Lianna Qianyu

Ninjas are a combat profession that places an abnormal emphasis on agility and speed, with an extreme focus on offensive attributes. This one-sidedness can be glimpsed through the evolution of their combat attire. Taking Konoha as an example, during the chaotic battles of the village's founding and the eras of the First and Second Hokage, ninjas—including the Hokage themselves—were covered in armor. However, after the Second Hokage, ninja armor became concise and streamlined. By the mid-to-late reign of the Third Hokage, one could no longer see any decent armor on a ninja; at most, they would only bind a simple guard to their forearms.

This change might also be related to the shift in the overall quality of ninjas. Although a few "cheaters" would emerge later on, generally speaking, ninjas were "each generation worse than the last."

Regardless, after the establishment of the ninja village system, the living environment for ninjas was far better than in the previous era of war. The slaughter was no longer as frequent or brutal, and as a result, ninjas were no longer as powerful.

For Hanyu, the new armor he wore wasn't too difficult to adapt to. If war didn't add any more weight to his body than this, it would be truly for the best.

However, war would never be that simple.

The day after receiving the member files, Hanyu gathered his squad members at the training ground where he spent the most time.

When he arrived at the agreed-upon time, he saw three figures waiting from afar... Well, members always arriving before the captain made Hanyu suddenly realize that he was, in some capacity, a "leader."

Fine, the Hokage was just a village chief, and as a subordinate's subordinate's subordinate to the village chief, what kind of leader was Hanyu anyway? He hurried a few steps, walked up to them, and said, "Good morning, everyone."

What made things slightly awkward was that no one took him up on it; the three of them merely nodded to acknowledge him.

The ages of these three were similar to Hanyu's, fluctuating by at most a year or two. Facing Hanyu's greeting, their reactions were somewhat silent... It wasn't that they had any particular opinion of Hanyu as a captain, but ninjas who could chat happily upon a first meeting were a rare minority. Most ninjas only knew how to fight and were not good at conversation.

A small portion of ninjas were not only bad at conversation but also bad at fighting.

It seemed getting along would take time... After seeing them in person, Hanyu realized he had been a bit presumptuous. He immediately adjusted his approach, skipped the meaningless pleasantries, and said straightforwardly, "I've gathered everyone here for two reasons: first, as teammates in the same squad, we should at least recognize each other; second, to inform you that we will depart for the Land of Rivers front in three days. Everyone needs to prepare in advance; no delays will be tolerated... This is an order passed down from the Konoha Combat Headquarters, so please take it seriously."

"I have already gained a simple understanding of your situations through some written summaries, but relatively speaking, you might know nothing about me... though that's not entirely true, as you should at least know my name by now. However, to introduce myself further..."

"I am a ninjutsu-type ninja who understands several elemental releases. My taijutsu is so-so, my genjutsu is non-existent, and I am relatively skilled in composite ninjutsu."

Even though the issue of chakra sustainability still hadn't been well resolved.

"I have executed an A-rank high-level mission and achieved success far beyond expectations."

Even though he was just tagging along during the trip to the Cloud Village.

"I have also been kindly received by the Second Hokage and received his praise."

The Second Hokage gave him a thumbs-up from his grave before dying.

Hanyu's self-introduction was half-hidden and half-revealed, and his description of himself was exaggerated. He seemed to be trying his best to put the three members at ease while establishing his authority.

"In short, I haven't been a ninja for long, and my abilities are quite limited, but... based on first impressions, we aren't exactly an elite squad. We are just the most numerous, most mediocre 'trash' squad in the war. Therefore, I will work hard to ensure this 'trash' squad doesn't become 'cannon fodder'."

"First impressions... how do you judge the strength of a squad?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"How should I put it? Well, a strong squad is at least visually striking in terms of hair color. Generally speaking, the standard configuration for a strong squad consists of a blonde member, a white-haired member, a black-haired member, and an optional filler member. Relatively speaking, our squad is too plain; it has absolutely no visual impact."

"..."

This statement left the three squad members staring at each other. They thought Hanyu was making some ill-timed joke, but only Hanyu knew he was telling the truth. His theory had been verified by examples...

Compared to those visually striking squads, a team like theirs, all with black hair, was nothing if not a typical trash squad.

"Alright, in any case, we've all met. A final reminder: don't forget the departure time... Now, dismissed." Hanyu announced that this brief squad meeting had come to an end.

He shook his head. As expected, there was absolutely no tacit understanding between the members of this newly formed squad. A truly well-coordinated squad should at least be in sync. For example, when one person shouts "Ora," the others should shout "Muda"; when someone shouts "Wotou," the others should point out that they are four for a dollar; when someone shouts "Single six," the others should call them an idiot... well, maybe not that last one, it's not very polite.

Hanyu knew that if his new squad wanted to coordinate well, it would definitely take time to hone. Unfortunately, they didn't have that much time and would have to use actual combat on the battlefield as their training.

In fact, aside from the simplest data descriptions, Hanyu was quite satisfied with the composition of his squad. If the abilities they possessed could be coordinated, the combat power and the role this squad could play on the battlefield definitely shouldn't be described as "trash."

Renjuro, Nara Nagisa, Chichiwa, and Yagi—these were the names of the three members of Hanyu's squad. In terms of gender, there were two men and one woman; in terms of ability, they complemented each other and each had their own characteristics.

The Nara member needs no introduction: the Nara clan of Konoha, users of the Shadow Possession Technique. His ability was the kind that could play a huge role on the battlefield.

The second male ninja, Renjuro, was a reconnaissance ninja. He had a certain long-range detection ability... perhaps not on the level of the Byakugan's perverted long-range, wide-area reconnaissance, but having a member who could amplify the squad's search capabilities was invaluable. After all, every bit of intelligence transparency meant one more layer of protection on the battlefield.

Finally, Chichiwa was the type of ninja with long-range attack capabilities. In the classification of ninja combat distances, within five meters is close range, five to ten meters is mid-range, and over ten meters is long range. Chichiwa's long range was even further; she could launch attacks from over fifty meters away.

Looking at it this way, a squad with output, control, and reconnaissance—other than the lack of a medical unit—Hanyu found he had absolutely nothing to complain about... And in this current era, medical ninjas weren't assigned to squad-level formations but were instead concentrated and used.

The great ninja who promoted the revolutionary progress of Konoha's medical technology and advocated for the assignment of medical ninjas to the squad level had been soaked through by Hanyu just a few months ago.

Three days later, Hanyu left a note for Sanshao, and without alerting anyone, he met with his squad and, according to the established plan, headed toward the front lines of the Great Ninja War.