Aiki closed the door behind her and suppressed a sigh of disappointment.
Her gaze landed on the door of her kitchen and then on her bed. She stood still for a second, thinking.
What little appetite she had managed to muster for tonight was lost now...she walked over to her bed, plopped down on it face first, and let out a long drawn out groan into her pillow.
"Today was a disaster...Nothing went right!"
First, she failed her Jounin sensei's test.
She was still frustrated at her evaluation and the test's structure, specially because she couldn't think of anything she could have done differently...without prior knowledge.
"Was Hitoshi looking for ABSOLUTE paranoid wrecks for his genin team? What happened to the whole 'Trust your sensei' spiel they fed us in the Academy?"
Hitoshi wanted them to be aware of their surroundings, have a grasp on battles, and align their mind and actions to the mission to a degree that was impossible for kids like her with no prior experience with anything Ninja related beyond the Academy!
She gritted her teeth with impotent rage...she had looked 'Underneath the Underneath'...
"That bastard wanted a genin team full of clan children...ones that didn't need teaching and returned his effort with stars on his teaching records and contacts with their clans." Aiki had no doubt that things would have been different for her if Ryuuji were a muscle-headed Inuzuka instead of a muscle-headed orphan.
Aiki wondered if his speech about his own lack of skills was guilt at his underhanded tactics...
Though, more likely than not, it was just him covering his bases by deflecting their discontent to his non-existent 'weakness' (he was a Jounin, after all) from his very real unfairness.
Second, she couldn't meet Naruto.
Aiki was not happy about her result, but she wasn't breaking down into tears like a few other classmates. Partially because she didn't really knew what the impact of her failure would be on her future and partially because so much happened so fast that she didn't even had enough time to absorb everything.
She made her mind, to go meet up with Naruto for dinner and discuss the events of today.
If she were to throw insults and accusations, break down, come to term, be vulnerable...she wanted to be around Naruto when it went down.
But midway to his place, she found him.
Sitting at Ichiraku Ramen, with Iruka-sensei...looking happier than Aiki had ever seen him. Regaling Teuchi, Ayame and Iruka with the tales of his exploits today, no doubt.
Aiki...didn't really knew what to do at that moment.
She wanted to walk up to him and soak in the aura of happiness and comfort he radiated...air out her frustration and anger, and go away happier and lighter.
But she didn't want to hijack his moment of happiness.
It was his big day. He was a proud new Genin, he beat all odds and impressed a Jounin enough that the Jounin agreed to walk him down the path of realizing AND reaching his full potential, he was Naruto the Winner today!
Today was about him, those people were smiling for him...she couldn't make it about herself, not about Aiki the Loser.
Before her thoughts even solidified, she found herself walking away...to her apartment...eyes stinging and chest tighter.
So here she was, on her bed, sulking...the events of the day finally sinking in.
And with it the uncertainty for her future.
She was barely a Ninja, had no Ninja backing her up, and now her only chance to learn what it is to be a Ninja from a Jounin himself...was gone forever.
"What do I even do now...Wait! Iruka-sensei's folder!"
She rolled off her bed, ran over to a column of drawers, and retrieved a red folder...THE red folder.
"The Independent Genin! - A guide to survive and thrive in the Genin reserves (3rd Edition). By Umino Iruka..." Aiki read out the title to no one.
She recalled what Iruka-sensei had told them that afternoon.
"In this document, I have compiled all the knowledge necessary to get you started on your journey. You don't have to read it all in a single sitting...my suggestion would be to read enough in the first sitting for you to not feel lost and directionless about what is expected of you as Konoha's protectors"
Aiki wondered if someone else was preparing similar guides 4 years ago, an year before Iruka-sensei's first edition...or if there even WAS such a document and new genin weren't just left high and dry.
She cut that line of thinking short, there was much she needed to focus one...with that she flipped to the first page of the document...
Chapter-1
Could be worse...
Young Ninja!
If you find this document in your hands, then chances are...you have failed your very first Genin task.
You should be thankful to your 'former' Jounin sensei!
Why? Because it taught you an invaluable lesson for the price of your wounded pride!
In field, that lesson would have been paid for, in BLOOD!
If you are STILL not over your failure...Well! There is nothing you can do about it now. What's done is done.
You are now a part of Konoha's Genin Reserves! (informally known as the Genin Corps)
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Now, coming into the Reserves, you might have a negative perception of it. (Partially the reason why the name Genin Corps is around)
A place full of losers, A place for failures, A place for sad barely passable shinobi who couldn't even impress a Jounin.
But you would be wrong to assume that!
The Genin in the reserve are in no way, shape, or form less than the Jounin-track Genin.
At the end of the day, both them and you, will be picking missions from the same pool of requests to the Village.
Being in the Genin reserves is not a reminder of your failure, it is a statistical certainty!
As of the compilation of current edition, Konoha's forehead protector shields roughly 30,000 Genin!
Last year itself, a little over 1000 newly graduated Genin from more than 20 Ninja Academies all over the Land of Fire, walked the streets of Konoha to report for duty.
Out of these 1000 Genin, only 180 were allowed a Jounin test and of that only 30 could pass!
If the idea that - Konoha relies on a bunch of losers to protect the Land of Fire and itself - doesn't seem absurd...I don't know what will!
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A genin on the Jounin-track, has the undeniable advantage of having a (possibly Special) Jounin looking out for them on the field.
Their sensei's wisdom can cut months worth of time, that would otherwise be spent on trial and error...and everybody can use a Jounin contact later in their career.
BUT
Their growth will always be tied to that of the weakest link of their team...That is 67% chance of hindrance for your growth!
Their mission, specialization, and training will be slaved to the whims of their sensei.
A sensei who would be reassigned after 3 years, or less...leaving the team dissolved and reassigning any remaining genin to the Reserves.
On the other hand, as an Independent Genin of the Reserves...You are quite literally the master of your own destiny!
Train, Learn, Complete missions, Plan your career as you see fit! (with minor conditions, discussed in later chapter)
For a sufficiently self-motivated, smart, and hardworking ninja (like you), the Reserves are the place to be!
Aiki blinked.
Once. Twice.
