Among the three mbers of Squad Three, the nature of Higashino Makoto's and Uzuki Yūgao's parents' work was quite similar.
Gekkō Hayate's mother had already passed away due to illness.
As for Gekkō Kumomi, even Hayate himself had once said that he did not know which departnt his father worked in within Konohagakure.
Makoto estimated that it had to be ANBU—only that departnt would have higher confidentiality requirents than ordinary ninja units.
However, it should be the Hokage's direct ANBU, not Root. Ninja who were married and had children, as well as those hot-blooded green youths who shouted about youth all day long, were not the kind of people Danzō would take—unless there was sothing especially "enticing" in your belly.
His guess was correct. Gekkō Kumomi had indeed withdrawn from ANBU not long ago. Because of the war, suitable jōnin to serve as squad leaders were hard to find, so the Third Hokage had him return to the regular ninja ranks and take charge of Squad Three.
After all, the three mbers of this squad were all highly talented, their parents' generation was mutually acquainted, and he was the most suitable choice.
Gekkō Kumomi carried a distinctly decisive ANBU working style. After learning of Makoto's abilities and feeling surprised, he directly asked, "To what level have you mastered dical ninjutsu? How does it compare to gumi?"
Makoto replied, "I lack experience, but in terms of ninjutsu mastery and chakra treatnt effectiveness, I have already surpassed my mother."
"Is that so? Truly remarkable talent. What about sensory ninjutsu?"
"Within a radius of three kiloters, as long as there is a chakra presence, I can detect it."
In fact, Makoto's sensory ability was an additional effect brought about by the white natural energy's modification of his body. Even during the dayti, when he was not absorbing natural energy, his body would still instinctively achieve a certain degree of integration with the environnt.
The sensing range increased along with chakra growth. Of course, there were actually other wondrous functions as well—for example, he could sense others, but ordinary sensory ninja could not detect him unless they used Sage Mode.
Ability could be ntioned, but there was no need to reveal everything. Ninja needed to maintain confidentiality about their own ans—this was normal practice, and Higashino Jirō had warned him about it when he was four years old.
"You're practically a perfect all-round ninja," Gekkō Kumomi praised him. After thinking slightly, he said, "Given your strength characteristics, my original definition for Squad Three was a combat breakthrough-type team, but I didn't expect Makoto's abilities to be so comprehensive. It seems I need to adjust my plans for your future missions.
"Now, the assessnt continues. I'll give you one minute to formulate a battle plan, and then launch your attack on ."
After saying that, Gekkō Kumomi used the Body Flicker Technique to jump away in an instant. He folded his arms across his chest, closed his eyes slightly, and kept a certain distance from the three of them.
Seeing this, Higashino Makoto imdiately pulled the other two behind a large tree and asked, "How much do you know about the sensei's strength?"
Uzuki Yūgao thought for a mont. "Very strong. I'm completely no match for him."
That was nonsense. Makoto looked at her speechlessly. "There are three people here. Which one can you beat?"
Uzuki Yūgao: "...Makoto-nii, if you don't tell the truth, we can still be good friends."
Gekkō Hayate answered succinctly, "You know the Gekkō family's fighting style. Father is the adult, enhanced version of ."
"So he's a close-combat type focused on swordsmanship. Then Hayate will take the initiative to attack first, Yūgao will provide support from the side, and I'll hide in the dark and look for an opening."
"Okay!" The two of them had always followed Makoto's lead, and this ti was naturally no exception.
At the sa ti, their strength and tactical literacy were far higher than those genin from the later peaceti era who graduated after six years.
After the three of them decided, Gekkō Hayate and Uzuki Yūgao quickly attacked from the left and right, moving to the two sides of Gekkō Kumomi in the middle of the field.
Hayate charged out from behind the large tree and raised his hand, firing several dozen filial shuriken at his own father.
In fact, there were not that many shuriken, and it was not the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique—an A-rank technique developed by the Third Hokage. It was only a simple genjutsu application used to interfere with the target's judgnt.
Gekkō Kumomi's feet did not move at all, but at so unknown mont a kunai had already appeared in his right hand. Amidst a series of clinking sounds, he knocked away every real shuriken, clearly showing that low-level genjutsu interference had no effect on him.
