"My name is Aburame Ryōma. Starting today, I'll be your jonin leader."
Aburame Ryōma wasn't one for words; he finished his self-introduction in a single sentence.
"Tomorrow morning at eight, meet here. We're going on a mission."
With just those two sentences, Ryōma disappeared in a flash, leaving the three of them staring in astonishment.
"Are all Konoha jonin this aloof? He finished his introduction and didn't even let us say anything?" Obito pointed, baffled, at the spot where Ryōma vanished.
I'm actually on a team with Obito?
Am I Kakashi, or am I Rin?
Wait, why do I feel like I'm the one who's going to get my heart ripped out?
Damn it, who was the bastard that did these team assignments? Should I just slap myself?
"But I really didn't expect us to end up on the same team." Asuma, though confused by Ryōma's behavior, was quite pleased with his teammates.
Teaming up with strangers meant having to get used to their personalities and movements.
At school, he'd sparred and teamed up with Feng Bai plenty of times, so he already understood his abilities well.
As for Obito…
Well, everyone knew that every squad had one or two weak links to balance out the overall strength. Yeah, he could accept that.
Too bad, though; they had to start out as genin…
Genin work was nothing but pulling weeds for nobles, chasing cats, and looking for lost pets…
Sigh, when would he finally get a chance to show off in front of his old man?
...
"Today's mission: track down and eliminate the A-rank rogue ninja Yamashita Yūji."
The next morning, without waiting for the perpetually late Obito, Aburame Ryōma took out a scroll and briefed Asuma and Feng Bai on the mission.
"Whoa, starting off this intense?"
Asuma had expected a dull genin life, but was shocked to see their first assignment was hunting a rogue ninja.
"Your abilities are already at chunin level. You're just lacking real combat experience."
Ryōma handed them a dossier with Yamashita Yūji's photo and watched the two huddle together to study the rogue ninja's skills. He didn't say anything more, simply standing aside to wait for the last member.
Yamashita Yūji, 30 years old, former Konoha special jonin, specializes in Wind Release. During an escort mission for a noble's property, he was tempted by greed, killed his teammates, and absconded with valuables worth tens of millions of ryō, causing huge losses to the village…
Specializes in Wind Release?
"It says here he's good at Wind Release. You should try going up against him," Asuma pointed at the note and looked at Feng Bai.
"You know Wind Release too. You can handle him and maybe even impress the Third Hokage," Feng Bai shot back at Asuma.
"Sorry, sorry, I was on the way…"
Just as the two were strategizing, Obito finally arrived, panting.
"Alright, let's move out."
With Obito at the rendezvous, Ryōma decisively announced the start of the mission and strode off ahead.
"Uh, I…"
Obito, who'd just sprinted across three streets, looked helplessly at Feng Bai and Asuma. They were leaving already? He didn't even know the mission details. Couldn't he at least sit down and rest a bit?
"No helping it, you're the one who was late." Asuma, feeling vindicated, followed Ryōma.
"Well, nothing I can do now. Obito, you'll just have to tough it out," Feng Bai shrugged, showing he couldn't help either.
With no one to rely on, Obito gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep up, despite his burning lungs.
...
"The last sighting was in a small town on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls."
At noon, the group squatted in an unknown forest, sharing soldier pills.
Taking advantage of the meal break, Ryōma pulled out a map and pointed at a small square in the border area: "This region is far from the Land of Fire's center, so bandits and rogue ninja often hide out here. Luckily, they're wary of Konoha ninja and rarely cause trouble. They usually only target residents on the Land of Waterfalls side, not those in the town itself."
Land of Waterfalls residents: So?
"Once we infiltrate the town, I'll search for him alone. You three need to conceal your identities and use what you learned at the academy to find him. Got it?"
"Don't worry, Captain Ryōma. If I spot this guy, I'll show him what an Uchiha can do!"
Obito confidently flexed his arm.
Ryōma looked at Obito with a blank expression.
He wanted to tell Obito that he'd seen the power of the Uchiha—and it definitely wasn't like this.
But, since Obito was Feng Bai's close friend, Ryōma decided to give him some face.
Otherwise, with his usual style, Obito would've been sent off to the Root research lab for being late.
The next day at noon, they arrived at the so-called small town.
Ryōma, as planned, left them some money and promptly disappeared.
"Take off your forehead protectors. We'll enter the town as ordinary people."
With Ryōma gone, Feng Bai—being the most capable of the three—naturally took charge.
"This guy stole tens of millions of ryō. Unless he's already burned through it, he should be living well. In a border town like this, there aren't many places to have fun—just a few casinos and bars. We'll check them one by one."
"But at our age, we probably can't get into bars or casinos," Asuma pointed out.
"We'll just have to hide and watch who goes in and out," Feng Bai agreed.
He'd have liked to check out a club or bar himself—purely for investigation, of course. He'd learned some ninjutsu from Jiraiya, but not his habits. Still, their age limited their options.
"Alright, let's do that. We'll start with the biggest entertainment spots."
They finalized their plan.
Using the Transformation Technique, they fooled the regular innkeeper and rented a room as their base. After finding the town's most famous casino, they took turns watching from the rooftop, observing everyone coming and going.
"Hey, what if this guy is using the Transformation Technique to get in and out of the casino?"
After a week of fruitless surveillance, Obito raised a possibility.
🔥 Want to read the next 50+ chapters RIGHT NOW?
💎 Patreon members get instant access!
⚡ Limited-time offer currently running...
👉 [Join on - patreon.com/GoldenLong]