"Still the same words..the same writing...didn't knew Iruka-sensei's writing style was so silly"
But Aiki couldn't complain about it. It did what it was supposed to do.
The lighthearted tone of the chapter along with hard numbers to support the points already made Aiki feel better about the hand she had been dealt.
For the first time since the Genin test, Aiki felt optimistic for the future!
"I should really thank Iruka-sensei the next time I see him...not only does he look out for Naruto, but he also helped me today..." Aiki thought and her respect for her Academy Sensei grew manifolds.
Now that Aiki finally realized that she was not a failure, she wanted to know what her job would entail.
Doing her job was the first step on the ladder of getting better at it
So Aiki turned the page to the next chapter...and immediately grasped the change in the tone of the text.
Chapter-2
Primer: Shinobi Specializations
Our great village Konohagakure exists as the official and ONLY shinobi village in the Land of Fire.
As such, our village faces a constant influx of missions that vary wildly in difficulty, solutions, and possible approaches...these missions are by far the major source of Konoha's Gross Domestic Product.
Outside of that, us Konoha ninjas are tasked with carrying out operations and missions by internal or royal orders to ensure Konoha's and Land of Fire's safety.
And finally, ALL Konoha's legislative executive and judicial bodies, the bureaucratic system, and myriad departments are powered entirely by Konoha's shinobi.
All of these jobs are essential for Konoha's existence and none more so than the other.
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Years of brutal warfare has solidified 3 conjecture, written entirely in the blood of our comrades.
First, An elite generalist will always survive an encounter with a specialist of comparable mission relevant skill. For example, An elite tracker can be lured into an ambush, forced to give up information, and dispatched if the enemy is comparably skilled at evasion..but also good at trapping, combat, and interrogation.
Second, cultivation of such elite generalists is a painstakingly slow and resource intensive process. As of writing of this document, Out of just under 37,000 active shinobi...barely 200 of them would qualify for this title, and they are the Jounins of Konoha.
Third, Missions success is maximized by finding the right ninja for the right job. A Jack of all trades ends up dying more often than Masters of one. A shinobi with mediocre records across the board are tough to efficiently assign missions to, which introduces an element of uncertainty right from the start.
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While the first point is common sense, and the second point is harsh reality...alignment with the third point is something entirely in your hands!
I urge the reader to get a feel for all the specializations relevant to their planned career trajectory.
By the time you feel ready to move on to the rank of a Chunin, you should be clear about which of Konoha's many departments and organizations would be benefited most by you working for them. Your promotions might quite literally depend on it.
Below is a note on various specializations recognized by Konoha.
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Field Specializations
All the missions, from C rank to S rank will require you to utilize skills that fall under the label of Field Specialization.
During the interwar period, as many as 50% of the Genin are out on the field performing missions, and this number can rise to 80% during war time (even further if situation calls for it.) As such, these skills are invaluable for any and all Konoha shinobis.
Even the Genin who don't actively participate in missions and instead work to support the burden of Konoha's endless stream of paperwork, are mandated by village law to actively train for a set number of hours weekly and undertake certain low risk missions to keep themselves sharp for when the village needs them.
The Field Specializations along with the skills they entail are:
Combat
For missions where combat is not only expected, but is intended...the combat specialists rise to the challenge.
These shinobi fulfill any roles where blood needs spilling...or need to be kept from spilling, based on the mission.
While Combat is a something every shinobi is trained for, the combat specialists have gone through it enough times to get it down to an art.
During peacetime these shinobi carry out security related missions ranging from intercepting and processing the intruders at our borders to working with the Leaf Village's police force.
During war, these shinobis form the spearhead of all offensive, and bulwark for all defensive operations. The fate of an entire company worth of shinobis on the frontlines...heavily depends on the competence of their Combat Shinobi Platoons.
Due to this heavy connotation associated with being named a Combat Specialist, as well as the high risk that is part of the cultivation of relevant skills...Combat Specialists are exceedingly rare.
As of writing, no more than 300 Combat Specialists wear Konoha's Forehead Protector, and include all Jounins, and Special Jounin with excellence in Combat.
A shinobi can be called a combat specialist...once they have proven themself to be proficient in ALL three of the following sub-specializations.
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1. Assault: First of the two unorthodox shinobi specialization. The veil of shadows, the grave-like silence, and air-like subtlety...is something actively discarded in assault missions. Assault missions are sanctioned when diplomacy fails, assassinations are either not possible or not a solution, and the adversaries are prepared to counter our hostilities.
Skills like...Assault Operation strategy and tactics, Close Quarter Battles, Long Range Battles, Clearance Operations, Seizure and Clearance Operations, Raids, Trap Clearing, etcetra...all fall under the banner of Assault specialization.
2. Defense: Second of the unorthodox shinobi specialization. Defense missions are the complete antithesis of the very concept of a shinobi, and require the operatives to be clearly visible and ready for confrontation at all times. Defense missions are sanctioned as a direct counter to the other two types of combat missions and are particularly hard because eliminating the adversaries alone doesn't constitute as a success.
Defense skills include Defensive Operations strategy and tactics, Body guarding, Trapping, Field Engineering, Hold and Defend Operations, Perimeter Defense, Static and Elastic Defense, etcetra.
3. Assassination: The aspect of combat that is both familiar to the shinobi and expected of them. Contrary to belief held by the general populace...assassination missions are not always the silent affairs of cloaks and daggers in the shadowy night, specially when the target is of some consequence.
So...what makes assassinations any different from Assault missions? Assassinations are sanctioned when the target is oblivious or at most anticipating retaliation...but NOT expecting it. Further, ending the target is half the job...the rest is to disappear leaving no trace and/or using the 'event' for further advantage.
An assassin heavily relies on the skills of Ambushing, Poisoning, Silent Killing, Orchestrating Accidents, Shock and Awe attacks, Silent Killing, etcetra.
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Spycraft
Spycraft specialists spread Konoha's reach to every corner of the Shinobi World.
Spycraft specialists enusre that nothing exists outside of our knowledge and nothing exists outside of our reach.
