The time had more or less arrived.
It wasn’t just the rookie ninja of Konohagakure beginning to make their mark—Sunagakure had also reached its annual period for evaluating officially registered shinobi.
Unlike Konohagakure, whose deep foundations allowed its Ninja Academy to produce large numbers of qualified graduates every year, Sunagakure’s situation was…
difficult to describe.
Officially, Sunagakure also had a Ninja Academy.
In reality, however, it was nothing like Konoha’s mature and well-established educational system.
Given Sunagakure’s limited resources, it had only managed to imitate the outward appearance of one.
Judging from Daimaru’s own experience there, it barely qualified as a school at all.
It was more like a training camp for children.
Even the graduation evaluations were highly unprofessional.
The handful of outstanding students were selected, while the remaining mediocre ones were largely abandoned.
In Sunagakure, the relationship between a Jonin leader and a Genin squad was also very different from Konoha’s teacher-disciple dynamic.
It was mostly a relationship of mutual benefit.
Like small gang leaders recruiting subordinates, everyone formed cliques and took what they needed from one another.
Under such a system, no one had the patience to nurture students with niche talents and severe weaknesses, whose growth required significant time and investment.
That was why, at this point in time, neither Chi nor Yome had encountered the powerful teammate they would one day have.
Shira—the taijutsu prodigy who couldn’t use ninjutsu and would later create the Seven Heavenly Breaths technique—wasn’t even a ninja yet.
His chance to shine wouldn’t come until several years later, after Gaara became the Fifth Kazekage.
As for Daimaru, whether he could become someone like the future Shira and carry two support-oriented female teammates depended not only on his own strength, but also on whether Chi and Yome could grow into the capable support shinobi they would become more than two years later.
A mission like suppressing bandits was the perfect opportunity to observe them.
Genin squads rarely encountered missions involving combat against other shinobi.
Bandit groups occasionally contained powerful rogue ninja or fallen samurai, while the rest were hardened criminals with blood on their hands.
None of them were easy opponents.
Still, as long as they planned carefully and defeated their enemies one group at a time, wiping out a bandit gang was well within the capabilities of a Genin squad.
So long as they didn’t run into official ninja from another hidden village, Sunagakure’s Genin were actually quite formidable.
Although they generally lacked long-term growth and rarely produced true prodigies, in their younger years they were, on average, individually stronger than shinobi from most other villages—second only to the murderous killers raised by the Bloody Mist.
Early the next morning, Daimaru, Chi, and Yome departed the village alongside Otofū, heading toward the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Grass to carry out their mission.
Daimaru’s former supervising Jonin, Satetsu, was two or three years older than Otofū.
After several years together, Daimaru had developed a good relationship with Satetsu and had received plenty of guidance and care.
As for his new squad leader, Otofū, Daimaru had no intention of becoming overly familiar until he better understood the man’s personality.
The Chunin Exams were fast approaching.
The Konoha Crush was about to begin.
The shinobi selected for Sunagakure’s surprise attack would undoubtedly be elite Jonin and Chunin.
They would also be the ones to suffer the heaviest casualties.
Trying to build a close relationship with Otofū now might prove completely meaningless if the man ended up dying in Konohagakure. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Ironically, weaker Genin might actually be safer.
Since Daimaru already knew what was coming, the danger to him wasn’t particularly great.
Of course, now that they belonged to the same squad, he still maintained a professional attitude and treated the somewhat indifferent Jonin with courtesy.
After traveling at high speed for nearly half a day, the group finally stopped to rest inside a weathered cave in the rocky wasteland, replenishing their food and water supplies.
The four of them sat together and, for once, began chatting about the past.
Otofū was the oldest among them, but he was still a hot-blooded young man.
He had little in common with the youthful Chi and Yome, yet got along fairly well with Daimaru, who sat between them.
Naturally, the topic soon turned to Daimaru’s absurd attempt to make a swan out of a toad’s dream.
Within just a few days, the story of an ordinary, penniless young man trying to court Sunagakure’s princess had spread throughout the entire village.
And, unsurprisingly, the butt of the joke was the thick-skinned Daimaru himself.
“You young people really are full of energy.”
Even Otofū couldn’t resist joining in.
Daimaru had become far too famous in Sunagakure lately.
“Back then, Temari’s mother, Karura, was also a renowned beauty with countless admirers.
In the end, it was the outstanding Fourth Kazekage who won her heart.”
“Talking about the past all the time is a sign of getting old, Captain Otofū.”
Daimaru chuckled.
By now, he had long grown accustomed to all sorts of teasing.
Without a thick skin, he never would have survived.
Otofū rather liked Daimaru’s cheerful personality and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
“You’re not a bad kid.”
“If only you had a better background.
Even if your father had lived a few more years, things would’ve been very different.”
“What a pity.”
That was simply how Sunagakure worked.
Without someone to support you, getting ahead was incredibly difficult.
Not a single member of this squad came from an influential family.
Compared to Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari—the Kazekage’s children—the greatest achievement among Daimaru, Chi, and Yome’s families belonged to Daimaru’s father, who had died young.
Even Otofū himself had only reached his current position because Baki had recognized his talent years ago.
As for Yura, the one responsible for assigning squads, he clearly didn’t think much of these three Genin.
He wasn’t willing to devote many resources to them, and Otofū himself had only been assigned as a temporary leader.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, this Genin squad’s future looked rather bleak.
“You can’t choose your birth.”
Daimaru nodded gratefully at Otofū’s frankness.
“But I have no intention of accepting my fate.”
“Especially to Chi…
and Yome.”
Without beating around the bush, Daimaru spoke words that sounded almost laughably overconfident.
“This year’s Chunin Exams…”
“I absolutely intend to participate.”
Chi, who had been silent until now, froze for a moment before laughing.
“You really do have quite the imagination.
Do you honestly think you’re ready to become a Chunin?”
Yome also nodded, clearly unconvinced.
“I’m not joking.”
Daimaru’s tone remained calm.
“I hope the two of you will work toward the Chunin Exams as well.”
“Otherwise…”
“I’ll be in a very difficult position.”
“Really?”
Seeing how serious Daimaru was, both Chi and Yome became somewhat awkward.
Otofū looked at Daimaru again, this time with newfound seriousness.
“It seems I underestimated you.”
“The Chunin Exams, huh?”
“Looks like even I, your temporary captain, am going to get dragged into this.”
“I’d appreciate it if I could earn your recommendation.”
“And if I refuse to recommend you?”
Otofū asked.
“What will you do then?”
“I don’t know.”
After thinking for a moment, Daimaru shook his head.
“I’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
“If even I can’t acknowledge you after spending several months together…”
Otofū stood up and dusted the sand from his clothes.
“…then who else could you possibly convince?”
“It’s time to move.”
He looked directly at Daimaru.
“Show me your resolve, Daimaru.”
“Ever since the Third Kazekage disappeared, there haven’t been many interesting young people left in this village.”
(End of Chapter)