Seated with legs crossed in the center of dojo floor, he awaited his students. His was lowered, eyes closed in a meditative state. His hands clapped the hilt of his special katana, dubbed the Hane. A super thin and light weight weapon of precision. The line of the katana bisected his face. A grey sleeveless vest helped to cover his chest and torso, while a pair of loose fitting black sweats gave him comfort. His pouch on hip was like an extension of his body, as his hand could be inhaled or repelled by the pouch involuntarily. Though he was doing what he loves, his patience was wearing thin. He had many squad in the past... from them a few gems always seemed to shimmer. He was hoping for a more all around turn out this time. Kumogakure was in a uneasy state, this needed to be conveyed in training. There would be no time for games. Kenji wanted them to be war ready. A female and male swordsman approached him from his sides. His eyebrow pointed up at the detection of their presence. 


They're becoming much better at stealth


Kenji internalized his motion, flooding his muscles with the instinctive information. With speed and power, he brutally wiped his katana horizontally. He blocked as expected, he used the force of the block to catapult his weapon in the opposite direction to slice for the woman's torso. It seemed she was distracted by the initial attack and did not expect a strike to hone in on her so swiftly. A slit was cut across her shirt. The man had tossed his sword to the ground, and coiled his bicep around Kenji's neck. The pressure was immediate, causing Kenji's eyes to widen. As Kenji started to lose consciousness, a trickle of lightning swam through his katana causing them both to fall to their knees. 

Keep practicing. Your stealth has improved greatly. Until next time, my students will arrive shortly. 

Kenji would resume his pose, and concentrated on how the first squad meeting would go.

Kiriya had received a letter from the Raikage. He was assigned to the newly formed Ozone squad. The squad leader was Kenji Chikara, known amongst Kumogakure villagers as one of the fastest ninja in the whole country. Kiriya couldn’t wait to meet him. He was thinking about all the new possibilities. Perhaps there was a person matching his skills in the squad. Kiriya performed best when he was racing someone, whether it being for training or for something else. He was eager to meet Kenji Chikara, he had never met a sannin before. Kiriya had this dream to become the strongest shinobi in Kumogakure that meant becoming a sannin. But could he actually do it? Only time would show that.

The place for the meeting was Akako Dojo, located in the outskirts of Kumogakure. This dojo was owned by the renowned Akako family. Kiriya had heard stories that the best kenjutsu users in the world come from this particular dojo. He wasn’t sure how Kenji managed to get permission for using it. Nevertheless he was quite impressed with the resourcefulness he seemed to have. As the moments passed Kiriya was getting more and more eager to meet him. He also couldn’t wait to meet his new teammates.

Kiriya put his wakizashi on his back and headed out of the house. The dojo was not that far but it would probably take him around forty minutes to arrive. The path leading to it seemed unused for many years. But that would soon change. Kiriya’s mind was constantly thinking about what their first mission would be. On the other hand, he was thinking about the image of the sannin. He had already made an imaginary version of him in his mind. He had heard stories about the mighti Kenji but he had never seen him.

As Kiriya was walking, head pointed down, he suddenly realized that the Dojo was right in front of him. From the outside a person could clearly see that this was the Akako Dojo, beautiful dragon paintings were drawn on its walls. Kiriya’s eyes barely saw two shadow figures leaving the dojo. Could that be his new teammates? No, to be that much more skillful than him they should at least be a jounin.

As he walked through the main door and entered the training room he saw a sitting muscular man with light blue spiky hair. The man looked like was meditating, but he surely sensed Kiriya’s presence. He surely looked strong, Kiriya probably hadn’t met anyone as strong as he was.

“My name is Kaminari Kiriya and I was assigned to the Ozone team.” Kiriya was not quite sure as to how he needed to behave in front of him. He then walked to the place Kenji was sitting and sat next to him.

---

WC - 475

"A squad.. just what I needed.." Okami would sarcastically mutter. Why does he need a team? What's the point.. they will all die one day, who cares if he was on their team or not.. At first he wanted to disobey the orders, but than he remembered the Raikage is more than just a small girl. He swallowed his pride, and headed towards the destination. It's his first time talking to anybody in the village. Ever since he arrived here he kept to himself, avoiding eye contact with people. The only person he knew was that one shop keeper where he got his food from, but even he didn't plan on giving stuff to Okami for free.. "I guess I can do it for the money" he thought to himself as his stomach growled "and fast."

