Chapitre 324: CH_9.9 (324)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Takuma was nervous to be alone in the Hokage's company. Even the ANBU guards had fallen behind to give them space.
"I am aware that you will be joining the ANBU soon," said Hiruzen.
Takuma wasn't supposed to discuss his employment with ANBU with anyone, and if asked, he would have outright denied it, but this was the Hokage speaking. There was no use hiding it, especially since lying to him was a crime written into the law.
Takuma nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Are you ready for the challenge? Being an ANBU-nin is not easy."
"I'm prepared to do my best."
"What if your best is not enough?"
"Then I'll just have to grow my best until it's enough."
Hiruzen chuckled. "That's a good attitude. I was surprised when I found out you had joined the ANBU. I believed you would stay with the Police Force because of your relationship with Lady Uchiha."
"I'm grateful to Lady Uchiha for all she has done for me, but my time at the Police Force has come to a natural end. It's time for me to do something else if I want to grow. In that sense, the opportunity from ANBU came at the perfect time."
Takuma chose his words carefully. He couldn't insult his previous employers openly or be blunt and say that he joined ANBU because they were the highest bidder, but he also didn't lie completely; he cared about the Hidden Leaf village and the Land of Fire because they were his home, and as a citizen, it was his duty to keep his home safe. He wanted to survive the future, but what good was survival if he couldn't live in peace and enjoy his life—and a safe home was vital for that to happen. He also wasn't eager to return to the Police Force after everything that had happened; the idea of going through the awkward readjustment stage there didn't appeal to him
"Did you factor in that working for ANBU will bring you closer to ROOT?" Hiruzen asked a startling question.
"Pardon?" said Takuma, not expecting the question.
"I assume you are aware of the ROOT."
"... Yes, sir, I do."
"You've had a surprising number of run-ins with them these past two years. They've even tried to kill you outright once. Joining ANBU could potentially have you face them more in the future. And of course, they might target you once again."
Takuma had, of course, considered it, but it was one of those things he couldn't say to anyone, much less the Hokage. He didn't want to avoid them because he wanted revenge. Coming into contact with ROOT was one of the biggest reasons he joined ANBU in the first place.
"They will target me regardless," Takuma replied after a pause. "I don't believe in running away from a problem. Given time, it'll follow you wherever you go. Better to tear it out at the root before that can happen. I'm sure ANBU is working hard to make that come true one day, and if they allow me, I will do my best to contribute. Eliminating the ROOT would be best for the village."
When the Hokage was concerned, regardless of the situation, the correct answer was to put the village front and forward before anything else. Despite the risk of being perceived as a kiss-ass, it was undoubtedly the safest option compared to speaking freely.
"Do you hate the ROOT?" asked Hiruzen.
"It would be strange not to. I was in the hospital for months and had to relearn how to walk. They also made my time in the Land of Hot Water much harder than it needed to be. When you combine that with their crimes and defection from the village, to say I hate them wouldn't be wrong."
"The Steam-Frost war. I heard from Chunin Anko that you were assigned to her team."
"Yes, we were under Jōnin Toridasu's command."
"Toridasu," Hiruzen smiled. "That old man continues to remain active, even in old age. I must remember to invite him to a meal when he returns."
"He would be delighted," said Takuma.
"I was glad to see Anko enjoying herself as well. Her life had been difficult because of that foolish student of mine," Hiruzen sighed, the shadows of his hat aged him ten years for a moment.
"Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin," said Takuma, thinking about one of the most heinous people in the world.
Hiruzen nodded with a hum. "His actions hurt everyone close to him; she was perhaps hurt the most. So, I was happy to see her enjoying herself back there. She praised you quite a lot, which is rare for her if she feels uncomfortable about the person. I'm glad to see her open her heart to others again."
"She will grow now that she's joined T&I," said Takuma. He couldn't remember if Anko was a Chunin or Tokubetsu Jōnin in the source material, but considering that Orochimaru trained her and experimented on her, her potential had to be great.
