New Teammates

However, the Third Hokage did not speak with Shiro for long, because Shiro's new teammates had arrived.

"Hokage-sama, Jonin Nakamura requests an audience."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage stopped "brainwashing" Shiro.

"Let them in."

"Yes."

"Greetings, Hokage-sama."

"Mm. Nakamura, this is the new member I've assigned to your team. I hope you won't mind."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Shiro, go get acquainted with your two teammates first. Captain Nakamura and I still have something to discuss."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." With that, Shiro walked out.

After leaving the Hokage Office Building, Shiro saw two children around his age waiting outside. Perhaps it was the tacit understanding of future teammates, but he immediately recognized them as his teammates. Well, it definitely was not because he had looked at their files beforehand.

This time, Shiro's teammates were not civilians. One was Shikaki of the Nara clan. The file did not mention it, but Shiro guessed that he was probably from a branch family, because the main branch's team composition basically never changed: Ino-Shika-Cho.

The other one was even more impressive: Uchiha Taichi!

To be honest, Shiro had been somewhat surprised when he first learned that his new teammate was from the Uchiha clan. But after giving it some thought, Konoha was not yet as wary of the Uchiha as it would become later.

At present, having just gone through the Second Shinobi War, the village was desperately short on manpower. Naturally, it could not send every Uchiha ninja into the Police Force, so it was perfectly normal for some Uchiha ninja to leave the village on missions.

Still, Shiro could not help stealing a few more glances. After all, this was the infamous red-eyed clan.

"Um, hello. My name is Emiya Shiro. You must be my teammates, right? It's nice to meet you. Please take care of me."

"Hmph! I'm not happy about you joining at all. You're just a civilian."

Shikaki, standing nearby, said helplessly to Shiro, "Well, I hope you won't take it personally. His name is Uchiha Taichi. That's just how he is; he isn't targeting you. My name is Nara Shikaki. Just call me Shikaki."

"Mm, I won't. You can just call me Shiro. Please take care of me."

Of course Shiro did not mind. This was what normal Uchiha were like. Someone like Obito, that airheaded fool, was purely a genetic mutation. Most Uchiha ninja would not treat you pleasantly until they had earned their recognition.

But once they recognized you, they cherished that bond deeply. After all, the Uchiha were the clan that treasured love the most.

Moreover, Shiro understood why Taichi had that attitude. Aside from his personality, there was another reason: their teammate, Matsumoto Jiro, had died in the war, which was why Shiro had joined their team.

That was also an important reason Shiro did not take offense. If it had been Shiro, he would probably have acted much the same way.

Besides, they were just kids. Who had not been cocky for a while?

Understanding was one thing, but asking Shiro to press his warm face against someone's cold backside? Sorry, he could not do that. Until he displayed enough strength to earn Uchiha Taichi's recognition, nothing he said would have much effect.

As for the Nara, they found even breathing troublesome. Do not expect him to strike up a conversation with you.

Thus, when Nakamura came out, he saw this scene: the three of them stood together, but one had his back to Shiro and was looking up at the sky, another leaned against a pillar as if dozing off, and the last had his eyes closed in meditation. Not a word was spoken.

But Nakamura had expected this. He knew his team members' personalities well, so he called out and walked ahead.

"Come on, we're going to the training ground."

The three said nothing and immediately followed.

Training Ground

"We don't have much time. We'll build some teamwork today, then start taking missions tomorrow. Introduce yourselves again. I'm Nakamura, a Jonin. I specialize in Earth Release and Wind Release." After speaking, Nakamura gave Shikaki a look.

"You know my name, and you know my ninjutsu. Mm, that's it."

Nakamura and Shiro: "..."

"My name is Uchiha Taichi." As he spoke, he suddenly activated his Sharingan and stared at Shiro with those red eyes. "I specialize in ninjutsu and genjutsu. I hope you don't hold us back." With that, he closed his eyes and stood off to one side.

To be honest, Shiro had not expected him to awaken the Sharingan so early. Though it was only a single tomoe, it was still remarkable. He was only a little over nine years old. He might have lagged behind people like Itachi, but he still counted as a genius.

Shiro guessed that his teammate's death had caused him to awaken it. What a tragic clan—their greatest power could only be obtained by sacrificing the people they loved.

Shiro felt that he understood a little why the villagers feared the Uchiha. For one, there were those blood-red eyes. When he watched the anime, he had only thought they looked cool, but now that he was truly facing the Sharingan, Shiro realized they really did look cool!

However, blood-red eyes gave people more of an evil impression. On top of that, the Uchiha's Sharingan awakened when deeply loved companions died. Others did not know the details and merely believed they had been hiding their strength, allowing their teammates to die. Meanwhile, village higher-ups like Danzo smeared them in secret.

That was why the Uchiha came to be feared by the villagers and eventually walked down that final path.

"Ahem, Shiro, you're up."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I didn't expect Taichi-kun to have awakened the Sharingan so early. I was a little surprised."

Nakamura merely waved a hand, signaling for Shiro to continue.

"My name is Emiya Shiro. I specialize in taijutsu and archery. Mm, and a little sealing technique."

The three looked at Shiro in surprise. After all, both sealing techniques and archery were relatively uncommon. Of course, the difference was that sealing techniques were simply difficult to learn, while bows were rarely used by ninja—almost never, in fact.

"Very good. Next, we'll begin training. Today's focus is building teamwork. Also, Shiro, Shikaki has always been the one to make battle plans for our team. Do you have any objections?"

"No, none at all. I've heard of the Nara clan's great reputation!"

"Ahh, why don't you object, Shiro? What a pain." Hearing Shiro's answer, Shikaki let out a mournful sigh.

"Haha, Shikaki, just accept it. All right, let's start training!"

"Yes!" x3

That evening, Shiro and the others sat in the training ground resting. The four had trained all day, and their Chakra was nearly depleted. Then Shiro suddenly thought of something. "Do you want to learn a very practical sealing technique?"

Nakamura frowned. "Is that all right, Shiro?"

"It's fine. I asked Big Sis Kushina, and she agreed. It's only a simple sealing technique and doesn't involve anything else. It's very practical." Shiro was not lying. Kushina had indeed agreed to let him pass on this sealing technique.

More precisely, she strongly supported letting more people learn it. After all, it was her life's work. Well, Shiro only guessed that was the reason; Kushina had not said so.

Besides, Shiro also hoped more people could learn this sealing technique. After all, sharing happiness only reduced it, while sharing pain was different. Not only could it reduce your own pain, it could also increase your own happiness!

Yes, the sealing technique Shiro intended to teach was that utterly insane technique with more than eighty hand seals!

"I'll demonstrate it for you first. You absolutely have to learn it."

"If that's the case, explain it. I'll supervise them while they learn."

"Hehe, it's a deal!"

Shikaki and Taichi had yet to realize the miserable fate awaiting them. At that moment, they were watching eagerly from the side.

Thanks to Wanxin Yun'er, Meow Silent Until Now, Mo Yan, You, Mo Yan, Rainy Day Maple, Meow Silent Until Now, and OnlyLove Mio for the recommendation votes.