286. Genin Squad

"But… but Tsunade!"

Izuna tries to argue, but Tsunade ignores him.

Huh?!

Izuna raises his head and stares at the ceiling.

Whoosh…

He flickers towards the window and jumps out of it.

On the top of the Hokage Office,

Rumble… rumble…

Suddenly, black clouds loom in the sky.

Crackle… crackle…

Lightning flickers through the cloud as a bolt of lightning shoots towards the Hokage Office.

Fwoosh…

Izuna raises his hand and creates a giant barrier.

BOOM…

The lightning slams into the barrier and disperses.

Swoosh…

The clouds disperse and clarity returns to the surroundings.

Hmm…

Izuna raises his head and turns towards a nearby small hill.

Hoh!

He smiles at the figure on the hill.

Ah!

A small figure on the hill gasps in shock as she stares at Izuna.

"How did it fail?!"

She hurriedly picks up her supplies and dashes away from the place.

Whoosh…

Izuna returns to the office and curiously stares at Tsunade.

"Tsunade! From your expression, I can see you are already aware of the culprit."

He rests against the sofa and stares at her.

"An attempt on Hokage's life in broad daylight! Are you going to forgive the culprit just like that?"

"The situation is a little complex."

Tsunade shakes her head.

"This is also the reason I summoned you here!"

"Oh! Go on! I am all ears."

Mm…

"The girl just now is the new prodigy of the Kurama clan. She is a blessing as well as a curse to the Kurama clan."

Tsunade picks up an academy profile and passes it to Izuna.

Izuna grabs the paper and reads it.

"Yakumo Kurama

Age: 9 years

Academy Registration Number: 012957

Bio: A member of the Kurama clan. She possesses the extremely rare Kekkei Genkai of the clan. Her skills with the genjutsu are peerless as a result, her abilities with Ninjutsu and Taijutsu are quite poor. She is able to enter the academy solely on her Genjutsu abilities."

Izuna folds the paper and throws it to Tsunade as she explains.

"This girl's talent in Genjutsu is so powerful that her clan has to put a seal on her abilities to avoid her from harming the other members of the clan.

Despite all these efforts, she still ended up killing her parents. Afraid of her abilities, the Kurama clan secluded her and cast her away out of the village.

I asked Kurenai to take care of the girl, but these past two years Kurenai is busy with her genin team. This led to the current situation. This is her second attempt on my life. She has a grudge against Konoha for isolating her."

Tsunade sighs helplessly and turns to Izuna.

"I want you to take care of this girl and mentor her as a jounin instructor."

"Well, Ain't you asking too much from me? My Uchiha clan isn't in a friendly relationship with the Kurama clan."

Izuna shakes his head.

"What if I told you, the Kurama clan's head requested the Hokage office to dispose of her by killing her?"

"What?!" Izuna raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, after Yakumo killed her parents, her uncle Unkai Kurama inherited the position of the clan head. It was he who isolated her and later made an attempt on her life.

Previously, I made a promise to Yakumo's father to protect her, so I assigned an Anbu team to protect her. She mistook it as the village's attempt to isolate her from her family."

Tsunade smiles wryly.

"Hmm… so you want me to mentor her to control her powers."

"Pretty much! In the entire village, I can't think of anyone else who is as skilled as you in genjutsu."

"I see."

Hmm…

Izuna places a hand under his chin and ponders over the matter.

'Should I mentor a genin team? Well… I want to experience the life of a shinobi. So, I think I should give it a try. But there is that ticking threat of death.'

He ponders for a while before eventually reaching a decision.

"Fine! I will mentor a genin team."

"Good!" Tsunade has a smile on her face.

She relaxes against her chair.

"Now since the matter is settled, where is my souvenir?" Tsunade stares at him with expectation.

"Here!"

Izuna takes out a wine bottle from his storage.

"This is your souvenir!"

Tsunade jumps in excitement and grabs the bottle.

"Shizune! We will party tonight!"

Ahem…

"Tsunade-sama! The jounins are waiting for your instructions!" Shizune clears her throat.

"Ah yes! I have to assign genin teams to them." She hurriedly stores the wine and turns to Izuna.

"Let's go! I will also assign a team to you!"

The three of them walk out of the Hokage Office.

