https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-622-Lightning-Strike-in-the-Land-of-Fire/12558912/
Chapter 621: Formation of a Special Anbu Squad
Chapter 621: Formation of a Special Anbu Squad
In the northern region of the Rice Country, a large group of Cloud-Hidden ninjas gathered, led by the Fourth Generation Ay, who stood before them all with a solemn expression.
"No matter what challenges we face, we must arrive at the border of the Fire Country as planned!" Fourth Generation Ay declared sternly.
This ninja force dispatched by Cloud-Hidden consisted of a total of 1,200 ninjas.
Such a massive ninja force, marching at top speed through the small Rice Country, would easily attract attention.
To avoid detection, they had divided themselves into twelve smaller teams, each setting off in different directions.
Rice Country bordered Hot Water Country, and if their presence was discovered too soon, Orochimaru's forces could quickly intercept them, rendering all their previous preparations pointless.
"We will complete the mission!" the captains of each team responded with determination.
"Move out!" Fourth Generation Ay nodded in satisfaction and gave the order.
With Ay's command, the advance teams swiftly dispersed, heading toward their designated directions.
Meanwhile, in Hot Water Country, a squad of Cloud-Hidden ninjas was also in action.
Far from concealing their movements, they deliberately made their presence known near the towns of Hot Water Country, aggressively targeting Leaf ninjas and initiating radical assassinations, seemingly intent on wiping out every Leaf ninja in the country.
The Leaf ninjas in Hot Water Country sprang into action, making various battle preparations, as this was not the first time Cloud-Hidden had acted in such a manner before a large-scale offensive.
"Deploy additional patrol teams to closely monitor the border between Hot Water Country and Rice Country," Orochimaru ordered in response to Cloud-Hidden's actions.
Intelligence was crucial, not just for individual ninja engagements but also for ninja force warfare.
Without scouting information about Cloud-Hidden's ninja forces, he dared not make any hasty moves.
...
Fire Country, Konoha.
To make up for the loss of Root's capabilities, Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Mu Yue a challenging task: to swiftly establish a small Anbu squad capable of making a significant impact in the upcoming war.
Undoubtedly, this was an extremely difficult mission, even more so than any of her previous teaching tasks.
Fortunately, Hiruzen didn't just give orders and leave Mu Yue to fend for herself.
He assembled ninjas who had previously retired from the Anbu, and among them were those willing to rejoin the Anbu, now serving under Mu Yue as part of the training team.
This group of ninjas required minimal supervision from Mu Yue; with a brief period of retraining, they would be qualified Anbu ninjas once again.
Additionally, Hiruzen personally selected promising candidates from the major ninja clans, inviting them to join the training team.
While ordinary ninjas were not necessarily inferior, the ninja clans' well-established training systems tended to produce ninjas that were generally more skilled.
Once all the preparations for the training team were complete, Itachi also received Mu Yue's notification.
Wanting to make a good first impression on his colleagues, Itachi carefully checked his appearance before setting out, ensuring there were no flaws.
Perhaps due to his youthful appearance, Itachi drew glances from almost every Anbu he passed on his way to the equipment distribution area.
Thankfully, Mu Yue had already briefed some of the Anbu, preventing any awkward incidents of him being mistaken for a child and escorted out of the base.
"Here's your complete set of equipment," an Anbu member from the equipment distribution area said, handing Itachi a long box. "If anything gets damaged, you can come back here for replacements."
"Thank you," Itachi replied gratefully, taking the box with both hands.
Itachi then proceeded to the changing room, relying on his memory of the base layout that Mu Yue had provided.
The map she had shown him included the location of the changing room and other functional areas, which he had committed to memory.
Inside the changing room, Itachi opened the box and found only three items: a fox mask, a long sword, and a standard-issue Anbu combat uniform at the bottom.
The training team was a specially formed Anbu squad, and while unique in nature, they were still considered part of the Anbu, hence the identical equipment.
Itachi quickly changed into the Anbu uniform and put on the mask. He then locked away his regular clothes in a cabinet.
After donning the uniform, Itachi made his way to the training team captain's office.
Knock, knock.
Itachi gently knocked on the wooden door of the office.
"Come in."
A voice that Itachi was all too familiar with invited him in.