He opened a note that Lin left for him. "Hi Okami.. bla bla bla.. I think it's for the best bla bla bla.. Ozone squad?" He stooped reading to think, who gives squads these names? he couldn't help but chuckle as he continued. He skimmed through the rest, because it was to long for him to read, and he just needed names and a place. Oh speaking of a place.. the place that they are supposed to be at is a dojo, huh? Good, he missed the smell of sweat and blood on the floors. He used to practice in an abandoned dojo with his.. mother. Dang, he was getting teary again. He slapped himself, as he shook his head. The squad leader is a sanin, named Kenji Chikara. "Never head of him, I hope he is not going to be a bother.." he spoke as he looked over the map Raikage left him. It's a pain, not living here and suddenly being forced to find places by yourself. He looked around for the Dojo for hours, until he stumbled upon it. He was probably late, or was he? He didn't really look at the time of the meeting, he just picked up the letter up. Arriving at the Dojo, he sported two figures. One was a tall, blue haired man, probably the team lead while the other was probably his teammate. As he approached he, placed his right hand behind his head, as he spoke "Okami Noroi, forced to be here, not so pleased to meat you". Not waiting for a response, he carried on to sit next to them.

WC = 414

Once Kiriya introduced himself, Kenji simply nodded, gestured for Kiriya to sit next to him. Soon after Noroi arrived. Kenji also remained silent for now. Noroi and Kiriya both sat down next to Kenji. Kiriya was quite formal, while Noroi was bordering on rude. A smile broke onto Kenji's face. 

"Well, I am pleased to meet you both. It is also always an honor to teach. There was supposed to be another Genin with us, but he was reassigned. So for now, it will just be us. "

Kenji took a deep breath. "Kumogakure is in an unique status. We are in the midst of a resurgence, and it could not come at a better time. The shinobi world is not as peaceful as it has been in recent years. Therefore, today we will jump right into battle tactics and team formations. Is this ok with you two. I promise we can have dinner and share our life stories some other time."

While Kiriya was waiting while sitting next to his sensei a young boy came from the door. The boy was very different from the usual Kumogakure villagers. From the looks of him Kiriya suggested that this was one of his teammates. He had very distinctive features but probably the most distinctive features were the pearl-white hair, the purple eyes and the black mask he wore. He certainly looked like a shinobi. From his looks Kiriya couldn’t distinguish the skills he had, apart from the katana on his back which obviously made him a bukijutsu user.

Kiriya was just starting to think about how the two of them could work together. Could their fighting styles and jutsu work together in synergy? His mind was stressing too much on thinking about that. He suddenly realized that stressing about that now wouldn’t have any positive effects and forced himself to calm down. The one that had to worry about the synergy between the squad was the sensei – Kenji Chikara.

From the first words that left Okamy’s mouth Kiriya knew that the two of them wouldn’t get along. Everything in Okamy’s voice was saying that he didn’t want to be here and was showing disrespect to Kenji. Kiriya didn’t like that. From his early childhood he was taught about the importance of having recognition and respect of the elders. He just couldn’t comprehend how someone could talk like that to his new sensei.

Not long after that came Kenji’s words. Apparently the last member of their squad was reassigned. Kiriya taught that things couldn’t have turned out better. He was stuck with a great mentor and a teammate who couldn’t care less about the squad. This meant that him and Okamy had to work more on their teamwork. The fact that Kiriya couldn’t work well in teams didn’t make it easier. It certainly was possible to complete easier missions without much of teamwork but the harder ones needed better understanding of team tactics and synergy.

Kiriya’s mind was deeply troubled for the success of the Ozone squad. He didn’t want to be a part of a low-level squad and certainly didn’t want to ruin his reputation. It was true that he had only been on five missions but all of them were successful. He didn’t want to ruin his reputation, ninjas had only their reputation because the mission details were kept in secret and this was the only information that left those missions.

He tried to calm down his mind and stop over-analyzing things that he couldn’t control. Instead he tried to focus his entire attention to what Kenji was saying.

---

WC - 475 + 458
= 933

Glancing over the two people there Okami saw a boy, close to his age, that wore a bandanna around his eye? He wondered if he was blind, and if there was a hole in his eye socket? Well he would have to check, but some other time. Even he knew that would be inappropriate in this moment. Other notable aspects he saw were certainly his scrolls and his Wakizashi. From the appearance of the boy, Okami presumed he used a similar fighting style as him, so he was eager to test him in combat. For a brief second he was kinda glad to see somebody else with similar characteristics, but he had yet to get to know the boy.. But knowing himself, and how fast he could make friends, Okami knew it would be hard.. On the other hand, his sensei looked very much like a regular shinobi to Okami, so he yet had to prove his strength to the boy.

