Have you ever killed your own teammate?

That was how Anbu missions worked. Even when you came here to be "on standby," you had no idea when a mission would come up.

Much less what your mission would actually be. Secrecy was extremely strict.

But apart from Kakashi, everyone in their squad was an old hand who had spent a long time in the Anbu. They were all thoroughly accustomed to how it currently operated.

The training room, which had been packed with people, suddenly emptied out, while every Anbu member at the base gathered in the lounge in the front hall.

Everyone had lined up by squad and stood silently in place. The Anbu's discipline was on full display at that moment.

"Is everyone here?"

The Captain swept his gaze over everyone present before speaking dispassionately.

"There's a mission you need to depart for immediately. Your destination is the border outposts to the northwest.

"Squad leaders will collect the specific mission locations. Your objective is to intercept and kill any outside ninja attacking the outposts!

"Remember, that means all of them. Understood?"

"Yes, Captain!"

Every Anbu immediately answered loudly, and Xia Yan did the same.

In truth, missions like this were nothing new to the Anbu.

Especially after Konoha and Iwagakure signed their peace treaty, attacks like these had begun growing frequent within just a few months.

Xia Yan himself had carried out several such missions. Although he was not as adept at them as he was at eliminating spies, they were at least familiar.

After receiving his instructions, Xia Yan was also ready to leave. But just as he and Kakashi and the others finished collecting their Anbu-issued equipment, the Captain approached him.

"Captain," Xia Yan immediately greeted him respectfully, his manner entirely proper.

"Nightingale, you and White Fang will still be operating separately on this mission."

The Captain's voice remained dispassionate. He glanced at Shinichi and Masaya before continuing slowly.

"As for Gray Cat and Heron, you will go to Squad 5 and Team 9 of the Second Division.

"You will serve as squad leaders and be responsible for rebuilding the squads. Understood?"

"Yes, Captain," Xia Yan and the others immediately replied.

Gray Cat and Heron were Shinichi's and Masaya's code names, while the Second Division was another unit within the Anbu.

The Anbu was divided into many smaller departments, such as the Intelligence Department, the Interrogation Department, the Operations Department, and the Reserve Department.

Every department needed to work with the others, and each had several squads under it. Their numbers were never particularly large.

The Reserve Department hardly needed explaining. It held reserve personnel for the entire Anbu and was also where newcomers had to report when they first joined.

They underwent a period of training there and could only participate in missions after qualifying.

Because of the war, Xia Yan had only spent a month there back then. He could be considered an early graduate.

The Operations Department had the second-largest number of personnel in the entire Anbu, as it was the Anbu's most important department.

The Operations Department had three divisions in total, with more than ten squads under each division. Altogether, these ninja numbered forty or fifty.

And almost every one of those forty or fifty was an elite. Even if their overall strength fell short of jonin level, they definitely possessed jonin-level abilities in certain areas-or even surpassed jonin!

"Congratulations, you two squad leaders." Once the Captain turned and left, Xia Yan immediately smiled at Shinichi and Masaya. "I really never expected to have trained two squad leaders."

"Please don't put it that way, squad leader." Shinichi shook his head awkwardly, then sighed somewhat helplessly. "Looks like both squads over there were completely wiped out."

"Yeah, squad leader." Masaya had a headache over it too. "We've got our work cut out for us this time."

Assigning a new squad leader and rebuilding a squad meant that the former squad had ceased to exist entirely.

Xia Yan did not know exactly what trouble the Second Division had encountered, but the outcome was plain for everyone to see.

He sighed softly, unwilling to dwell on it, while Masaya and Shinichi were clearly troubled by these issues as well.

But they all still had missions, so they did not continue chatting and soon parted ways.

With their equipment collected, Xia Yan led Kakashi swiftly out of the village. Sometimes he wondered whether he had jinxed himself.

One moment he had been saying, "Who knows how long we'll stay together," and the next they had split up.

Still, Xia Yan did not take these things too much to heart. Changing teammates was no great matter to him.

Over his many years in the Anbu, he had gone through quite a few teammates.

Apart from those killed on missions, some had left the Anbu because the front lines needed experienced personnel.

Others had been transferred away because another squad needed them, just like today.

He had never personally killed any of his teammates. At most, he had "had no choice but to abandon some teammates in order to complete the mission."

It was rather interesting, really. Not only had he received no punishment for his actions, but his "prompt and decisive handling of problems" had even earned him his current position as squad leader.

Shinichi and Masaya had not been in his squad for very long, only a few months.

But Xia Yan's mild temperament, considerable strength, and cool judgment on missions had earned him their exceptional trust.

Of all the teammates Xia Yan had had, they were the ones who suited him best.

"Squad leader, about the squad being split up this time..."

Once the two of them had left Konoha's boundaries, Kakashi could not quite hold back his question.

Xia Yan turned to glance at him, but unfortunately, because Kakashi wore a mask, he could not see what expression was on his face at all.

Of course, even without that mask, it would have been hard to tell much when the guy wore a face covering all day.

But his question made Xia Yan involuntarily raise an eyebrow. Clearly, that probing conversation a few days ago had had some effect.

Still, Xia Yan could tell that this time, the Captain was not deliberately targeting Kakashi.

Some things could be overdone, and besides, entire Anbu squads being wiped out was hardly unusual.

He did not believe that Captain would deliberately lie to them about something like this. Ultimately, although competition between the Anbu's various squads was fierce, their relationships with one another were still decent.

A casual inquiry would make everything clear. Besides, Kakashi had the Fourth Hokage behind him. Even if the Fourth could not control the Anbu, dealing with a squad leader would still be easy.

"It's what the squads need. We just have to follow orders," Xia Yan said with a smile. "Actually, this sort of thing isn't uncommon in the Anbu. I've lost count of how many teammates I've had. You just get used to it."

"So that's why you said before, 'Who knows how long we'll stay together,' right?" Kakashi turned to glance at Xia Yan. He hesitated, then suddenly asked, "Squad leader, could I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Have you ever... killed one of your own teammates with your own hands?"