"That's all I wish for her," said Hiruzen with a smile.
"Lord Hokage, I've saved my mission points, and now that I'm a chunin, I will choose a B-rank jutsu when I get the opportunity. May I get some advice on how to improve my skills with ninjutsu," Takuma asked. After Gai, he gained some confidence in asking for help.
"I like your spirit," Hiruzen said approvingly. "Do you know your primary affinity?"
"It's Earth Release, sir. However, I believe Water Release is just behind, if not equal to it," Takuma replied eagerly.
Hiruzen remained silent for an extended moment; his expression suggested that he was deep in thought.
"Earth and Water, you say," he finally spoke. "A handle over two natures at your age is impressive."
"Thank you, sir. I'm currently more skilled with Water Release as most of my frequent jutsu are Water Release." Takuma had much more practice with Water Release due to his frequent use of Eight Tentacles, Wild Water Wave, and Water Clone jutsu, along with the recent addition of the Spirit Water Wave. He had not used Dome and Earth Tremor Sense jutsu all that often.
"Are you aware you can't just learn B-rank jutsu by reading the scroll?" asked Hiruzen.
"I am.," said Takuma. "B-rank ninjutsu and beyond required advanced chakra training before using the ninjutsu itself."
"My first recommendation is not to rush through the advanced chakra training. Take your time, truly understand what you're doing, and perfect it before you move on," said Hiruzen as he stroked his goatee. "People who try to rush through advanced chakra training are harming themselves. If you do it properly, not only will your skill with lower-rank jutsu improve, but you will also have an easier time learning the B-rank jutsu itself. Building that foundation is perhaps the most important thing as it gives the largest benefit."
Takuma nodded. Some part of him needed to hear that. The allure of B-rank jutsu was strong; he recalled Bishop using his Fire Release B-rank jutsu, which had boosted his power by such a large amount. Even though Takuma had emerged as the victor, it was a pyrrhic victory, with himself being seriously injured while Bishop had only fainted from chakra exhaustion.
When combined with his worries about the future—he could see himself rushing through the advanced chakra training to 'officially' add a B-rank jutsu to his arsenal. But with Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Professor, the master of all five basic natures saying to focus on fundamentals, he would do just that.
"My second piece of advice would be to experience the two elements. You must learn more about earth and water. Learn about their characteristic quirks and their part in the world. Many ninjutsu were created from inspiration taken from observing their element in nature. The better you understand earth and water, the better you will understand Earth and Water Release."
"...So, just observe water and earth? Like water from a tap and the earth all around me?" Takuma asked with a frown. He didn't understand how that would help.
"I believe you can learn a lot about water from a running tap. But visit streams, waterfalls, ponds, seas, and oceans if possible. For earth, observe different kinds of soils and stones. How is the rocky stone of the Hokage Mountain different from softer farmland? There is so much you can learn from things you would ordinarily pay no attention to."
"Understood," said Takuma. He'd give it a shot, even if it didn't make much sense right now.
"And finally, practically speaking, knowing how to utilise the jutsu depending on the situation's requirements is perhaps just as important as anything else. You must understand the jutsu at a high level and possess the skill to gain the freedom to adapt it to the situation," said Hiruzen with a strong insistence in his words. "I understand that ANBU gives their operatives open access to their jutsu archives, and I'm not telling you to hold off on taking advantage of it—but don't fall into the trap of believing that learning more jutsu is the path.
"A shinobi who has mastery over one jutsu would often be more dangerous than one who has half-heartedly learned ten," said Hiruzen with a wise smile.
Takuma couldn't agree more. His experience with Eight Tentacles made him understand the importance of practical application. Learning to cast the jutsu meant nothing if he couldn't use it effectively.
"Thank you for your time and knowledge, Lord Hokage," Takuma said, bowing.
