Time passes quickly when you're deep in thought. As the sky began to dim, the Kikaichu on sentry duty were triggered, snapping Aburame Tetsumaru out of his reverie: Someone was coming.
The person was running toward the campsite at high speed. Strangely, they were making a massive amount of noise—the heavy thump-thump of footsteps hitting the ground lacked even a hint of a shinobi's stealth.
However, since the person was coming from the center of the camp, Tetsumaru didn't think it was an enemy. There were very few "ninja" in Konoha who were so decidedly un-ninja-like; it was likely an acquaintance.
As the footsteps drew closer, a dark green blur leaped from the woods. After performing three mid-air flips, the figure hit the ground in a lunging stop, sliding a full seven or eight meters before coming to a halt. The figure then snapped to attention, stood tall, and thrust a thumb out with a wide, toothy grin toward the tent.
"Yo-ho! Konoha Genin, Might Duy, reporting for duty!"
The green jumpsuit, the orange leg warmers, the yellow-green scarf—not to mention the signature bushy eyebrows, round eyes, glossy black hair, and those blindingly white teeth reflecting the sun.
It really is you. The Blue Beast of Konoha, the Father of Guy...
Tetsumaru sucked in a breath. The man was simply too "bright." Even with his dark sunglasses, Tetsumaru had to turn his head to shield himself from the sheer brilliance of Duy's presence.
Tetsumaru had previously purchased the Eight Inner Gates scrolls from him and they had spent a long time exchanging ideas, so they were actually quite well-acquainted. However, Tetsumaru decided right then and there not to strike up a conversation with this "rare beast" just yet. Watching him from a distance was hard enough on the eyes; being close would be unbearable.
Suspended from a tree branch, Tetsumaru watched as Might Duy, realizing no one was around, began to search the area. He shouted greetings in every direction, one man somehow creating the cacophony of twenty ducks. Tetsumaru silently pulled out two moth larvae and stuffed them into his ears. Too loud.
"That's enough!"
After Duy had been carrying on for a solid half-hour, someone finally arrived to shout him down.
"Ah! Ueno-kun! Long time no see!"
"You damn loser... why are you here? Wait, don't tell me..."
"That's right! I've been assigned to Squad Ueno. So that means you're the Captain now? A Chunin already!"
Might Duy pumped his fists, his eyes sparkling. "I'm so envious! You're amazing!"
"I won't lose to you!!"
"This is the power of YOUTH!!"
With a thrust of his thumb, a flash of white teeth, and tears flowing like rivers, Might Duy was practically glowing.
Ueno's eye twitched. The Genin standing behind him looked utterly shell-shocked. Even though this wasn't the first time Tetsumaru had seen this performance, his mind still went blank from the sheer radiance.
Seeing such an eccentric scene in an anime was embarrassing enough; facing it in 3D reality was akin to staring directly at a Lovecraftian horror. The mental shock to anyone witnessing it was off the charts.
Thud. His mind having gone blank, Tetsumaru lost control of his chakra and plummeted from the branch.
The fall was hard enough to snap him back to his senses. He climbed up silently, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and produced his transfer documents with an expressionless face.
"Captain Ueno. Konoha Genin, Aburame Tetsumaru, reporting for duty as ordered. That is all."
"Oh... oh? Right."
Ueno snapped out of his daze, took the documents, and verified the information before officially accepting Tetsumaru into the squad.
However, he was clearly resistant to Duy joining. He threw out a barrage of sarcasm and insults, hoping Duy would leave on his own accord—or better yet, just retire from the force entirely. He went on and on.
The thick-headed Duy didn't listen to a word of it. No matter what the Captain said, he responded with unwavering passion.
"This is youth!!"
"I won't give up!"
"Youth is meant to bloom through hard work!!"
Tetsumaru had long since plugged his ears. He caught the eye of the other Genin in the squad; both could see the mutual resignation in each other's gaze. Their Captain was doomed.
The "idiot" had successfully dragged the Captain down to his level of intellect and was now easily defeating him with his vast experience in being an idiot. Eventually, Ueno was left questioning his own life choices.
In truth, Captain Ueno knew he couldn't actually refuse a replacement Genin—not unless the recruit committed a major blunder. But as Duy's former classmate, his impression of the "Eternal Genin" was deeply rooted. He truly didn't want to lead a "burden" onto the battlefield.
More than that, he didn't want to see another classmate die under his command. He had seen enough. Not many of the graduates from the Class of Konoha Year 25 were left.
Ueno's generation had already split into tiers. The elite, like Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Fugaku, had graduated early and even participated in the tail end of the last war; they were already famous Jonin. Sakumo, in particular, was an elite among elites.
Most of the other classmates were either dead or retired due to disability. Those who survived had become Chunin or Jonin. Only Might Duy remained a Genin.
As Tetsumaru listened to his teammate explain the history between the Captain and Duy, his mouth twitched. No wonder the fanfiction circles always said that the strongest beings in the shinobi world were Konoha Genin.
Was Might Duy, the "Eternal Genin," the first example of this? The progenitor of the "Strongest Genin" trope?
No, wait—there was another one, a "fall guy" who had supposedly been personally trained by the Second Hokage. What was his name again?
He couldn't remember.
Tetsumaru continued to chat with his new teammate while letting his mind wander, waiting for Captain Ueno and Might Duy to finish their "performance."
