Chương 44: Unified Front

(A/N: Bounty for Hanzo has been updated, it is sitting around 75 million ryo at this point)

The sun was rising over a still-sleeping Uzushio, the morning dew still fresh, and a slight fog added to the early morning atmosphere as well. All three of us arrived at the training ground 16 where our sensei was waiting for us, standing on a log.

Whack

"Hanzo-sensei!"

Whack

"What'd you do that for?"

Whiff... WHACK

"What."

"All three of you need to pay more attention to your surroundings as you enter an unfamiliar environment. This is a skill that everyone who wants to survive in this world must have, and all three of you would've died just then if I was an enemy."

Hanzo-sensei looked at me and continued speaking. "You as well, Shiran. Just because you have your clan's ability doesn't mean you shouldn't also check the area with your eyes. Even if you manage to dodge one attack, being caught off guard or with your back to the enemy will cause you to take damage."

I nodded my head. "I understand, sensei."

Sensei nodded back while continuing to talk seriously. "Good. Now what I want to do today is start practicing different formations that we'll have. Every team, whether it's the genin team you are in right now or the future teams you'll be in when you hit chunin rank and above, will have formations to go over and study. These are an essential part of completing a mission and protecting your comrades' backs."

We all looked at each other and nodded, recognizing how crucial these things we would be learning are.

"First up is formation A. This formation will have Kiyoko in the front, Benimaru in the middle, and Shiran in the back. This allows for Kiyoko to be free to use her swift release to get a jump on our enemy while having Benimaru as close-range support and Shiran as long-range support.

The next is formation B. This formation allows us to escort and guard a person if that is what the mission calls for. While in this formation, we'll have Shiran at the front due to his strong perception skills and also dojutsu. Benimaru and Kiyoko will be at the sides of our mission objective and I'll be trailing in the back.

Formation C is a formation that allows you to cut off and suffocate an outnumbered or evenly numbered enemy. This formation is really simple with each ally shinobi taking up a position that resembles a semicircle. With only 3 people, it will look more like a triangle but with more people, the more it looks like a semicircle.

Last is formation D. This formation will be used when you are surrounded and outnumbered. If you ever encounter a situation like this, you should immediately seek retreat. If retreat is not a viable option, then call formation D and stand back to back in a tight triangle. This allows you guys to cover each other's blind spots and call out attacks that the others can't see."

(A/N: These are going to be pretty standard formations that genin teams learn across the board so don't be thrown off if another team uses them later.)

Once sensei was done explaining, we began our training for the day. Our jonin sensei created 3 different shadow clones to supervise us while he sat on a tree branch and started to sharpen sticks into little points while periodically calling out a formation letter.

When he did that, we all had to jump into position and if any of us were out of line, we got a hit to the stomach. Hanzo also didn't let us get comfortable during training either as the sticks that he had been sharpening were starting to be thrown at all of us intermittently.

Thuck

"Ouch! THAT HURTS, HANZO-SENSEI!" I heard Benimaru shout just as another branch hit his leg.

I smirked at hearing that, only to get a branch thrown full force into my temple.

"You should've been paying attention then, it's not my fault you train with your eyes closed. You too, Shiran, you're dead right now if that was a kunai."

"Yes, Hanzo-sensei," we both said in unity as we went back to training our specific areas.

Speaking of training, Hanzo has said that he is going to train all of us in at least the bare minimums of kenjutsu so we'll have another road we can expand on if we want to in the future.

As of right now though, I was focusing on my ninjutsu, bukijutsu (with senbon), and kenjutsu. My goal is to be able to provide support from afar while also being able to be deadly and accurate in close quarters. Both of the ninjutsu and bukijutsu allow me to fight and support from mid and long range while the kenjutsu allows me to be quick and deadly in close combat.

Benimaru took a path that surprised me a little as he has expressed interest in learning medical ninjutsu. He also wants to learn kenjutsu because he thinks it'll help him once he is able to use his cursed speech kekkei genkai while he's also refining his fire release nature transformation and jutsu.

Kiyoko was a bit less surprising as she has gone all in on learning kenjutsu, taijutsu, and little ninjutsu to help supplement her heavy close combat reliance. Her main elements being lightning and wind both allow for great cutting power both from a distance and up close and as she perfects and finds her own way of using her swift release she'll for sure become a reaper on the battlefield.

----------

Four hours later.

All three of us dropped to the ground, groaning in both pain and exhaustion. "When he said he was gonna push us, he really meant it," I said to both Kiyoko and Benimaru who nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright, that was a good training session. I'm glad to see that I'm not wasting my time with you brats. Now let's get a move on, we still have to do a couple of D ranks today; otherwise, Lord Uzukage will be on my head," he groaned out the last part, clearly portraying that it wouldn't have been the first nor last time that would've happened.

"Ugh, but sensei, we're so tired I can hardly move my arms," Kiyoko sighed as she flopped her arms around to exaggerate her point.

"Is that complaining I'm hearing right now?" Hanzo got face to face with Kiyoko, his eyes flashing a murderous red and brown as his chakra exploded from his body, making the surrounding air feel boiling hot.

"N-No, sensei, I can do it, I promise!" Kiyoko got up so fast I swear she left an afterimage behind.

Immediately his whole demeanor shifted back to nonchalant, and he shrugged. "Alright then, let's get a move on it."

We all stared at the sudden mood switch while sweat dropping. 'We really got an oddball for a sensei, didn't we?' The question popped into all of our heads at the same time.

(A/N: So I probably won't show a whole bunch of team and individual training just because I feel like it's used more like filler than anything in stories. That being said, I'll definitely show training if it adds something that will be useful down the line such as created jutsus or combination jutsus.)