Squad Formation

A single tear fell to the ground. Teuchi, who had been keeping his head low, looked up to meet the worried gaze of his father, Maruda.

"What kind of display is this, blubbering like a child? I believe you can succeed."

"Thank you, Father. I've come to terms with reality. It's fine if I can't become a ninja; I want to learn how to make ramen from you."

"You're just giving up like that?"

"Yes. Being a ninja isn't for me. I've found a new goal: to become a chef whose craft is no less than yours, so that customers can taste delicious ramen and show a smile from the bottom of their hearts."

Seeing that his son wasn't dejected by failing the exam but had instead found a new purpose, Maruda's smile grew even wider.

"Ho-ho, being a chef is no easier than being a ninja. You'd better be sure."

"I am!"

Maruda looked toward the direction where Hyuga Shinichi had departed. He had been a patron of his stall, and now he had helped his son grow. He could tell that Teuchi had truly made up his mind. He really ought to thank young Shinichi properly.

Since the boy refused free meals and insisted on paying out of respect for him as a chef, he would just start adding a large portion of chashu to his bowl for free from now on. Yes, that was the plan.

Hyuga Shinichi, having left the ramen cart, had no idea what had transpired inside, nor that the future god of ramen had embarked on his path because of him.

"Well, Minato, you have to go back to class this afternoon, right? Let's part ways here. If you have any questions in the future, come find me. I live in the large mansion at the very back of the Senju compound."

"Is Brother Shinichi heading out on another mission?"

"Something like that. I have an elder to visit."

"Then take care, Brother Shinichi, and have a safe journey."

Hyuga Shinichi smiled and ruffled the boy's thick, yellow hair, thinking to himself that it felt quite nice.

After bidding farewell to Namikaze Minato, he returned to the Senju compound, which was now also home to Hyuga Shinichi.

"Grandma, I'm home."

Hyuga Shinichi entered the living room to find Uzumaki Mito sitting there drinking tea. Four years had passed, and a few more wrinkles had appeared on Uzumaki Mito's face, but her constitution remained robust, thanks to what she was drinking.

Because becoming a chunin allowed him to take missions alone or in a team, Hyuga Shinichi had discovered many good things over the years.

For instance, he had found high-quality, aged ginseng. Because it contained natural energy, its nutritional content was incredibly high. No one else had discovered its benefits, and since it grew abundantly on the mountains, Hyuga Shinichi would dig it all up, slice it, and steep it in tea for Uzumaki Mito.

"Back from your mission?"

"Yes, this A-rank mission wasn't too difficult, so I returned quickly."

"Look at you, so capable. How is the Yin Seal coming along? It's been three years; it should be about ready."

A year after he began his apprenticeship, during a training session, Hyuga Shinichi had told Uzumaki Mito about the pressure exerted by his Byakugan and shared his theories with her.

After studying it for a while, Uzumaki Mito taught Hyuga Shinichi the Yin Seal. The Yin Seal could be used to store chakra; thinking that perhaps the issue was an insufficient volume of chakra, he decided to learn the Yin Seal to store it as a backup while he researched other methods.

"I can feel that it will be complete this month."

Uzumaki Mito looked at the gear Hyuga Shinichi hadn't yet removed and the Listen-to-Wind Sword strapped to his back.

"By the looks of you, are you heading out on another mission?"

"Yes. I'm teaming up with Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro this time. We took an escort mission to the Land of Iron. We're leaving at sunset."

Over the years, as Hyuga Shinichi's talent began to shine, Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro had also been training hard, not wanting to be left behind.

When Hyuga Shinichi took the chunin exam at five, the two of them, then six, had graduated from the ninja academy early. Recently, they had also passed the chunin exam to become chunin, and they had agreed long ago to form a team once they all reached that rank.

As for nine-year-old Nawaki, he had recently graduated from the ninja academy. He had also met Orochimaru while attending a gathering with his sister Tsunade, and had since become Orochimaru's apprentice, following him around. He hadn't been seen for months.

