Chapter 621: Special Anbu Is Established
Northern Land of Rice Fields.
A large force of Cloud Ninja had gathered, with the Fourth Raikage, A, standing before them as their commander.
"No matter what problems you encounter, you must reach the Land of Fire's border within the planned time!" A said with a serious expression.
The Cloud Ninja force dispatched this time consisted of a total of twelve hundred Ninja.
Such a large unit marching quickly through a small country like the Land of Rice Fields would be easily noticed.
To avoid exposing their movements, they split into twelve teams and moved one after another.
The Land of Rice Fields bordered the Land of Hot Springs. If they were exposed too early, Orochimaru's forces would quickly arrive, rendering all their previous preparations meaningless.
"Mission accomplished!" the captains of each team responded.
"Move out!" A nodded in satisfaction and gave the order.
Following A's command, the advance teams quickly headed in different directions.
At the same time, the Cloud Ninja squad in the Land of Hot Springs also began their operation.
Not only did they make no effort to hide their movements, they actively appeared near towns in the Land of Hot Springs and launched aggressive assassinations against Konoha Ninja, acting as if they intended to eliminate every Konoha Ninja in the Land of Hot Springs.
The Konoha Ninja stationed in the Land of Hot Springs quickly made various combat preparations. This was not the first time Kumogakure had done something like this. Whenever they were preparing for a large-scale attack, they always acted this way.
"Dispatch more patrol teams. Focus on monitoring the border between the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields."
This was Orochimaru's response to Kumogakure's movements.
Intelligence was crucial not only in battles between individual Ninja, but also in wars between Ninja forces.
Before he investigated the Cloud Ninja force's intelligence, he could not act rashly.
Konoha, Land of Fire.
To make up for the loss of Root's strength, Hiruzen assigned Mugetsu a mission, requiring him to quickly establish an Anbu squad capable of operating during wartime.
Undoubtedly, this was a very challenging mission, more difficult than any previous teaching assignment.
Fortunately, Hiruzen did not simply issue an order and leave Mugetsu to solve everything on his own.
Hiruzen gathered Ninja who had previously retired from Anbu and allowed a portion of those willing to return to join the Training Squad, becoming Mugetsu's subordinates.
These Ninja basically did not require much concern from Mugetsu. After a short period of rehabilitation, they would be qualified Anbu Ninja again.
Then there was another group of promising future members. Hiruzen personally visited the major Ninja clans and selected some Ninja from their families to join the Training Squad.
Although ordinary Ninja were not necessarily inferior to clan Ninja, most clan Ninja were still superior to ordinary Ninja due to having complete training systems.
Once all preparations for the Training Squad were complete, Shisui also received Mugetsu's notification.
To make a good impression on his colleagues, Shisui carefully checked his appearance before leaving, making sure there was nothing improper.
Perhaps because he was too young, almost every Anbu he passed glanced at him as Shisui walked to the equipment department to collect his gear.
Fortunately, Mugetsu had already greeted some Anbu in advance, so there was no incident where someone complained about "whose child" he was and tried to expel Shisui from the base.
"This is your complete set of equipment. If it gets damaged, you can come back here for replacement gear," an Anbu member from the equipment department said, handing Shisui a long box.
"Thank you," Shisui said, accepting the box with both hands and nodding in gratitude.
Immediately afterward, Shisui followed the map in his memory and headed to the changing room.
When Mugetsu notified him, he had shown Shisui a map of the former Root Base. Shisui had memorized the entire map, clearly remembering the function and location of every room.
Shisui opened the box inside the changing room and found only three items inside: a fox mask, a long sword, and at the bottom, a standard Anbu combat uniform.
The Training Squad was a specially established Anbu unit. In essence, it was still Anbu, so its equipment was consistent with standard Anbu equipment.
Shisui quickly put on the Anbu combat uniform and mask, then locked his change of clothes inside a locker.
After changing into his uniform, Shisui went to the Training Squad captain's office.
Knock, knock.
Shisui gently knocked on the wooden door.
"Enter."
A voice incredibly familiar to Shisui entered his ears.
Shisui pushed open the wooden door and entered the office.
"Teacher Mugetsu," Shisui blurted out when he saw Mugetsu sitting behind the desk, then immediately corrected himself. "Captain Mugetsu."
He was reporting to the Training Squad, and Shisui felt it was better to be more serious at a time like this.
