Invitation to Form a Team

A few days later, the two who had completed the mission to subdue the Giant Bear returned to Konoha.

The next morning at four, Shinichi left the house as usual and began his daily Village Morning Run.

The sky was still dark, the streets silent, and only the steady, powerful rhythm of his footsteps echoed through them.

After running for some time, as he passed the outskirts of a certain training ground, a bright green figure cut in from the side like a gust of wind and smoothly kept pace beside him.

"Shinichi, long time no see!"

The newcomer was none other than Might Duy. He wore his signature green jumpsuit, his steps brimming with bouncing vitality. The red ribbon of his Forehead Protector, tied around his waist, fluttered lightly in the wind, while his face wore that ever-present, seemingly unfading smile of youthful passion.

"Indeed, Senior Duy." Shinichi nodded and replied evenly, his breathing steady.

As someone who had trained day in and day out for years, Shinichi had encountered this famous father-and-son pair during his morning runs more than once or twice.

Over time, although they could not be called close friends, they had become familiar running companions who could stop and chat for a few words.

"Is Guy not with you today?" Shinichi asked casually.

"He went on a mission." Might Duy answered in his usual booming voice, but if one listened carefully, there was a subtle pause in it.

"You didn't go with him, Senior?" Shinichi followed up.

Although it sounded somewhat surprising, Might Guy had indeed graduated early. He had even graduated earlier than Shinichi—successfully becoming a Genin last year.

However, like Shinichi, he had not been assigned to a regular squad. Since graduating, he had followed his father, Might Duy, handling some basic D-rank missions around the village.

At Shinichi's question, the eternally spirited smile on Might Duy's face froze almost imperceptibly for a moment. He raised a hand and scratched his stiff black hair, revealing a rare expression of embarrassment and helplessness.

"That boy Guy... said he's grown up and can carry out missions on his own now, so..."

He did not finish, but Shinichi already understood.

This was probably a stage every child went through while growing up. As children, they saw their fathers as omnipotent heroes, but once they stepped into a broader world and came into contact with outsiders' opinions and judgments, their state of mind quietly changed.

Especially at Might Guy's age, when his self-esteem was sensitive and he cared deeply about how others viewed him.

After becoming a ninja, he had perhaps felt even more directly the disdain and mockery some villagers held toward his father as a "perpetual Genin" who "only knew Taijutsu."

His father's passionate declarations of youth, which had once set his blood ablaze, seemed like clownish acts that did not fit in at all beneath the strange looks of others. They made him feel embarrassed, even ashamed to appear alongside his father.

This estrangement and inner conflict would probably continue until that turning point arrived—until Might Duy passed the Eight Gates on to him, until he found himself cornered during a mission and surrounded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

The father he had always thought was "embarrassing" would descend from the sky like a burning meteor, causing the brilliance of a miracle to bloom from a mortal body.

Only then would all his emotional knots be completely swept away by scorching tears and pride.

But that was a story for later.

Thinking of this, Shinichi suddenly stopped running. He turned toward Might Duy beside him and spoke seriously.

"Senior, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. I heard this year's Chunin Ninja Exams will be held in Sunagakure. I plan to participate, but my team is currently short one person. I'd like to invite you to be my teammate and travel there with us."

Might Duy was visibly stunned. He blinked, seeming to wonder if he had heard correctly, then hurriedly waved his hands. His smile remained as bright and hearty as ever, but there was a trace of awkwardness in it.

"Shinichi, don't joke around! You're a recognized Genius in the village, and everyone can see your strength. I... I'm only a perpetual Genin who knows a few moves of Taijutsu. I don't understand ninjutsu or Genjutsu at all. If I team up with you, I'm afraid I'll only hold you back and ruin your future!"

"Senior, I'm serious." Shinichi's eyes were clear, and there was not the slightest hint of jest in his voice. "In my eyes, you're a very powerful man. You've devoted your entire heart to Taijutsu. That decades-long focus and perseverance are worthy of respect in themselves. Anyone who can hone Taijutsu to its peak cannot be underestimated. To be honest, I know another ninja who has cultivated Taijutsu to an extremely high level. I'm also planning to invite him to serve as our team's squad leader this time."

Might Duy was left at a loss by his words, and his voice dropped several notches below its usual volume. "Shinichi, you... you're giving me too much credit. I really..."

"Senior." Shinichi interrupted him, his tone becoming even more earnest. "You often tell Guy that even someone who only knows Taijutsu can become a great ninja. Those words are filled with power. But if even you, the person who says them, don't truly believe in yourself deep down, if you think you're unqualified and will only hold others back, then how much power do those words have left?"

He gazed into Might Duy's somewhat dazed eyes and slowly continued, "Senior, a father is a child's first and most important role model. If you cannot face and believe in your own path, how can you make Guy sincerely believe that even by focusing solely on Taijutsu like his father, he can truly walk a glorious path as a ninja?"

The morning light grew brighter, illuminating Shinichi's calm and earnest face. Might Duy gazed at the sincere young man before him. The flame that had burned in his chest for years, yet which he sometimes ignored even himself, seemed to have been quietly stirred and burned a little more fiercely.

"You're right, Shinichi! Then let's make our youth bloom in Sunagakure!"

After successfully inviting Might Duy, Shinichi found Teacher Chen that evening. He was instructing Ishizuka Takashi at the training ground.

Using Teacher Chen's promise that he would teach Shinichi a new Taijutsu technique once Shinichi became a Chunin as his reason, he sincerely invited Teacher Chen to serve as his team's Jonin squad leader and travel with them to Sunagakure.

Shinichi's reason was simple: he hoped Teacher Chen could personally witness his promotion to Chunin at the very first opportunity.

Chen Baojun adjusted his round sunglasses, pondered briefly, and then agreed.

Late that night, Shinichi lay in bed, lost in thought.

Graduating and becoming a Chunin in the same year had been the path he had planned before graduation. He needed to advance his Occupation rapidly and obtain the stat boosts brought by the [Genin] and [Chunin] Occupation Traits in succession.

More importantly, the Trait-draw opportunities that came with every Occupation promotion were crucial. Judging from the previous pattern, beginning with Chunin, he might have a chance to access higher-level Blue Trait draws.

That was the fundamental reason he was so eager—even willing to consider traveling to Sunagakure for the Chunin Ninja Exams. Before the potentially approaching upheaval engulfed everything, he needed to strengthen the foundation of his power as quickly as possible.

Still, when he learned that this year's Chunin Ninja Exams would be held in Sunagakure, he had indeed hesitated.

Now, with one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, serving as the overall team leader, Konoha's strongest Taijutsu ninja, Teacher Chen, and the two perpetual Genin Maruboshi Kosuke and Might Duy as teammates—

The Third Hokage might even attend the finals.

After thinking it over, Shinichi decided there was nothing to worry about. Even if some unexpected incident truly occurred in Sunagakure, they would be more than capable of handling it.

With this lineup, they could probably put on a Sunagakure version of the Collapse Plan right in Sunagakure.