Chapitre 326: CH_9.11 (326)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
The first week of the training period was busy as everyone underwent tests for things they were sure they would pass. Everyone passed physical testing, weapon handling, field strategy, battle tactics, logical reasoning, data interpretation, arithmetics, verbal ability, reading comprehension, and other basics expected from a shinobi who had passed ANBU recruitment.
ANBU even tested their chakra control and jutsu comprehension by having them demonstrate ninjutsu and complete a written test quizzing them on chakra theory.
"You failed?" Takuma was flabbergasted.
Three out of six recruits—Etomi, Fourteen; Utamatsu, Sixteen; and Yazo, Ten— had failed the written test. The test was difficult and demanded a minimum of 80% score to pass, but Takuma didn't think anyone would fail the test.
"I never really paid attention to the theory," said Yazo with a frown. His hand disappeared into his afro as he scratched his head. "Did they teach all of this in the academy? I don't remember learning half of this stuff. I'm more of a do-it-to-learn-it type of guy."
"It has been a long time since I paid attention to theory. With kids and the job, I was lucky to learn some new jutsu, but reading the literature has not been a consideration for a few years now," sighed Utamatsu, the oldest of the group and the only one married with kids.
Etomi clicked her tongue. "There's definitely stuff beyond the academy level. I'll have to do a refresher about a couple of topics, and I should be fine in the next test... But, shit, come on..."
Amami patted Etomi's shoulder because the latter had scored 79% on her test and had only failed by 1%.
"So, you're not taking the class?" Utamatsu asked Etomi.
"Nope, and you shouldn't as well. Do some self-study and give the second attempt; if you pass, all good—but if you fail, you take the classes—no reason to commit to a class before that."
"I'm taking the class. I don't think giving a second attempt will do me any good," said Yazo, quickly evaluating his position and making an appropriate decision. "But this is bullshit. I did everything correctly during my demonstration. Who cares about nerd shit when I have the skills pat down!"
Takuma then realised that not everyone read the literature on the back of the jutsu scroll and slogged through academic papers. He started reading technical stuff because he just sucked at ninjutsu; learning theory helped him make sense of things he didn't understand. The habit stuck, and he continued to read.
But Yazo wasn't wrong in his claim that theory didn't matter if one could perform a jutsu as well as him.
Amami said, "Learning theory can be helpful but will yield diminishing returns past a point. I say attend the class and try to pass the recommended level, but if you can't, try for a lower difficulty level—as you said, if you can use your jutsu well, no one will care."
Takuma nodded.
"There's more than one way to learn ninjutsu, but this is ANBU; they demand a higher standard. Don't make excuses before putting in effort and take the easy way out," said Kojuro Hyuuga.
"My approach is not an excuse," said Amami, her eyes narrowing.
Kojuro shrugged.
Utamatsu quickly changed the subject to the next week's testing portion.
As they talked, Takuma gazed at the criteria document he had read over and over again for the past week. He wondered if completing the training as soon as possible was the right move for him. He wanted to use his three months properly to not only push himself forward but also to prepare himself for the job.
He thought about why they wanted them to hurry, and one reason was that ANBU wanted them to learn on the job. It was an effective way to encourage people to learn quickly, and the learnings were completely practical without any bloat that could creep into a classroom.
He had learned most of his leading, managing, and organisational skills on the job during the Narcotics Taskforce, and while he made mistakes, he had learned an awful lot very quickly. Or perhaps ANBU just wanted them to get working as soon as possible because they were on their payroll.
"So much to do, so little time," Takuma commented absentmindedly.
He needed more information but didn't have the right person to ask it from. However, Takuma soon found the person who would solve his problem.
———
Later that evening, Takuma was leaving the training facility when he saw a brunette woman sitting on a bench near the entrance. She was dressed in casual clothes and wore a cap. He assumed she was someone from ANBU who had come to train there, but as he passed her, she looked up at him and smiled.
Takuma froze when he saw someone he hadn't seen in a very long time and wasn't expecting to reunite with at the ANBU training facility.
