"Today is the day Sakumo, who is to become a guiding Jonin, heads to the ninja school.
In recent times, Sakumo's expression has been improving day by day, much like his mood!
Thanks to Kizaru's efforts, the preliminary project for the research on Hashirama Cell transplantation technology has been approved, and Orochimaru has already received the first research funding from the village.
At the same time, the Uchiha clan has cooperatively provided Orochimaru with the necessary research materials.
If everything goes smoothly, Sakumo's wife's health issues will be thoroughly cured.
With Kizaru's assistance, Sakumo, seeing hope, has been feeling better day by day.
Grateful for Kizaru's help, wearing a gentle smile on his face, Sakumo, in good spirits, walked into the ninja school.
For the first time in his life as a guiding Jonin, Sakumo leads a squad of freshly graduated genin from the ninja school. Sakumo is still a bit nervous.
After all, the genin squad he is leading this time is somewhat special.
Shimura Yuki, a third-year student who passed the graduation exam early, Kizaru's sister;
Hyuga Toda, a third-year student who passed the graduation exam early, a member of the Hyuga clan;
Uchiha Inabi, a third-year student who passed the graduation exam early, a Uchiha prodigy whose sharingan was awakened at the age of six.
All three students graduated early and are geniuses, and they all come from prominent clans.
Such a combination of talents puts considerable pressure on the leading Jonin, even for a strong individual like Sakumo.
Because all three are early graduates, Sakumo and their meeting point are not in the classroom but on the training ground.
As Sakumo walked onto the training ground, what he saw was Uchiha and Hyuga arguing with each other, holding their ninja blades with cold expressions, and a girl watching silently.
Seems troublesome!
Rubbing his head, Sakumo sighed heavily in his heart.
"Kizaru's only lifelong enemy is me, Inabi! The mere Hyuga, heh!" With his arms crossed in front of his chest, Inabi let out a disdainful laugh.
"Anyone who can defeat Kizaru in the future will definitely be me, Hyuga Toda!" With his hands hanging by his sides, Toda confidently retorted.
As the blade gleamed, Yuki's face turned cold.
"Just because of you, you want to defeat Kizaru? Or do you want to first face the blade in my hand?" Unhappy with Toda's earlier words, Yuki said coldly.
"Yuki, never point your blade at your comrades!" Appearing in front of the three in an instant, Sakumo reached out and pushed aside Yuki's ninja blade, educating them with a serious expression.
"I understand, sensei!" Retrieving her blade, Yuki replied.
So fast!
Next to her, Toda, who had been looking up at Sakumo, closed his mouth, which had just opened to speak.
Like Toda, Inabi, who was pondering the speed of their teacher's movements, also looked up at Sakumo.
"Follow me!" Looking at the three in front of him, thinking about their performance just now, Sakumo prepared to teach them teamwork starting from scratch.
After speaking, Sakumo led the three disciples towards the direction of the teaching building. He planned to understand his three disciples well at the terrace above the teaching building.
"I'm Sakumo, proficient in swordsmanship. I like salt-grilled saury, and I dislike those who don't cherish their comrades. My dream is to become an excellent ninja."
Sitting on the steps of the terrace, Sakumo started with a self-introduction.
"Sensei, can you perform a Vacuum Slash with your sword?"
After Sakumo finished his self-introduction, Yuki, who had been harboring this question for a long time, curiously asked.
Vacuum Slash?
Facing Yuki's question, Sakumo paused.
Wrapping chakra with nature transformation around the ninja blade and swinging it to release a chakra slash, Sakumo had seen it and could do it himself.
But what did she mean by Vacuum Slash?
"It's using the body's explosive power to swing the ninja blade at super high speed, compressing the air to form a Vacuum Slash." Noticing the teacher's confusion, Yuki tried to describe Kizaru's slash she recalled from the training ground as accurately as possible.
Is this something that can be done with the body's physical qualities and explosive power as a ninja?
After listening to Yuki's description, Sakumo had a big question mark in his mind!
"Such a slash requires high explosive power and physical demands on the body, which I cannot achieve." Not feeling embarrassed, Sakumo directly admitted his inability.
"How could anyone possibly do that?" Sitting beside her, listening to Yuki's description, Inabi also chimed in.
Agreeing, Toda, sitting on Yuki's other side, also spoke up: "Even my Hyuga family's gentle fist can't produce such a powerful punch."
"Somebody can do it. I've seen it with my own eyes," Yuki asserted with a confident tone in response to the doubts from her companions.
"Who?"
"Really? Yuki!"
Hearing Yuki's words, Inabi and Toda curiously asked.
Also hearing Yuki's words, Sakumo didn't say anything. Instead, a name popped up in his mind.
Kizaru!
"Kizaru did perform such a slash. I saw it with my own eyes," Yuki said the name that Sakumo had speculated about in his mind.
"Kizaru?"
"If it's Kizaru, it's indeed possible."
Hearing Yuki's answer, Inabi and Toda nodded in agreement.
"Yuki, everyone has their own suitable swordsmanship. Kizaru's slash, apart from him, nobody else in the entire ninja world can do it." Worried that Yuki might be attracted to Kizaru's swordsmanship and try to imitate it beyond her abilities, Sakumo kindly advised.
In response to the teacher's good intentions, Yuki nodded and obediently replied, "I understand, sensei!"
"Later, I'll guide you to find the swordsmanship that suits you." With a warm smile, Sakumo spoke gently.
"Sensei, count me in too." Also practicing swordsmanship, Inabi emphasized.
Toda, who wasn't practicing swordsmanship, didn't speak, but she also looked at Sakumo with expectant eyes.
"I'll do my best to guide you all to find the path of practice that suits you." Looking at the three disciples in front of him, Sakumo made a sincere promise.
Just as Sakumo and his three disciples were bonding, in the principal's office of the ninja school directly opposite the teaching building where they were, Kizaru, who had just taken office as the school principal, was peeking with enthusiasm.
Sakumo is doing really well!
Rubbing his chin, Kizaru praised inwardly with a smile.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Come in!"
Hearing the knocking, Kizaru temporarily withdrew his gaze and returned to his desk, sitting on the chair.
With complex emotions, the former homeroom teacher Kiyoshi, holding a document, walked to the desk.
"Principal Kizaru, this is the list of school teachers' information Vice-Principal asked me to hand over to you."
Almost calling him by the wrong name, Kiyoshi quickly placed the document on the desk.
"Oh, Kiyoshi-sensei, please have a seat! We haven't talked in a long time." Smiling, Kizaru raised his hand to signal Kiyoshi to sit down.
"I still have something to do in class, so I need to get back quickly." Feeling both relieved and a bit embarrassed in the face of Kizaru's current demeanor, Kiyoshi found an excuse to politely decline.
"Then you should go! Kiyoshi-sensei! We still have plenty of time to spend together in the future!" Nodding with a smile, Kizaru leaned forward and picked up the document on the desk.
Hearing Kizaru's words, Kiyoshi felt relieved and quickly left the principal's office.
After Kiyoshi closed the door and left the office, Kizaru put down the document in his hand.
The school reform affairs would officially begin after the end of this semester, towards the end of the year.
Therefore, taking on the role of principal now and being responsible for reform matters, Kizaru was actually very relaxed and leisurely.
Hiruzen asked Kizaru to take office now just to let him adapt to the working environment in the school in advance and prepare for the subsequent reforms.