Itachi pushed open the door and stepped inside.
"Teacher Mu Yue," Itachi blurted out instinctively, before correcting himself: "Captain Mu Yue."
He felt that a more formal address was appropriate, given that he was reporting for duty.
"There's no need for formality here. When we're alone, you can address me as you normally do," Mu Yue said with a smile.
Hearing her words, Itachi relaxed a little.
Due to time constraints, the training team's base was essentially the same as the former Root base, exuding an overall atmosphere of darkness and oppression. Combined with the hidden, unknown aspects of the Anbu that Itachi had not yet encountered, it was understandable that he felt a bit tense.
"Typically, Anbu members have their own code names, which they use when addressing each other during missions. You can choose a code name for yourself first," Mu Yue said, taking out a small notebook.
"For example, my code name in Root was 'Night.'"
'Night' had been Mu Yue's code name during her time in Root, and he didn't intend to change it, as code names held little significance to him.
Ordinary Anbu members used code names to conceal their identities, but Mu Yue's reputation was already so well-known that any code name or mask would be useless.
"Then I'll go with 'Flame,'" Itachi said after a moment's thought.
He wanted to become a flame that would illuminate the path for the Uchiha clan, hoping that his actions would burn away the clan's troubles like a wildfire consuming dry grass.
"Are you sure about 'Flame'? While it's not impossible to change it later, it may cause some minor inconveniences," Mu Yue asked again for confirmation.
After receiving Itachi's affirmation, Mu Yue helped him fill in the necessary information.
"Go and meet your colleagues now," Mu Yue said, glancing at the time before standing up.
Itachi nodded and followed Mu Yue to the training team's conference room.
As they arrived early for the scheduled meeting, the conference room was empty, and they sat down to wait. It wasn't long before the other ninjas started arriving one after another.
"Captain Mu Yue," the Anbu members greeted Mu Yue as they entered.
Only squad leaders and above were allowed to attend this meeting.
Among the current training team, aside from Itachi, the squad leaders and deputy squad leaders were all former Anbu members who had been rehired. Although it was their first day with the training team, they had already received information about the team from Hiruzen, including the fact that Mu Yue was their captain.
Mu Yue acknowledged each of them with a smile.
When the tenth Anbu ninja entered the room and took a seat, Mu Yue cleared his throat, capturing the attention of everyone in the room with a swift glance.
A standard Anbu squad consisted of four squads, each comprising 17 ninjas, led by a squad leader, with four teams under their command.
Due to the rehiring of retired Anbu members, the older Anbu members did not possess the Dark Chanting Technique, a mandatory secret technique for the current Anbu.
Fortunately, the new Anbu members had many lessons to learn, so Mu Yue could first teach the older Anbu members a portion of the Dark Chanting Technique, and then have the new Anbu members learn from them.
"To become a captain of the Anbu at such a young age, your future is boundless." One of the Anbu squad leaders remarked, gazing at Mu Yue's youthful face.
He had served under several Anbu captains, but he had never seen one as young as Mu Yue; even Hiruzen Sarutobi's son fell short in comparison.
Kakashi listened attentively to Mu Yue's lecture, occasionally jotting down notes in a small notebook he carried.
While he had a good memory, he couldn't rely solely on it.
The meeting lasted for about an hour, and when Mu Yue signaled its end, Kakashi closed his notebook.
Due to the frequent clan meetings of the Uchiha clan, Kakashi was no stranger to such gatherings.
Nonetheless, the training team's meeting still felt novel to him.
In the Uchiha clan meetings, the clan leader usually sat at the head, listening more than speaking, whereas in the training team's meeting, Mu Yue did most of the talking.
After the meeting, Kakashi gathered his belongings and set out to find his subordinates.
"Team Seven..." Kakashi silently recited the name of his team, recalling the layout of the training team's base.
When he located his class's designated area, he found that all his team members had already assembled.
Although everyone wore masks, Kakashi recognized them from the information he had reviewed earlier.
The male ninja with a ponytail was Nara Shikamaru from the Nara clan.
Next to him was a female ninja with a white canine-like ninnebeast; she was Inuzuka Hana from the Inuzuka clan.
Having identified these two, Kakashi had no trouble recognizing the remaining person as Aburame Shino from the Aburame clan.