"Sigh, leaving me as a lonely old woman again. Tsunade and you are off on missions, and Nawaki has run off to learn from Tsunade's teammate, Orochimaru. Sigh, busy, everyone is so busy. But being busy is good."

"Grandma, I'll take a few months off after this mission. I'll soak and wash your feet every day then."

Because Uzumaki Mito was older and didn't sleep very well, Hyuga Shinichi had been soaking and washing her feet with hot water for the past few years, which always helped Uzumaki Mito sleep very comfortably.

Over these years of living together, the relationship between Uzumaki Mito and Hyuga Shinichi had long since surpassed that of master and student; they treated each other as family—as grandmother and grandson.

Tsunade was often away from home, and Nawaki was reckless, so ever since Hyuga Shinichi arrived at this house, he had taken the initiative to look after Uzumaki Mito's daily life.

This brought Uzumaki Mito great comfort, and Hyuga Shinichi would always bring back something interesting or useful from his missions.

He was mindful of the fact that Uzumaki Mito could not leave the village, yet remained interested in the world outside.

"Haha, I won't tease you anymore. Since you're leaving at sunset, go get some rest now."

Although Uzumaki Mito spoke as if she were an empty-nester, there would always be people to look after her if the house were empty. After all, she was the village's jinchuriki and the wife of the First Hokage; naturally, there were Anbu assigned to care for her, so her life was far from difficult.

At the gates of Konoha, a merchant caravan was already waiting. Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro were standing among them. The talkative Inuzuka Gai was chatting with the caravan leader, while Aburame Tomohiro leaned against a pillar, silent.

"Yo, everyone, sorry I'm late."

"Hahaha, not at all, not at all. We gathered early. Young Shinichi is also here well before the departure time."

The speaker was the client for this mission, the caravan leader named Shanxi. Because Hyuga Shinichi had taken escort missions for him before, and because Hyuga Shinichi was a cheerful and talkative person, the two were well-acquainted.

This mission was to head to the Land of Iron to purchase goods. Since the Land of Iron was a neutral country, it wasn't very dangerous for merchants, though they might encounter some bandits along the way.

Inuzuka Gai, wearing his signature mask, stepped forward and threw an arm around Hyuga Shinichi's shoulder.

"You're something else, man. I heard you're about to become a Special Jonin soon; you'll be able to take on S-rank missions by then."

"Hahaha, can't help it, that's just talent. You can't learn this, Gai, hahahaha."

"You guy."

Aburame Tomohiro stepped forward to hold back the two who were about to start roughhousing.

Hyuga Shinichi, Inuzuka Gai, and Nawaki had all remained quite childish in personality since they first met; only Aburame Tomohiro had grown increasingly mature, and he only really spoke much when he was with these few friends.

In truth, he was quite excited about this team mission, he just didn't know how to express it.

But Hyuga Shinichi still saw through him, calling him a "closeted pervert Tomohiro," which made Inuzuka Gai laugh out loud on the side.

Hyuga Shinichi pulled the two over and extended his hand, palm facing down, in front of them.

"Alright, we finally managed to form the team we talked about back then."

Inuzuka Gai also smiled as he reached out his palm and placed it on the back of Hyuga Shinichi's hand.

"Yeah, I've waited too long for this moment. It's a pity Nawaki went off to learn ninjutsu from someone else."

Aburame Tomohiro adjusted his black goggles and reached out his own hand to place it on the back of Inuzuka Gai's hand.

"Mm."

"That's all you've got? Just an 'mm'?" X2

"Hm?"

Hyuga Shinichi and Inuzuka Gai looked speechlessly at the slightly upturned corners of Aburame Tomohiro's mouth; even the reticent Aburame Tomohiro had been influenced by them to enjoy playing around.

Finally, Inuzuka Gai used his other hand to pick up his ninja dog Black Charcoal, and Black Charcoal also extended a paw to place it on the back of everyone's hands.

"Alright! The Eye-Nose-Ear Squad is officially formed!"