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Without bothering to knock, he simply pushed the door open. Jiraiya ambled into the office with the carefree saunter of a man with nowhere urgent to be, a broad, cheerful grin on his face.
This was a sight Kazuki was long since used to.
He could sense people coming from quite a distance, so there was never any worry about someone barging in at an inopportune moment.
"Kazuki, what's gotten into Tsunade? She's in a right foul mood in the middle of the day. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions and got my head bitten off before I could even speak."
Strolling over to the desk, Jiraiya dragged a nearby chair over and plopped down. His eyes landed on the cup of hot tea Izumi had just prepared for Kazuki, still untouched. He picked it up without ceremony and took a hearty swallow.
"Ahh, hits the spot."
That was the tea I made for the Advisor...
Izumi opened her mouth, then closed it. Before she could decide whether to voice her thought, Jiraiya had already drained the cup.
He drank like a thirsty ox, gulping it down in one go.
"Izumi, please fetch Lord Jiraiya some more tea. And bring me a bottle of juice while you're at it."
"Yes, Advisor-sama."
Izumi hurried over, refilled the cup with steaming water, and then scampered out of the office to get the juice.
"Hold on a second."
Jiraiya looked down at his now-refilled teacup, then back at Kazuki.
"Why am I getting tea, but you're ordering juice?"
"It's not a cold day. Why would I want hot tea?"
Kazuki closed the file he was reviewing and looked up. "Naruto's back, I assume?"
"He is. The kid was practically vibrating, desperate to get to the Academy. We went our separate ways."
The memory of Naruto's frantic eagerness brought a fond smirk to Jiraiya's face. The boy was the spitting image of his younger self.
The fact that Jiraiya had been unceremoniously ejected by a grumpy Tsunade meant she hadn't gotten around to assigning Naruto's teammates.
Kazuki mentally ran through the list of available candidates and decided to hand the choice over to Jiraiya himself.
"I have full confidence in you leading Naruto. Since you're the team leader, you may select the squad members yourself. These are the profiles of students who haven't been assigned yet. Pick two."
"You're really leaving it to me?"
Ordinarily, such authority never rested with the team leader.
Jiraiya was surprised Kazuki would hand him the reins so readily.
'Be my guest'.
Kazuki made a gesture of invitation, opened another dossier, and resumed his work. A mountain of tasks awaited him, with numerous students still needing placements. If not for wanting to avoid disrupting the dynamic for Naruto and Jiraiya, he would have processed all the assignments already. He had little time to spare for lengthy discussions.
Seeing this, Jiraiya's jovial expression faded into one of focus. He opened the file and began scanning the contents with a serious eye.
That boy Naruto is completely hung up on this girl Sakura. Should I pick her?
Jiraiya pondered silently.
His gaze flicked rapidly from one student record to the next.
"These two, then."
Knowing Kazuki was swamped, Jiraiya made his decision swiftly and placed the file back on the desk.
Truth be told, he had his own pressing matters. Once the team was assembled, he needed to depart for the border immediately. If not for the need to personally select Naruto's comrades, he wouldn't have made this detour at all.
"Which two?"
Kazuki glanced up.
"Sakura and Mizunami. Sakura seems a decent girl. Naruto will be over the moon to have her on the team. As for Mizunami, I see potential there. He's from a civilian family, but I believe he has what it takes to grow strong."
"Very well. You may proceed directly to the Academy to collect them. Return to the border swiftly; the situation there requires a steady presence. The shinobi world's tensions are worsening by the day."
"Understood."
With the matter settled, Jiraiya made a swift exit, not wishing to waste another second of Kazuki's time.
He didn't even consider returning to the Hokage's office to potentially face Tsunade's wrath again. Upon leaving the administration building, he headed straight for the Academy.
"Tsk. Talks a good game about equal treatment, but in practice..."
Kazuki opened the file Jiraiya had been reviewing, gave its contents a cursory glance, shook his head slightly, and returned to assigning the remaining students. He aimed to place each one in a suitable squad.
Fortunately, enough qualified team leaders had been mobilized from active duty, so he didn't have to worry about creating slapdash, temporary units—a practice he despised.
The Third Hokage had been notoriously fond of that method. Students he favored were carefully placed in ideal squads. Those he didn't care for were simply tossed into whatever team had a vacancy, with no further thought.
The result was many graduates being haphazardly crammed into existing squads, where they were often resented, treated as burdens, and deliberately sidelined.
Furthermore, those thrown-together squads were seldom given simple D-rank missions to allow the newcomers to acclimate and develop. They were often thrust into more dangerous situations unprepared.
Jiraiya's choices clearly showed he still carried the imprint of the Third's philosophy.
Among the unassigned students were several excellent candidates for Naruto's team.
For instance, there were Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka—two of the so-called "Konoha 12" who had been Hinata's teammates in another timeline. Beyond them, other capable clan children were also available.
Yet Jiraiya had passed over all of them in favor of Mizunami, a civilian student whose academic and practical scores were merely above average.
And pairing him with Sakura...
'Tsk. What a strange combination.'
But if Jiraiya had made the selection, it meant he was willing to shoulder the responsibility for this team's development. Kazuki saw no reason to interfere. He would leave it in Jiraiya's hands.
"Now then..."
After a moment's thought, Kazuki decided to place Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame together. To round out their team, he added a promising young Uchiha from a different class.
Once the final arrangements were made, Kazuki dispatched aides to summon the appointed team leaders. He handed each instructor the profiles of their new students, instructing them to proceed to the Academy to formally claim their charges.
The teachers collected their files and departed one by one. Soon, the office was quiet and spacious again, with only Yuhi Kurenai remaining.
Over the past few years, under Kazuki's dedicated guidance and rigorous training, Kurenai's abilities had surged far beyond her original trajectory. She was no longer merely a Special Jōnin with a niche in genjutsu, but a fully-fledged Jōnin whose mastery of illusion techniques was formidable. Her skills in taijutsu and kenjutsu had also seen remarkable improvement.
Kazuki had a different plan for her than leading Kiba and Shino's squad.
"Kurenai, the Ino-Shika-Chō alliance has always been a package deal. These three families have remained among the Hokage's most steadfast supporters. Therefore, I wish for you to mentor this generation's Ino-Shika-Chō trio."
The Ino-Shika-Chō clans had many members. The children chosen to represent the new generation were, barring extraordinary circumstances, almost always destined for leadership—either as future clan elders or as the heirs to the clan head themselves. Perhaps Ino Yamanaka's path was less certain, especially if she married outside the clan, but the honor of the assignment was no less.
"Understood."
Taking on the mentorship of the new Ino-Shika-Chō was a significant opportunity, one that would deepen her ties and influence within the village's core power structure.
In the original timeline, the Third Hokage had bestowed this prestigious duty upon his own son, Asuma. Frankly, given Asuma's formerly lackadaisical, almost dilettantish attitude in his younger years, he would have made for a poor teacher without that paternal favoritism.
With the Academy assignments finalized, Kazuki sent a messenger to summon Nara Shikaku to his office.
A short while later, a knock echoed at the door.
"Enter."
Shikaku walked in, offered a respectful bow, and seeing Kazuki's attention still fixed on a document, he assumed a patient stance and waited in silence.
"Whew..."
A considerable time later, Kazuki finally stamped the last document, set it on the finished pile, and stretched his arms above his head with a weary sigh.
"Finally done. This village generates an endless stream of bureaucratic tasks. Even the most trivial, feather-light matters somehow find their way up to the Hokage's desk."