As night fell, Tetsumaru lit a campfire and set a pot to boil. Once the water bubbled, he tossed in several cubes of concentrated soup base. When the broth dissolved, he added dried mushrooms and wild greens, creating a savory aroma.
The soup was fresh and delicious. Soaking dry rations in a bowl of it was a rare luxury in a war zone.
Ueno Hayato, Might Duy, and the newly introduced Nakahiro Fushi sat around the fire, each occupying one of the four stone "stools."
Ueno waited until Tetsumaru was seated before speaking. "Regardless of how we got here, we are a squad now. Everyone, introduce yourselves. Consider it the first step in getting to know your teammates."
"As Captain, I'll go first. I am Ueno Hayato, Chunin, sixteen years old. I specialize in Earth Style."
"I'm Nakahiro Fushi, Genin, twelve years old. I don't have a specific specialty, but I've mastered a few Wind and Fire Style jutsu."
"My name is Might Duy! Genin, sixteen years old! I specialize in Taijutsu and cannot use ninjutsu. But I believe that with Taijutsu alone, I can become a magnificent ninja!"
Captain Ueno interrupted him impatiently. "Your Taijutsu isn't even better than mine. How is that a 'specialty'?"
Hidden behind his sunglasses, Tetsumaru glanced between the Captain and Duy. He had been so focused on his own research lately that he didn't know how many of the Eight Gates Duy could currently open.
Looking at the bulging muscles beneath the green jumpsuit and the thick, calloused knuckles, Tetsumaru understood. The Might family truly put all their talent points into physical conditioning. At sixteen, Duy was already incredibly powerful.
"Youth is meant to be unleashed upon the enemy! Between comrades, it's only—"
"Enough. Next."
Oho, I catch your drift, Tetsumaru thought. Duy had clearly mastered the technique and had likely made a vow never to go all-out against his friends. A man like this wasn't a burden; he was a trump card.
Tetsumaru pushed up his glasses. "I am Aburame Tetsumaru, Genin, ten years old. I specialize in scouting and have some confidence in Aburame Secret Techniques and Wind Style."
"An insect-user from the Aburame. Good. We finally have a scouting specialist. This will make missions much easier."
Ueno was genuinely pleased. For his squad, adding an Aburame was second only to adding a Hyuga.
He shot one last glare at Might Duy before continuing. "Welcome to Squad Ueno. We are part of the Camp Guard Company, reporting directly to Headquarters. Our primary duty is camp security."
"From this moment on, our fates are intertwined. I hope we all make it through this war safely."
"May your luck in battle be long!" the three replied in unison.
Squad Ueno was now at full strength.
With Tetsumaru and Duy on board, the squad's scouting capabilities improved significantly. Their mission parameters were adjusted accordingly; their patrol range and sentry distances increased. They would typically move ten kilometers out from camp for sentry duty, or patrol between the fifteen and thirty-kilometer marks.
Contrary to expectations, the frequency of combat during the war was quite low. In the two months Squad Ueno had been active, they had only encountered one battle—and Tetsumaru didn't even get a chance to move.
The fight began when a Konoha patrol squad stumbled upon a Suna cell. When the signal flare went up, four nearby Konoha squads—including Ueno's—rushed to reinforce. The poor Suna cell, consisting of one average Chunin and three Genin, was caught in a complete "stomp."
There was no helping it; reinforcement missions were highly sought after. They were low risk and high reward, so any patrol squad in the vicinity would be incredibly aggressive about joining in.
According to Konoha regulations, a patrol or sentry mission with no combat was recorded as a D-rank mission.
However, if a battle occurred during patrol, it was classified as a B-rank mission. Even if the mission evaluation dropped because too many people reinforced, the reward would still be at least a C-rank evaluation.
The difference in pay between a D-rank and a B-rank was night and day. A D-rank reward was barely enough for a few meals; a B-rank reward could buy a full set of ninja tools.
The risk was mostly borne by the squad that first discovered the enemy. If they found average enemies, they fired a signal according to protocol and everyone shared the spoils. If they stumbled upon a Jonin, they likely wouldn't even get the chance to fire a signal.
In the tragic event of a total wipeout, the best-case scenario was that the cleanup crew found evidence of a Jonin attack, resulting in an "A-rank mission failure" on the squad's record. Perhaps the pension for their families would increase by a tiny fraction—but that was it.
By the time Squad Ueno reached the battlefield, the fight was in its final stages. Only Might Duy, the fastest runner, managed to exchange a few blows with a Suna ninja, though he didn't secure a kill.
If Tetsumaru had to summarize his first two months of war life, it would be: Exhausting and boring.
As a defensive unit, their duties consisted of endless patrols and sentry watches. Patrolling over a hundred kilometers or lying in ambush for an entire day—missions frequently lasted over ten hours. The constant mental strain left everyone drained.
Fortunately, the squad was granted a day of rest after every mission.
This gave Tetsumaru ample time to cultivate and experiment with new insect designs. Soon, a large batch of specialized combat insects was successfully hybridized with Kikaichu genes.
Not all insects were compatible with Kikaichu DNA. Most were too "genetically weak" to survive the process. Out of over a hundred species, most failed; over a dozen species simply collapsed and died after the gene insertion.
In the end, only a few species showed significant attribute enhancement—possessing one or more traits that far exceeded a standard Kikaichu of the same weight. This was exactly what Tetsumaru wanted.
Now, he just had to wait for a real combat opportunity to verify their power.