They are everywhere...out of sights, out of minds, on...waiting, watching, listening, reporting back...and acting when the time comes. The stealth and deception, hallmark of all shinobi, is taken to a frightening extreme by these capable ninja.
During peace time, these shinobi are inserted slowly, painstakingly...carefully...where we need them, where our clients want them, where we do not yet want them, and wherever there are none present currently for long term operations. On the other hand, nearly all cross border communication is done through short term infiltrators.
During war, these shinobis are activated to wreak havoc, sow discord and turn narratives as we see fit. Our infiltrators set up the ground for bigger operations, our acquisition experts conduct espionage, and our saboteurs create problems both physical and psychological.
Spycraft is the lifeblood of the shinobi, it is what defines us. As such, the majority of our Jounin corps (which groups all Jounins, Special or otherwise) calls themselves Spycraft specialist, and they number close to 500.
A spycraft specialist needs mastery over all 3 Spycraft Sub-specializations.
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1. Infiltration: The art of infiltration is what defines the shinobi. No boundary natural or man-made, no borders political or cultural, and no amount of security can stop a competent infiltrator from reaching where the mission requires. Infiltration missions are one of the most common, and can range anywhere from short term communication drops to long term cover and cultivate missions.
The infiltrator's skill book is huge and includes skills like Disguises, Impersonation, Cover and Integration, Spying, Cultivation of spies and various cells to name a few
2. Acquisition: The second stereotypical Shinobi skill. To the common man, Ninja is one who kills and steals...and no one steals better than an acquisition expert...be it hearts, artifacts, or information. Acquisition missions are sanctioned whenever the client or the village needs something that can be taken from someone. Acquisition missions can range from relatively inconsequential like stealing under civilian security...all the way to future defining, like honey-trapping and coercing High level officials to acquiring and manipulating enemy orders.
The skills enabling acquisition include stealing, coercion, seduction, gathering and destruction of clues, evasion, and many more.
3. Sabotage: The Shinobi villages are never at peace, only armistice...but no overtly hostile actions can be taken while it lasts...that's where our precious Saboteurs' services are needed. Saboteurs disrupt enemy operations, establishment, and policies by any means necessary...be they social, psychological or, physical. Sabotage missions allow the village to keep the enemy advantages to a minimum and are often highly sensitive...they range from simply disrupting supply runs for a few days to complete and permanent regime change operations in major cities or corporations.
Psychology, Propaganda, Terror Tactics, Demolition, Trade and Supply Disruption, etcetra...are some skills that any aspiring saboteur must master.
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Reconnaissance
The entirety of Konoha's attack and defense plans, for the village and Land of Fire as whole...relies entirely on the back of reliable Reconnaissance.
Recon specialists are the watchful eyes of the village who reveal that which the enemy holds close...and that which the enemy sends at us.
Whatever anyone does at our borders, or inside them...is always watched, heard or sniffed out by a Recon expert. All shinobi are expected to have excellent reflexes, senses and awareness...but none take them to the frightening level that the Recon specialists do.
During peacetime, these shinobi do constant patrolling and work hard to ensure no gaps remain in our defenses for any enemy to exploit...and they work internally to screen for any enemies of spies that might have slipped in. Sometimes missions also see Recon experts as parts of expeditions to map and record new locations for one reason or other.
During war, these shinobi are vital to ensure the safety of our forces...acting as their unit's lookout, sentry, early warning system, and if situation calls for it...escape planner. Other than that, these shinobi provide invaluable information regarding enemy camps and terrain that have turned the tide of hundreds of recorded battles.
Konoha is blessed when it comes to Reconnaissance, a big reason of which is the presence of clans like the Aburame, Inuzuka, and the Hyuuga...as such 300 shinobi of the Jounin corps are Reconnaissance experts. Based on the Konoha's reports on enemy villages...this number is significantly higher than the average.
The Recon experts have proven mastery over the following sub specializations.
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1. Tracking: When the village wants someone or something found or hunted, the tracker ninjas are called upon. The best Trackers can pick up trails days old by their senses, or weeks old by the local gossips. Tracking missions are often, by nature, of short duration and high consequences...but long duration tracking missions are not unheard of, and are issued to track highly dangerous missing ninjas.
Any competent tracker is well versed in skills like Finding and Following trails, Keen Perception and Senses, Chakra Sensing, and the like.
2. Scouting: Competent Shinobi scouts are extremely valuable to the village and the Land of Fire. All of the Land of Fire's borders are screened and protected by the tireless and commendable service of our scouts. A Scout's body is adapted to extreme speed, instincts attuned to stealth, and mind attuned to keen observation...which makes them perfect for security of the borders and other perimeter (securing the Land of Fire's borders provides a significant chunk of Konoha's income) or scout out enemy camps, formations, and the like.
Skills like Mapping Terrain, Mapping enemy movements, scouting out enemy camps and numbers, perimeter establishment, effective patrolling, etcetra...are essential for any scout.
3. Surveillance: While the scouts protect the village and Land of Fire from the more obvious and external threats, the surveillance specialists protect the village from the more subtle and internal threats. These shinobi's excel in rooting out foreign spies, traitors, enemy schemes and sympathizers, and more unsavory elements from the village and Land of Fire as a whole. Be it peace or war, these shinobis are always working with diligence and vigilance to maintain law and order in the village and screen for foreign or traitorous influence.
Surveillance experts are highly skilled in Identifying spies, Police Work, Screening for threats, Profiling, and many more related skills.
The later contents of the chapter had information regarding 'Non-Field Specializations' like Medicine, Research and Development, Torture and Interrogation, Intelligence and Analysis, and funnily enough...Bureaucracy!
But it wasn't what Aiki wanted, and thus needed to know.
Her entire reason for becoming a shinobi was so she could be closer to Naruto when he needed her.
She had much better chance of doing that as an active field operative, standing at his side shoulder to shoulder, making her way to him whenever he needed.
The Barrier corps and Full time doctors seldom left the village as far as she knew.
Moreover, the half she did read was heavy enough and gave her much to think about.
"Having a system of specializations feels really efficient yet cynical at the same time..." Aiki couldn't help but think that way.
On one hand, they provided Shinobi an intuitive framework to measure their strength and career.
