CHAPTER 254: CHAPTER 254: CHIRIKU? THE ONE WORTH 30 MILLION?

Chiriku.

Kyoichi remembered him.

A ninja monk of the Fire Temple, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Later, he even became the head monk of the temple. In terms of strength, he was certainly no pushover, and his unique ninjutsu was quite intriguing.

But...

What left the strongest impression on Kyoichi was still the "thirty million" bounty...

At this point in time, he was probably around the same age as Asuma—just a kid.

As for Asuma’s squad...

Kyoichi vaguely recalled the other two being Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

Those two had solid abilities. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to serve as Konoha’s perennial gatekeepers or constantly show up in key scenes. Now, after receiving Kyoichi’s training, their strength had advanced even further.

However...

According to the "one leads three" principle, the squad was still missing a fourth member.

Kyoichi began turning over potential candidates in his mind.

For the final member of this team...

Ebisu seemed like a good fit?

But that guy was better suited for education. Right now, he was already acting as a semi-official instructor at the Ninja Academy, often relied upon to solve lower-year students’ problems.

After some more thought...

The most suitable option appeared to be Yamashiro Aoba.

Aoba was incredibly versatile.

Genjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu, reconnaissance—he had a hand in all of them, and wasn’t bad at any of it either. The only issue was... can the capital afford to feed that many crows?

That was a real concern.

Kyoichi mulled it over for a while, then let out a long breath.

Stuff like this...

Let Tsunade worry about it.

To be honest...

The Guardian Ninja’s combat level didn’t need to be especially high. Their main responsibilities were protection and cultivation. With a rotation system in place, it was more like a one-year internship program.

He had already discussed this with the daimyo.

The daimyo had no objections, especially since Kyoichi proposed a structure where the Guardian Ninja force would include four to six squads, and only two of them would be dispatched from Konoha.

That meant Konoha’s forces would make up just a third of the entire unit—and none of them would be part of the close-guard detail.

The close guards would only be selected from the Fire Temple.

With this setup...

The daimyo was completely satisfied.

——

When they left the meeting, Asuma looked at Kyoichi with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

"Sensei, how did it go?"

"It’s tentatively settled. Before I even said anything, the daimyo named your Chūnin Exam squad as his preferred candidates for the Guardian Ninja. So... take some time to think about it."

Kyoichi didn’t plan to get too involved in the Guardian Ninja affair. As for Asuma, he had already taught him what needed to be taught—ninjutsu, leadership, and critical thinking. In a sense, ever since the Chūnin Exams, Asuma had already graduated.

Now, it was time for him to go lead a team of his own.

"Is there a rotation?"

"One year."

"Thank you, sensei!"

Asuma let out a breath of relief.

One year...

That was acceptable—not too long. After a year, he could return to Konoha, and the time and experience he gained would serve as part of his training.

Not bad at all...

He thought it over and couldn’t find a single good reason to refuse.

"Congratulations..."

Shisui spoke with a hint of envy.

He understood that this basically meant Asuma would be leading his own squad now—after all, his team during the Chūnin Exams had always revolved around him. Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane weren’t weak by any means.

They might fall short of prodigies, but with proper teamwork, they weren’t to be underestimated.

The only drawback was...

As Guardian Ninja, they probably wouldn’t get into many real fights.

Then again...

In this era of peace after the war, even elite shinobi mostly dealt with rogue ninja or bandits. So in terms of actual combat exposure, the difference wasn’t huge.

What they gained instead was leadership experience. And for a shinobi, that was just as valuable.

"If your performance is good, when your team returns, you’ll be able to form a permanent squad to take on missions."

Kyoichi said with a note of emotion. "You’re all chūnin now. Sooner or later, you’ll be split up and assigned to different tasks. I hope you can understand that."

"Yes, sensei. I understand."

Kurenai Yuhi quietly composed herself.

She knew who their teacher was trying to comfort.