"There's no need for that. When no one else is around, you can speak as usual," Mugetsu said with a smile.
Hearing Mugetsu's words, Shisui relaxed a little.
Due to the time constraints, the Training Squad's base was largely identical to the former Root Base, giving off a dark and oppressive feeling. Coupled with the darker side of Anbu that Shisui had never understood before, it was inevitable that he would feel somewhat nervous.
"Generally, Anbu members have their own code names. When carrying out missions, they refer to each other by those code names. You can choose a code name for yourself first," Mugetsu said, taking out a small notebook.
"For example, my code name is Night."
Night was Mugetsu's code name in Root. He did not plan to change it, as code names held no particular meaning for him.
Ordinary Anbu members used code names to hide information, but Mugetsu's reputation was simply too great. Once he acted, no code name or mask would be useful.
"Then I'll use Fire," Shisui thought for a moment before saying.
He wanted to be the fire that illuminated the path for the Uchiha Clan, hoping his actions would burn away the Uchiha's predicament like flames burning through weeds.
"Are you sure you want Fire? Although changing it later isn't impossible, it will cause some minor trouble," Mugetsu asked again.
After receiving Shisui's confirmation, Mugetsu filled in Shisui's information.
"Go meet your colleagues," Mugetsu said, glancing at the time and standing up.
Shisui nodded and followed Mugetsu to the Training Squad's conference room.
Since it was still early before the scheduled meeting time, there were no Ninja in the conference room when Mugetsu and Shisui arrived. Only after they had been seated for a while did Ninja begin arriving one after another.
"Captain Mugetsu."
The Anbu members who entered greeted Mugetsu one by one.
Only Anbu members of squad leader rank and above could participate in this meeting.
In the current Training Squad, apart from Shisui, all squad leaders and team leaders were rehired former Anbu. Although it was their first day in the Training Squad, they had already received information about the Training Squad from Hiruzen and knew that Mugetsu was its captain.
Mugetsu responded to each of them with a smile.
When the tenth Anbu Ninja entered the conference room and sat down, Mugetsu coughed twice and quickly scanned the gathered Anbu Ninja.
A normal Anbu team had four sub-teams, each with seventeen people and led by a sub-team leader. Each sub-team had four squads.
However, considering the actual situation, the current Training Squad only had two sub-teams and eight squads, with a total of thirty-five Ninja.
"For the first month, ordinary Training Squad members will primarily undergo intensive training to enhance their intelligence-gathering ability and combat proficiency. Squad leaders and above will focus on learning the Darkness Breathing Technique," Mugetsu said, outlining his teaching arrangements.
Because they were all rehired Anbu, the older Anbu members had not mastered the Darkness Breathing Technique, which was now a mandatory secret technique for Anbu.
Fortunately, the new Anbu members had many courses to learn. Mugetsu could have the old Anbu members master part of the Darkness Breathing Technique first, then let the new Anbu learn from them afterward.
"To become an Anbu captain at such a young age, his future is truly boundless," an Anbu squad leader thought with emotion, looking at Mugetsu's young face.
He had served under several Anbu captains, but he had never seen an Anbu captain as young as Mugetsu. Even Hiruzen's son was one step behind Mugetsu.
Shisui listened carefully to Mugetsu's explanation, occasionally writing notes in the small notebook he carried with him.
His memory was good, but that did not mean he could remember everything he heard without fail.
The meeting lasted about an hour. When Mugetsu announced its conclusion, Shisui closed his notebook.
Due to the Uchiha Clan's fondness for clan meetings, Shisui was no stranger to meetings.
However, the Training Squad's meeting still felt very new to Shisui.
In Uchiha Clan meetings, the clan head usually sat at the top, listened, and rarely spoke. In the Training Squad, it was the opposite. Mugetsu did most of the talking.
After the meeting, Shisui tidied up and began searching for his subordinates.
"Squad Seven…"
Shisui silently recited his squad number while recalling the floor plan of the Training Squad base in his mind.
When Shisui found his squad's location, he discovered that all the members of his squad had already arrived.
Although everyone wore masks, Shisui still recognized them from the information he had read earlier.
The male Ninja with a ponytail was a Ninja from the Nara Clan, named Nara Shiosui.
The female Ninja beside him, accompanied by a white-furred Nin-Beast, was a Ninja from the Inuzuka Clan, named Inuzuka Midori.