To be fair, he didn't really like adults that much, so overall his impression for now was okay, at best. He sat down next to Kenji, awaiting for something to happen as he started speaking. Listening to his little speech Okami would speak right after "We had a transfer? Well that's great, less people to worry about in missions." he spoke as he would stand up taking a few steps. "I would actually like to eat something but I'm fine with having combat training right now, as I'm aching to test myself." after that he would turn his head to the side continuing to speak "Oh and for the life story.. there is no need to share anything later. Everybody is dead, I am here, that's it..". You could hear some heaviness in his tone with this last sentence if you listen closely to his voice.



WC = 414 + 321 (735)

Kenji smiled, he was excited about the team dynamics and how they would work together. They were definitely differing personalities at play. This was the shinobi world, respect was not necessarily required but... 

Kenji's smile fainted as his eyes steered to Okami, "God bless the dead... if you want to remain unblessed we will sharpen our skills and tactics, not our tongues. Listen carefully."

The Sanin approached both shinobi. "The first rule to combat, is to have levels. Save your strongest level for last, as a surprise. In short, know your strengths. The second rule to combat, probe. If you want to stay alive, it is best to know your opponent's capabilities before engaging in serious combat. I have seen many shinobi die in mere seconds because they were surprised at their opponent's abilities. The last rule for today...  It is better to probe offensively than defensively, so... attack first..."

Kenji clinched his fist, "show me what you have... I hope Kumogakure is in good hands."

Kiriya didn't know how to feel about the missing third member of their squad. This meant that the syngergy between him and Okami Noroi had to be a lot better. Meaning they needed to practice a hell of a lot more than the average team and also their missions would be harder. Kiriya's mind was struggling to find a way in which he could learn to cooperate better. He wasn't a team player but for the sake of the squad he needed to change that and to change it fast.

Kenji Chikara started talking about the tactics which they would use. The first thing he explained to them was how to save their full strength for the end of the fight in order to surprise their opponent. At first Kiriya didn't really like the idea behind it. He couldn't comprehend why would someone not use their full strength in a battle situation. But as he continued to listend he realized that the sensei was right. The other major thing he said to them was to scout their enemy's powers. Kiriya thought that it seemed a little unfair but in the end of the day if the situation was life or death he wouldn't hesitate to have some comparative edge on his side.

Kenji stopped talking for a while and the next thing he said didn't surprise Kiriya at all. It was a battle invitation, a exhibition that would show their true skills, or at least it was what he hoped. The thought of attacking him swiftly came a few seconds too late to Kiriya's brain. Without any hesitation Kiriya grabbed the kunai from his pouch and dashed toward Kenji. The kunai was facing toward Kenji and Kiriya made sure he didn't hold back. Kenji wouldn't be much of a sensei if he let himself got hit by a mere genin.

---

WC - 933 + 321
= 1254

How long did he have to stay here, he wondered. And what will they do now, will they go on missions? He pondered on the idea, of him working.. in a team. He didn't like it that much, as he was more of a lone wolf. He thought of others as distractions, and handicaps for him to show his true power. To his surprise, when Kenji announced that they will not have a third member Okami was really surprised and happy in a way. That meant he would have to worry about less people on the battlefield, and that he would have to carry less load on his back. As he was deep in his thoughts, he could hear voices directed at him and his new comrade. He listened to what Kenji had to say, and as the monologue continued, Okami got agitated bit. He already knew how to fight, so why was he given instructions when he was not even tested yet?

To save your strength and to probe your opponent so you can test their strength? What is the use in that, as if they are stronger, in the end they will win.. He never was the one to test out his opponents, rather he would immediately got full strength trying to take them down before they can cultivate enough power for their peak jutsu or attacks.. But than again, he always adapted when needed be, and jutsu by using his head for once, he figured he was not stronger than Kenji.. or at least not yet anyhow. It surprised him when Kiriya moved, just seconds after the battle invitation. In fact it surprised him, and made him excited as well. He quickly pulled out his kunai, and yelled out "That's it, band aid, let's go" with a big smile. Words couldn't explain how much he was icing for a good fight.

WC = 318 + 735 (1053)