Jonin Squad

Inside the Watanabe Family's barbecue restaurant.

"Son, take this dish to table three."

"This goes to table five."

"Table six wants to pay."

Under his mother's stream of orders, Yūske happily worked as a waiter.

At that moment, five more customers walked in.

"Welcome!"

Yūske warmly ushered them inside.

Uchiha Clan, Hyuga Clan, Inuzuka Clan... The other two bore no clan markings, making their backgrounds impossible to discern, but they were probably ninja as well. Yūske secretly observed them.

He then picked up a menu, which a man in his thirties took and began ordering from.

"Please wait a moment. Your food will be served shortly." After taking their order, Yūske rushed toward the kitchen.

"That's Watanabe Yūske," the man in his thirties said.

"He looks pretty ordinary," said the Uchiha Clan man.

"Indeed. His chakra reserves barely reach the level of a jonin." The Hyuga Clan woman activated her Byakugan and took a look.

"Hehe, don't underestimate him. According to my clansman, he defeated Lord Jiraiya not long ago," the Inuzuka Clan woman said with a giggle.

"..." The last man remained silent.

After waiting a while, Yūske brought out several plates of sliced meat and skillfully heated up the grill. Just then, the man in his thirties who appeared to be the leader suddenly stood and extended his hand to Yūske.

"Watanabe Yūske, hello. I'm Kurenai Yūhi."

"Um... hello." Though Yūske had no idea what was going on, he still shook his hand.

"Hehe, is there something you need?" Yūske scratched his head with an adorably clueless look.

"Did Lord Hokage not tell you who your teammates for this mission would be?" Kurenai Yūhi looked at Yūske, then swept his gaze over the other four seated there.

Only then did Yūske remember Hiruzen Sarutobi mentioning that there would be five jonin leading the team. So it was them.

"Son!" Before they could continue talking, his mother's voice came from the kitchen.

"Go ahead and eat. I'll come back after helping my mom finish up." With that, Yūske had already slipped into the kitchen.

Once Yūske finished his work, he found that the food at Kurenai Yūhi's table had barely been touched.

"What's wrong? Do the dishes not suit your tastes?" Yūske walked over and asked.

"We were waiting for you to eat with us." The Inuzuka Clan woman stood, gave up the seat beside her, and pulled Yūske down. "My name is Inuzuka Shiro. Nice to meet you, Yūske."

"Ah!" Yūske was caught off guard and sat down.

"Hello, everyone."

Since he was already seated, Yūske picked up some slices of meat and began grilling them. Everyone silently watched his movements. Once he had grilled a plateful and distributed the meat among the five people present, he said, "Eat up. It won't taste as good once it gets cold."

"Ahem." Kurenai Yūhi could not stand it any longer. Was this guy not curious why they had come looking for him?

"Come, Yūske. Let me introduce you. This is Uchiha En, this is Hyuga Reon, and this is Gekko Yoru." Kurenai Yūhi introduced the other three.

"We came to find you because of the mission."

Yūske looked around and could not help complaining, "There are other customers here. Are you really talking about the mission so openly? Aren't you worried about being overheard?"

Kurenai Yūhi seemed not to hear Yūske's complaint and continued, "The reason we came is simple. We want to learn about your abilities and devise a response plan in case we're ambushed."

Remembering the deliberately mysterious way the Third Hokage had described Yūske, Kurenai Yūhi felt somewhat doubtful.

"That kid's strength is outstanding even among jonin. You don't need to worry about him holding you back during this mission."

Kurenai Yūhi asked, "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"Me?" Yūske pondered for a moment, then organized his thoughts and said,

"Watanabe Yūske, nineteen years old, male, unmarried. My family has some assets, and my parents have stable sources of income..."

"Stop!" Kurenai Yūhi quickly interrupted him and said with an exasperated look, "Tell us about your strength."

Yūske awkwardly tapped his own head. At that moment, Uchiha En stood and said,

"Captain Kurenai, how about I test Yūske's strength?"

"Fine." Kurenai Yūhi had been thinking the same thing.

"Then let's eat first. Yūske, after we finish, we'll go to the training ground."

Yūske nodded and continued grilling the meat.

Training Ground Five.

Before the fight had even begun, Uchiha En had already activated his Three Tomoe Sharingan, staring fixedly at Yūske.

This time, Yūske began by introducing his abilities.

"I possess a special bloodline limit: String Style."

"String Style: String Shot."

Yūske raised his hand and fired several String Shots in rapid succession, hurtling straight toward Uchiha En. Uchiha En hastily dodged, shocked to the core. His eyes could only catch Yūske's hand-raising motion, yet he was completely unable to see the attacks' subsequent trajectories. The attack speed was simply too fast.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha En quickly steadied himself and unleashed the Uchiha Clan's signature ninjutsu, blasting it fiercely toward Yūske.

Yūske remained motionless where he stood. As the Great Fireball approached, it was blocked by a barrier.

Kurenai Yūhi asked Hyuga Reon, who was observing from the side. She spoke.

"Threads. Countless threads. They blocked En's attack."

"What kind of ability is that?"

"My turn, En." Yūske thrust both hands into the ground and shouted.

"Pseudo: Divine Punishment Kill!"