"Sango?!"
Takuma was left speechless for a moment. They had met in the Ring, where she served as his iryo-nin, a relationship which developed into her becoming his personal doctor and they had grown close enough that she was willing to manipulate his medical records to omit any mention of the scars on his body.
The last time he had seen her was just before the assassination attempt. She did not visit him in the hospital or pick up the phone when he wanted to tell her that he was getting deployed, nor did she reply to his invitation to his promotion ceremony.
It was like she had vanished from the face of the earth.
"Yo, I knew you would end up here one day," said Sango with a grin.
"Fuck you showing up like this after all this time," Takuma spat. He felt embarrassed that he was the only person who gave importance to their friendship enough that he went to her house only to find out that she had moved away while he was away at war with no way to contact her.
He also didn't want to contact her former teacher, Enomoto, the Shady Guy, because of his history with him.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that," Sango stood up and wrapped her arm over his shoulders. She smiled when he didn't push her away. "I was busy. These guys are taskmasters, their innate dislike bubbles up when they see free people. And well, a chunin iryo-nin would be sought after everywhere regardless."
"You got promoted?"
"Of course, they gave me a promotion just like you," she smirked, her fox-like eyes narrowing.
"I'm still mad."
"What can I do to make it up to you? I now know how to do cosmetic reconstructions now. I can get rid of the scars for you if you like."
Takuma paused for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I don't want that. But you can help me with some other things," he said as he looked at his ANBU senior as thoughts began to pop into his head.
They moved to a restaurant to continue their reunion and conversation.
"You sure picked a fancy place," Sango clicked her tongue as Takuma brought them to a high-end restaurant and even asked for a private room. She sighed, "Well, I don't have the free time to spend money, so whatever, let big sis spoil you a little."
Takuma didn't beat around the bush and brought up the topic concerning him the most.
"You want to spend all three months in training?" Sango hummed and gazed up at the ceiling of the private room for a moment. "Well... I wouldn't recommend it because there's a lot of work to be done, especially right now."
"Right now?"
"ANBU has been stressed and stretched thin since Shimura Danzo and ROOT absconded. Not only do we have to catch ROOT, but we also pick up the slack they left behind. Everyone's workload around the board has shot up," Sango's sigh sounded beyond tired. "We need new people, but training them takes time, which takes away from chipping away at the workload—and I'm not talking about the training you are doing now—it's the on-job practical stuff like knowing how your unit operates, what's your leader's management style, the idiosyncrasies of your teammates, and all that real day-to-day, detailed stuff that you can't teach without actually working with your team.
"We also can't up our hiring more than we have right now because that would mean lowering the standards, which is a no-go. We're somehow managing by outsourcing non-essential, lower-priority matters to other entities and former ANBU-nin, but it's not enough. We need more people, so spending three months when your unit expects you within one and a half—but actually needs you there in one—is not ideal."
The timing was not right. ANBU needed the manpower to cover the hole left by ROOT before foreign powers took advantage and damaged the nation. They landed small victories as ANBU ran around, putting out more fires than they could handle.
"So, right now, they need someone who can pull his weight immediately?" said Takuma.
"Exactly," said Sango as she picked up her large pitcher of highball.
If spending all three months wasn't possible, he needed to focus on the next best thing. How could he increase his value in the eyes of his team and make a good impression? Upon joining, they would probably treat him like a rookie and try to guide him through his responsibilities.
He had gone through the same thing with Kano when he joined the Police Force. The workload was lighter, and everything was double-checked for pointers and errors. All of that took time away from Kano's regular duties. Eventually, he got used to it, and she stopped babysitting him, but that took some time.
The best way to create a good impression was to reduce that initial babysitting time and prove that he could handle a regular amount of work on his own.
But for that to happen, he needed a few things to accomplish his goal.
"About paying me back..."
"Oh, did you decide on what you want?"
"I want some help with a couple of things."
———
By the time Takuma returned home from his meeting with Sango, Maruboshi had already finished his dinner and retired to his room for the day. Takuma took a bath, cleaned the bathroom, and did some prep work for breakfast as part of his duties as a housemate before also turning in for the day.
