After joining the Anbu’s Team Owl, Ayane kept Principal Ichii’s parting advice close to her heart: blend in and build rapport with your colleagues as quickly as possible.
Day 1: Ate, slept, bonded with the squad, and swapped tall tales with the female ninja, Eagle.
Day 2: Ate, slept, bonded with the squad, and continued swapping tall tales with Eagle…
Day 3: After some serious self-reflection, Ayane decided she couldn’t allow herself to degenerate into laziness.
She spent the entire day practicing her swordsmanship.
[Achievement Points +28!] Day 4: Went right back to eating, sleeping, and spinning wild yarns to Eagle, completely blowing the mind of the naive girl…
Day 5: Well, a mission finally arrived today.
The sun had just passed its zenith.
With Arashikiri strapped securely to her back, Ayane trekked slowly through the dense forest.
At this time of day, the rain-drenched woods felt like a suffocating steam cooker.
Heat radiated off the damp earth, causing sweat to pour continuously down her skin.
But to be a shinobi meant to endure all things.
Despite the overwhelming discomfort, Ayane could only occasionally adjust her mask, allowing the sweat to slide off her delicate cheeks.
Behind her walked the endlessly chattering Eagle and Woodpecker, who remained as silent as a stone block.
After a few days of interaction, Ayane realized that Eagle’s personality completely contradicted her fierce code name.
Instead of resembling a cold, majestic raptor soaring through the skies, she behaved more like a coddled, pampered songbird.
Not only was she incredibly naive, but she also had a habit of chirping away without a filter.
Even though she had joined the Anbu half a month before Ayane, she still hadn’t adapted to the grim reality of the black-ops lifestyle.
Her bubbly demeanor completely clashed with the Anbu’s dark aesthetic.
“We’re supposed to be the Anbu!
The elite enforcers of the village!” Eagle ranted, the oppressive heat clearly fueling her grievances.
“Before I got scouted, my daily routine in the Reconnaissance Force was patrolling!
Now that I’ve climbed all the way up to the Anbu, my very first assignment is…
still patrolling?!
Tell me, Swan, did I join the Black Ops just to become a glorified border guard?” After Team Owl’s roster was finalized, their inaugural assignment wasn’t an assassination or a high-stakes infiltration.
It was a standard border patrol.
For the elite Anbu, this felt a bit like the Hokage assigning a legendary Elite Jonin like the White Fang to a generic C-rank cat-catching mission after he recovered from his injuries…
Naturally, Captain Night Raven didn’t take such a mundane task to heart either.
With a grand wave of his hand, he split the six squad members into two three-man cells—one cell to patrol the southern perimeter, and the other to cover the north.
Feeling Eagle’s intense, expectant gaze boring into her side, Ayane—abiding by the unwritten rule of girls supporting girls—could only nod with a helpless smile.
“Yeah…
I guess you have a point, Eagle.” Receiving backing from her ‘bestie,’ Eagle immediately puffed out her flat chest proudly, turning to look at the squad veteran.
“See?!” Woodpecker could only sigh dryly beneath his mask.
“Konoha’s ninja have been incredibly active along the borders lately.
The Reconnaissance Force is under immense pressure.
Is it really so wrong for us to reinforce them?” As someone who had seen his fair share of death, Woodpecker took the patrol assignment far more seriously than anyone else in the squad despite being a veteran.
Eagle pouted, muttering under her breath, “If they’re under so much pressure, why did they transfer me out of the Reconnaissance Force and into the Anbu in the first place?” She was a sensory ninja originally scouted from the Reconnaissance division.
Thanks to her tracking merits, she had been promoted to the Anbu two weeks ago.
Under optimal conditions, Eagle could detect any chakra signature within a fifty-meter radius.
Honestly…
that range was a bit pathetic.
Konoha’s Byakugan users routinely operated with a detection radius measured in kilometers.
Decades later during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Hinata Hyuga would activate her Byakugan and effortlessly spot the black flames of Amaterasu over ten kilometers away.
Furthermore, the Hyuga clan’s dōjutsu provided absolute x-ray vision, mapping out structural flaws and chakra pathways rather than just sensing a vague energy signature.
But Konoha was a military superpower with deep, legendary bloodlines.
In a minor village like Amegakure, a sensory ninja of Eagle’s caliber was already a rare, invaluable asset.
If her direct combat capabilities hadn’t been so subpar, she likely would have been promoted to Jonin a long time ago.
Woodpecker offered a vague, non-committal answer to brush her off.
“Who knows?
Maybe the upper echelons have a grander strategy in play.
As shinobi, our only job is to obey orders.” Ayane remained silent.
Over the past five days, she had pieced together the underlying dynamics of their new squad through their daily interactions.
From top to bottom—including herself…
This entire version of Team Owl was basically a collection of nepotism hires and legacy kids from the village elite!
Yet, it would be unfair to label these well-connected recruits as completely useless.
The squad not only possessed a rare sensory ninja like Eagle but was also assigned an even scarcer medical ninja.