Fresh shinobi with no knowledge of the world outside their hometown's (or wherever they attended the Shinobi academy) walls except what was written in the book, and no contacts with anyone of consequence or high position...could theoretically carve a niche out for themselves with enough missions.
In theory competent and dedicated Shinobi would rise, and the village will have the perfect tools to apply for every missions that comes to the mission office.
But the need for specialization itself was a silent acknowledgment of the fact that realistically, nobody reading this document or those like it...will ever reach the pinnacle of the shinobi's path.
To be skillful at everything, to be at the peak of what it meant to be a shinobi...where the Legendary Three and Hokages and such stood...was something that would be out of reach of practically everyone.
It was the village's way of telling it's ninjas 'We do not believe that in the statistically short amount of time you will be active, we deem you reaching the pinnacle of your potential an impossibility...thus make sure you get better at one thing, something as soon as possible so you can be of some actual use to the village.'
"...Or maybe not...Dammit I've been so gloomy tonight that even my brain can't help but look at the worst case scenario...",
Aiki let out a sigh, cleared her mind and read the next chapter.
Chapter - 3
Shinobi and Mission: Ranks and Ratings
All invaluable men and women who proudly wear the Leaf's headband are respected and valued Shinobi of the Leaf.
All missions that reach the mission desk are important and must be completed with utmost care and diligence.
But realistically, every Shinobi has varying degree of experience and skills...and if the nearly endless amount of missions with varying degrees of difficulty, risk, and strategic or tactical importance are to be dealt with...then a well defined and intuitive system of classification needs to exist for both the tasks and the agents.
That's where the relatively new but now widely accepted method of mission and shinobi ranks come from. (Before the establishment of our great village...every clan had it's own set of rankings, or rarely...none at all.)
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Shinobi Ranks
The Leaf Shinobi are divided into four ranks based on their skills and experience, and each role carries it's own set of expectations and promotion criteria (except for the Jounins, for obvious reasons.) A rundown of each of the four official ranks will be provided below.
1. Genin
Since this document is made for new Genins, I have made an effort to lay out what it means to be a Genin for you in great detail.
Every ninja of the Hidden Leaf...even the likes of Lord Third, Lord Fourth, The Sannin, and such, started out as a Genin of the Leaf...a junior ninja.
Though the word 'Junior' is a more of a literary formality than an indication of a Genin's role in the functioning of the village.
Konoha has a force of roughly 30 Thousand Genins and they handle both the bulk of the missions received or sanctioned by Konoha, and the weight of all the paperwork that runs the village. According to last year's average...at any given point of time, Around 15 Thousand Genins stayed on the field at any given time completing missions both long and short, Around 5 Thousand stayed on rest or training leaves, and around 10 Thousands fulfilled bureaucratic roles at various Konoha's offices and outposts.
To be a Genin, is to be a cog in a machine, and just like the machine fails even if a single cog goes out of sync...each genin's work is of utmost importance for the village.
The Junior Ninjas are not called that due to the inferiority of their tasks...but due to lack of experience with higher risk missions (A genin is not assigned highly rated missions except on the request of team leaders and/or relevant mission record.)
Every Genin is expected to at the very least be reasonably skilled at the Hidden Leaf Academy's Iron Branch Taijutsu style (or any other clan specific style), the three Academy Ninjutsus, Maneuvering in Three Dimensional environments (such as cities and forests), Stealth, and be reliably accurate with their shurikenjutu.
In addition, they must also have a sound mind, should be able to detect and break out of genjutsu, and have enough knowledge to live off of the land...indefinitely.
It is also recommended that the Genin becomes familiar with the act of killing and processing game animals as both a survival exercise and preparation for the unfortunate inevitability where they have to take a life in service of the village.
Having a strong base in Taijutsu and accurate skills with shuriken and the like is essential for surviving any and all combat encounters. Any chakra based offensive skills are inherently unreliable due to no shinobi having infinite chakra reserves and the preparation that goes into executing them.
Maneuvering not only in the two dimensions like the common folk, but three...gives us ninja a heavy advantage over the majority of population. Learning to use our environment to maximum effect...as well as the stealth that is drilled into academy graduates and gets honed over the year with experience...gives us shinobi the terrifying reputation of moving and working like ghosts.
Finally, the Clone, Transformation, and Substitution jutsus are the most basic yet the most versatile jutsus for the majority of missions a genin is expected to perform. They provide an excellent blend of misdirection and evasion that can be leveraged into an escape or attack based on the situation. While these three jutsus will not take down an experienced shinobi...encounter with such shinobi will be rare enough on the average Genin's mission.
A genin is expected to listen to their superior's orders and follow them to the best of their knowledge and abilities without letting pride, clan loyalties, or personal beliefs get in the way. They are expected to learn various skills on the mission and be well inclined to teamwork, as teams are often decided on basis of specialties rather than inter-personal relationships.
Reserve genin can take up available missions anytime at the mission desk. Based on the availability there might even be choices available to you as well...in which case discussing with the assignment staff will help in finding the mission that might suit either your current skills OR skills you wish to cultivate.
In rare cases, you might be assigned missions based on recommendations of team leaders or higher ups (which includes anyone from Experienced Genins, Chunins, so on to the Lord Hokage himself.)
The village also reserves the right to assign missions whenever needed or if no missions are undertaken in an extended period of time.
In case the Genin shows constant failures and decline...they can be reassigned to permanent low consequence desk jobs or extended low risk non field assignments if the village deems it necessary.
A Genin can be promoted to the rank of Chunin in a number of ways...
The most well known method is through a positive evaluation at the chunin exams, that are held twice a year in a cyclic manner in the Hidden Leaf and other hidden villages that are not outright hostile to us. (This year's exams are being held in Konoha.)
A genin can also be given a field promotion to Chunin at the order of a Chunin or higher level ninja during time of war or mid mission, the continued promotion after war or post-mission is subject to approval by the village.
Finally, the rank promotion to chunin can be sanctioned at the orders of the head of departments of various organizations in Konoha (like Torture and Interrogation, Intelligence Department, ANBU, etcetra) for their subordinates, and other village higher ups like the ANBU and Jounin commanders, the unanimous vote of the Village Elders, and the Lord Hokage.
