The Early Death Squad

After coughing violently for a while, Torifu Akimichi finally caught his breath. Pointing to the quiet, black-haired, dark-eyed boy beside him, he smoothly changed the subject. "This is Uchiha Hikari. His father, Kagami Uchiha, was my teammate."

Uchiha Hikari nodded at the two of them but said nothing.

Seeing his reaction, Torifu sighed. "Hikari became withdrawn at a young age because his father died early and his clan treated him coldly. I hope you won't mind."

Hearing that Uchiha Hikari was Kagami Uchiha's son, Nawaki guessed he must be the father of the famous Body Flicker Shisui.

So Nawaki took the initiative and said to him, "I've heard about Senior Kagami Uchiha. My second granduncle thought highly of him, saying he was a ninja who rose above clan interests. He sacrificed himself to protect his comrades, too. He was a great hero who embodied the Will of Fire! I'm sure Hikari can carry on his father's convictions and honor!"

At Nawaki's words, the lifeless expression on Uchiha Hikari's face finally changed. His eyes reddened, and he said with a tremble, "Thank you! Thank you for recognizing my father. I'll carry on his convictions and protect the village and my comrades!" As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes changed dramatically with emotion. Ten-year-old Uchiha Hikari had awakened his Sharingan!

"Sharingan! Congratulations, Hikari!" Torifu Akimichi said, sensing the change in his chakra. "And thank you, Nawaki. Your encouragement helped Hikari overcome his inner turmoil."

Nawaki smiled happily. "We're comrades. We should help each other!"

Earlier, Nawaki had received a system notification that Uchiha Hikari's heartfelt recognition and gratitude had earned him 2,000 Wish Power. His silver tongue was getting more and more polished.

Come to think of it, the members of their little squad all seemed to have remarkable backgrounds. They were practically Konoha's most legitimate, red-blooded Hokage loyalists.

Thinking it over, though, all the members of this squad seemed to meet bad ends in the original story. Nawaki died at twelve, while Hikari and Shinnosuke's sons seemed to have both been orphans, so the two of them must have died fairly young, too. In that case, their squad could be called the Early Death Squad. But with Nawaki as a wild card, surely things would turn out differently now.

Torifu Akimichi and the Third Hokage had been classmates. As a student of the Second Hokage and the Akimichi Clan's head, he should have been at least an elite jonin. Konoha had specifically assigned him as the three boys' jonin instructor mainly to ensure their safety.

Training them was secondary, since all three had inherited their clans' teachings and didn't need an outsider to instruct them.

As newly graduated Genin—and important people under Konoha's protection—Nawaki and his two teammates couldn't take missions above C-rank that required them to leave the village. Instead, under Torifu Akimichi's leadership, they helped villagers with trivial D-rank tasks, mostly searching for pets, cleaning up rubbish, driving away wild animals, and tending fields.

Apart from Shinnosuke, who had a rather jumpy personality, none of the squad members were impatient. After Nawaki had talked Uchiha Hikari into becoming a hero who protected the village, Hikari wouldn't let these difficulties defeat him. Nawaki, far from being impatient, was actually enjoying himself. Why was he so happy?

D-rank missions paid very little, only 500 to 10,000 ryo, and the work was mostly exhausting manual labor. That kind of pay meant nothing to a young clan head with a monthly income in the hundreds of millions.

What made him happy was the Wish Power and reputation he gained from the villagers' gratitude after each mission.

Nawaki's reputation as a genius had spread throughout Konoha, and everyone had heard of him. But as the saying went, seeing was believing. Villagers were naturally excited and deeply impressed to meet a famous person who personally worked for them. On top of that, Nawaki was courteous and polite, with a sunny demeanor. He was far better than those cold-looking ninjas who held their noses in the air!

And he was the First Hokage's grandson, the Senju Clan's young clan head. How could villagers not feel fondness and respect for such a noble young master who was so approachable, humble, and polite?

So ever since the missions began, Nawaki had earned nearly a thousand Wish Power every day, and his reputation had steadily grown. Both were the foundation of his future and more important than money. That was why he beamed after every mission, wishing this life of raising his reputation while earning Wish Power could go on forever.

To outsiders, though, his genuine smile looked like a sign of his love for helping others. Torifu Akimichi, his three teammates, and even the Hokage, who secretly watched them, all praised his kindness and optimism. They believed that even if he did something outrageous someday, they would find all kinds of reasons to justify it and preserve the good image they had of him. That was human nature: people longed for goodness and light, and would even deceive themselves to hold on to the beauty in their hearts.

Good times always flew by. In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed, and it was now autumn of Konoha's twenty-fifth year.

Nawaki had turned five a few months earlier, and his chakra reserves had now reached jonin level. He could use B-rank jutsu as standard combat techniques, and he had completely mastered both the Six Powers and nature transformation. Apart from combat experience, his strength was already comparable to a jonin's.

Ever since graduating early, Nawaki had often returned to the academy to "visit" his old classmates whenever he wasn't on a mission. His record against Uchiha Fugaku remained zero wins and nothing but losses. The academy had also refused his application for early graduation, so Fugaku had no choice but to follow the ninja ranking system, address Nawaki as "sir," and bow to him. His short temper provided Nawaki with plenty of Wish Power, and his Sharingan was progressing quickly, too. The two of them could be said to be benefiting each other.

Hizashi and Hiashi interpreted Nawaki's behavior as his way of training and looking after his juniors. More than once, they had used themselves as an excuse to persuade Fugaku not to speak ill of Nawaki. It seemed the brothers had been completely taken in. Their cousin, Hyuga Setsuna, blushed every time Nawaki teased her, yet she kept eagerly approaching him.

Over the past year and a half, Nawaki's squad had completed at least one or two D-rank missions every day. He had accumulated nearly 400,000 Wish Power, leaving him 600,000 short of a perfect Sharingan exchange. His reputation had reached 300 points, providing him with more than 10,000 Wish Power a year. However, since most mission clients were wealthy merchants and landowners, there were only so many of them, and the squad had recently run into familiar clients several times. His Wish Power and reputation were therefore growing more slowly.

But the situation in the Shinobi World had gradually stabilized, and an era of peace had begun. There was no need to send the lower ranks into battle. Konoha's higher-ups seemed set on keeping their squad in the village, so Torifu Akimichi and the Third Hokage only allowed them to take D-rank missions. No matter how much Shinnosuke complained or made a fuss, they wouldn't budge.