New Team

"Did the higher-ups issue any new orders, Naoki?" the young ninja who walked out of the tent asked the newcomer curiously.

The man who had just called out to him was none other than Naoki, a member of the Personnel Coordination Department responsible for personnel transfers and assignments.

Although he did not know why Naoki had come, seeing the little boy following behind him gave him a certain guess.

Naoki brought this kid here. Could he be planning to assign him to my squad? His gaze fell on the boy as he thought this.

Since they had never found a suitable candidate, the vacant position in their squad had remained unfilled for quite some time.

After all, they were currently in wartime. The slightest carelessness could result in someone dying or the entire squad being wiped out, so he had always preferred quality over quantity and never rushed to fill the vacancy.

Today, that empty position in their squad might finally be filled by a new member.

Naoki offered no further explanation and simply handed over the documents he was holding.

"What are you being so secretive about?" Ao muttered as he took the documents and slowly opened them.

The two junior subordinates beside him also cast curious glances over.

Unfortunately, they were both too short, and Ao clearly had no intention of showing them. Thus, even when they stood on tiptoe, they could not see a single word.

"Name: Qi Shuang..."

Ao read through the document word by word. But when he reached the description of Qi Shuang's squad's battle against Uchiha Tai, his expression gradually turned solemn.

He finally understood that for a child of barely ten years old to survive until the end against a Uchiha jōnin and even injure him with an explosion had not been a matter of luck at all!

It had been the result of genuine strength and intelligence!

Seeing his expression change, Naoki asked softly, "Well? Are you satisfied with this new team member?"

Ao gave the little boy behind Naoki a complicated look but did not answer immediately.

The expressions of the two junior subordinates behind him also became extremely vivid when they heard Naoki's question.

The little girl immediately nudged the little boy with her elbow and teased him, "Zabuza, this time, you two old classmates can have a proper reunion!"

"Is there anything you want to say to him?"

"Hmph!"

Faced with her teasing, the little boy snorted and ignored her, not daring to say anything more.

Because he knew very well that his companion was not as cute and fragile as she appeared on the surface. In private, she was exceptionally fierce.

Her strength was already approaching the Chunin level, completely suppressing him.

Whenever something displeased her, she would pick a fight with people. Even he, who was known as the "Demon," had been thoroughly beaten by her several times.

That was why he did not dare provoke her.

As a matter of fact, this companion of his had been his classmate in the same graduating cohort. It was just that they had taken their graduation exams in different rooms.

Otherwise, he even suspected that if he had faced her back then, he might not have survived graduation.

Ignoring the two junior subordinates fooling around, Ao thought for a while before saying helplessly to Naoki, "Judging from the reports, his combat awareness is very strong. He is much better than many newcomers who have just reached the front lines. I really can't find any major flaws!"

"If I have to name something I'm dissatisfied with, it would only be that incident!"

"Otherwise, why would the higher-ups have transferred him to you?"

Naoki gave the two junior subordinates behind Ao a pointed glance, then teased, "You already have two problem children here anyway. What's one more?"

At that, Ao's mouth twitched. He instinctively looked back and said helplessly, "Fine, I have no objections! Let him stay!"

"Then... I shall take my leave!"

Taking back the documents from Ao, Naoki vanished in front of the tent with the Body Flicker Technique.

Ao then turned his gaze once more to the boy Naoki had brought and said solemnly, "Kid, from now on, you are officially part of our squad!"

"And my name is Ao. I am your new captain!"

Hearing his introduction, Qi Shuang's spirits jolted.

Earlier, when he heard the ninja who brought him here call the man "Ao," he had felt doubtful and thought he might have misheard.

Now, hearing the man introduce himself that way, with only a single name, he finally confirmed that the young man before him was Ao, the future "Byakugan Killer" of Kirigakure.

However, both of Ao's eyes were currently intact, genuine parts of his own body. It seemed that Kirigakure had not yet obtained the Byakugan of the Hyuga Main Family.

Ao then pointed in turn at the little boy and little girl behind him and continued, "The two of them are your new teammates!"

"This is 'Demon Zabuza.' You were both candidates in the same exam and should know each other. This is Mei Terumi. She should also have graduated in the same year as you, but unfortunately, you graduated a year late!"

"Mei Terumi?"

Hearing Ao's introduction, Qi Shuang finally shifted his attention from Zabuza to the little girl beside him.

Because Zabuza had caught his attention first, and because the original story had never shown Mei Terumi's childhood, he had not paid much attention to the girl, assuming she was just some insignificant ordinary person.

Now that Ao had said this, he noticed that the girl's features faintly carried the graceful charm of the adult Mei Terumi.

For a moment, he found it difficult to believe that the adorable, harmless-looking little girl before him was the powerful woman who would end the dark era of the "Blood Mist Village Incident"—the future Fifth Water Shadow of Kirigakure!

"What are you looking at? Never seen a beautiful girl before?" The little girl felt somewhat embarrassed and annoyed at suddenly being stared at by a stranger.

"Sorry. I just felt that you looked very much like someone, so I got a little distracted." Interrupted from his thoughts, Qi Shuang gave her an awkward smile.

"Xiao Lin..."

"Sorry, I changed my name. Please call me Qi Shuang!"

Hearing Zabuza call him by his former name, Qi Shuang immediately solemnly told him his new name.

At that, Zabuza looked toward their leader in confusion.

Ao nodded, then pointed at Qi Shuang and introduced him to the two junior subordinates. "He is your new teammate, Qi Shuang, a wielder of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai."

"I hope you can get along well from now on and perfectly complete every mission assigned by the higher-ups!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the little girl eagerly moved up beside Qi Shuang, blinked her emerald-green eyes, and asked with an innocent smile, "Hey! Back then, when you and Zabuza took the graduation exam together, did you really injure yourself by accident and withdraw from the exam?"

"Huh? Mm, mm!"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Qi Shuang nodded with an awkward smile. In the eyes of the others, he looked especially comical.

Zabuza and Mei Terumi did not suspect anything. Only Ao beside them fell into deep thought.

"Leaving everything else aside, judging solely from the records of this kid's fight against that Uchiha jōnin, he definitely isn't a careless person!"

"Then the matter of this kid accidentally injuring himself and withdrawing from his first graduation exam must have another explanation!"

Thinking this, Ao could not help taking another look at the "nervous" little boy.