"I have one more question from my side. I am curious: what is the 'Will of Fire' to you, Chunin Takuma?" asked Hiruzen as they arrived at the end of their walk.
Takuma was not expecting the question. He had never thought about what 'Will of Fire' meant to him. He knew what it meant to Hiruzen. He believed the entire village was a large family, and every Leaf shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them.
It was what allowed Leaf shinobi to overcome the odds and build character for the sake of protecting something they held dear.
He gazed at the path they had just walked, which led to the hall where people had come to share in his happiness. He remembered the pure joy on their faces as he received the flak jacket from the Hokage. Seeing him happy made them happy, and seeing them happy made him happy.
"...It's my desire to protect the people I love," Takuma replied.
He did not like this world. It was not like the world he had grown up in—or perhaps it was the same, but he had been shielded from its ugliness. However, he had seen it now, and he did not like it. When he arrived in this world, he felt like a foreigner who did not belong; it had been four years since then, and he didn't think that had changed—but it had certainly improved, and it was because of the people.
Because of the genuine connections that made him feel like he belonged.
He wanted to protect them.
His goal had been to survive the future, but it would be meaningless if these people weren't there with him.
"I will not let them see harm," said Takuma. They were all shinobi, so danger was part of their lives, but he was willing to do whatever was asked from him. "I don't know if I'm right; maybe that definition will change in the future, but right now, that's what the Will of Fire means to me."
He looked at Hiruzen, who was smiling gently.
"That's more than enough," he said.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 325: CH_9.10 (325)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
"Six recruits is double the usual admission size… again," said ANBU-nin, codenamed Tapir.
He was a middle-aged man in his forties with short, salt-and-pepper hair and more wrinkles on his face than someone his age should have. As ANBU's Master Instructor, he oversaw all the new recruits' training and that took a toll.
He was once a field operative but had transitioned into his current role after retiring from active combat.
For the past year, his workload had more than doubled as ANBU ramped up recruitment since the ROOT's banishing from the Hidden Leaf. Regardless of what ROOT did, it couldn't be denied that the Hidden Leaf relied on them with various responsibilities, and their exit had left a hole that needed to be filled.
"You know we need the numbers," said Ant, who was involved in the latest round of recruitment.
Tapir scowled. "This is the limit. Any more and we'll have trouble with integration."
"Training six shinobi is not a lot, Tapir."
"My training isn't the issue. They'll join their teams after this, and someone there will have to take time out of their schedules to teach them the team's ways—and you know how much everyone cherishes their free time."
Ant sighed, knowing there wasn't much he could say to that. The one thing every ANBU-nin had in common was that they were busy, and when they got free time, they would either use it to catch up on work or shut it out altogether to rest.
Bringing in additional people meant more helping hands—but at the start, it actually meant teaching them, double-checking their mistakes, often redoing it themselves. All of which would ultimately slow down the team.
The aforementioned benefits only came later when the recruits would become full-fledged operatives, which was why no one liked training new guys.
"And then, those team leaders blame me when the recruits make mistakes at work. Saying, "You didn't train them properly," Tapir spat in irritation.
"Come on, don't be like that. Let's go drinking, my treat," said Ant.
Tapir sighed, seemingly appeased for the moment.
They were currently in an ANBU training facility located within a restricted area in the village. It was a state-of-the-art facility reserved for any ANBU employee, operative or staff, interested in training. It had anything a shinobi could ask for, and if they needed something else, Tapir could reserve it in advance.
"What do you think about this batch anyway?" Tapir asked Ant.
"What about them?"
"Do you think they'll stick?"
Not everyone could handle working for ANBU. A stringent selection process ensured their operatives were up for the task, but it wasn't completely foolproof.
Even after passing the testing, some people couldn't keep up or simply did a poor job at it. ANBU letting people go wasn't uncommon, but as a rule, turnover was avoided as much as possible since it required a recruitment cycle.
