Captain Otokaze nodded, then shook his head. "You certainly have some impressive qualities, but I don't know if what I value is the same as what he valued."
"Is that so? I guess I'm pretty amazing, then. I might get arrogant, you know, Captain!"
"Arrogant? You won't," Otokaze stated firmly. "Your words and actions may be erratic, making it hard to guess your true nature, but you're not deliberately hiding anything. It's just that you haven't found people or causes worthy of your trust. Your strength is far greater than you let on. If Iron Sand-senpai hadn't mentioned it, I might not have even noticed."
Hearing this, Daigan frowned unconsciously. "Why would you say that?"
"I went back and carefully reviewed your mission records several times. I'm not particularly interested in the reasons for your several inexplicable brushes with death, but your ability to escape by the skin of your teeth is astonishing. Especially that incident more than three months ago, the one that got you kicked off Iron Sand-senpai's team. How did you survive for over half a month buried in such a deep sea of quicksand before being dug out?"
"Just lucky."
"Lucky? Let's just say it was. You don't need to be so guarded. What ninja doesn't have secrets? It's not a bad thing to have a few hidden trump cards."
"And you want to promote me just for that?" *Relying on mere speculation to place so much importance on a Genin you've known for less than a month? That's just reckless.*
Meeting Daigan's doubtful gaze, Otokaze smiled faintly. "You don't think I'm as clueless as those two girls, do you? Though they were just useless, low-quality sand puppets, there were far too many of them. Even a regular puppet master can't control that many combat puppets at once. I'm not a puppet master, so I don't know how difficult it is, but I'm sure it's not something an ordinary person could do."
"You overestimate me. It's just a knack for multitasking. And it's not like I have any decent combat puppets."
"That's precisely why I'm certain you're stronger than you appear," Otokaze said, utterly confident in his judgment. "Your skill with the Puppet Technique is already considerable, yet you don't have any proper combat puppets. What does that tell you?"
Daigan remained silent.
"You don't intend to go too far down the path of a puppet master, do you? You have another path you value more—one where you feel you're stronger, more talented, and have a better future."
Daigan sighed and said softly, "Captain Otokaze, are you trying to strip me bare?"
"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. What I admire most about you is this: your confidence, your pride, even your arrogance."
"Isn't that a flaw? Being conceited?"
"How could it be? You know what you want, and you're constantly working towards it. Honestly, I'm curious. You're just a Genin—what makes you so sure your choices aren't mistakes?"
Daigan replied with natural arrogance, "If it's a mistake, so be it. Paths are forged by those who walk them. If others can do it, why can't I?"
"Then work hard, kid. Speaking of which, are you going to accept my offer? If you wait, I might change my mind."
"No thanks, Captain. Things are fine as they are."
"You can't bear to part with those two girls? They might not be much help to you."
Daigan grinned. "Even if I got two stronger teammates, wouldn't they still just be Genin? Yome and Chi aren't completely useless. As for the future, who can say for sure?"
Otokaze was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Well said! How much stronger could they be? It's best you have this confidence. Take care of yourself."
With that, Otokaze patted Daigan on the shoulder and turned to rest.
Aside from the monster Gaara and the clearly superior Temari and Kankuro, not a single other Sunagakure Genin had passed the second stage of the Chunin Exam in the Forest of Death. That being the case, for Daigan, who was aiming for the exams, Chi and Yome with their unique ninjutsu were actually not bad choices.
The cave was quiet, filled only with the howl of the wind outside and the soft scraping sound of a kunai carving something. A piece of bone from some unknown animal carcass was slowly changing shape in Daigan's hands.
***
Two days later, the dust-covered Team Otokaze returned to Sunagakure. The captain went to write and submit the mission report. Daigan apologized again to Chi and Yome for his roughness, then left.
The two kunoichi, their minds in turmoil, walked home.
"Hey, Yome… back there… you were awake, weren't you?"
"Yeah. You were too."
"This time, we weren't abandoned."
"No. I never thought a guy like Daigan could become somewhat reliable."
"But…" Chi clenched her fists, enduring the pain of her nails digging into her palms. "We were pitied. We were given charity."
Yome fought the urge to look back, but tears welled up in her eyes, impossible to stop.
"It's not that he needs us. It's that swapping us out wouldn't make much of a difference. I never want to feel that kind of humiliation again."
"Daigan didn't mean it, but I feel like I was bullied to tears again."
They could only blame themselves for not being strong enough to earn respect.