditional Uchiha, Ryoji had a high opinion of himself. On top of that, the Uchiha and Hyuga clans hadn't gotten along for years, constantly engaging in both open and hidden conflicts.

So naturally, Ryoji wasn't too keen on Suzune, even though she was quite pretty.

He didn't care for Suzune, and being a proud Uchiha, he also didn't want to associate with a civilian like Aida, either.

So, he kept to himself.

Suzune had a similar attitude. As a member of the Hyuga main family, she had no reason to reach out to a Uchiha.

This left the civilian-born Aida awkwardly stuck in the middle.

Glancing at the three of them, Takuya couldn't care less about the issues between them.

"Every year, newly graduated Genin undergo a test from their Jonin instructor. Only after passing will they be allowed to stay on the team. It's a Konoha tradition, and you three aren't exempt."

"Sensei, is it the bell test?" Aida asked, raising his hand.

You sure know a lot, Takuya thought, looking at him for a moment before shaking his head.