Hokage Building.
The Third Hokage was listening intently to Shibi's report.
"Is that so? They were so outstanding that even someone as discerning as you couldn't stop praising them." The Third Hokage smiled with satisfaction. It was truly rare for a perfect ninja like Shibi to offer praise.
"Might Guy had mastered the Eight Gates, a taijutsu that stimulated the body's power. Kazue had awakened her two-tomoe Sharingan. And Genitsu possessed a powerful Kekkei Genkai technique..."
The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe as he pondered.
As expected of the team he had favored and personally assigned Shibi to lead as their jonin instructor.
Shiranui Genitsu in particular had brought him a surprise beyond imagination!
A powerful and mysterious Kekkei Genkai, potent wide-range poison attacks, a peculiar physical Clone Technique whose principles were still unknown... Any one of those was enough to qualify him to apply for promotion to chunin.
More importantly... Genitsu seemed to possess an extraordinarily vast amount of Chakra. Its upper limit was still unknown, but the initial assessment was that his Chakra reserves had reached the level of a jonin.
"Shibi, do you have a sample of Genitsu's poison?" the Third Hokage suddenly asked.
"No, Lord Third. I examined some of the dead Kikaichū afterward, but I couldn't find any poison in them. Genitsu must have retrieved it."
"So that was it. What a cautious child..."
The Third nodded, somewhat regretful. This entirely new poison could kill Kikaichū, insects with incredibly tenacious life force, over a wide area. He had no choice but to take it seriously. Ideally, he would obtain the method for producing it and develop an antidote.
There would be opportunities in the future.
"Guy and Genitsu are close friends, while Kazue and Genitsu also know each other. Such strong bonds truly make one look forward to their future..."
The Third sighed.
"Then, Shibi, I'll leave the rest to you. You bear an important mission: nurture these three most talented members of the new generation since Kakashi. In ten years, Konoha will need people like them to hold it up..."
The Third Hokage wore a satisfied expression.
Shibi nodded and departed in silence.
After contemplating for a moment, the Third took out a new file.
"Resolving Kakashi's psychological issues can no longer be delayed. Using Shibi's team as a model, I must help him form strong bonds as well... His mortal enemy, Obito, and Obito's beloved, Nohara Rin... I hope things develop as I wish. As for their jonin instructor..."
The Third Hokage had already made his plans.
Minato Namikaze.
At the beginning of the war, Minato Namikaze had already confronted Kumogakure's A and B brothers head-on without falling behind, thoroughly establishing his reputation and becoming regarded as a new Kage-level powerhouse.
If Minato Namikaze were put in charge of Kakashi's team...
"Minato's beloved is the Nine-Tails jinchuriki... With Kakashi and the other two as his students, it will surely deepen his bond with Konoha as well..."
The Third Hokage made his decision.
The fact that Shibi's team was about to begin taking missions did not draw much attention beyond the Third Hokage.
Although many were surprised that a perfect jonin like Shibi had returned to the village to serve as a jonin instructor after fighting for more than two years, they were only surprised.
Many jonin who had fought desperately on the front lines for a long time had returned to the village to recuperate. They had lost family, comrades, and subordinates, and subtle changes in their minds and even their ways of thinking were unavoidable.
Having them lead the new generation to maturity quickly was extremely cost-effective. It gave those jonin more bonds while allowing the younger generation to mature rapidly and contribute to the village.
The next morning.
Shibi's team assembled.
Genitsu and the other two received their orders. Their mission was to join a supply convoy and escort its supplies to the frontline camp.
This was a mission tentatively rated B-rank. Good. Very elite. They had skipped the trash D-rank and C-rank missions and gone straight to B-rank missions, where combat could break out.
"Since it's wartime, supply convoys can be attacked by enemy ninja at any time. Combat is almost unavoidable; it just depends on the scale of the battle..."
Kazue spoke quietly, eager to give it a try. Her talent would blossom on the battlefield.
"Theoretically, yes." Shibi adjusted his sunglasses. "If we're lucky, we can reach the frontline camp without incident. If we're unlucky, we'll be attacked by an unknown number of enemy ninja, and the mission rating may be raised to A-rank at any time."
As for S-rank? It was not impossible, but it was rare. For a large number of enemy jonin, or even one Kage-level powerhouse, to attack a small supply convoy, the enemy would have to be insane.
They were not Minato Namikaze.
Besides, even if an elite jonin attacked, with Aburame Shibi here—a man capable of fighting, defending, and sensing—the enemy could be obstructed to the fullest extent.
Honestly, considering Shibi's level, this really was a practice mission.
"Teacher Shibi is the most perfect elite jonin, practically the strongest all-rounder below Kage level. He can't spend too much time training rookies. He'll return to the front lines soon enough."
Genitsu glanced at Jonin Shibi, whose expression was as blank as a corpse's.
Before long, the group of four set out and joined up with a supply convoy of more than a dozen people.
"The squad assigned to protect us definitely won't have any strong ninja. We're only a small supply convoy..."
A middle-aged man in the convoy was muttering to himself, but when he saw Shibi, his entire body went stiff. "L-Lord Shibi?! Th-this rookie team led by you is escorting us?"
"That's right. Can we leave now?" Shibi spoke bluntly.
Along the way, everyone kept their mouths tightly shut. Though nervous, they occasionally looked at Shibi and felt somewhat reassured. Shibi, the most senior among them, was also a man of few words, so naturally he was even less likely to speak.
Genitsu took the initiative to talk with the others in the supply convoy and eventually confirmed that he was actually very "familiar" with the captain and vice-captain, two chunin...
Umino Iruka's parents.
They would die in the Nine-Tails' rampage in the future.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?"
The middle-aged man, Umino Kawamiya, looked suspiciously at Genitsu, who kept staring at him.
"Ah, you noticed..."
"You practically shoved your eyes into my face! Unless I were blind, how could I not notice? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just that you don't look very reliable, mister. I might have to protect you later, so I wanted to get familiar with you first."
Being called mister by a brat who looked down on him stabbed Umino Kawamiya right through the heart.
But when he thought of his six-year-old son, Iruka... being called mister did not seem entirely unacceptable.
That round of banter immediately dispelled some of the solemn, oppressive atmosphere hanging over the convoy.
Before long, everyone left Konoha, crossed several small towns in succession, and hurried toward the border of the Land of Fire. The closer they got to the border, the more cautious and alert they became.
A decaying livelihood, desolate wilderness, corpses scattered everywhere...
This was war—ninja war in particular. The attacks of powerful ninja could easily destroy an entire town.
"The border station is up ahead. It is extremely close to Amegakure, where the three nations are locked in battle. Amegakure's own ninja are also filled with hatred for Konoha... However, our movements have been very secretive, so we generally won't draw the enemy's attention."
Umino Kawamiya spoke solemnly, intending to remind everyone to remain vigilant.
The instant his words fell, several enemy ninja launched an attack on the convoy.
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