Primitive People

As they chatted, Yuzuru and Shinnosuke Kohinata gradually began to feel a sense of kindred spirits, as if they'd found each other too late.

They were both struggling shinobi at the bottom of the ladder, with similar circumstances and outlooks.

After they'd talked for a while, their third teammate came jogging over. He wasn't even there yet when a regretful sigh reached them:

"I made a mistake. You two actually got here before me. I've been far too lazy."

"..."

Yuzuru's eyes widened. The newcomer was impossible to miss—not even because of what he looked like, but because of his green outfit.

Was that Might Duy? What was he doing on the front lines?

Yuzuru was more and more confused. What was going on with this squad?

Might Duy, the "Eternal Genin," usually only carried out harmless basic missions in Konoha, didn't he? In other words, the kind of menial work everyone called odd jobs...

Might Duy was only in his early twenties, and didn't even have a beard. He was in the prime of his youth.

His Taijutsu was certainly strong, but as far as Konoha's leadership was concerned, he was useless.

Wait. Yuzuru thought about his own situation. He'd been so weak once, yet they'd still sent him to the battlefield. Maybe it wasn't so strange that Might Duy had ended up here too.

"You two, the cold rain of the Land of Rain hasn't managed to extinguish the flames of youth in our hearts... I'm Might Duy of Squad Eleven. I look forward to working with you."

"Senior Duy, hello. I'm Shinnosuke Kohinata, a Genin. This is Yuzuru, a Chunin," Shinnosuke said. He seemed to have caught on to Might Duy's rhythm.

Yuzuru was wondering how far Might Duy had gotten with the Eight Gates at his age. Could he open all eight? Probably not. What about the seventh? That seemed like a stretch too.

In fact, Might Duy had volunteered to come to the front lines. His reasons for wanting to fight were very practical. He did want to protect Konoha, and he did have the simple desire to provide for his family... but most importantly, the missions he'd taken in Konoha didn't pay enough.

His son, Might Guy, had already been born, and raising him would take more money.

After they'd introduced themselves, Shinnosuke asked Might Duy, "Senior Duy, let's get to know each other. What are you good at?"

"Me? What am I good at? I suppose it'd be Taijutsu." Might Duy flashed his signature smile, then gave both teammates a thumbs-up.

So all three shinobi on the team specialized in Taijutsu? What kind of primitive squad was this? So far, Yuzuru had the widest range of offensive skills.

The captain still hadn't shown up, but for some reason, Yuzuru already had a bad feeling.

"Wait, aren't we supposed to be carrying out a reconnaissance mission? Senior Shinnosuke, you don't have any scouting or sensory abilities?"

"Just call me Shingen. I'm not a scout, much less a sensory-type shinobi."

"Looks like we'll have to rely on the captain."

But a while later, when the captain finally arrived, Yuzuru's premonition came true.

The good news was that the captain had sensory abilities. The bad news was that he was a close-range sensor, and his method was unusual... He sensed things not with his eyes or any special sensory technique, but with his nose.

The captain hadn't come alone. He had a dog with him—or, in the professional lingo, a "Ninja Dog."

The captain was a shinobi from the Inuzuka Clan. Whether a Ninja Dog's sensory abilities could compare to a shinobi's was one thing, but everyone knew the Inuzuka Clan's fighting style—or at least, its principles never changed.

In other words, with the captain included, all four members of the squad specialized in Taijutsu... It really was a gathering of primitive people. The team was completely unbalanced.

"Everyone here? I'm Kiba Inuzuka, the captain of this squad and a Chunin. Let's introduce ourselves."

Kiba Inuzuka came up to the three of them. At the same time, the Ninja Dog began sniffing around everyone, apparently trying to memorize their scents.

Yuzuru and the others introduced themselves again. The captain looked about the same age as Might Duy and seemed fairly reliable.

"Good. You should all know what our next mission is. After all, the squad was formed for this very mission."

"There's one thing I need to make clear. My Ninja Dog, Kurotsume, is the core of our team's sensory abilities. Without Kurotsume, we can't carry out the mission. So protecting the dog is our top priority. I hope you understand."

Kurotsume was actually a big yellow dog. He was so large that someone could probably ride him.

The captain's explanation was a little strange. His words made it sound like people were less important than dogs. His speech was more than a little unhinged.

"Captain, don't worry. Ninja Dogs are our teammates too. We'll protect him no matter what!" Yuzuru and Shinnosuke didn't get a chance to weigh in, because Might Duy had already agreed on their behalf.

"You really don't have the Byakugan?" Yuzuru whispered to Shingen.

"Of course not."

"Fine. Then I guess we really can only rely on the Ninja Dog."

The captain's demand sounded unreasonable at first, but he wasn't wrong. The sensory abilities of all four of them together couldn't compare to a dog's. At the very least, a dog's nose was useful.

Did this squad really have any reconnaissance capabilities? Even replacing the Inuzuka captain with an Aburame captain would make the team much more balanced.

Too bad they couldn't switch him out.

What else could they do? One way or another, they had to carry out the mission.

Howling winds and flying sand covered most of the Land of Wind. Somewhere in the endless sandstorms stood Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries.

At that moment, all the important figures in the village had gathered in a conference room.

A meeting of the village leadership was underway.

The Land of Wind was a country with poor natural conditions. Hampered by a harsh environment and a struggling economy, Sunagakure had always suffered from a lack of funding... When the First distributed the Tailed Beasts, the First Kazekage, Reto, had even considered giving his up and asking other countries for financial compensation instead.

Because of its weak economy, Sunagakure had always been weaker than the other four great shinobi villages.

But that was in the past. Things were different now. Sunagakure was at the height of its power... Just before the Shinobi World War broke out, it had changed Kazekage.

The Second Kazekage, Shamon, had stepped down, and the Third Kazekage had taken over. The latter was the strongest Kazekage, possessing Magnet Release.

It had powerful fighters and talented leaders like Chiyo and Ebizō. And, if one looked closely, Sunagakure even had a Perfect Jinchuriki.

All in all, Sunagakure had plenty of strong cards to play. What about Konoha, by comparison?

Konoha's only truly renowned strong shinobi seemed to be the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

At least, that was how things looked on the surface at this point.