After recognizing these two, the last person no longer needed to be identified. It was Aburame Nao, a Ninja from the Aburame Clan.
Shisui was quite satisfied with these subordinates.
Nara Shiosui had mastered shadow secret techniques and possessed powerful control abilities. Inuzuka Midori had excellent Taijutsu and could lead her Ninja dog to block at the front and restrain enemies. As for the Aburame Clan's insect manipulation secret techniques, they were extremely versatile. Insects could be used for intelligence gathering in civilian areas, and they could also absorb Chakra in battle.
When the three combined their abilities, their combat effectiveness could produce a result greater than one plus one plus one.
"Whose child is this?" Inuzuka Midori looked at the short figure approaching, showed a surprised expression, and subconsciously blurted it out.
Shisui: "…"
He did not feel quite as satisfied anymore.
"Ahem," Nara Shiosui coughed twice to remind her.
Someone coming over at this time was usually their superior.
Moreover, although Shisui was short, he was neatly dressed in the Anbu uniform, so he did not look like a leader's child who had accidentally wandered into an important area.
"Hehe, what Midori means is that he's amazing, becoming an Anbu member at such a young age," Inuzuka Midori chuckled, trying to salvage the situation.
When her family notified her, Inuzuka Midori had been quite bewildered. She had not done anything special, so how had her unpolished gold suddenly been discovered?
"He's a Training Squad member," Nara Shiosui corrected her.
The Training Squad was a special establishment. It was still somewhat different from ordinary Anbu.
"Right, then he's amazing for becoming a Training Squad member at such a young age," Inuzuka Midori said with a lack of enthusiasm, her voice flat from repeating herself.
Shisui looked at Inuzuka Midori suspiciously.
Was she truly unrelated to Obito?
"I am Uchiha Shisui. My code name in the Training Squad is Fire, and I am your squad leader," Shisui said, taking off his mask and introducing himself.
Masks were worn to avoid being recognized by outsiders, not to prevent teammates from knowing one another's identities.
"So it's him. Then it's not surprising," Nara Shiosui thought, somewhat shocked.
Of course, he knew Uchiha Shisui. After all, Shisui was Konoha's youngest genius ever, and he had achieved excellent results in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, which had been filled with geniuses, reaching the top four.
With Shisui's strength, becoming a squad leader in the Training Squad was more than enough.
"You can now think about the code names you'll use when performing missions in the Training Squad. They'll likely accompany you throughout your entire Training Squad career, so choose carefully," Shisui continued.
The information stated that Nara Shiosui and Inuzuka Midori had previously been members of the same squad, so Shisui skipped the full self-introduction segment.
He only needed Nara Shiosui and the others to understand him.
"A code name. That really is important," Inuzuka Midori nodded in agreement.
A code name was the name used during missions, and names were naturally very important. Otherwise, communication during missions would become awkward.
"In that case, Midori's code name will be Super Wild Dog Warrior!" Inuzuka Midori said, a flash of inspiration passing through her mind.
Shisui scrutinized Inuzuka Midori.
Was she really unrelated to Obito?
"That won't work. It's too long. One or two words is better," Shisui ruthlessly rejected it.
Actually, he did not know if the Training Squad had such a rule for code names, but when Shisui imagined himself communicating with Inuzuka Midori in the future and hearing her reply, "Super Wild Dog Warrior received," he found it very hard to keep a straight face.
"Eh, then I'll just call myself Dog," Inuzuka Midori said with regret.
If it could only be one or two words, Inuzuka Midori could not think of any cool code names, so she simply picked one word from the code name she had thought of.
"Then my code name will be Deer," Nara Shiosui said after thinking for a moment.
He could not think of any good code names and felt that it was not worth wasting too many brain cells on, so he simply used his clan's symbol as his code name.
"Insect," Aburame Nao said concisely.
Shisui nodded and did not dwell on the matter of code names. He immediately began the second step of his planned agenda.
"Follow me," Shisui said to his three subordinates.
After speaking, Shisui walked toward the Training Squad's Training Ground.
Shisui understood Nara Shiosui and the others' information, but Nara Shiosui and the others did not yet understand Shisui's information.
Although Nara Shiosui and the others would not receive combat missions at this stage, Shisui still felt it was necessary to familiarize themselves with each other's abilities.
Moreover, combat training was also an important part of training.
.....
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