Ninjas were known for being super fast and all-out aggressive in battle. You could see just how one-sided they were by looking at how their battle gear changed over time. Take Konoha, for example. Back during the early days of the village's founding—even during the First and Second Hokage's time—ninja wore full armor, including the Hokage himself. But after the Second Hokage's era, armor became lighter and simpler. By the middle to late years of the Third Hokage's reign, real armor had basically disappeared completely. All ninja wore at most were arm guards on their forearms.
This shift probably had something to do with how strong ninjas were getting overall. Sure, there were still a few top-tier ninjas later on, but for the most part, it was true what they say—the kids these days aren't what they used to be.
No matter what, after the establishment of the ninja villages, survival conditions for ninjas had improved a lot compared to the brutal chaos of earlier wars. Mass slaughter wasn't as frequent or brutal anymore, so naturally, ninjas themselves weren't as powerful.
For Haseo, adjusting to his new outfit wasn't particularly hard—if only war hadn't added even that little bit more weight, everything would've been perfect.
But war was never going to be that simple.
The day after he received the team member files, Haseo gathered his squad at the training field where he used to spend most of his time.
When he arrived at the agreed-upon time, he saw three figures waiting in the distance… Hmm. Teammates always showed up before the captain. This sight suddenly made him realize—he was actually someone's "leader" now.
Well, the Hokage was basically just the village chief. As someone who was just a subordinate several layers deep under the Hokage, how much of a leader could he really be? He quickened his pace, walked up to them, and said with mild sarcasm, "Good morning, everyone."
Slightly awkwardly, no one responded out loud. The three just gave him slight nods in greeting.
These three looked about Haseo's age—maybe a year or two off at most. In response to his greeting, they stayed pretty quiet—not because they had anything against their new captain, but simply because very few ninjas could start chatting comfortably upon meeting for the first time. Most only understood combat, not conversation.
And some were awkward both on the battlefield and in conversation.
Looks like things would need to progress slowly… Meeting them face-to-face made Haseo realize he'd been a bit too optimistic earlier. He immediately adjusted his tone, skipping unnecessary small talk and cutting straight to the point. "I called you all here today for two reasons. First, since we're teammates now, we should at least learn each other's faces. Second, I'm informing you that our team will depart for the battlefield in the Land of Rivers in three days. Everyone must prepare accordingly—no delays will be tolerated. This is an order passed down from Konoha's main operations headquarters, so please treat it seriously."
"From the reports I've read, I have a basic understanding of your situations. On the other hand, you probably know next to nothing about me... Well, not exactly. At least you should already know my name. But just to elaborate a bit further..."
"I'm a ninjutsu-oriented ninja who's skilled in several elemental chakra affinities. My taijutsu is just so-so, and I don't know any genjutsu at all. What I'm relatively good at are compound techniques."
Despite the fact that his chakra stamina issues still hadn't been adequately resolved.
"I've completed A-rank missions with results exceeding expectations."
During his trip to Kumo, he was basically just tagging along without any real contribution.
"I've also had the honor of being personally received and praised by the Second Hokage."
The Second Hokage even gave him a posthumous thumbs-up from beyond the grave.
Haseo's self-introduction was deliberately half-truthful, intentionally exaggerating his abilities - it seemed he was trying to both reassure the three team members and establish authority at the same time.
"To be honest, I haven't been a ninja all that long, and my skills are pretty limited. However... based on first impressions, we certainly don't look like an elite squad. We're simply one of the most common, average-quality generic teams created during wartime. So going forward, I'll do my best to make sure we don't end up as just another disposable team."
"First impression... how do you judge a team's strength from that?" Someone couldn't help but ask.
"How should I put it? Well, elite teams tend to stand out visually. Generally speaking, the standard composition of a strong team includes one blond-haired member, one white-haired member, one black-haired member, and then maybe an extra person who's just there to make up the numbers. Compared to that, our team looks pretty plain and lacks any visual impact whatsoever."
"..."
This explanation left the three team members exchanging glances. They assumed Haseo was making some inappropriate joke, but only he himself knew that everything he said was completely serious - his theory had actually been verified through practical examples...
Compared to those visually distinctive teams, their team with everyone having black hair was definitely the textbook definition of a generic squad.
"Alright then, since we've all introduced ourselves, let me remind you once again not to forget the departure time... That's all for now." Haseo announced the end of this brief gathering for the newly formed squad.
He shook his head — just as he'd expected, these new teammates had zero chemistry. In truly well-coordinated squads, the members at least needed to be mentally in sync. For example, when someone shouted [ORA!], the others should instinctively respond with [MU DA!] (meaning "You've got no chance" in battle banter); when someone yelled [HOAGIE!], the rest should immediately shout back [FIVE CENTS EACH!]; and when someone shouted "Dan-Z-O-U – one more rhyme!"… Yeah, maybe skip that one — it's not exactly classy.
Haseo knew that building proper coordination within this new squad would certainly require time and adjustment. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough time to gradually build teamwork - they'd have to sharpen their skills directly on the battlefield through actual combat experience.
Truth be told, beyond just the basic stats, Haseo was actually pretty satisfied with his team's composition. If their abilities could synergize properly, this squad's combat effectiveness and battlefield utility definitely couldn't be called "weaklings."
Renjiro Sazuka, Nagisa Nara, and Chichiwa Yatsumi—those were the names of Haseo's three teammates. In terms of gender, it was two males and one female; in terms of ability, they complemented each other well with distinct specialties.
As for the Nara member, no introduction was needed—he belonged to Konoha's Nara clan and wielded the [Shadow Binding Jutsu], a battlefield technique with immense strategic value.
The second member, Renjiro, specialized in reconnaissance with moderate long-distance sensing abilities…perhaps not matching up to the Byakugan's monstrous level of long-range, wide-area scouting capability, but having someone who could significantly expand the team's search range was already extremely valuable. After all, every extra bit of intelligence meant greater security on the battlefield.
Lastly came Chichio, a ninja with long-range offensive capability. In standard classifications of ninja engagement distances, anything within five meters was considered close-range, between five to ten meters medium-range, and beyond ten meters long-range. However, Chichio's definition of long-range went even further—she could strike from over fifty meters away.
Considering all that, having offense, control, and scouting in a single squad, the only missing element was a medical unit. But Haseo had nothing to complain about—in the current situation, medical ninjas weren't assigned at the individual squad level but rather grouped together for centralized deployment.
The legendary ninja who had revolutionized Konoha's medical techniques and advocated assigning medics to individual squads had been thoroughly soaked by Haseo just a few months ago.
...
Three days later, Haseo left a note for Sansho, then without alerting anyone, assembled with his team and proceeded according to plan toward the very frontlines of The Great Ninja World War.
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