As he lay on his bed in his room, he gazed at the ceiling with a thought that he had pushed aside before..
He slipped his hand underneath his shirt and traced the scars with a hand.
There were two types of scarring on his body. The rough scars, caused by sharp weapons that cut him during spars and fights, were evidence of mistakes he made during combat. He did not want to get rid of them, as they served as reminders to avoid making those same mistakes. The surgical scars that were present from before the day he found himself in the body. They were methodical, uniform, and were present all over his body. What kind of person was the boy to go through so many operations and medical procedures? It would've made sense if it was someone only in one part of the body—but scars were everywhere.
No one that sick would be able to have a body strong enough to be a shinobi.
Takuma closed his eyes as a faint pain assaulted his head from thinking about the scars. It used to be torturous, but ever since that miserable day when Rikku had died in Yu, the pain had become much more manageable after he had visions during his fight against Kon.
Those were not visions. They were repressed memories.
They were vague and blurry, but Takuma had seen them in his dreams; they had kept him awake at night. If they were memories, they were the boy's memories. He managed to piece together the fact that the boy was involved in some form of experimentation, and the fact he saw a younger Kon in those memories meant it was all connected to the ROOT somehow.
Nothing of it had to do with him, and yet, because he now possessed the body, he had inherited everything from the boy. Something from deep within his being wanted him to find what had happened to get a semblance of a closer.
And so, he had another reason to go after ROOT.
Unlike avenging Rikku, this didn't feel like his own desire, but it compelled him the same. Perhaps it was a remnant of the boy influencing him. It made him uncomfortable to think he was being influenced by something he did not know, yet it made no difference. He wanted to know the truth, and getting to it meant capturing the person he hated the most in his life.
Until he got closure, he would not erase the scars on his body. Takuma already wanted to kill Kon; now he had an excuse to torture the bastard until he fessed up everything he knew.
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 327: CH_9.12 (327)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Nasaki Isato had been working for ANBU for several years as staff and was surprised when Copperhead—a snake-masked ANBU iryo-nin by the name of Sango—told her that one of the new recruits wanted to talk to her. He didn't want her specifically, but a competent staff member.
And her competence being acknowledged was always flattering to hear.
Usually, she would refuse anyone trying to meet her in her capacity as an ANBU staff member as it was seldom anything good, and she was not allowed to share anything about her job, even with her friends and family. At least she was allowed to share that she worked with ANBU; the operatives couldn't and were essentially forced to lie to almost everyone in their lives.
But the recommendation had come from an operative, and since she was meeting one of the recruits, which kept this thing inside ANBU, so she accepted the meeting, if only because she was getting a meal out of it.
The next day, she found herself sitting in a nice restaurant she had been wanting to visit for some time after work, facing a kid who couldn't be any older than fifteen. He introduced himself as Takuma. Everything about him, from the look in his eye to how he held himself made him look older.
"So, I've been told you need my help?," asked Isato.
"Copperhead told me you're a record keeper for ANBU."
Isato's responsibilities involved maintaining records for ANBU and organising and updating everything for ease of access and compliance with strict regulations. She and her fellow record keepers processed thousands of documents weekly, touching everything from memos to expenditure reports to personnel files.
If someone wanted information from ANBU's intelligence archives, they had to rely on record keepers who treated data and information like gold.
"I will be joining a team after I end my training, and seeing how busy everyone is, I want to be of help. I was wondering if you could walk me through best practices for paperwork in ANBU since I don't want to waste my team's time correcting my mistakes. So, I thought that learning from someone like you, who maintains the records, would be the best way to properly avoid mistakes."
If Isato and record keepers hated one thing, it was incorrect and improper paperwork. Every day, some team from some unit would submit a lazy or incompetent mess that the record keepers would have to send back to correct.
She couldn't understand why they couldn't do it right the first time, and it wasn't like they learned from their mistakes either.