"Give them the right jobs, and they'll thrive," Ant replied.
"That's helped me with absolutely nothing," Tapir sighed. It was his job to observe the recruits during their training period to see where they would fit the best. He always got shit from the different ANBU units if their new rookies didn't pick up their jobs instantly.
"What about this Takuma kid? Isn't he too young for us? Or is he like Weasel?" asked Tapir.
ANBU didn't take anyone under the age of thirteen; realistically, they rarely considered those below sixteen as viable candidates because people didn't want to work with a kid.
It was always extra shitty when a young kid died on a mission, however, they had gone and broken that rule by taking in an eleven-year-old Uchiha Itachi, codenamed Weasel, into their ranks.
"No one is like Weasel," said Ant, taking a moment to snort. "But the kid is smart enough to deserve the shot; he managed to outreason Eisbar in an argument—and he can fight. I was pissed off at how he gave us the slip, and that's saying something."
While useful, the information didn't make Tapir feel any better because he could already see the ANBU unit he was thinking of pitching Takuma to bitching to him because dumping a kid on them was malicious behaviour.
As if he had some kind of grudge against them.
Bullshit! He cursed under his breath as he entered the room where the six recruits were waiting.
———
.
Takuma watched the two men introduce themselves as Ant and Tapir. He knew Ant from his recruitment test, but Tapir was new and introduced himself as the Master Instructor, who would be overseeing their training for the next three months.
Although he and the others had not received their codenames or masks yet, seeing the two ANBU-nin barefaced made him feel like he was already part of ANBU.
"Let me start by saying that all of you are shinobi who passed the recruitment test—you are not academy brats who need to have everything spoon-fed to them," Tapir addressed the six recruits. "You were hired with the expectation that you will be ready from day one, but that's unrealistic, and no one's perfect. Consider this training as putting on the finishing touches before you're shipped off."
According to Tapir, they wouldn't be forced to train if they didn't need it. For example, if they could pass the expected physical requirements, they wouldn't have to undergo a conditioning course to bring them up to speed. Similarly, they wouldn't need a surveillance course if they could collect information without being noticed.
If they wanted to complete the training, they had to pass a certain list of criteria before they could be approved for official duty.
"You must pass the tests if you don't want to train. You can apply at any time, any number of times, but if you fail twice in a row, you will have to go through training. And once you start a course, you can only apply to be tested after it's finished—no exceptions allowed," said Tapir.
He motioned to a staff member sitting in the corner, who distributed a thick document to them.
The document listed many criteria they had to pass to complete the training. Most interestingly, each criterion had difficulty levels; some had three levels, while others had as many as a dozen. Each criterion had a particular difficulty level marked in bold.
"You must pass each criterion; the level is up to you. The bolded level is recommended, but you aren't required to follow the recommendation."
"I have a question. What are these recommendations based on?" Yaya Utamatsu asked after Tapir nodded.
"Good question. Not all missions are ideal; they require different skills from the operative. Your leader or the mission supervisor might look at these levels, which will be part of your record, to determine if you're suitable for the mission. Not everyone relies on them, but depending on the person or mission, they can be mandatory, so I recommend that you update them by getting tested every once in a while."
Takuma read the document as Tapir spoke. The document included a mix of criteria, from combat to intelligence skills. One basic criterion was shurikenjutsu, which tested throwing skills with projectile weapons such as the shuriken, kunai, senbon, among others. It had seven levels, but the recommendation was at the second level.
He turned the pages and eventually arrived at the page with a heading titled "Other/Optional." One of the reasons he joined ANBU was to get better training. They promised to invite former ANBU-nin and specialists for training if he wanted them. When he heard the training period was three months, he wanted to use all of it for training. But Swine recommended they complete their training as soon as possible.
Takuma realised that if he spent the entire three months, he would be setting a bad first impression on his eventual team, who would think that it took him all three months to pass "basic training", whereas his peers were already zoomed past ahead. And that first impression was important.
