Rendezvous point.
Shinji sat on a large rock, looking up at the sky.
Mimi was curled up on Shinji's lap, occasionally licking his front paws.
Shinji absently stroked Mimi's head with his right hand, speaking slowly, "This time when I go on a mission, I'll trouble you to train Naruto and the others."
"Got it, meow." Mimi shook his head, freeing himself from Shinji's large hand as he responded.
"Someone's coming, meow." Mimi said, looking in one direction, then stood up and disappeared with a few leaps.
Shinji looked in the direction Mimi had indicated, only to see three figures slowly approaching.
"Looks like my new teammates have arrived."
A man in white clothes, wearing green sunglasses, with a huge jar on his back, was the first to approach Shinji.
Following him were a man with the Yamanaka clan's characteristic long light yellow hair, and a very quiet, well-behaved woman.
Shinji sniffed, catching the scent of medicinal alcohol.
Shinji looked at the people in front of him and said slowly, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Shinji, a Jonin, and I am the squad leader for this mission."
"Captain Shinji, I am Chunin Yamanaka Koto."
"Captain, I am Special Jonin Yushu."
Finally, the man wearing dark green glasses bowed slightly to Shinji and said, "Captain, my name is Aburame Muta. Please take care of me."
Shinji nodded, sitting on the large rock, and said, "Alright, this mission is to go to the Land of Hot Water for a secret infiltration. It might take a while, so you need to be fully prepared with supplies and ninja tools."
"Do you need time to prepare?"
The three exchanged glances, shook their heads, and Muta spoke, "Captain, no need. We were already prepared before we came."
Shinji nodded upon hearing this. "Alright then, let's start by understanding each other's abilities and characteristics."
"After all, we're going on an overseas mission, so we need to understand each other first to cooperate."
Shinji didn't just give orders like a typical Jonin, demanding his teammates cooperate. After all, he preferred cooperation.
Moreover, the former approach would put too much burden on himself. If any problems arose, having to be constantly asked would be troublesome.
If anything went wrong, his first mission as a squad leader would be aborted.
Saying this, Shinji pointed to Yushu and said, "You start."
Yushu, named by Shinji, was first stunned, then stepped forward and explained her specialties to Shinji and the others.
— — —
As the teammates spoke, Shinji gradually understood each person's characteristics.
The configuration Hiruzen gave him, while not the highest, was definitely suited for this mission.
Shinji stood up and said to his teammates, "Okay, I've basically understood everyone. Now I'll talk about myself."
"I have dabbled in the three basic jutsu, but I am most proficient in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu."
"As the squad leader for this mission, I will explain the key points."
"What we need to do is infiltrate the Land of Hot Water, and the primary task is to establish contact with the elders of Yugakure."
"After all, we don't understand the specific situation within the Land of Hot Water right now."
"The specific actions will be tracking and investigation, to prevent this incident in the Land of Hot Water from escalating and affecting the village and the Land of Fire border."
"During the process, we need to avoid attracting the attention of the Land of Hot Water's officials, to prevent diplomatic conflicts."
"This mission is a secret intervention, do you understand?" Shinji finished speaking and looked at his three teammates, asking.
"Understood, Captain." The three teammates responded in unison.
"Captain, we are going deep into the Land of Hot Water this time, do we need to make some adjustments?" Muta said slowly, as their current attire was too conspicuous.
Shinji nodded. "Yes, we'll change into tourist clothes when we reach the border and enter as tourists. And after that, just call each other by name."
The situation in the Land of Hot Water might already be serious. After all, even the village elders had to send messages to Konoha through special channels. It's better to be cautious.
"Understood, captain." The team members responded after getting the reply.
"Let's go." Shinji nodded, stood up, and set off first.
Seeing this, the three ninjas immediately followed Shinji's footsteps, quickly running towards the Konoha gate.
—
In a port city near the border, Shinji and his group stopped in a dense forest.
Looking at the huge steamship and the town not far ahead, Shinji said to his teammates behind him, "We'll change clothes here…"
Shinji stopped mid-sentence. There was a girl in the team this time, and he had momentarily forgotten.
Seeing Shinji's gaze linger on her, Yushu waved her hand indifferently and said, "Captain, don't mind me."
Saying that, she squatted down and took out a scroll, unsealing it. The next moment, a huge roll of fabric appeared.
Seeing this, Shinji understood that this was probably something Yushu had prepared herself.
He said to Koto and Muta, "Let's go change elsewhere, and then meet back in this vicinity."
"Yes." Muta and Koto nodded, then instantly disappeared.
Shinji found the base of a large tree, quickly changed out of his vest, and put on casual clothes. Then he quietly waited for his teammates to arrive.
Whoosh—
A sound rang out.
Shinji, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them. Yushu appeared in simple clothes and nodded to Shinji.
Shinji then looked in one direction, where Koto and Muta were slowly walking over.
However, Muta was carrying his huge jar, looking hesitant.
Shinji asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Muta pointed to the jar he always carried and said, "Captain, this jar is a bit difficult to manage."
The insects could parasitize him, but he wasn't sure what to do with the jar.
"Muta, give me the jar." Yushu said, then took out a scroll from her body. She skillfully unrolled it and sealed Muta's jar inside the scroll.
Muta breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her, "Thank you, that helped a lot."
"No problem. The rest of the journey requires stealth. You can give me anything inconvenient, captain." Yushu said, looking at Shinji.
"Thank you, but I can handle this aspect a little." Shinji shook the scroll in his hand.
Although not as skilled as Yushu, Shinji had a habit of carrying sealing scrolls during previous missions.
"I didn't expect captain to know Fuinjutsu?" Yushu said curiously.
"Just the basics. For the upcoming operations, let's call each other by our first names." Shinji waved his hand and said to the others.
"Yes."