Team Kakashi

Just as Hyuga Ritsu and Uchiha Shisui arrived at the Shigushan Mountain defensive line, the Frontline Camp had also finished reorganizing all the ninja squads whose rosters had been incomplete after a flurry of activity.

Nearly all the Hyuga Clan ninjas had been assigned to different teams.

The Jonin had naturally all been made team captains. They were carrying their squad rosters around and looking for their team members. Since there weren't enough Jonin, some Special Jonin had also been appointed captains.

But Hyuga Akiba wasn't one of those Special Jonin.

She had gathered with the other Special Jonin who hadn't been selected as captains. There were around a dozen of them, all sitting on little stools inside a large tent, waiting for their respective captains to come and call them.

In fact,

Chunin with enough experience were qualified to lead three Genin on missions, but missions varied in difficulty, and squads organized this way were clearly only suitable for simple assignments.

To take on more difficult missions, elite squads were needed, with powerful Jonin as captains. The more experienced Chunin and Special Jonin could only serve under a Jonin as team members.

Without exception, the Hyuga Clan ninjas had all been assigned to these elite squads, whose average strength was higher.

Before Hyuga Akiba had time to get bored, a white-haired boy wearing a face mask walked in. Holding two sheets of paper, he looked around, fixed his gaze on Hyuga Akiba and another girl with black hair and eyes, and called out, "Hyuga Akiba, Uchiha Aika, come with me!"

With that,

He didn't wait for Hyuga Akiba and the others, but walked out first.

Hyuga Akiba stood up and left with the other Uchiha girl. Outside the tent, they saw the white-haired boy waiting, with a brown-haired girl with a sweet, gentle face standing beside him.

Kakashi watched the two girls approach and greeted them in a flat, emotionless voice. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. Starting today, you two are my team members."

"Hello, Captain. I'm Hyuga Akiba, fourteen years old, a Special Jonin. My specialties are the Byakugan and Gentle Fist!"

Hyuga Akiba introduced herself with plenty of energy. What she said was completely redundant—what Hyuga Clan ninja didn't specialize in the Byakugan and Gentle Fist? Still, she seemed lively and easy to get along with.

When Hyuga Akiba had finished, the black-haired, dark-eyed girl, whose delicate features made her look like someone in a painting, smiled and said, "I'm Uchiha Aika, also fourteen years old, and a Special Jonin. I specialize in genjutsu and Fire Release, and I know a little Lightning Release!"

Hatake Kakashi nodded.

Although both of his new teammates were girls, one came from the Hyuga Clan and the other from the Uchiha Clan. They were fourteen-year-old Special Jonin—not on the level of the twelve-year-old Jonin that he was—but they could still be called geniuses.

"Hello, I'm Nohara Rin, a Chunin and a Medical Ninja."

The brown-haired girl, with two purple markings painted on her face, introduced herself to her new teammates with a warm smile. Her voice was soft and sweet, gentle as water.

"Rin, you're a Medical Ninja? Then I'll have to trouble you to treat me whenever I get hurt!"

Hyuga Akiba beamed and went over to snuggle up to Nohara Rin. She was so outgoing that she called Rin by her first name right away, as though they'd been friends for years.

"Don't worry, Akiba. I might not be able to do much to help you in battle, but I promise I'll take care of the support work. If you get hurt, just come to me!" Nohara Rin was outgoing and lively, too. She called Hyuga Akiba by her first name as well, without the slightest awkwardness.

Uchiha Aika didn't join the girls. Instead, she looked at Hatake Kakashi and asked, "Captain, what about you? What are you good at?"

"Kenjutsu and Lightning Release."

Kakashi's answer was brief and clear.

Then,

He looked at the three of them and said, "Now that you've all met, there's no need to waste time chatting. The fighting with the Kirigakure ninjas is at a stalemate, and there's a mission waiting for us. You have ten minutes to get ready. Meet at the camp entrance in ten minutes."

"Yes, Captain,"

Hyuga Akiba replied loudly.

"Then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going!"

Uchiha Aika was very polite.

After the two girls left in opposite directions, one after the other, Nohara Rin came over to Kakashi and said with a smile, "This is great, Kakashi. Our new teammates seem easy to get along with!"

"Rin, you don't have to come out on missions with me. With your Medical Ninjutsu, you could stay at the camp and treat the wounded." Kakashi didn't comment on the new teammates. Instead, he once again tried to persuade Rin to stay in the safer rear.

"Kakashi, Obito is gone already. If I left too, wouldn't you be all alone? Besides, I trust you to protect me, and our new teammates are both amazing. One's from the Hyuga Clan, and the other, like Obito, is from the Uchiha Clan. They're both beautiful, too. Speaking of which... are either of them your type?"

Nohara Rin rattled on, just as she always had, refusing to stay in the safer rear.

Kakashi scratched his head and sighed silently. He tilted his head back to look at the sky, and silently asked in his heart, Obito, how can I convince Rin to stay in the rear? Unfortunately, his departed teammate couldn't give him any answers.

Only the lively, gentle girl kept chattering away. "...As for who's prettier, it's definitely Uchiha Aika. She's so gorgeous that even I'm smitten, though Akiba is really pretty too—bright and striking. Kakashi, which type do you like?"

Kakashi pretended not to hear.

He didn't take the bait.

He had no interest in that kind of conversation.

He simply walked with Nohara Rin toward the camp entrance, where they waited for their new teammates to assemble.

A large tree stood about twenty meters outside the camp.

Hidden beneath its dense foliage, a half-black, half-white face emerged from the trunk. It blended into the tree like a burl, without a trace of anything unnatural.

"Why give Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin those two as teammates? Weren't we going to kill Nohara Rin to make Obito open his eyes? Aren't those two teammates just going to cause trouble for us?"

The white half of the face spoke.

"Just killing Nohara Rin isn't enough. Obito has to know that her death was entirely Konoha's fault, Kirigakure's fault, and the fault of this wretched world—and that it absolutely wasn't our fault!"

The black half stared at the four-person squad assembling at the camp entrance and said, "A conspiracy is already brewing between Kirigakure and Konoha. We might as well take advantage of it. Even if Obito has doubts afterward and investigates, everything will still make perfect sense, with not a single flaw or loose end."