If he was mistakenly perceived as incompetent, it could ruin his progress as his B-rank jutsu compensation would be influenced by the subjective opinion of superior shinobi who would look badly on him if their impression of him was negative.
He needed a reason to stay in training to justify the extra time, and he seemed to have found one.
"What about these?" asked Takuma, pointing to the "Other/Optional" section. The other recruits glanced at his document before flipping to the same page.
"From experience, a good ANBU-nin is an all-rounder because that allows them to slot into any mission, making them a valuable asset. You also need something special that makes you stand out from everyone else. Iryōjutsu and fūinjutsu are massive undertakings, but if you know them, your value shoots up the roof as everyone wants an iryo-nin or a fuin-nin on their team. Your special skill doesn't have to be scarce due to difficulty; it can be something niche not many people in ANBU can do, such as speaking a region's dialect or street slang; being skilled at a card game, instrument, or sport; or being good at another nation's traditional folk song or dance. You might be surprised that what you once thought was useless might come in use here. You can browse a thick folder in the library that lists other skills that we can test you on."
"There won't be any training for most of these optional skills," Ant said. "My advice would be to focus on completing the mandatory criteria on the recommended levels and start working as soon as possible. You can get other things later after you've settled down and get the hang of the work."
Takuma was disappointed when he heard there was no training for most skills. Ant's advice mimicked Swine's words, which worried him that getting the training over as soon as possible might be better. He needed more information to make a decision.
For the rest of the meeting, they set up a schedule for the first week to get the things everyone was confident about tested. That way, they could move on to test and build skills the group of six weresn't confident about.
———
.
Takuma returned home in the evening.
Home.
It should have felt strange calling Maruboshi's house his home when he had only been living there for close to two months, but he was living with Maruboshi—and perhaps that was the reason it didn't feel strange.
The elderly man's wise presence was like a warm embrace over the house.
"There's a package for you," Maruboshi said as Takuma entered the living room.
"Oh? From who?" asked Takuma.
"Jōnin Might Gai."
"Pardon?" Takuma was startled. It had been two weeks since his promotion ceremony, and while he thought about the experience of meeting Might Gai and the Third Hokage from time to time, he didn't think they had connected enough for either to send him something.
"Where is it?" he asked.
"Outside. It's took four shinobi to bring it here and they said not to bring it inside if the flooring isn't solid. I didn't want to risk it." Maruboshi opened the sliding door to the garden, where a box big enough to fit half a washing machine sat in the grass.
"Do you know what it is?" asked Takuma as they stepped outside.
"They didn't say and I didn't open it."
Takuma tried to lift the box. His face flushed with exertion, but he could only lift it a foot off the ground for a couple of seconds before his spine threatened to snap. He took out a kunai and cut the tape and outer cardboard box to reveal half a dozen shinobi-grade hard cases of varying sizes.
Maruboshi muttered, "This is..."
"...Weighted gear," Takuma finished for him.
There was a complete set of the highest-grade weight gear money could buy, along with a heavy vest; ankle and wrist weights; and special gloves and shoes. Everything looked custom-made. There was an option to increase the weight by adding absurdly heavy blocks that reminded him of the ones Rock Lee wore during his fight with Gaara.
The equipment Takuma was a joke in comparison. Outgrowing these would be a pipe dream for quite a while!
"You talked to him about your energy balance," said Maruboshi, handing him the letter with the weighted gear. "It seems he wants to help you with it."
Takuma read the letter handwritten by Gai, who congratulated him on his promotion and said he was sending a gift to help solve his problem and told him not to waste his youth and to be the best shinobi he could be.
"Fucking hell," said Takuma, amazed.
"Language," Maruboshi rebuked.
"Sorry."
"We should store it in the shed because this will not be coming inside by the looks of it."
Takuma rubbed his protesting lower back. "Sounds like the smart choice."
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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