"Lady Fifth!"

They bump into Hiashi, who is on his way to Hokage Office.

"Hiashi! How can I help you?"

Tsunade curiously asks him.

"Lady Fifth! I have a request to make."

Hiashi stares at her with expectations.

"Hmm… Alright! If your request is reasonable enough, then I am all ears."

Mm…

Hiashi nods his head and continues.

"Lady Fifth! I would like to know who will be the jounin instructor of Hanabi. She is the future head of the Hyuga clan as such, I am quite worried about her growth."

Hmm…

Tsunade frowns at Hiashi's request.

'The academy pairs genins based on their academy performance to ensure fairness and balance. Hiashi request to interfere in the process could be considered rude. But Hyuga clan has contributed a lot during the previous wars as such, I can't overlook the matter.'

"Well…" Tsunade opens her mouth to speak.

"Why don't I mentor her too?" Izuna turns to Tsunade.

"Since I will lead a three-man squad and one of them is already decided, then what about Hanabi as the second person?"

"Well… that…" Tsunade ponders for a while.

"That's would be great!" Hiashi nods his head.

"If it's Izuna, then I can rest assured. His Taijutsu skills are unparalleled in the village. Hanabi will learn a lot under his tutelage!"

"Fine! I will make the arrangements." Tsunade nods her head.

Haah…

Hiashi heaves a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Lady Fifth!"

"Let's go!"

Izuna, Tsunade, and Shizune walk towards the academy.

'Hmm… Since two members of my squad are already decided. Then why don't I pick Ayaka as the third member? Hehe… this way I will get to spend more time with my Ayaka-chan!'

Izuna has a silly smile on her face.

Tsunade and Shizune notice his smile and roll their eyes.

'This guy is up to no good!'

Ahem…

Izuna clears his throat and turns to Tsunade.

"Tsunade! I have a request to make!"

"No! Your request is denied!"

Tsunade decisively rejects him.

"…"

"Hey! Let me speak first! How can you reject me without even listening to me?" He complains.

"Knowing you, it must be another unreasonable request!" Tsunade shakes her head.

"At least hear me out!" Izuna takes out another wine bottle from his storage.

"I was planning on drinking it with you. But looks like… sigh…"

He stores the bottle in his storage.

"…"

Shizune silently stares at the duo.

'This is the first time; I have seen someone bribing a Kage with a bottle of wine!'

"What? Another bottle! You hid it from me!" Excitement appears in her eyes.

"Deal!" Tsunade nods her head.

"…"

'And she fell for it!' Shizune is speechless at the scene unfolding in front of her eyes.

'Maybe it is because it is Izuna that Tsunade-sama accepts his request.'

Shizune reminisces about the past spent with Tsunade.

'It has been fifteen years since both of us joined Tsunade-Sama's tutelage! During this time, we formed an inexplicable bond with each other.'

"Alright!"

Tsunade pockets the bottle.

"I will hear you out!"

"I don't have too much of an outrageous request. I just want Ayaka to be the third member of my three-man squad!"

Hmm…

Tsunade frowns upon this request.

"Won't it disrupt the balance with three prodigies in a single squad?"

"No! No! Of course not!" Izuna frantically nods his head as he explains.

"Tsunade! That Kurama clan girl is proficient in Genjutsu while being weak in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. Hanabi Hyuga is proficient in Taijutsu but weak in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Ayaka can fill the gap since she is proficient in Ninjutsu. Look how all three of them complement each other!"

"Hmm… now that you mention it! It makes sense, but why do I feel like I am overlooking something?" Tsunade suspiciously stares at Izuna.

"No! No! It's perfectly fine!" Izuna assures her.

"…"

Shizune rolls her eyes.

'Tsunade-sama! Isn't it obvious? This sis-con just wants to spend more time with Ayaka to pamper her. Also, this squad is full of problem children!'

"We are here!"

She clears her throat and grabs their attention.

Tsunade straightens her posture and enters the room. A group of jounins is patiently waiting for her.

"Lady Fifth!"

All of them bow before her.

"Mm…"

Tsunade nods her head.

"Now, I will assign a genin squad to you all!"

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A/N:- So, here we go! A new adventure awaits Izuna as a teacher.