Atmosphere

This also directly confirmed Naruto's previous thoughts.

Among this year's graduates, aside from Naruto and the others, those classmates who were almost like cannon fodder were only led by chuunin for now. Whether they could stand out in the future depended on their capacity, perseverance, and luck. This world considers bloodlines, legacies, and talents, but it doesn't mean ordinary people will never have their day. Of course, even here, ordinary people need to have unique perseverance or talents in certain aspects, just like Might Guy. Compared to the true geniuses who rely on bloodlines and legacies, Might Guy squarely falls into the category of ordinary people. Yet, this Leaf Blue Beast, who can be labeled as an ordinary person, came so close to altering the outcome of the Hokage's final battle. Throughout the entire Naruto world, there is more than just Might Guy as an "ordinary person" like this. While the probability isn't high and it's far from being common, there is still a group of "ordinary people" capable of turning the tide.

Now, these "cannon fodders" might become significant supporting characters in the future.

Such a possibility.

Naruto wouldn't deny it.

Speaking in absolutes is a mistake in itself, belonging to the realm of "absolute."

But all of this is for the future.

For the moment, among this year's graduates, only Teams 7, 8, and 10 are considered important. These three genin squads are all led by jounin, which is a reasonable proportion. Looking back at previous years, in each batch of graduates, only two or three squads are eligible to be led by jounin. There have been years with only one squad or even none. It's all quite normal.

Even in Konohagakure, hailed as the cradle of genius.

The probability is just slightly higher compared to other villages.

If it were as common as wholesale cabbage, then genius wouldn't be genius, and its uniqueness would lose its meaning.

The unfamiliar chuunin kept coming in.

The graduates taken away one after another.

Soon, the entire classroom became empty.

Until the very end.

The two jounin who came together, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi, each took Teams 8 and 10. In the spacious classroom, only Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura remained. Naruto also discreetly waved to Hinata before she left, wearing a slightly shy expression. After the girl left, Naruto squinted his eyes, closed them, and started to meditate.

"It'll probably be another two or three hours, I guess? If nothing unexpected happens..."

Naruto thought quietly in his heart.

Who is the instructor for Team 7?

Do you even need to ask?

It's undoubtedly the famous Kakashi Hatake, known as "Kakashi of the Sharingan."

If Naruto had some doubts about the team assignments before, seeing the composition of Team 7 as it should be according to the original story completely dispelled them. Looking at the members of Team 7, was there anyone better suited to be their jounin leader than Kakashi?

No! There wasn't.

As a former subordinate of the Fourth Hokage and the owner of a Sharingan, Kakashi Hatake was the most suitable person in the entire Konohagakure to lead Naruto and Sasuke. And Naruto was very familiar with Kakashi's personality, including, but not limited to, his love for reading adult books and his habit of being late without any reason (for non-essential matters).

Today's team assignments were considered non-essential matters.

Kakashi's lateness was a given.

In that case, instead of waiting, it was better to take a break and consider their training plan for the future.

Sasuke remained as aloof as ever.

Then Sakura suddenly noticed something.

The atmosphere in the classroom now seemed unusually cold? This was entirely different from any scenario Sakura had imagined before.

Falling in love for the first time was a joyful thing. Being on the same team as the person she liked was even more delightful. Plus, her other teammate was an excellent student and handsome. This should have been a triple dose of happiness.

But why? Why did the air feel so heavy now? There was not even a hint of happiness in the atmosphere. Could it be that she had misread the script?

Sakura glanced at Sasuke with anxiety, then turned her gaze to Naruto. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but it seemed like some force was restraining her.

It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

Or should she say it was an overly oppressive atmosphere?

This made Sakura's expression gradually stiffen.

Sasuke, on the other hand, remained his usual self, and Naruto was far from the whimsical character he was in the original story. This resulted in the classroom being unusually quiet now.

However, only Sakura felt uncomfortable.

Naruto and Sasuke actually enjoyed this kind of environment. After all, neither of them was fond of noisy surroundings, especially Sasuke. Don't expect this cold and aloof young man to make any proactive attempts to get close to his teammates.

Naruto was no different. With the time and energy he had, it was better spent on training. Even just sitting with his eyes closed in meditation could be considered a form of mental exercise. For a ninja, chakra was everything, and chakra was composed of two elements: physical energy extracted from the body's 130 trillion cells (the amount extracted determines the chakra's limit) and spiritual energy honed through various forms of training.

If there were no extraordinary encounters or unexpected circumstances, no surgeries involving body and genetic modifications, a ninja's inherent chakra limit remained constant. However, this didn't mean that when you first became a ninja, you had chakra at the limit. It meant you had the potential, and you still needed to train to reach that limit. The determining factor was spiritual energy.

As mentioned earlier, chakra = physical energy + spiritual energy.

The former determined your maximum capacity, and the latter determined whether you could reach that limit. In simpler terms, physical energy was the foundation of chakra formation, while spiritual energy acted as a means or medium for conversion. If you wanted to further refine Sage Mode chakra, you needed to add natural energy on top of these two components.

So, having innate talent was one thing, and making efforts afterward was another. Only when both were present could one grow into a true powerhouse. Although meditation couldn't be considered mental training, it had a small effect on extracting spiritual energy. In any case, time spent idly was still time wasted, and Naruto was determined not to waste any time available for training.

Sasuke and Naruto were at ease.

But on the other side, Sakura was beginning to feel overwhelmed. At first, she had been eager to get closer to Sasuke and had even considered sitting next to him. However, after receiving Sasuke's cold gaze, she froze and dared not move a muscle.

This atmosphere, which felt almost like it was freezing, continued for another hour.

(End of Chapter)

For advanced chapters and support visit : www.p@treon.com/NelsonN742 {replace @ with a}