Kakashi was quite satisfied with his team members.
Nara Shikamaru possessed the Shadow Possession Technique, giving him powerful control capabilities. Inuzuka Hana excelled in taijutsu and could lead her ninken to engage and distract enemies at the frontlines. As for Aburame Shino, he was a jack-of-all-trades, capable of using his insect-based techniques for both information gathering and chakra absorption in battle.
Together, the three of them formed a well-rounded team, with their strengths complementing each other to create a synergy greater than the sum of their individual abilities.
"Who's the kid?" Inuzuka Hana stared at the diminutive figure approaching them, her eyes widening in surprise as she blurted out her thoughts.
Kakashi: ...
He didn't seem too pleased with the comment either.
"Ahem." Nara Shikamaru cleared his throat, offering a subtle reminder.
Usually, the person arriving at this time would be their superior.
And while Kakashi was short in stature, his neat Anbu uniform suggested he was no child accidentally wandering into a restricted area.
"Hehe, what I meant was that he's amazing, becoming an Anbu member at such a young age." Inuzuka Hana quickly tried to cover up her initial reaction with a laugh.
When she received the notification from her family, Inuzuka Hana had been bewildered. She hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy, so why was she chosen for this opportunity?
"He's a member of the training team," Nara Shikamaru corrected.
The training team was a special unit, distinct from regular Anbu members.
"Okay, then I meant that he's amazing for becoming a member of the training team at such a young age." Repeating herself made Inuzuka Hana sound disinterested, her enthusiasm fading.
Kakashi gave Inuzuka Hana a sidelong glance, feeling that there was a resemblance to Obito beneath her mask.
"I am Uchiha Kakashi, codename 'Flame' within the training team, and I will be your squad leader." Kakashi introduced himself, removing his mask.
The masks were meant to prevent identification by others, not to hide their identities from their teammates.
"So it's him. That explains it," Nara Shikamaru thought, surprised.
Of course, he recognized Uchiha Kakashi, the youngest genius in Konoha's history, who had also achieved a top-four finish in the recent Youth Ninja Competition, a gathering of prodigies.
With Kakashi's abilities, being a squad leader in the training team was well within his capabilities.
"Now, think of a codename that you'd like to use during your time in the training team. This name will likely stay with you throughout your time here, so choose carefully," Kakashi continued.
According to the information Kakashi had received, Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Hana had been teammates before, so he skipped the self-introduction session.
It was more important for them to get to know him.
"A codename, huh? That's important," Inuzuka Hana agreed, nodding.
A codename was the name they would use during missions, so it was naturally important for smooth communication.
"In that case, my codename will be Super Warrior Hound!" Inuzuka Hana exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Kakashi studied Inuzuka Hana, wondering if there was any connection between her and Obito.
"That won't do. It's too long. A single word or a short phrase is better," Kakashi rejected the suggestion without hesitation.
To be honest, he didn't know if there was a specific rule about codenames in the training team, but the thought of Inuzuka Hana responding to "Super Warrior Hound, acknowledge" during a mission made him worry about keeping a straight face.
"Oh... then just call me 'Hound,' I guess." Inuzuka Hana pouted, clearly disappointed.
If she had to stick to one or two words, she couldn't think of anything cooler, so she settled for a part of her original idea.
"Then I'll be 'Deer,'" Nara Shikamaru said after a moment's thought.
He couldn't come up with anything more creative, and he didn't want to waste too many brain cells on this, so he simply chose the symbol of his clan as his codename.
"I'll go with 'Insect,'" Aburame Shino stated succinctly.
Kakashi nodded, not wanting to dwell on the codenames any longer. It was time for the next step in his plan.
"Follow me," Kakashi instructed his team.
With that, he led the way to the training team's exercise field.
While Kakashi had studied information about Nara Shikamaru's team, they had not received any details about him.
Although they wouldn't be assigned combat missions at this stage, Kakashi believed it was crucial for them to familiarize themselves with each other's abilities.
Moreover, combat training was an essential part of their overall training regimen.
PS:
I'm quite tired today. I ended up lying down for a short rest while writing this, and fell asleep...
So the update is a bit late, about two hours behind schedule.
As long as I don't post a leave notice, there will usually be updates, but the timing may vary.
(End of Chapter)
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