A "light" cheat sheet for tactics class

The afternoon's "Chakra Control and Team Tactics Analysis" class had been moved to the modest living room in Minato's house.

A large map lay in the center of the living room, with some hastily drawn formations and arrows on the whiteboard beside it.

Minato had changed into light-colored casual clothes. He looked more relaxed than on the training field, but his eyes were still clear and bright.

Obito sat stiffly upright, trying hard to look attentive, but his eyes kept straying toward the birds in the tree outside the window.

Rin sat straight, a small notebook open in front of her, ready to take notes.

Kakashi was the same as ever, leaning against the wall with half-open eyes. It was impossible to tell whether he was listening or daydreaming.

Shuo found a cushion near the window, as far from the whiteboard as possible, and settled comfortably into it, taking little sips of the mugicha Minato had just poured him.

Tactical analysis... hopefully this won't turn into a lecture that goes on forever, he silently prayed.

"You all did very well in this morning's training."

Minato opened gently. "In particular, the beginnings of teamwork are already showing. Still, there are a few things we can improve."

He walked over to the whiteboard and picked up a marker. "For example, when Obito used fire release to force the puppets to reposition, it would have been more effective if Rin had placed her chakra threads along their likely retreat routes half a second earlier. When Kakashi was holding off two puppets, he could actually have deliberately left an opening to lure the third into the easiest approach angle for Shuo..."

Minato explained in detail, using specific moments from the morning's training to analyze how each person's actions affected the whole, and how small adjustments could make their coordination smoother and less strenuous.

Listening, Shuo had to admit that Minato really was impressive.

Many details and opportunities he himself hadn't even noticed became immediately clear once Minato pointed them out.

For instance, when he marked the seventh puppet, the reason it lunged at him was actually a chain reaction caused by one of Kakashi's earlier feints.

"Team combat isn't simply 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4."

Minato summed it up. "You need to work like gears, with each action driving the next, ultimately combining your strength to achieve the greatest results with the least expenditure."

He looked at Shuo. "Shuo, your philosophy of 'saving effort' is actually very well suited to keeping a team running smoothly. You don't seek flashy individual performances, but focus on solving problems in the simplest way. That's a very valuable quality in a team. What you need to do is 'read' your teammates' movements more actively, anticipate the flow of battle, and then... give a gentle 'push' at the most critical point."

Shuo held his mugicha, looking thoughtful.

Minato's words struck a chord with him.

Before, when he fought alone-or was forced to fight alone-he only thought about how to save himself effort.

But if I treat my teammates as part of the "environment" too, and use their actions to create opportunities that save even more effort...

That sounds... kind of interesting?

"All right, that's enough theory for now."

Minato clapped his hands. "Next comes practice. I'll set up a small simulated battlefield in the yard, with several stationary targets and moving targets, along with some simple traps and disruption devices. The four of you will act as a squad. Within the time limit, you need to eliminate as many targets as possible while keeping everyone 'alive.'"

He paused, then added, "Scoring will include the number of targets eliminated, time taken, team coordination, and... an 'overall assessment of chakra and stamina expenditure.' The lower the expenditure, the higher the score."

Obito immediately rubbed his hands together eagerly. "No problem! Just watch us!"

Rin nodded earnestly too. Kakashi straightened up.

Shuo blinked.

Lower expenditure means a higher score?

These rules... seem right up my alley?

Minato's yard wasn't large, but he made clever use of it.

Wooden boards painted with bull's-eyes hung from several trees as stationary targets. Several wooden posts with simple enchantments rolled along fixed routes as moving targets. Scattered across the ground were traps that sprayed harmless but irritating colored smoke when stepped on, along with several little devices that randomly emitted noise to interfere with hearing.

It wasn't difficult, but it had a full range of elements.

"Time limit: five minutes. Ready-begin!" Minato gave the signal.

Obito charged out first, heading straight for the nearest stationary target. "The first one's mine!"

Kakashi and Rin followed close behind. Kakashi handled the moving targets and traps on the flank, while Rin used chakra sensing to avoid the colored smoke traps on the ground and cleared more distant stationary targets with shuriken.

Shuo didn't rush to move. Standing at the entrance to the yard, he quickly swept his gaze over the entire "battlefield," activating light perception at the same time to take in the targets' positions, movement paths, trap trigger points, distribution of disruption sources...

He rapidly constructed an "optimal route" in his head.

Obito had just stabbed a stationary target with his kunai when a rolling wooden post came barreling toward him from the side!

He hastily jumped sideways, nearly landing on a colored smoke trap.

Kakashi's short sword precisely split a wooden post, but a stationary target in another direction was hidden behind some bushes, requiring a detour.

Rin cleared two targets, but the disruptive noise made her frown as well.

Shuo moved.

Rather than charge toward any particular target, he entered the battlefield along a winding but efficient route, his steps seemingly leisurely but actually precise.

He first passed near Obito. Just as Obito lost his balance dodging a wooden post, Shuo gave his back a seemingly accidental, gentle "nudge" with his elbow.

Guided by that deft force, Obito involuntarily staggered two steps diagonally forward-just far enough to avoid a colored smoke trap. At the same time, the kunai he hadn't yet managed to pull back sank with a soft thunk into another stationary target, one he would otherwise have needed to turn around to attack.

"Huh?" Obito froze.

Shuo had already walked away, passing a rolling wooden post.

He didn't attack. He merely gave a loose pebble in the wooden post's path a gentle "tap" with the tip of his right foot.

The pebble shifted slightly.