2. Chunin
When a genin has earned enough mission experience to keep themselves alive, active, and unnoticed in the field except in the most dangerous of circumstances...learned from missions they completed and gone above and beyond mastering the basics of Shinobi Arts...and display enough competence to not only work independently but also co-ordinate teams and plans for bigger missions...they are ready to be Chunin.
To be a Chunin, is to be a leader. A chunin is frequently tasked with dangerous and higher ranked missions and is often responsible for more their own life.
Konoha's chunin number around 6000, of which around 1000 fulfill various managerial and supervision duties off the field in the various establishments of interest across the Land of Fire. The rest actively take part in missions ranging from moderately to extremely risky while solo or as part of a team.
A Chunin's importance to the village becomes clear when one realizes that they are the village's primary answer to all high risk and important missions and war operations.
Genin simply cannot be trusted to safely complete certain missions due to lack of experience or skills, and jounin are simply too numerically few and strategically important to send on anything but the most sensitive and treacherous of missions.
When one starts out as a chunin, it is not uncommon to have minimal contacts with other chunin or to have minimal exposure to the various shinobi organizations...but a chunin is expected to cultivate working relationship and at the very least, remember their fellow chunins by name and face.
Since proving a firm grasp of the shinobi basics is a requirement to even be considered ready to be evaluated for promotion to chunin...The new Chunin are recommended to start specializing and find their niche among the various official groups and organizations of Konoha, this ensures that the village will always have missions for you that suit your skillset and pose a minimal risk for you.
An experienced Chunin is expected to have mastered atleast one of the sub-specializations explained earlier to the point where they can comfortably lead a team of genin or chunin on higher risk missions. For reference, Konoha has around 1000 expert trackers, 600 expert assassins, and 400 expert Saboteurs...excluding the numbers from the Jounin corps.
Chunins that are not part of any organizations are given missions by the village that best suit their mission record as per their mission quota, while the other chunins pick up missions as their work with their organization dictates. Chunin are highly valuable to the village and for them to undertake missions of their own choosing is neither too common nor preferred by the majority of chunin (everybody likes their rest and recuperation time.)
A Chunin can be promoted to the rank of Special Jounin or Full Jounin when they meet certain conditions. The criteria for direct promotion to Jounin rank is common for both Chunins and Special Jounins and is thus provided in the Special Jounin section.
If a Chunin believes they have the skills and mission records necessary to count themselves among the masters of any and atleast one of the specializations (Combat, Spycraft, Reconnaissance, Medicine, Sealing, etcetra) then they can, once every 2 years, enroll themselves for the Special Jounin evaluation test held bi-annually
Potential candidates are shortlisted by a committee of appropriately skilled Special Jounins based on mission records and related profiles. Following the shortlisting is an exam crafted to test the applicant thoroughly...the details of which are both classified and ever changing but always contains an interview and physical portion.
Additionally...The Lord Hokage, The Jounin Commander, the unanimous vote of the Village Elders, or the ANBU Commander can directly promote any shinobi they deem worthy to the rank of Special Jounin.
3. Special Jounin
Special Jounin embody what it means to be the master of their trade.
Special Jounin are shinobi who have well rounded and highly respectable amount of skills and experience, but on top of that they have elevated their preferred craft to such a degree that it borders on supernatural. To work with them in their element is both fascinating and terrifying, to see them in action is humbling, to stand with them is reassuring and to face them as adversary spells certain failure.
This is the level that only few can ever reach and those who do stuff of legends and entries of bingo books worldwide. Thousands of Konoha Shinobi start and end their careers without encountering a Special Jounin more than a handful of times.
Konoha's Jounin Corps has a roster of around 500 Special Jounins, a majority of whom hold positions of great importance in various organizations or lead large number of shinobi at various outposts and fortifications, and are irreplaceable given their skillset, knowledge and experience.
At anytime roughly 50 Special Jounin are 'off duty' in the village...this is when the village can assign them missions that fit their skills...and stature.
Special Jounin are almost always in charge of extremely sensitive and dangerous missions that involves a sizeable number of shinobis they are responsible for...they are an invaluable resource for the village and unless absolutely necessary, they are never deployed. Few, if any, outside missions ever warrant the need for a Special Jounin. They work almost exclusively on missions related to National Security and Interests.
War time sees these Shinobi deployed to key locations or undertake missions that hold the potential to turn the tide of entire battles and decide the fate of hundreds of shinobis.
An experienced Special Jounin has absolute mastery over their craft, to the degree that even working with them is an educational experience...moreover, they have accumulated enough mission experience and thus skills to shine in skills not part of their specialization to the point where they lack in nothing.
Only promotion left for these Shinobi is to the coveted Jounin rank, and the way to reach it are few and rigorous.
Once every four years, any Chunin or Special Jounin who believes themselves ready for a Jounin promotion can apply for the yearly evaluation by the Jounin Committee (The consists only of all full Jounins of Konoha).
Each applicants mission records and various profiles will be screened and shortlisted by a group of representatives chosen at random from the Jounin Committee.
Shortlisted applicants will undergo an hours long interview process with all the members of the Jounin Committee (who were free at the time and could be gathered) followed by a series of tasks and examinations at the end of which the successful candidates will be promoted to the rank of Jounin.
As with every other rank, the Jounin Commander, ANBU Commander, the unanimous vote of the Elder council, and the Lord Hokage can promote any shinobi they deem fit to the rank of Jounin.
4. Jounin
Very little can be said here about the full extent of what it means to be a Jounin, but luckily very little needs to be said.
The Jounin...are the pinnacle of what it means to be a shinobi. The rank of Jounin is inaccessible to those who haven't mastered ALL of the field specializations.
A Jounin is not only an incomprehensibly valuable asset to the village, they are also a pillar that directly support it.
Jounins are heads of departments and organizations, leaders of political bodies, chief of security and operations for entire sectors of the Land of Fire and beyond.
