Third Teammate

Beneath the shadows of the trees, space rippled, and a tall, slender figure slowly emerged.

He wore the standard Konoha jōnin uniform, with the familiar green flak jacket over it. His long, jet-black hair fell like a waterfall, and his skin was pale, as if he hadn't seen sunlight in ages.

His reptilian, vertical pupils gleamed with a cold, amused, and dangerous light.

He stood there casually, a faint smile on his lips, as if this wasn't a brutal battlefield before him,

but some fascinating laboratory.

It was none other than Orochimaru, the "Cold Lord," one of the Konoha Sannin.

"Retreat."

Ōnoki floated in the air and spoke calmly, his voice betraying no emotion. "This time, Konoha wins."

Orochimaru watched the Iwagakure Ninja withdraw in orderly fashion and made no move to stop them. After all, in the Shinobi World, being able to fly made one nearly invincible—not to mention that Ōnoki's Dust Release dealt absurd amounts of damage.

There was also an unwritten rule on the battlefield: unless they were fighting on the front lines, shinobi of their caliber, who had reached Kage Level, weren't supposed to attack lower-ranking shinobi at will.

Without this unwritten agreement, Kage-level fighters could mow down the enemy at will, as long as they didn't venture too far behind enemy lines. Sending out any number of low- and mid-ranking ninja would be nothing more than feeding them to the slaughter.

Ōnoki had already crossed the line by intervening like this, but the strong had always made the rules. As the strongest person on the battlefield at that moment, no one dared say a word to him.

If Ōnoki hadn't set aside his pride and repeatedly intervened over the past few days, Iwagakure would have been driven back to the border long ago.

"Hah! Let's head back to camp."

Orochimaru gave the order to the supporting shinobi. As the highest-ranking commander on this battlefield, he had kept a close eye on Ōnoki's movements, which was how he'd arrived in time.

After leading everyone back to camp, Orochimaru immediately summoned Nawaki's Team.

"Sensei!"

As soon as he entered the command tent, Nawaki hurriedly bowed to Orochimaru and greeted him.

"Mm."

Namikaze Yoru noticed a rare hint of a smile on Orochimaru's face. He clearly approved of Nawaki. Setting aside his connection to Tsunade, Nawaki's cheerful, down-to-earth personality might have been his most precious quality.

Perhaps Orochimaru's later obsession with immortality had something to do with Nawaki's early death. But on the path to immortality, he gradually lost sight of his original purpose.

In the end, he became the cold-blooded scientist who said, "There is no point in lamenting the dead. If death has any meaning, it only exists when it can be used."

At this moment, though Orochimaru had a chilly air about him, he still possessed the charisma that had earned him the title of "Cold Lord."

"Have you finished the assignments I gave you?" Orochimaru asked in his hoarse voice, sounding as though he were testing him.

"Those jutsu? I mastered them ages ago," Nawaki replied confidently.

"But I heard you lost a sparring match to the Namikaze boy beside you."

The casual remark instantly shattered Nawaki's newly built confidence, leaving him unable to get another word out.

"Namikaze Yoru. You're impressive. You graduated top of your class at the Ninja Academy as a civilian. Your record since then has been even more remarkable. It seems you have plenty of secrets, too." Orochimaru changed the subject and suddenly turned his attention to Namikaze Yoru, who had been standing off to the side like part of the scenery.

Caught off guard by being singled out, Namikaze Yoru replied calmly, "I went through a lot in the Land of Whirlpools and managed to break through."

Knowing he couldn't hide anything from one of the perceptive Legendary Sannin, he simply offered a reasonable explanation. Who said civilians couldn't produce geniuses? Orochimaru himself, along with Jiraiya, another of the Sannin, were perfect examples.

After all, without exceptional talent, even if Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to promote civilian shinobi, they would never have become the Hokage's students.

Sure enough, hearing Namikaze Yoru's explanation, Orochimaru gave an almost imperceptible nod, seemingly satisfied with it.

"Take some time to settle into camp. The situation on the battlefield can change in an instant, and a mission could come at any time."

Then, as if remembering something, he added, "Your other teammate is waiting outside the tent. Don't keep him waiting too long."

"Yes!" the two replied in unison.

As they stepped out of the tent, they saw a figure standing there waiting, wearing sunglasses despite the late hour.

"Ah! Shibi, it's you!" Nawaki greeted him with exaggerated surprise.

The newcomer was Aburame Shibi, a classmate of Namikaze Yoru and Nawaki's—and the second-best student in their year at the Ninja Academy. With his arrival, the top three graduates of Namikaze Yoru's class had finally reunited on the front lines.

Seeing Aburame Shibi, Namikaze Yoru understood. No matter how boldly Tsunade had spoken, she still couldn't help worrying about Nawaki.

After all, Aburame Shibi was the true genius with limitless potential. His later appearances in the anime proved it.

His son, one of the Konoha 12, was just one example. The events Shibi himself had taken part in were impressive enough.

He teamed up with Namikaze Minato to fight Mukade during the Rōran incident, faced Konan head-on during Pain's Invasion of Konoha, and guarded Naruto's Turtle Island training during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

He was an incredible supporting character who appeared from the beginning of the series to the end, equally capable of assisting or carrying a fight. He was even hailed as the most versatile shinobi.

"Long time no see."

Aburame Shibi's personality was just like Shino's. He spoke in an even, unhurried tone and, like the rest of his clan, was taciturn.

"It really has been a while, Shibi. Looks like I'll have to count on you again," Namikaze Yoru replied with a smile. He thought he and Aburame Shibi had always gotten along fairly well.

When Shibi heard Namikaze Yoru reply, he stiffened slightly, memories of their graduation exam beginning to replay in his mind.

He still remembered their practical graduation exam. The three of them had been far ahead of their classmates, and in terms of raw strength, Namikaze Yoru shouldn't have been able to beat him.

But during the match, Namikaze Yoru had asked, "Where do your Kikaichū shit?" The question had thrown Shibi off, and Namikaze Yoru had seized the opening to win.

Shaking off the memory, he stopped dwelling on it and said coolly, "I'll take you to your tent."

The two followed close behind. They soon reached their quarters, where their team's jōnin leader, Hyuga Teruki, was already resting in the tent.

Several days later.

"Team 17, assemble," Hyuga Teruki ordered. It seemed their adjustment period was over, and a mission had come in.

"Reliable intelligence says there's an Iwagakure supply depot in a valley to the northeast. We're to confirm the report and, if it checks out, destroy it."

After listening, Namikaze Yoru and the others nodded. Their team had the Hyuga's Byakugan, the Aburame's Kikaichū, and Namikaze Yoru's hidden Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

They couldn't ask for a better reconnaissance team. Sending a lineup like this to do the job was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—complete overkill.

And yet, a faint sense of unease quietly crept into Namikaze Yoru's heart.