She had been in the same class as Asuma since the Academy, and even later got placed on the same team. She always knew the day would come when everyone would go their separate ways.

But now that the day had actually arrived... she couldn’t help feeling a little sad.

"Sensei, I won’t let you down! Once I return from the Guardian Ninja, I’ll become a worthy team leader!"

Asuma gave a deep bow.

He genuinely respected Kyoichi from the bottom of his heart and wanted to keep learning from him forever. But if he wanted to become a jōnin, this path—leading his own team—was something he had to walk.

It was a necessary step.

"I’m looking forward to it."

Kyoichi patted his head, then stood up and formed a shadow clone beside him.

In the next moment—

Swish!

The group returned to Konoha from Kyoto in a flash.

Flying Thunder God was so convenient!

Though it still consumed a decent amount of chakra...

But—

Thanks to constantly teaching the Flying Thunder Formation in the ANBU, Kyoichi’s proficiency with the Flying Thunder God had improved steadily. Combined with his clone’s relentless research day and night, he had made some decent progress. Now, he only needed a shadow clone for long-range teleportation.

In close combat, he no longer needed a clone to lock onto coordinates.

That counted as a small breakthrough.

"Sensei, this is the Flying Thunder God? It feels..."

"What?"

"It’s amazing! But... even you still need shadow clone assistance. I guess that means learning it is really difficult—not something most people can master."

Shisui sighed, a little disappointed.

He wasn’t just "most people," but his teacher was even more exceptional. And if even Kyoichi couldn’t master it completely, it only emphasized how insanely hard the technique was.

In the short term...

Shisui decided not to aim for it anymore.

After all...

Just training in kenjutsu and ninjutsu was already a full plate, not to mention he hadn’t mastered natural energy yet. Just as his teacher said, rather than forcing himself to learn things that didn’t suit him, it was better to focus on what was right in front of him.

Kenjutsu and the Sharingan.

Those two would be his training goals for now.

"Come on, let’s get some yakiniku. It’s on me today!"

——

After dinner—

Everyone went their separate ways and headed home. Kyoichi watched them go, feeling a bit sentimental.

Shisui and Kurenai weren’t far behind Asuma either.

Konoha was now in the middle of reforming its "education" system. The current one-leads-three model was being phased out. The future would emphasize team synergy and complementary skill sets.

Of course...

Exceptional students could still lead three others.

And people like Shisui and Kurenai had already met all the requirements for chūnin—they were standouts in the Chūnin Exams and didn’t even need retraining.

So...

Kyoichi had been considering putting them together into an elite squad.

Something like—

Shisui, Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai.

All four had already reached chūnin level or higher and didn’t need further training.

The only issue was...

All four were still young and full of potential. If anything happened to any of them during a mission, it would be a huge loss for Konoha. But on the other hand, Kakashi and Guy were seasoned veterans.

Shisui and Kurenai had only been through one war, but their coordination with each other—and with others—was excellent. Even someone as quirky as Kakashi could sync well with them.

That kind of team would be incredibly effective.

Definitely worth considering.

He’d discuss it with Tsunade when he got back.

As for Chiriku...

Kyoichi planned to have him enroll at the Ninja Academy for a while, let him experience the full insanity of Konoha’s cutthroat competition, and then decide what kind of life a ninja ought to live.

At the very least...

It shouldn’t be that kind of ending.

That one was just too tragic!

Of course...

His own disciples had it worse—one of them got killed by Hidan.

And truth be told, with that guy’s brain, as long as you had a solid plan and enough intel, he was easily among the weakest in the Akatsuki.

If it hadn’t been for Yamashiro Aoba and the others backing him up, it probably would’ve ended with another bounty on the board.

Then again...

At the moment, Hidan probably wouldn’t have the chance to appear at all.

His cult in the Land of Hot Water had become public enemy number one—people were screaming to destroy them. Yugakure had even asked Kumogakure for help, and now the cult was barely hanging on.

In short, things looked grim for them.

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