Very few Jounins are 'off duty' and that is often when they take on fresh Genin teams...the idea being to return threefold to the village, the time and resources spent on their journey from Genin to Jounin (The Genin tutored by a Jounin Sensei are overwhelmingly more likely to achieve the rank of Special Jounin or higher than a reserve genin...hence the unofficial name 'Jounin Track')
Less than 200 Konoha Shinobi carry the rank of Jounin, any chance of interaction with them...be it on mission or off the field...is a boon for the younger, inexperienced Ninjas. A vast majority of Konoha Shinobi NEVER get to interact with a Jounin, or see a Jounin other than the Lord Hokage or on rare occasions, the supreme commander of their division.
As such, each of these Shinobi have whole legends, feats, and monikers dedicated to them that strikes fear into the hearts of foreign adversaries and also paint a huge target on each of their heads. Jounin live not because of a lack of attempts on their life but despite of it...they are just that good at everything shinobi.
Missions assigned to Jounins are seldom well defined and almost never short term. Their missions are sensitive enough to decide the village relationship with the world at large for generations to come, dangerous enough to be borderline suicidal, and secretive enough for the details to NEVER leave the Hokage's office.
This lot of shinobi are NEVER at peace, always either planing (and very rarely personally executing) operations to weaken the enemy position when there is no war...or undertaking missions that can decide the whole tide of the war whenever hostilities are open.
There is no formal promotion above the rank of Jounin, though many have carved a niche for themselves in the annals of history by either mastering and applying skills other than the field specializations (Lady Tsunade of the Sannin - Medicine Specialization, Lord Jiraya of the Sannin - Sealing Specialization, Traitor Orochimaru - Research and Development Specialization) or by simply dominating the enemy villages in the field of battle or otherwise (The Lord Hokages are the most well known example).
Turns out Aiki was right to be put off by the specialization system, now that she read more about the Shinobi ranks and promotion criteria.
"...It reads like the growth of a shinobi is completely based on their own merit, but looking underneath the underneath...it is far from that..."
Right from genin-hood, any promotion through chunin exams was dependent on cultivating a 'friendly' relationship with not only fellow genin but also catching the attention of a Jounin who would be willing to back them up for a Chunin exam...unless she wanted to wait for an exam to take place in Konoha itself, which would take place every 2.5 years.
Another, less complicated method, was to complete enough missions that aligned with some organization's directive to get in their radar and then hope for them to recruit her for a promotion...anything less was not worth giving up her independence and mission choosing flexibility and locking herself with an organization for the foreseeable future.
And it would only get worse after becoming a chunin.
For the most part, a Chunin's assignments were NEVER in their own hands...given to them by the village or their organization...any extra training or missions necessary to build their resume for a promotion were only possible in their 'Free' time!
And if the Chunin were to rub any sufficiently influential people the wrong way...they could be locked out of a potential promotion just by the swipe of a pen, condemning them to a long and relatively inconsequential assignment for a good few years!
"...I can see why only a tiny fraction of Shinobi reach the rank of Chunin...and even tinier fraction of them ever achieve higher ranks..."
Aiki's thoughts were getting darker under the weight of uncertainty for her future and her place in the grand scheme...but she pulled herself out of them.
"No use getting worked up without even taking the first step...better finish this chapter first..."
With that thought, she resumed reading where she had previously left off.
Mission Ranks
As mentioned at the start of the chapter, for effective division of labor and prioritization, the missions need to be divided into various ranks based on various risks, objectives, and potential consequences of success and failures (Not how IMPORTANCE is not mentioned here, every mission from the humblest D rank to the most clandestine of S ranks is important for the village.)
After years of trial and error and navigating several economic highs and lows, the relevant decision making bodies choose to divide any mission into one of 5 categories, which are explained below.
1. D-Rank
D rank missions are often hated by fresh genin with delusions of grandeur but they serve a very important role for the village.
Though mechanically and objective-wise they are nothing but common chores, they provide young Ninja a scenario to deepen the bonds between them and their sensei...which is essential for them to draw maximum benefit from their sensei's teaching as well as for later in their career, when they get promoted or their sensei decides to disband the team after a minimum period of time.
Arguably more important, is the fact that D-rank missions are a bridge between the common folk of Konoha and the shinobi who essentially lord over them (though not maliciously or oppressively.)
To a common person, the shinobi are untrustworthy liars, thieves, and backstabbers...not to be trusted and not to be approached. Powerful though the Ninja may be, governing the masses is impossible if they neither trust you nor wish to interact with you...this is also the reason why the relationship between the Feudal Lords and Shinobi Villages is the way it is.
By subsidizing D-rank missions and making it easier for the citizens to commission them, the government makes sure that the citizens' interaction with shinobis (especially young and seemingly harmless fresh genin) is both abundant and healthy and respectful.
The D-rank mission reminds the people of Konoha that the shinobi aren't boogeymen and evil incarnate...but dedicated protectors and friends...human...just like them and their kids.
Though successful completion of a D-rank mission doesn't add any points to a Shinobi's record...failure to complete one does carry the penalty of a single point. (The point rating system for shinobis will be explained later in the chapter.)
2. C-Rank
C rank missions are low risk missions that are often undertaken by shinobis ranging from new genins to new chunins, based on the risks and consequences of failures. (even two same ranked missions may lie far apart on the spectrum of risk...given they fall under certain ranges.)
These missions are what gets new ninjas acclimated to the shinobi lifestyle and provides the more experienced ninjas with a relatively safe opportunity to experiment and try out new things, ease into their new roles, or transition back smoothly into the life on field after a long recovery.
C-rank missions are by far the most common missions our village gets or sanctions.
Any mission that involves venturing out of village walls, involving even the simplest of intel or order scrolls, or anything that requires a 'shinobi' level alertness and decorum, is given atleast a C-rank.
What separates the C-rank missions from that superset...is that there is none to small risk of facing shinobi opposition, even then the risk of facing an experienced and thus dangerous enemy-nin (like a Chunin) is zero. Only opposition expected is untrained to highly trained non-chakra users.
C-rank missions is where our young genin start carving a niche for themselves and exploring various specializations, and as such their importance is immense.
Successful completion of each C rank mission adds a single point to the Shinobi's personal record, but the failure to complete one can see the ninja suffer a penalty of 10 points and even get court-martialed and have their penalties revoked or added on based on the jury's decision.
