Chapter 479: Squad 7
The news that Ishiro was going to accept new apprentices spread, and even the exchange students from the River and Mist Villages knew about it.
They were all very curious about how Ishiro selected his disciples.
Everyone in the shinobi world knew two things about Ishiro.
First, he was insidious and cunning; the title "Fox of Iwagakure" was well-deserved. Second, his method of choosing apprentices was bizarre; he always did the most unexpected thing.
With the rise of Kawakita and Megumi, Ishiro's ability to teach was recognized throughout the shinobi world. And in the recent Great Shinobi War, the names of Shinya Matsutani, Himeki Suda, Takuhiro Uchiyama, and Riori Uzumaki had also become widely known.
They all shared a common identity: disciples of the Tsuchikage.
The rise of these individuals further enhanced Ishiro's reputation as a great teacher.
In addition, there was Ogura Saki of the Blaze Release, known to the upper echelons of the great villages, and Yuran Kawasoe, who was rumored to have developed a seal that could block the Byakugan. And then there was Uchiha Sōkai, known only to the high command of Konoha.
Ishiro's halo as a master teacher had long since surpassed that of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After all, the three disciples Hiruzen had taken on were all exceptionally talented in their own right. This was unlike Ishiro's disciples, more than half of whom were from the regular classes, with many being at the bottom of their class.
Therefore, in the eyes of many, Ishiro's skill as a teacher was of a higher caliber than Hiruzen's.
What surprised the students of the Iwagakure Ninja Academy was that the exchange students from Kirigakure had an almost fanatical belief in Ishiro's teaching ability. This was because of a rumor in Kiri that their own Fifth Mizukage had become a Quasi-Kage under Ishiro's guidance.
This time, as before, the other jonin who wanted to take on apprentices selected their favored students before Ishiro made his move.
Then, Ishiro took the remaining list and began to study it.
"Hm? Haku? Why wasn't Haku chosen?" Ishiro was surprised to see the file of Haku from the advanced class.
Haku's talent was excellent, unlike an oddball like Sōkai. Logically, his genius should have attracted the attention of other jonin.
Puzzled, Ishiro flipped through Haku's file.
"Hm? Is he hiding his skills?" Ishiro wondered.
The file stated that Haku's grades were not good. Both his taijutsu and ninjutsu were near the bottom of the advanced class. Only his theory scores were decent. Furthermore, he showed no interest in technical skills like sealing or medical ninjutsu.
Looking at it this way, Haku did seem unremarkable.
But Ishiro quickly understood. Haku probably hadn't learned any ninjutsu other than his Ice Release. And the use of Ice Release was not permitted to be openly displayed in the village. It was possible that even the academy instructors didn't know Haku possessed the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
Ōnoki and Kitsuchi placed great importance on Kekkei Genkai, so their guidance of Haku had been focused on cultivating his Ice Release.
"Haku... Haku Mizunashi." Ishiro had a bit of a headache. In this life, the Mizunashi clan of Kiri hadn't been wiped out. Ning Mizunashi had been staying in Iwagakure just a few days ago.
Most importantly, when Obito Uchiha had exterminated the Mizunashi clan in this timeline, he had done so as an invader, not as the Mizukage. The Mizunashi clan was not ostracized by the civilians and ninja of Kiri. This would likely have a great impact on Haku's choice of allegiance.
Ishiro didn't want to give up a genius like Haku. After raising him for so many years, he couldn't accept the idea of returning him.
But how could he make Haku feel a sense of belonging to Iwagakure?
Bonds? Ishiro didn't need to do anything there. Haku had grown up in Ōnoki's home and was very close to Ōnoki, Kitsuchi, Shiden, and the others. He also got along well with Deidara, Riori Uzumaki, Kurotsuchi, and Neji; he had deep bonds with all of them. He also had many good friends at the academy. Due to his good looks, he even had quite a few female friends.
"What a headache. I thought Kirigakure would wipe out the Mizunashi clan like in the original story, so I never tried to brainwash him."
"But now, the Mizunashi clan still has some adult ninja alive. Is it too late to start brainwashing him now?"
"Forget it. I'll take him as a disciple first and slowly brainwash him later when I have time."
After that, Ishiro continued to browse through the files provided by the graduating class instructors.
The number of graduates this year was much higher than before. This was the first class since Iwagakure had begun to expand its enrollment. The number of students was double that of previous years.
Moreover, among this year's graduates were some of the Guardian Ninja candidates that Iwagakure had agreed to train for the Daimyo.
For example, the file Ishiro was holding now was that of a girl who was one of the many candidates selected by the Daimyo.
