As Mizuki was deep in thought, he suddenly sensed a fluctuation in the genjutsu formation.
"What? Team 8's genin have arrived..."
Realizing it was already late, Mizuki waved his hand to dispel the genjutsu formation and abruptly appeared before them.
After regaining his focus, Mizuki looked over and saw exactly three people—Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga—and they were already staring directly toward his position.
"It seems you've already found me," Mizuki said casually as he faced his newly assigned subordinates. "As the genin squad with the strongest reconnaissance capabilities, at least you've maintained your specialty well. That impresses me most—I have to say, I'm actually impressed none of you are late. Congratulations, my first impression of you isn't bad."
"Teacher Mizuki, I have a different opinion about what you just said," spoke up Shino Aburame, who rarely talked. "The reason why I'm saying this is because not long ago, Teacher Mizuki led me and Neji Hyuga on a Mission. So, this shouldn't be our first impression."
"Oh right, really? Sorry, I temporarily forgot."
Mizuki had already messed up with his first sentence and felt slightly embarrassed.
"You forgot?" Shino suddenly grew more solemn. "So, I've become someone easily forgotten?"
With a careless remark, Mizuki unknowingly hurt Shino, who was known for being easy to overlook. Mizuki felt extremely helpless—it seemed like he underestimated how troublesome Team 8 could be.
"Shino, sorry, you were standing too far back just now; I didn't even notice you."
Mizuki tried to comfort him with a white lie.
"There's nothing that can be done then; you didn't recognize me—not that you forgot me." To Mizuki's surprise, Shino actually accepted this explanation. "After all, we haven't interacted much lately, so it's understandable if I've changed too much for you to recognize."
Alright, this guy sure has some serious talent for convincing himself and even bought into Mizuki's lie.
"All members of Team 8 have arrived. We still have some time; everyone may take a break freely."
Not only was Kakashi Hatake late, but no one from Team 7 had shown up yet, so they could only wait.
"Huh? Teacher Mizuki, shouldn't we start with introductions?" Kiba seemed somewhat confused.
"Introduce what? Don't we already know each other?"
"Don't we need to talk about our hobbies, interests, and ninja way or something?"
"Do we really need that?" Mizuki replied. "Anyway, I couldn't care less about your hobbies or whatever floats your boat!"
"That doesn't sound quite right," even Hinata Hyuga seemed a bit surprised by Mizuki's unorthodox behavior.
"Fine." Mizuki scratched his head and continued, "Since you insist so much, I guess I'll reluctantly listen to your introductions."
"Then I'll go first!" Kiba burst out enthusiastically.
After the three genin finished their turns, Mizuki clapped his hands and said, "All done? Then we're finished."
"Wait, what do you mean 'finished'? Teacher Mizuki, you haven't introduced yourself yet!"
"Now I see—that's what you were aiming for all along, wasn't it?"
Mizuki chuckled. "Didn't we meet several times back at the Ninja Academy? I even signed off on your graduation exam."
"That was different," Kiba Inuzuka replied, slightly irritated by Mizuki's dismissive tone. "Now you're a Jonin, Teacher Mizuki."
"Alright then, let me just briefly introduce myself."
Clearing his throat, Mizuki continued, "I'm your Jonin squad leader for the foreseeable future—Teacher Mizuki. I enjoy seafood sushi, dislike people who talk more than I do, and my goal is to retire in three years after saving up enough money for a peaceful retirement."
"A peaceful retirement?" The three Genin were instantly shocked by Mizuki's surprisingly old-fashioned words for someone so young.
"Teacher Mizuki, are you really okay being this unmotivated?"
"Don't worry, I'm still a dedicated instructor now, and I'll train all of you into Chunin soon enough."
Just then, a slow, leisurely voice floated over.
"It's hard to say when Team 8 will become Chunin, but Mizuki, your goal of retiring in three years—I doubt that'll happen."
Moments later, Kakashi Hatake's figure appeared before them. Soon after, the three Genin from Team 7 arrived one by one.
"You guys are so slow. We've been waiting forever."
"Sorry we're late," Kakashi apologized. "Since everyone's here, let's get going right away."
...
Once they'd completed the formalities for leaving the village, the group set off on their journey to the Land of Water.
As they walked, Mizuki glanced at the six Genin ahead and asked Kakashi, "What exactly happened? Why were you so late?"
Kakashi indeed had a habit of being tardy, but it was mostly intentional—to test the resolve of Team 7's Genin. Another reason was that he often lingered in front of the Memorial Stone, staring at the names of Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, lost in thought for hours.
For a qualified ninja, failing to keep time was a serious issue, especially on missions. There was no good reason for Kakashi to be late so early in the morning.
"Just a little problem, though it might turn into something bigger."
Kakashi answered quietly.
"A problem?" Mizuki's eyes naturally drifted toward Sasuke Uchiha walking ahead. With Akatsuki laying low recently, the only possible source of trouble could be Sasuke himself. If even Kakashi felt uneasy about it, the only possible cause could be Orochimaru.
"Not long ago, Anbu discovered one of Orochimaru's bases. Though they launched a surprise attack and breached the defenses, they arrived too late—the base had already been abandoned. Nothing of significant value was found there, but some intelligence recovered has caused concern."
"What does Lady Tsunade think?"
"She says to continue the mission. According to the reports, Orochimaru may enter a period of relative weakness soon. As long as he doesn't intervene directly, the two of us should be able to handle things."
Mizuki agreed with this assessment. Even if Orochimaru showed up, they wouldn't be entirely helpless—but it might come down to using Sage Mode again.
With Kakashi coordinating, there was still a chance to win. Kimimaro was dead. Among Orochimaru's remaining subordinates, the most troublesome one left was Kabuto Yakushi.
"Kakashi, about a month ago, four Otogakure ninja infiltrated Konoha. What happened to them in the end?"
"You knew about that too?" Kakashi didn't seem all that surprised by Mizuki's intelligence.
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