And while Captain Night Raven was undeniably arrogant, Woodpecker had pulled Ayane aside to whisper a warning: Raven is actually the youngest ninja to achieve the rank of Jonin in Amegakure in recent years.
He has fought several veterans to a standstill.
He actually has the teeth to back up his barking.
It was a classic case of a newborn calf not fearing the tiger.
It explained why he could shamelessly claim that the White Fang of the Leaf was ‘avoiding Amegakure’s edge.’ He was just like those green, arrogant genin fresh out of the Academy who thought they could take on the God of Shinobi himself.
‘The creation of this new Team Owl serves multiple purposes,’ Ayane analyzed silently.
‘It pads the records of the legacy kids, shields the village’s next generation from immediate frontline meat-grinders, and acts as a political tool for Hanzo to curry favor with the village elders.
A veteran like Woodpecker probably realized he was assigned to be a glorified babysitter the moment he received the roster.’ Eagle’s venting was short-lived.
Soon, the trio lapsed into a disciplined silence, stealthily weaving through the undergrowth toward the border demarcation line.
Though it was a routine patrol, they had to remain vigilant against Konoha scouts infiltrating their territory, while simultaneously setting up tripwire traps and clearing deaddrops for intelligence transmission.
The mission proceeded smoothly without any incidents.
Upon reaching the outermost boundary of their assigned sector, Woodpecker approached an ancient tree.
Spotting a fresh Amegakure cipher carved into the base of the trunk, the tension in his shoulders visibly melted away.
He drew his kunai, carving a specific Anbu counter-sign beneath the signal to indicate that everything was clear for the day.
Eagle leaned over to get a closer look, blinking in surprise.
“Huh?
Isn’t that the insignia for Reconnaissance Company 1?
Our patrol route actually borders their sector?” “Yeah.
Company 1 covers our northern flank, and Company 4 holds the south,” Woodpecker replied, leaning his back against the tree trunk.
“Both companies took devastating losses recently and were packed with a massive wave of raw recruits.
The brass probably didn’t trust them to hold the line alone, so they stationed us right between them as a safety net.” Ayane noticed that the moment casualties were mentioned, Woodpecker’s posture slumped slightly, his voice losing its edge.
Instead of prying blindly, she filed the observation away in her mind.
At the same time, a thought clicked: Reconnaissance Company 1…
where have I heard that before?
Right, that’s the unit that chubby kid, Takayuki Nagano, got drafted into.
A dense girl like Eagle completely missed the subtle shift in Woodpecker’s mood.
She trotted over to Ayane, beaming beneath her mask.
“Swan!
Teach me more about the Body Flicker technique today.
Don’t you think my form has improved since yesterday?” She reached into her vest, pulling out a small, handwritten notebook and lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Here, this is the sensory training guide you asked for.
I wrote down all my personal notes and breakthrough insights—no gatekeeping!
I wouldn’t share this with just anyone, you know.” A genuine smile tugged at Ayane’s lips.
“Well, I appreciate it, Eagle.” Because their patrol schedule was highly flexible, the members of Team Owl had plenty of downtime to dedicate to personal training.
It was common for them to cross-train, trading tips and teaching each other their specialties.
As the only two females in the squad, Ayane and Eagle had naturally gravitated toward each other.
Hearing her gratitude, Eagle enthusiastically slapped her completely flat chest, leaning in close.
“It’s just a jutsu guide, Swan!
We’re practically sisters now.
Once we rotate back to the village, I’m taking you to the hot springs!” Ayane chuckled.
“Deal.
It’s a promise.
But for now…
let’s see how much your Body Flicker has actually improved!” The moment the words left her mouth, Ayane gripped the hilt of Arashikiri.
Without drawing the blade, she swung the sheathed sword directly at Eagle in a sudden, blinding strike!
Panic flared in Eagle’s eyes.
She clumsily forced her chakra to circulate, executing a desperate Body Flicker.
Her mastery over the technique was far too low.
Though she barely managed to evade the sweeping arc of the scabbard, she botched the landing entirely.
Her foot caught on a protruding root, causing her to stagger wildly and nearly face-plant into the dirt.
“Unfair!
That’s totally unfair, Swan!” Eagle yelled as she scrambled back to her feet, flailing her arms.
“Your blade was way faster than yesterday!
Didn’t we agree to only use fifty percent of our strength during sparring?!” “Oh?” Ayane scratched her head sheepishly.
“Sorry about that.
I had a bit of a breakthrough with my swordsmanship recently, and I haven’t quite mastered the scaling of my output yet…” She shifted her gaze slightly toward the empty air.
On her translucent system interface, a brand new Trait was glowing with a crisp, vibrant light.
[New Trait: Basic Kenjutsu!] [Description: You have finally learned how to hold a sword properly.
You are no longer just swinging a metal stick around.] [Effect: Increases your raw striking speed with all bladed weapons by 10%.
Grants a minor increase to your physical parrying efficiency.] [Next Upgrade Tier: 500 Achievement Points!]