Many people didn't take paperwork seriously and rushed through it, but paperwork was vital because it recorded everything. Over time, people could forget things, conflate facts, and confuse information, but once something was put into writing when it was fresh in their minds, it would never change.
"You are right. Learning from us would be the best," said Isato after downing her drink to wash away her frustrations. "Do you know which unit you will be joining?"
"Not yet."
"Then, unfortunately, I don't think I can help you very much."
Not everyone filled out the same paperwork. Units with different responsibilities had to fill out different forms related to their duties. Even if she wanted to teach him, she couldn't until she knew Takuma's unit to curate what kind of paperwork he would be filling.
"How about some general stuff that everyone deals with? I just want to help, so I will take anything I can learn. Of course, if it's not a problem for you. You must also be busy, and I don't want to take too much of your time."
"No, not at all," Isato hurriedly waved her hand. "Sure, let's focus on some basics. I can even help you with some of ANBU's standard operating procedures to get you more comfortable."
"Will you? Thank you so much," Takuma smiled gratefully.
Isato smiled. She was impressed that a new rookie showed great initiative before being assigned his codename, mask, and unit.
———
At the start of the second week of the training period, Takuma received a letter in the mail that he had been waiting for since he got confirmation about his chunin promotion.
He got dressed, headed to the ANBU headquarters, and arrived at the ANBU's jutsu archives because he had just received his special exemption from the year-long B-rank jutsu probationary period for new chunin.
"Hello, I would like to buy a B-rank jutsu, please," Takuma said to the shinobi outside the heavily guarded archives inside the ANBU headquarters.
The shinobi guard looked up at Takuma for a moment. "Your identification, please."
The process from then on was similar to what he had experienced when he visited the general jutsu archives. They checked if he had necessary access, stripped him of all of his belongings except his clothes, patted him down and put him through a metal detector before another shinobi escorted him to a waiting room.
Inside the waiting room was a shelf of catalogues for him to browse. The catalogues had a detailed section on each jutsu inside the archives that he could use to decide what jutsu he wanted. Takuma had spent hours in waiting rooms, reading Water Release and Earth Release C-rank catalogues from cover to cover to find the right jutsu for him.
He planned to do the same when he got his second B-rank jutsu since he already knew what he wanted as his first.
He had no experience with Fire Release and Wind Release jutsu, so he skipped past them. He had a terrible affinity for Lightning Release jutsu, so that wasn't an option as well. He was obviously interested in the Earth Release and Water Release jutsu, but now was not the time to look at them.
Mikoto told him there was no use in buying B-rank genjutsu and forbade him from ever wasting his mission points on them, making the catalogue useless.
His finger slid past the spines of all catalogues until he arrived at the last one.
{Non-Elemental B-rank Jutsu}
Takuma pulled out the catalogue and flipped through the pages until he arrived at the one-page spread about the jutsu to learn.
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was an A-rank ninjutsu invented by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. The jutsu allowed a user to create corporeal clones, which, unlike the basic Clone Jutsu, were physically real and could do real damage. The chakra was split equally between the original and the clones. Because they possessed the same chakra as the user, shadow clones were indistinguishable from their original.
The jutsu was classified as forbidden due to the sheer chakra requirement needed to use it, which put the user at risk of death via chakra exhaustion if used carelessly, and thus, only jōnin were allowed to learn the jutsu.
However, in reality, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was a derivative jutsu.
Senju Tobirama first created the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which allowed the creation of only a single clone, with the chakra split in half between the original and the clone.
Shadow Clone Jutsu was not only not forbidden, but it was also a B-rank jutsu.
Even though it was a lower-grade version, in essence, it was the jutsu that helped the world's main character to the heights of shinobi.
"When the clone is dispersed, their experience is transferred back to the original," Takuma read the passage on the page, "making it ideal for intelligence gathering and recon: a shadow clone can be sent into hostile territory, gather information without endangering the user, and disperse when finished, thus transferring what it learns..."
As Takuma expected, there was no mention that the experience transfer could also be used to cut down training time in half.
Perhaps it was not known because not many people learned it because even the B-rank version had significant chakra requirements, and they just didn't realise that it could be used for training.
