CHAPTER 57: THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW ERA

It was late in the afternoon that Iruka and Hiruzen came to my office to discuss the graduation of the new shinobis and kunoichis from the academy. Hiruzen was sitting opposite to my desk with Iruka standing to his side.

" So then What's the verdict?" I asked

" Out of the 75 students who have appeared in the exam 60 have passed the exam successfully. 15 children have not passed and will be appearing for the re-exam in 6 months. In this batch, The Student of the Year is as always, Naruto Uzumaki. Out of the Six years in the Academy, Naruto has become the Top Student for five times, bar one time his, Losing his title to Hinata Hyuga in the second year. And Hinata has continued to hold her rank of second in the batch from then on. Following in third is one Sauske Uchiha. Another special mention should go to Shikamaru Nara. Though not in the Top 10 his rank comes 15th in the batch. But there is a twist. In every test he scores only the marks needed to pass the exam. If there are 10 questions and one needs to answer 7 to pass, he will answer only 7 and not attempt the rest." Hiruzen stated

" A tactician. Giving only the effort required and not more than that. How was his performance during the missions they underwent?" I asked

" Good. He picked up the role of the brains of the team. He can analyse his teammates and cooperate with his teammates to provide the best efficiency." Hiruzen responded.

" Iruka, you were the homeroom teacher of the best section. Tell me about their personalities." I asked turning to Iruka.

" Yes Sir. Naruto is a good child. Although he sometimes mischievous and pulls pranks, the frequency of those have significantly reduced a lot. he is determined and protects his teammates to the best of his ability.

Next comes Hinata. She is a gentle child who does not speak much. Polite and well behaved. But once she gets into a fight she takes it very seriously and does not stop until her opponent is defeated. 

Next comes Sauske. He has his pride as an Uchiha and gets very angry if someone says anything negative about his clan. He is quite arrogant and sometimes does not listen to orders. But overall he is a capable shinobi and can work with his teammates well. It's just his superiority complex that worries me.

All the other clan heirs are proficient in their clan techniques and are good at cooperating with each other. The only problem is Kiba. He is quite brash and thinks of himself as an Alpha male. He does not follow orders and sometimes gets into difficult situations." Iruka finished.

" I see. Well Thank you Iruka. I will read your extensive report and decide on the teams and their respective senseis. For now you guys can leave. Although do come to my office tomorrow to collect the team list." I finished. 

After they left I began to read the repot that I asked Iruka to provide me with and started to think of the best formations to form the teams.

In the evening as I had informed them all the jonins who were interested in taking a team had gathered in my office. Even the ever late Kakashi was also present. Kakashi had requested me that he wanted to take on Naruto as a student to repay his debt to Minato. But I had refused him stating that he is the Jonin Commander and I cannot let him take on a team and go on missions outside the Village. He tried to convince me for an entire hour but I did not budge. Finally I had to threaten him by saying that I will burn his entire book collection of Icha Icha and blacklist it from being sold in the fire country ever again. That got him to leave my office with a second.

Anyways, seeing all the jonins in front of me I began, " Thank you all for coming. I will announce the teams. Please go and pick them up from the Academy tomorrow. Test them and have no mercy. If they satisfy your requirements only then pass them as a shinobi." 

Team 1 to Team 6 were civillian teams. So were team 11 to 21.

"Now then Team ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi, The Jonin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma.

Team eight will be Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno. Jonin sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi. " Looking towards Kurenai I said, " Kurenai, Both Kiba and Shino will be trained throughly by their clans in their clan techniques. But Sakura is a civilian. the reason I put her in your team is because of her chakra control. I want you to train her to be a genjutsu specialist similar to yourself. Also send her to the hospital to learn advanced medical Jutsu. I will inform Tsunade about the matter." 

" Hai Hokage- Sama" Kurenai replied.

" Finally the last team is team seven consisting of Sauske Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga and Uzumaki Naruto. The jonin sensei will be Shisui Uchiha. " 

Shisui stepped forward and nodded his head in acceptance. Looking towards him I said, " Shisui, This team is the strongest in this years passing batch. They are already developed to aroung high genin to mid Chunin level. Naruto has been trained by me personally and is a solid High Chunin now. His water and earth manipulation is one of the best I have ever seen. Also if he uses the Kyubis chakra then he can take on and even fight the likes of Kakashi for a long time. His ninjutsu repertoire is medium but even a simple C ranked jutsu can be turned into an A rank by him. And he can spam ninjutsu for hours. Train him in his other elements and kenjutsu. Also train him in genjutsu. That were he is the weakest. So make it dissapear." I finished.

The other Jonins had shocked faces knowing that Naruto not only has more than one natural chakra natures but is already extremely proficient in using two of them. Also the fact that he can use the Kyubi's chakra also made them shiver at the thought what would happen if he lost control.

Shisui asked, " Hokage Sama, will he not lose control from excessive use of the Kyubi's chakra?" 

" Don't worry about that. I have engraved my thunder god mark on the seal. If he does loses control I will appear in an instant to subdue the Kyubi. That also means that if I an not appearing then Naruto has not lost control yet. In such a state don't interfere as it can lead to him losing control. Also I believe you can manage a little with your sharingan, can't you?"

" Understood. Hokage- Sama. " He replied

" For Sauske, help him awaken his Sharingan as soon as possible. He is currently the weakest in the team. Before the upcoming chunin exams I want this team to be atleast High Chunin to low Jonin level. and that goes for all of you guys. If you pass your team , Make sure they are eligible to take part and clear the chunin exams. Understood?" I asked.

" Yes Sir." Came the reply.

" Dismiss."

After all the jonins left an ANBU with a rat mask appeared inside the office lneeling before me.

" My lord. We have apprehended the traitor Mizuki. As you had predicted he tried to fool a academy student to steal the scroll of seals . We caught the student first and then captured Mizuki based on his testimony. He is currently locked up in the prison cells waiting to be interrogated by Ibiki." He finished his report.

"Where is the student?" I asked.

" He is currently outside with fawk."

"Good. Release him with a warning and lead me to mizuki's cell."

" Hai Hokage-Sama".