The wooden post's wheel rolled over the slightly raised pebble, deflecting its course just a fraction. Instead of heading toward Rin, it rolled past the hem of her clothes and finally struck the yard wall with a thud-the stationary target hanging by the wall, hidden behind the bushes, shook from the impact, its bull's-eye turning directly toward Kakashi.

Almost without thinking, Kakashi flung a shuriken backhanded and hit it dead on!

Next, Shuo walked over to a noise disruption device.

Rather than destroy it, he crouched down and picked up a fallen leaf. An almost imperceptible golden glimmer flashed at his fingertips, imbuing the leaf with a faint trace of light energy.

He gently placed the leaf over the disruption device's sound opening.

The light energy disturbed the air, making the leaf tremble slightly at a peculiar frequency.

The noise instantly became somewhat warped and distorted. It was still audible, but its grating, disruptive quality was greatly reduced.

Rin immediately felt much more at ease, and her accuracy with shuriken returned.

Finally, Shuo himself acted only once.

He walked up to the last moving target in the corner of the yard, which was also the hardest to clear-a sandbag suspended from a rope, swinging irregularly through the air.

He glanced at the sandbag's path, then at Kakashi and Obito in the distance, who were clearing the last stationary target.

Then he raised his right index finger and made a loose "slash" through the air toward the swinging sandbag.

A golden ray, finer than a hair and almost invisible, shot from his fingertip, precisely "cutting" at a point about ten centimeters above the rope suspending the sandbag.

It didn't sever the rope. Instead, that speck of golden light sank into it, instantly causing extremely slight, irregular expansion and contraction in the rope's material.

The sandbag's swinging path immediately became... even more chaotic and erratic! It whirled through the air like a headless fly!

"Kakashi!" Shuo called, his voice quiet.

Kakashi and Obito turned at the same time.

At one particular instant, the wildly spinning sandbag happened to turn its bull's-eye straight toward Kakashi!

Kakashi's gaze sharpened, and the kunai in his hand became a streak of light!

Thwack!

The kunai sank deep into the bull's-eye!

The sandbag stopped swinging.

Time was up.

Minato pressed the timer in his hand.

Silence filled the yard.

Obito was still a little dazed. Rin studied the still-trembling leaf thoughtfully, while Kakashi stared at the sandbag he had struck with his final attack, then looked at Shuo.

Shuo dusted nonexistent dirt off his hands, walked back to the yard entrance, picked up his unfinished cup of mugicha, and took a sip.

"Done."

He said it softly, as though he had merely tidied up the yard.

Minato walked over, undisguised amazement and a smile on his face.

He carefully checked every target: all cleared. Not a single trap had been triggered-Shuo had "nudged" Obito away from the one he had nearly stepped on. The disruption devices were still running, but their effects had been greatly reduced.

More importantly, throughout the entire process, apart from that final golden glimmer at Shuo's fingertip, the others had barely used any costly ninjutsu. Their stamina and chakra had been extremely well preserved.

"Perfect teamwork."

Minato praised them. "Or perhaps... a perfect performance with meticulous 'direction.'"

He looked at Shuo. "Shuo, every movement you made just now looked casual, but you were actually guiding and optimizing the entire battle. You let Obito hit a target 'by accident,' adjusted a wooden post's path to create an opportunity for Kakashi, weakened the interference with a leaf, and finally even 'modified' a moving target's motion to give Kakashi a guaranteed hit... That's more than simple coordination."

Shuo put down his mugicha, looking utterly innocent. "Did I? I was just taking a stroll. It was all coincidence."

Minato chuckled and didn't press him further, simply announcing, "The score for this mock battle is S. Full marks for both teamwork and energy efficiency."

Obito cheered.

Rin broke into a happy smile too.

Kakashi looked at Shuo in silence for a few seconds, then gave an almost imperceptible nod.

[Ding! Achieved a perfect result in a team mock battle as a 'Behind-the-Scenes Director,' embodying to the utmost Kizaru's support (battlefield control) philosophy of 'brains over brawn, subtle influence.' Imitation points +50!]

['Yata Mirror Hypothesis' demonstrated exceptional potential in fine control within a complex environment. Understanding and control have improved significantly.]

[Current imitation points: 605/1000.]

Shuo was delighted.

That paid off. I even picked up a new approach.

Minato put away the training equipment and told everyone, "That's it for today's training. Tomorrow, we have an official C-rank mission-escorting an important merchant from the Land of Crafts to a border trading town. The mission will take about three days, and we'll need to stay away overnight. Go home and prepare properly tonight."

Another mission.

Shuo weighed it up inwardly. Escorting a merchant sounded easier than fighting and killing, but staying away for three days... What a hassle.

"You're dismissed."

Minato waved.

They said their goodbyes and left.

Shuo walked leisurely back toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.

The setting sun stretched his shadow long.

He thought back over the afternoon's mock battle, Minato's analysis, and his own "unintentional" guidance.

Teamwork... maybe it wasn't so annoying after all?

At least there are people to share the incoming attacks and create opportunities, while all I need to do is give a "gentle push" at the most critical point...

Yeah, this approach is worth keeping.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and his steps grew lighter.

The mission starts tomorrow.

Hopefully that merchant... won't talk too much or cause too much trouble.

With that thought, his figure disappeared into the gathering dusk of the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Far behind him, Minato stood in his doorway, looking in the direction Shuo had gone, the smile lingering on his face.

"The ability to guide a battle... Uchiha Saku, just how many more surprises do you have in store for me?"

He murmured to himself, his eyes full of anticipation.