But Takuma knew about it, so he was going to use it for all its worth.
If he had not been in ANBU, he would not have chosen it as his first B-rank jutsu because buying it meant draining all of his mission point savings and going broke. He would've chosen an Earth Release or Water Release offensive jutsu instead.
But because he was in ANBU, given limitless, free access to C-rank jutsu—he was going to use the training exploit to learn new jutsu to expand his arsenal.
In the future, he expected this investment to give him compounded results.
Takuma sighed. He was about to go broke and had no idea when he would get the next chance to learn another B-rank jutsu.
It all depended on his performance.
Fortunately, Sango had given him another gift other than connecting him with Nasaki Isato.
———
Tapir sat in his office, reading a file on Takuma, the youngest recruit in the latest batch. He was beginning to understand why they had recruited him. It wasn't just because of what he did in the war or his accomplishments in the Police Force.
He looked at the optional tests Takuma had opted for during the second week of training: lock picking, horse riding, voice modulation using chakra, radio operation, an on-field first aid certification that was two levels beyond the ANBU recommendation, physical disguise, and chakra masking.
Then there were skills they hadn't tested, like surveillance, pickpocketing, electrical and plumbing, cartography, leather work, tailoring, shorthand transcribing, bookkeeping, computer skills, hunting, foraging, and more things he didn't even know how to test.
The kid knew so much that Tapir felt he was making up half of the things. But Takuma had passed all his tests, which gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Tapir heard a knock on the door. Takuma was standing at his threshold.
"Come in, Takuma," said Tapir, closing the file and putting it in his drawer. He wasn't surprised because Takuma had requested the meeting beforehand. He was not in the mood for small talk and cut right to the chase. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
Takuma didn't immediately speak. "I heard that the Master Instructor decides where the recruits will be assigned."
"Why? Do you want me to send you to a specific unit?" asked Tapir with a smirk. The information wasn't a secret, so it wasn't a surprise that he found out about it after two weeks.
"Not at all, but I was wondering where you plan to send me."
Tapir wondered why he was asking that. As far as he knew, Takuma had no connections inside ANBU. There was one connection to Weasel through his mother, but if the ANBU Captain wanted to use his position to influence Tapir's decision, he would've already shown up.
"Are you wondering why I am asking?" asked Takuma.
"I do," Tapir said straightforwardly.
"I want to use this training properly, so if I know where I will be working, I can focus my efforts to be better suited for the job. I heard that ANBU is stretched thin because of ROOT, so I want to do a good job and pull my weight right from the beginning."
Tapir narrowed his eyes. He didn't buy that reason. Maybe Takuma wanted to know about his decision before it was too late to change and try to shift it to something to his liking.
"I will respect your decision," Takuma smiled.
"Huh?"
"I am just so excited to work that I'm willing to exit training in eight weeks."
Tapir raised his chin. The kid is trying to negotiate with me! He said 'willing' instead of 'going', which meant he was open to reducing that time if he got something in return.
Takuma understood that ANBU wanted the recruits to exit training as soon as possible, and that put pressure on Tapir, who, as the Master Instructor, was expected to make that happen—but he couldn't force the recruits—or rather, he did not want to force the recruits.
"Six weeks," Tapir said.
"Seven weeks," Takuma countered.
"Six," Tapir shook his head.
"Okay, six," Takuma nodded, "but you let me choose from a few options."
"I thought you were going to respect my decision," Tapir glared.
Takuma simply smiled.
Tapir clicked his tongue. "Alright... I haven't decided yet. Give me a week before I present you with some options—but you have to choose from them!"
"Of course," Takuma smiled. "Now, on to the next topic."
"Next topic?" Tapir asked, cautious about what else Takuma was planning.
"Master Instructor, please suggest some D-rank jutsu that would be useful to me as an ANBU-nin. I was serious when I said I wanted to focus my efforts, and who better to get advice from you, the Master Instructor."
Tapir could only gaze as Takuma pulled out a notepad and pen.
.
———
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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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