3. B-Rank
B rank missions are when the lethality and chances of confrontation with enemy shinobi spikes.
Any mission that relates to the direct security of the Land of Fire or the Hidden Leaf Village where open combat is anticipated but not expected (like border patrols, screening strategic points for intruders, etcetra), Operations within the Land of Fire that are targeted against an organization capable of projecting significant power, Operations in foreign lands where open combat is not intended, are some scenarios that would warrant a B-Rank mission.
B-rank missions are the bulk of Konoha's internal power projection, security, peace keeping, intelligence gathering and staging operations.
These missions are often also used as an entry way into planning larger, riskier, and more consequential operations, thus have a tendency to have their ratings increased.
It is precisely because of this too, that B-rank missions have a dramatically high spike in mortality rates...from a mere 0.08% in C-rank missions, to just around 1.5% for B-rank missions. Major causes of this is facing an unexpectedly strong opposition on duty or getting neutralized by unexpected counter-intelligence operations.
B-rank missions are an adequate test of one's grasp over a skill-set related to particular sub-specializations, and a consistent record of them helps quite a lot when it comes to promotion from Chunin-hood.
Successful B-rank missions add anywhere from 10 to 20 points to the shinobi's record (subject to decision of relevant bodies), while a failure would again see the shinobi get court-martialed and based on the judgement, suffer atleast a penalty of 100 to 200 points on their record.
4. A-Rank
A rank missions are always of a highly sensitive and risky nature.
The mission objectives almost always involve directly undermining the enemy village or organization's authority, power, or profits.
Heavy resistance and encounters against highly skilled adversaries is not only expected, sometimes it's planned.
These missions are planned and executed over weeks, months and sometimes, years!...Never undertaken by a single shinobi except in the rarest of cases, these missions see the mobilization of various specialists at various points of the mission.
Any single, minor mistake or miscalculation can and WILL lead to the immeasurable losses for the village...be they in manpower, political leverage, or long term economic impacts.
Failure is NOT an option, only the elites and those deemed sufficient by them ever get to have an A rank mission on their record.
These operations are almost exclusively planned around deep cover, slow methodical series of objectives that would throw off the responding forces from our trails, and fulfilling the final objective which could be of great worth to us...or be of great detriment to our opponents.
No one but those of the Jounin Corps (and exceedingly rarely, the most elite of Chunins) are involved in the planning of these missions.
The mortality rate on these missions, is understandably, much higher than that of B-rank missions...and hovers anywhere from 5% to a crushing 20% based on if there is an open war or not.
Every successful A rank mission can see an addition of 100 to 200 point to the records of all the shinobis involved, based on the village's decision...but the penalty for the failure of a A rank mission is extremely crushing and can see a deduction of anywhere form 500 to 1000 points from the shinobi's record, as well as any punishment deemed fit by the panel of the court martial.
5. S-Rank
An official criteria for tagging missions as S-rank, DOES NOT exist.
Any mission deemed too dangerous and secretive to fit any of the previous labels... planned full well knowing the suicidal difficulty of the objective, or heinous nature of the acts involved, or the details being too damaging to be trusted to those not deemed fit to be involved directly in them...are labelled as S-rank.
Only The Lord Hokage, The Collective Elder Council, The ANBU Commander, and The Jounin Commander...have the authority to sanction S-rank missions.
Disclosure of the details of an S-rank mission is paramount to treason and will be dealt as such.
What is known though, is that the completion of S-rank missions adds anywhere from 800 to 2000 points to the records of those involved...and theoretically, failure would see at the very least, a deduction of 8000 to 20000 points...along with any other punishments the village deems fit.
Though by that point...that will be the LEAST of the village's concerns.
Such is the nature of these missions.
The writing did it's job, Aiki was sufficiently pumped up about the various missions and spent a good amount of time day dreaming (or should it be night dreaming...since it was night-time...) about her and Naruto going through many a clandestine missions, with only each other to rely on...
"I REALLY need to get over myself and not let these thoughts distract me so much...even knowing that they are a natural result of my body's development doesn't help if I actively lose myself..."
Aiki grounded her thoughts by thinking of the mortality rates mentioned and wondering how and why these tragedies might have occurred.
After her brain was done digesting the information the document unloaded on her and became less distracted as a result, she moved on to the final section of the chapter.
Shinobi Ranking and Point System
As mentioned in the previous section, each successful mission (except D-rank) add certain points to a shinobi's record.
These points assigned to these mission brackets are not random and carry a deep wisdom, something even our enemies had to agree to.
This is a system that was started relatively recently by Lord Third Hokage, and is now widely adopted by the rest of the shinobi villages and such organizations as well.
To briefly summarize here, the point rewards are D [0], C [1], B [10-20], A [100-200], S [800-2000].
These mission points are used to quantify a shinobi's strength and importance into tangible metrics like points and rankings.
The ranking for the shinobi on basis of their mission points is as follows...
D-rank: 0 - 1000 points... The average Genin occupies this bracket.
C-rank: 1000 - 10,000 points... The average Chunin seldom deviates from this bracket.
B-rank: 10,000 - 50,000 points... This wide margin is what is termed as the 'Void' between the average Chunin and average Jounin. A few Elite Chunin and some freshly promoted Jounin occupy this gap.
A-rank: 50,000 - 100,000 points... This is the wide margin of power that swallows almost all Jounin of the shinobi world.
S-rank: 100,000+ points... There is no upper limit to this ranking, as shinobi who reach this level are incomprehensibly strong and no sufficient match exists for them against which their power can be reliable tested and it's upper limit established. There have NEVER been more than a handful of such powerhouses in Konoha at any given time, currently only 5 S-rank Konoha shinobi are active.
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The point distributions make more sense when placed against the shinobi ranking scale.
The point value grows exponentially with the mission ranking, the benefits of doing so are two fold.
One, it communicates the spike in difficulty between ranks.
Second, it makes it impossible to rise in rating by only working on low ranked missions...this keeps inexperienced ninjas safe from undue hostilities from foreign powers and the burdens of taking actions and decisions far outside their capabilities.
