Hikaru quickly withdrew from his thoughts, turning his gaze to the three bright-eyed students in front of him.
Smiling gently, he initiated their first official moment as a team.
"All right," he said warmly, "now that we're a squad, let's take some time to get to know each other better."
"I'll start. I'm Uchiha Hikaru, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village—and your new instructor."
Although the trio had already suspected this, hearing the confirmation from Hikaru himself sent a visible ripple of excitement through them.
Hikaru noticed it immediately and gave them a moment to calm down, letting the initial thrill pass.
After a short pause, the students—still a bit shy—smiled at him.
Hikaru gave a forgiving shake of his head, letting them know he didn't mind their excitement, and then continued.
"Of course, that's just the public information. But as a team, we'll need to go deeper than that."
"So let me share a bit more. I like Tsunade and the others. I dislike people who ignore warnings."
"As for my dream—it's simple: to stay with the people I love, for as long as I can."
Then he turned his gaze to Minato Namikaze, giving him a nod to signal it was his turn.
Minato took a deep breath. He knew this was his first impression—and his chance to integrate into the team.
After organizing his thoughts, he spoke with quiet confidence:
"My name is Minato Namikaze. Just 'Minato' is fine. It's a great honor to be a student of Hokage-sama."
"I enjoy studying new ninjutsu, especially techniques focused on speed."
"I hate those who don't value life or abuse their power."
"My dream is to become Hokage—like you, Lord Fifth—and protect the village, ensuring peace throughout the ninja world."
After Minato spoke, Pakura and Kushina Uzumaki introduced themselves in turn.
With a soft, gentle smile, Pakura said:
"I'm Pakura. I specialize in Scorch Release."
"I love nature and flowers, and I dislike war and destruction."
"My dream is to be a shinobi who spreads warmth and hope—to protect those in need with my power."
Then Kushina, a little shy, spoke next:
"I'm Kushina Uzumaki. I have the special physique of the Uzumaki Clan and knowledge of sealing techniques."
"I like training… and I hate being alone—or being betrayed."
"My dream is to be a ninja like Grandma Mito—someone who protects her family and friends, and contributes to the village's prosperity."
Hikaru nodded with satisfaction as he listened.
Just as he had expected, each of them revealed a unique personality and inner strength.
Minato and Kushina, in particular, hadn't changed much—they retained their original drive and ideals.
But it was Pakura who surprised him.
In the original timeline, life in Sunagakure wasn't as brutal as in the Mist Village, but limited resources and harsh conditions left little room for ideals.
A shinobi like Pakura, born in that world, would've likely been forced to abandon dreams and innocence early, becoming hardened by necessity.
Hikaru understood this deeply—environment shapes the heart.
But now, with the world united and peace restored, the Land of Wind was revitalized under the reforms led by Hashirama and himself.
With better resources and new opportunities, gifted youths like Pakura could come to Konoha—and hold onto their nature, their ideals, and their hope.
Hikaru didn't dislike Pakura's gentle personality. On the contrary, he believed it brought a kind of cohesion and emotional warmth to the team.
After the brief round of introductions, the group now had a baseline understanding of one another.
Just then, Madara and Hashirama arrived with their respective teams.
Seeing them, Hikaru knew—it was time to begin the "special exam" he'd mentioned earlier.
He glanced at his System panel.
He still remembered clearly—after waking up from that bizarre dream, the system had issued a brand new notification.
And now, the panel read:
[System Notification]
World Upgrade Detected: Fire Shadow World – Mid-Tier World Level Achieved
New Function Unlocked: "World Requests"
Due to unknown changes, this world is on the verge of destabilization.
The world itself has issued a request for aid.
Current Help Request World: Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Mission Objective: Eliminate the Demon King who is undergoing evolution due to unknown causes.
Reward: Fire Shadow World Advancement Progress +10%
Note 1: This function does not interfere with World Gate usage. However, since the reward is issued by the requesting world, the System will not grant compensation to the Host.
Note 2: Do not drastically alter the trajectory of the target world. The will of the world may default on payment.
Note 3: Time Dilation Ratio – Demon Slayer World to Naruto World is 10:1. Please monitor time spent carefully.
Hikaru quickly understood what this meant.
Unlike World Gate missions, where the system provided the rewards, this new World Request feature meant the mission was essentially posted by another world's World Will.
He'd become… a glorified freelancer.
It reminded him a bit too much of his days as a part-time worker, and the PTSD almost resurfaced.
Thankfully, he was Hokage now—and graduation season had arrived.
So this time, Hikaru made a decision:
He'd outsource the job.
His students would take the mission.
Madara and Hashirama would act as backup.
And himself?
Well… he'd treat it as a nice "vacation."
Thus, many Konoha departments were shocked to discover that their top boss had disappeared.
All that remained was a short, cryptic note:
"I'm going out for a few days."
Where is he going?
No one knew.
And when asked, Hikaru only smiled mysteriously—and said nothing.
Back at Training Field One, now filled with the newly assigned squads, whispers had already begun to spread.
These students had all graduated in the same class—and they were all top-tier. Naturally, they knew one another well.
As the murmuring grew, Hikaru clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Since everyone's here," he said with a grin, "I'll make this quick."
"We're taking a little field trip—to a different world."
"Your mission is simple: eliminate the Demon King there. Understood?"