Teammates

After resting at home for two days, Xia Yan reported to the Anbu on time.

Anbu work was demanding, but when there were no missions, or under certain special circumstances, it could also be fairly relaxed.

You might complete a mission today and get several days of proper rest, only to have no time to rest at all on your next mission.

So in the Anbu, besides learning all sorts of practical skills and memorizing a wide range of intelligence, you also needed to plan your time wisely.

Xia Yan did very well in this respect, although he had a cheat helping him avoid wasting too much time on unnecessary things.

Still, proper planning and learning plenty of things were both essential.

Over those two days of rest, Xia Yan had worked out some of the paths he could take in the future. Although certain things remained vague, at least he had some ideas.

He had also kept studying Sealing Jutsu these past few days. He knew he had a long, difficult road ahead of him, but if he did not put in the effort, he would have even less hope.

I'm no genius, after all. I'm just someone with a few special advantages helping me, so I need to work even harder.

Xia Yan had a fairly clear understanding of his own talent. If he could not grow those special fruits to help himself,

he would probably have died on an Anbu mission long ago, or been sent straight to the front lines to become one more piece of cannon fodder.

The irony was that, in Hashirama Senju's time, the so-called spirit of fire had actually been the founding principle of Konoha.

A large group of ninja had gathered to establish it to protect children from the threat of war and keep young lives from withering away amid the fighting.

Yet during both the Second Shinobi World War and the Third Shinobi World War, throughout the Third Hokage's rule, many young children had been sent onto the battlefield.

This ran completely counter to Konoha's original purpose and Hashirama Senju's Will of Fire.

Even if that had not been his intention, even if Konoha had reached its most dangerous hour, he had indeed done it.

If Xia Yan had not been lucky, and if his family had not had some connections, he probably would not have escaped that fate either.

"Good morning, Captain Nightingale."

"Good morning."

After arriving at the Anbu base, Xia Yan greeted his passing colleagues with a smile, but soon noticed Kakashi sitting alone in a corner.

After a moment's thought, he simply walked over to Kakashi. Since he wanted Kakashi to introduce him to Kushina, he had to build a good relationship with him.

"Why are you sitting here alone?" Xia Yan asked as he reached Kakashi. "Getting along with the others will actually do you a lot of good in the future."

"Captain." Kakashi looked up and answered calmly, then said nothing more.

Xia Yan did not particularly mind. He pulled Kakashi to his feet and led him toward the lounge.

Kakashi found Xia Yan's actions a little strange, but he did not resist. As far as he was concerned, Xia Yan was his captain, and his teacher also wanted him to get along with Xia Yan.

Soon, the two of them arrived at the training room, where quite a few Anbu were doing some simple basic exercises.

Such training helped keep their bodies active and also served as a simple warm-up for missions.

Anbu missions were not limited to work outside the village. There were often tasks for them within the village as well.

And compared with missions outside the village, those inside offered little time to prepare, making advance preparation particularly necessary.

"Captain."

Shortly after the two of them entered, two Anbu ran over and greeted Xia Yan.

The pair looked seventeen or eighteen and were both quite solidly built, so it seemed a little strange to hear them call someone of Xia Yan's thirteen or fourteen years their captain.

Yet no one around them thought there was anything wrong with it. Competition within the Anbu was far harsher than outside.

During wartime, ninja could receive wartime promotions for completing certain special missions.

But there was no such arrangement in the Anbu. Only sufficient strength and enough completed missions could earn a promotion.

That was where the saying "Anbu ninja are all elite ninja" came from. It was harsh, but effective.

Although Xia Yan had used some connections to enter the Anbu, his strength was genuine, and it had taken him three years to earn his position as squad captain.

"I knew you two would be here."

Xia Yan gave them a warm smile, then pointed at Kakashi.

"I imagine you already know this guy. An old classmate of mine, and a true genius ninja."

Xia Yan paused, then pointed out his two squad members to Kakashi and continued in the same gentle tone.

"These two are Masaya and Shinichi. They've both saved my life."

Neither Masaya nor Shinichi had a surname. If they had to be given one, perhaps "Yakushi" would have suited them best.

Both had come from an orphanage. Their parents had died in the war long ago, and even their identities could no longer be traced.

So they had no surnames, only given names. That could be called their misfortune.

But they were fortunate as well. At least they had entered the Anbu, rather than Root, which stripped people of their humanity outright.

"Don't listen to the captain's nonsense. He was the one who saved us."

Shinichi shook his head at the thought, then nodded to Kakashi.

"My name is Shinichi. Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you."

"I look forward to working with you."

"Hello, I'm Masaya. I look forward to working with you."

"I look forward to working with you."

Compared with Shinichi and Masaya, Kakashi was more than polite enough but lacked warmth. Still, he was new, so neither of them took it too much to heart.

Besides, Shinichi and Masaya had very likely read his information beforehand, so they naturally would not find his coldness puzzling.

Of course, they were not particularly warm toward Kakashi either. After all, even in the Anbu, someone who had killed his own comrade with his own hands warranted some caution.

"All right, everyone. From now on, we're teammates."

Only after they had finished introducing themselves did Xia Yan speak with a smile.

"I don't know how long we'll stay together as a team, but as long as we work together, we'll definitely be able to complete our missions perfectly."

"Yes, Captain!" Masaya, Shinichi, and Kakashi replied at once.

Turnover in the Anbu was not exceptionally high, but it was not low either.

Mission casualties, for instance, or sudden additions like Kakashi, could all force an existing team to change its members.

And the Anbu's death rate was certainly not low, because none of the people they faced were easy opponents.

Things were fine as long as they went undiscovered, but once they were found, making it back would probably be very difficult indeed.

Xia Yan nodded in satisfaction at the sight. But just as he was about to give his teammates another dose of inspiration and bring them closer together, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Everyone, assemble..."