The brackets themselves are set to correctly show the gap of skills between those who occupy them.
It is a fact that a B-rank mission is exponentially tougher than a C-rank, as is an A-rank compared to B-rank...this trend is reflected in the shinobi who take on these missions as well...To move up in ranks is to achieve a breakthrough in one's growth.
Take for example, the point difference (and thus skill difference) between an experienced career Genin and the average Chunin is about 2500 points...but the difference between an experienced Chunin and the average Jounin is around 45000!
In simpler terms...A team of about 6 experienced genin can theoretically bring down the average chunin if they planned for the encounter well and luck favored them...
...but a similarly sized team of highly experienced chunin will stand NO CHANCE against the average Jounin, no amount of planning or luck can save them...
This lesson has been proven time and time again on the battlefields and reality is often harsher than this theoretical model, any new genin would do well to learn it now in the safety of their home and village.
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Other than being a quantifiable metric to gauge one's skills...the point system also offers certain benefits to the shinobis, based on their service to the village and hence their skills.
The first and perhaps the most important of these benefits is the access to the "Konoha's Repository of jutsus and related arts".
Any shinobi is provided free and unrestricted access to all of Konoha's collection of jutsus ranking up to the shinobi in question's current ranking...For example, any C-rank shinobi has the right to enter the Repository building and browse through any of the C-rank or below jutsus (Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Weapon Handling, even sealing and medicine related scrolls!) to their heart's content and learn any number of them as their brain and free time allows them.
The only catch being that none of the scrolls inside can be taken out of the building or be copied and distributed without the express permissions of the relevant authorities or without sufficient clearance. The consequences of breaking this rule are...dire.
Konoha believes that withholding information from their precious shinobi is akin to putting the cart before the horse...even rank locking the jutsus was a regrettable bit of censorship that had to be enforced to keep our shinobi from hurting themselves when trying out jutsus that are too chakra intensive or subject the body to severe strain, before they are ready for it.
Plenty of outdoor Training Grounds and such are always available and free for our shinobi to use, but if for some reason they need to book a particular ground, preference is given to the shinobi with higher rating.
There are many more benefits, and are mentioned in a later chapter.
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Aiki decided to stop reading for the night.
She had already read more than enough to stabilize her mind that was earlier wracked with anxiety for the future.
"The point system really puts into perspective the lengths to which the village would go to extract the maximum value out of their shinobis at the earliest..not that that's a bad thing"
It really wasn't.
Aiki could appreciate the planning that went into the point system...
...One could always stay in the bottom bracket of D-rank and do enough C rank missions to acclimate themselves with all aspects of Shinobi arts, then move on to higher rank missions and so on...The only problem being that their rank and earned points would be exponentially less than someone who stuck to a niche and kept refining it.
In the time it would take someone to gather 300 points, from a 100 C-rank missions each of Combat, Recon and Spying, and building a solid foundation to move on to the chunin rank...another who stuck to the just one type of missions could work through a 200 C-ranks, and 20 B-ranks and still end up with 500 points!
...atleast theoretically, reality could be very different for all she knew.
"The village is still gathering the strength it lost in the Kyuubi attack and the Third Shinobi War...In this case, it makes sense for the village to push for specialization...fast return on investment on the average shinobi if they grow capable of taking on higher ranked missions faster..."
Aiki realized that the village had completely given up on the idea of grooming the new shinobi into one day reaching the peak that was a Jounin, peerless at everything...instead relying on the naturally talented, motivated, and resourceful, to reach that rank on their own.
"Though...based on the numbers given in the document, that might as well be the correct move...the odds of one in 200 can only be improved so miuch with the resources we realistically have...", Aiki rolled over in her bed with that thought still in mind.
She rolled over once more, rubbed her eyes, and figured thinking too hard about it all at this time would do her no good.
All this talk of specializations and generalizations was meaningless when she was a fresh out the academy genin who had, quite literally, a score of 0 missions accomplished.
"Tomorrow morning...I'll go to the mission desk and get a feel for the whole thing, then pick up a mission...maybe even start exploring the whole specialization thing...depends on what mission they give me though...maybe they will ask me to choose, who knows?", Aiki's thoughts ran wild behind her closed eyes.
Soon, they too stopped...replaced by dreams.
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(Next Morning, Mission Desk, 0800 Hours)
Finally, after another half an hour of waiting in the line, it was her turn to get her VERY FIRST MISSION!
She had spent the first 30 minutes standing in the C-rank mission line...but right at the mission desk she was told that new genin were barred from taking C-rank missions for atleast the first month and at most, however long it took for them to complete 50 D-rank missions.
The walk from the C-rank Mission desk to the back of the D-rank mission line left her feeling sour...so she wanted the coming interaction to be perfect.
She had practiced for it inside her head for an embarrassing amount of time...and now it was time!
She prayed that her words wouldn't fail her..but her eyes blurred, her breathe rasped, and her knees felt week.
"Good Mor-" She got interrupted.
"Pick one from the pile and make way for the others!" said the mission desk attendant, who looked like he hadn't slept since he was 5.
"I'm new.", Aiki too gave up any semblance of making polite small talk...she would do it where it would be appreciated.
"So are these...now pick one and move." said the unimpressed genin (based on the color of his fatigues).
"Are you not going to ask my preference?" this was already looking different from what she anticipated and the mission hadn't even started yet.
"Too many people, no time, come early...or late. For now, take this...NOW MOVE!" The genin clerk shoved the mission scroll resting on top of the pile in her hand and again prompted her to move.
Which, Aiki did.
She even went as far as to walk out of the room and away from the noise to collect her thoughts and ready herself for her very first mission!
"My idea of this whole ordeal was too romantic, that's what I get for basing it all on some words I read in what was barely a book!" Aiki shook her head in a bid to shake the bad taste out of her mouth.
"Still...my very first mission..." She felt the satisfying weight of the scroll in her hand the flipped it over to check the mission details.
"D-rank..." She carefully opened it and browsed the contents.
"Lawn care and hedge trimming at..." she felt her eyes go out of focus as sheer boredom overtook her senses.
This was going to be a looooong month.