"Fujii Kaoru," Ishiro murmured the name.
According to the file, there was something strange about this girl.
Her chakra nature was Fire, which she had tested herself.
As Guardian Ninja candidates selected by the Daimyo, their treatment was better than that of normal students. The Daimyo not only covered all their expenses in Iwagakure but also occasionally provided subsidies. In addition, Kaoru herself came from a minor noble family in the Land of Earth, so she was well-off. She had bought her own chakra paper and tested her nature early on.
Her nature was a single Fire Release.
Because she knew her chakra nature in advance, she had been practicing nature transformation for a long time. Finally, in her last year before graduation, she had learned the Fire-nature transformation and successfully cast her first C-rank ninjutsu, the Great Fireball Technique.
Ordinarily, this level of talent was excellent. A student like this would have been chosen long before Ishiro had a chance.
But there was a problem with Fujii Kaoru's Great Fireball. The power of her jutsu was strangely weak.
This wasn't about the size of the fireball, but its damage output. Other people's Great Fireballs would, at the very least, cause severe burns. In most cases, a ninja hit by one would quickly become a charred corpse.
But being hit by Fujii Kaoru's Great Fireball was like being blown by a warm breeze.
It felt like being caught in a genjutsu—scary, but not a damn thing happened.
So, although she seemed to have excellent ninjutsu talent, no jonin had taken a liking to her. Every jonin who had been attracted by her talent gave up after testing the power of her Great Fireball.
After some thought, Ishiro decided to put this student on his list of candidates.
However, since she was a Guardian Ninja candidate, he had to get the Daimyo's permission to take her as a disciple.
So, Ishiro wrote a letter directly to the Daimyo, explaining that he was considering taking Fujii Kaoru as his disciple. He also stated that if he did choose her, she would still serve as a Guardian Ninja after Squad 7 was disbanded. He would not keep her in Iwagakure.
After having the Anbu take the letter to their base, Ishiro continued to select his disciples. He was confident the Daimyo would not refuse his request. The Anbu base had a Heavenly Transfer Technique link with the capital; there was no need to go in person.
After a long while, Ishiro's eyes fell on another girl, named Kamizuru Tsuruhime.
"A child of the Kamizuru clan?" After some hesitation, Ishiro also added this student to his list.
The Kamizuru clan was Iwagakure's clan of insect users.
Insect users were different from normal ninja; most of their strength lay in their insects. But the insects started out weak and needed to undergo mutations to become stronger. The more mutations, the more abilities the insects had, and the stronger the ninja became.
This mutation ability could be passed down from generation to generation.
In other words, if the first generation's insects had ten abilities, the second generation would start with ten. If, through the efforts of that generation, the insects gained three more abilities, then the third generation would start with thirteen.
So, the strength of the clan grew with each generation.
However, an accident occurred. During the Second Great Shinobi War, the Kamizuru clan was nearly wiped out by the Aburame clan. The bees that had been cultivated for countless generations were lost.
The clan never recovered.
Other clans, even if all their adult ninja were killed, could quickly grow strong again once the younger generation grew up and learned the clan's jutsu. But not the Kamizuru. The bees they had cultivated for generations were gone. The new bees they raised were not much different from ordinary bees and had almost no combat power.
The reason Ishiro chose this girl, Kamizuru Tsuruhime, was because of a note in her file.
Her bees were smaller than normal bees.
Ishiro found this very interesting. The Kamizuru clan's strength was almost entirely in their bees. Previously, the Kamizuru ninja had all chosen to increase the individual strength of their bees, so their bees were relatively large.
But Ishiro felt that for an insect user, smaller was better.
A smaller size meant faster reproduction when cultivated with chakra, and it was easier to breed new generations. It also meant a larger number could be carried. With more numbers, the chances of mutation also increased.
After all, for an insect user, the number of abilities their insects possessed was the most crucial factor.
To achieve this, Ishiro believed sacrificing other aspects was worth it.
This girl, Kamizuru Tsuruhime, was able to break away from the fixed mindset of her predecessors and walk this new path. Ishiro thought she was a talent.
But the jonin of Iwagakure were all aware of the Kamizuru clan's situation. So, even though Tsuruhime's grades were quite good, she was not selected by any of the jonin taking on apprentices this year.
Of course, there was another reason: a normal jonin wouldn't know how to guide an insect-using disciple.
Ishiro continued to read through the rest of the student list, picking out a few more candidates. But none were more suitable than Fujii Kaoru and Kamizuru Tsuruhime.
Ishiro closed the thick file and let out a long breath.
I'll go to the Ninja Academy tomorrow and take a look. If there are no other special circumstances, I'll choose these three.
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