Team Five

Before solving the so-called "energy purity" problem, the Accio's power had been almost impossible to improve.

Soji had also tried repeatedly practicing the spell by working out, hoping to gain proficiency, but the final results had been deeply disappointing.

As a result, Yamada-kun could only focus on finding more ways to apply his ability.

The Filth-Licking Technique he had developed earlier had gotten his research off to a good start by combining it with other ninjutsu. Aside from healing the sick and saving lives, Soji could theoretically kill a target with a single strike under specific conditions!

It was just a shame that not every ninja had kidney stones...

The ever-changing conditions of the battlefield certainly wouldn't allow Soji to conduct thorough examinations of every enemy and determine which ones were "Golden Core cultivators"...

So this time, Soji set his sights on changing the objects affected by his spell.

—One of the greatest symbols of human progress was learning to use tools!

The boy planned to develop a new technique with the help of external tools!

And in this regard, Soji, who had received an exam-oriented education in his previous life, undoubtedly had a broader perspective than most of the native-born ninjas.

...Since the Accio could affect foreign objects inside the human body, and kidney stones were so hard to come by, why not create some foreign objects that the spell could affect?

With that in mind, the problem before him changed from using the Accio to directly inflict damage to injecting objects into a target's body.

From the perspective of natural science, there were only two direct ways to achieve this.

After ruling out the path involving reproduction and heredity, the remaining options all came down to "breaking through defenses."

As everyone knew, piercing armor and skin depended not only on the target's hardness, but also on the pressure applied to its surface.

But given his own limitations, ordinary kunai and shuriken clearly didn't meet Soji's needs. Even thinner senbon could hardly be used reliably by a Genin to inflict serious damage on an enemy.

Soji had therefore commissioned the Medical Department to use glass as raw material and, through high-temperature melting, drawing, winding, and other processes, produce a batch of Glass Fiber strands generally only one-twentieth the thickness of a human hair!

These glittering "Glass Wires" were not only good insulators (so Lightning Release was no threat), heat-resistant (so Fire Release was no threat), corrosion-resistant (so Lava Release was no threat), and mechanically strong, but, most importantly, their raw materials were easy to obtain, and their production costs were extremely low compared to traditional ninja tools.

That saved Soji quite a bit of effort when it came to claiming the expense through the hospital...

Ahem, back to the point.

Under the effect of the Accio, these strands, too fine to be seen with the naked eye, could easily pierce a target's skin, enter the body, and damage the enemy from the inside out by attacking the most vulnerable parts.

Just think: Uchiha Fugaku had nearly died after metal fragments entered his liver...

If the weapon were replaced with even finer Glass Fiber, then unless the target had a life-saving skill like Creation Rebirth, an ordinary person who was hit wouldn't even have a chance to be rescued.

Soji had also tested this in practice using the Cadaver Teacher.

—As long as more than two grams of Glass Fiber entered the target beneath the skin, he was confident he could use the Accio to inflict irreversible damage on the target's organs.

All things considered, this technique was exceptionally stealthy and highly effective at killing!

Because of its unusual method of inflicting damage and its dramatic effect when used, Soji named the technique "Rain Woman's Heart," drawing inspiration from the legend of the Rain Woman killing people.

With this, the number of ninjutsu he had invented based on his own Kekkei Genkai rose to two. Twelve-year-old Yamada Soji was beginning to look like a ninja who relied on skill.

Of course, when it came to intelligence and skill, his current tactics were nowhere near as sophisticated as those of the ninja assigned to teach their team.

As the graduation ceremony proceeded, the Genin finally learned through official channels how their three-person teams would be formed and who their supervising teachers would be.

Aside from Akimichi Todo, the other member of Soji's Team Five was Sarutobi Erina, from the Sarutobi Clan.

In terms of seniority, the girl was the Hokage's distant grandniece, making her something of a member of the village's "royal family."

After the list was announced, she came over and joined the conversation between Soji and Akimichi Todo. Overall, she seemed cheerful and easy to get along with.

As for her abilities...

Erina had excelled in every subject at the academy. If you set aside everyone's secret techniques, she had the highest average ability of the three.

"I heard the Ino-Shika-Cho clans usually try to keep their younger members together in permanent teams, so they can get used to working with each other. It's quite unusual that Akimichi is on a team with us this time!"

Erina tilted her head with a smile and struck up a conversation with Akimichi Todo.

He didn't seem inclined to hide anything and explained openly. "That's right. The secret techniques of the Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Nara Clans can work together to improve their effectiveness in actual combat, so when we graduate from the Ninja Academy, we're often put in a special-technique team to build up our teamwork.

"But unfortunately, I'm right in the middle age-wise. I don't have any teammates close to my age who can work with me. If I were forced to team up with seniors who've already become Chunin, it might throw off the team's balance. That's probably why the Hokage arranged things this way."

"Oh? Does that mean Soji and I will end up holding the team back?"

"Not at all! Not at all! Actually, I still have plenty of room to improve. I'm the one who should be asking you both not to look down on me."

Akimichi Todo waved his hands repeatedly, then offered Erina a packet of little biscuits.

Like Soji, she accepted the snacks with a smile, then casually handed the chubby boy and Yamada-kun a bundle of tags each.

"Don't worry, I was only joking. Here—these are welcome gifts I prepared for you both. They're Flash Tags that I specially improved. They might come in handy at a critical moment!"

"You improved them yourself, Erina?" Soji nodded and accepted the tags with both hands, studying them carefully in his palm.

"That's right. It may look like I only made a few adjustments to the inscriptions, but it took a lot of work!"

"Really... That's impressive."

Soji had never looked much into Sealing Jutsu or the costly business of inscribing tags, but thanks to his excellent memory, he could still notice a few subtle differences after seeing the real thing several times.

Given that she was a descendant of the Sarutobi Clan, there was probably much more to the technique than Erina let on when she called it "ordinary."

That meant everyone on Soji's Team Five was a top student at the academy, and each of them had a special skill!

All things considered, having two teammates with such promising futures sit around guarding a Field Hospital with him seemed like a bit of a waste of their talents...

Yet just as Yamada-kun was reflecting on this, a middle-aged ninja in a jonin vest, his hair tied up in a spiky topknot, pushed open the classroom door and entered the group's field of vision.

Unlike the old war heroes everyone knew by name, this man, with his slanted eyes and flat nose, looked entirely unfamiliar. He didn't seem particularly famous.

But the moment he appeared, Soji keenly noticed that both his teammates had subtly straightened up!

That made the boy intensely curious about the man's identity.

He was trying to guess who the man was from details like his clothes and build, but the rather dispirited-looking middle-aged ninja took the initiative and walked straight over to Team Five.

"You're the three unlucky brats, right?"

The man squatted down, braced one hand on the desk, and rested half his face on his forearm.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Nara Motonari, the jonin who'll be in charge of you for the foreseeable future...

"There aren't enough people at the border, so we probably won't get to start with routine missions like catching cats and dogs. We'll be thrown into the bloody, brutal life of a ninja before long."

Nara Motonari sighed. He radiated an air of exhaustion, like his very life force had been drained away...

"Let's get this straight: I'm a support-type ninja. If any of you have a psychological problem with fighting to the death, or have doubts about my professional abilities, speak up before we leave...

"I'm only responsible for getting you to the mission site. I can't guarantee I'll bring you all back in one piece."