During this process, Uzuki Yūgao also rushed out from the other side, and after finishing her hand seals with both hands—
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"
A simple C-rank Wind Release opener. In the hands of a powerhouse like Orochimaru, this ninjutsu could turn an entire forest into the aftermath of a typhoon—but Uzuki Yūgao was clearly still far from that level.
Fortunately, she was not using it to directly attack the enemy. The ninjutsu swept violently across the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dirt and dust that spread toward Gekkō Kumomi's position.
At the instant his vision was obstructed, Gekkō Hayate and Yūgao moved simultaneously—one drawing his blade, the other wielding a kunai—as they charged forward together.
As a seasoned jōnin, Gekkō Kumomi was not about to be troubled by such a minor trick. He did not even draw his sword. Still using a kunai, he precisely blocked the blade that Hayate brought down within the dust, then exerted force through his arm and knocked him away.
While fending off Hayate, he lifted his left leg and positioned it perfectly, causing Yūgao to crash into it herself.
With just a slight application of force, the young girl was also sent flying.
Their coordinated attack was smooth and well-practiced, but the gap in strength between the two sides was simply too great, and it achieved no result.
At the sa ti, Higashino Makoto suddenly appeared above Kumomi's head, a kunai in hand, stabbing down fiercely.
Clang!
With the sound of tal colliding, the kunai that had just blocked Hayate's strike flashed upward as if teleporting, once again blocking Makoto's surprise attack.
Gekkō Kumomi frowned slightly. He could not understand why Makoto would choose such a suicidal attack. After all, once a person was in midair, they could not move freely. If the attack failed, there would be no follow-up options—it would turn him into a living target.
Even as he was puzzled, his movents did not stop. His right-hand kunai subtly adjusted its angle, forcefully deflecting the incoming strike and, in the process, throwing Makoto's body off balance.
At the sa ti, his left hand rose, lightning-fast, reaching for Makoto's neck.
As long as the strongest—Higashino Makoto—was subdued, the remaining two would be easy to deal with. With the strength of his own son and his old friend's daughter, they would not last even three seconds.
Who would have thought the situation would suddenly change? The falling Makoto, who should have collided with his palm, shifted horizontally through the air and appeared behind him, the kunai slashing toward the back of his head.
Gekkō Kumomi had no idea how Makoto's body had managed to change positions without any point of leverage at all. But he no longer had ti to think about it. His body's combat instincts forced him to turn and block.
Another sharp clang rang out—his block succeeded again, but at the sa mont, another kunai appeared from a blind spot at the edge of his vision and ca to rest against his neck.
The Higashino Makoto who had attacked from behind dissolved into white smoke. It was rely a shadow clone.
"Sensei, it seems I've won."
Gekkō Kumomi turned his head and glanced at the ground. The soil there showed no noticeable disturbance.
"So there was another shadow clone hidden all along. You used Earth Release to conceal it beneath my feet during the fight, then delivered a lethal strike at the critical mont?"
"A fine tactic. What's even more impressive is your training in Earth Release nature transformation—when it erged, the soil showed no movent at all."
When ninja move within the earth, they rely on properties such as containnt. Even the most basic Earth Release: Head Hunter Technique includes this kind of nature transformation.
Going deeper, there are techniques like Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique and Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage Technique. Their principles are the sa: using chakra to temporarily transform soil and sand into a fluid state, allowing ninja to hide or move within it.
"So, sensei—have we passed your strength assessnt?"
"You passed," Kumomi said, "but at the cost of sacrificing two teammates. Faced with this situation, how would you choose? Ignore them and kill ? Or accept the conditions I'm about to propose?"
Hayate and Yugao, who had just been knocked away, each now had a Gekkō Kumomi standing behind them, a kunai pressed to their throats.
Ninja combat is usually extrely fast. By the ti their attacks were repelled and Makoto followed up, they had already been restrained. Everything had happened in an instant.
The two of them felt sowhat awkward. If this were a real battlefield, they would have beco leverage for the enemy to threaten their teammate—the legendary kind who dragged the team down.
If the mission were the priority, Makoto should eliminate the enemy even if it ant his teammates might die as well—Kakashi would give that choice a nod of approval.
If companions were the priority, then he would fall into the enemy's rhythm, and the likely outco would be the annihilation of the entire squad—Obito, pushing away the massive rock pinning him down, would also give that choice a nod.
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