Once they left Konoha's gates, Yagyū Souma immediately sensed a few chakra signatures tailing them.
He glanced at Yamato.
"The ones following behind us… that Genma-senpai's team?"
"Pff— you can sense that too?"
Yamato's eyes went wide.
Genma's three-man unit plus Yamashiro Aoba made four very experienced shinobi, all extremely skilled at hiding their presence.
To avoid being noticed, they deliberately kept a fair distance from Souma's team.
And he still picked them up.
Yamato looked over at Tenten and Kasa.
Neither of them looked even remotely surprised.
…So this was just "normal" with Souma.
"Souma, just how big is your sensory range, exactly?" he asked.
"It depends. I've got a technique that adjusts my perception by reallocating mental energy, so I can freely scale my sensory field up or down."
Souma answered casually.
He'd just expanded his senses a moment ago to sweep the surrounding chakra signatures, and immediately picked up that other team.
They were probably assigned to guard them, the "First Squad."
Souma understood at once.
But honestly, their concealment was a little pointless.
They were still well within the Fire Country's heartland and already acting like it was deep behind enemy lines.
Total waste of energy and time.
"Why don't we just let them come up?" Souma suggested.
"As long as we're still around Konoha, I can monitor the area with my senses. It's unlikely anything slips past. If they move up, we can even trade notes on ninjutsu on the way."
Yamato was officially the captain, so Souma only offered it as advice. If Yamato refused, he wouldn't push.
Yamato thought it over seriously.
If Souma's sensory range was really that strong, then within the Fire Country they didn't need the distant tailing approach.
Too far apart and some forms of coordination became cumbersome.
He made up his mind and nodded.
"I'll leave a signal for them. They'll close in once they see it."
"Works for me."
After dropping the signal, they continued forward.
On the road, Tenten was still obsessing over her ninja tools.
She obviously couldn't forge while traveling, but design and theory could be refined anytime. And her sealing scrolls were fully stocked—
making test pieces on the fly wasn't an issue.
Kasa, meanwhile, was running sword katas as she moved.
From the sword style Souma had exchanged with the Moonlight clan, she'd already grasped the concept of spiral blade force.
But the heavy-blade techniques were still a work in progress.
She wanted to push further.
After a while, Yamato signaled "Rest" and they stopped.
A short distance behind, four chakra signatures accelerated and closed in.
Souma looked toward that direction.
Leading was Yamashiro Aoba, with Genma Shiranui, Raidō, and Iwashi following. Four men formed another squad.
None of them were official jōnin on paper, but the overall strength of the unit was very high.
"Yamato-jōnin, Souma–jōnin…" one of them greeted.
"Whoah, no," Souma waved his hands. "I'm just a special jōnin. You're all my seniors."
Genma chuckled.
"That's only a matter of time. But since you don't like the title, we'll just use names."
"Sounds good."
"Everyone, sit down," Yamato said, forming a hand seal.
A wooden pavilion grew up from the soil—complete with shade overhead and seats.
"We'll rest up a bit before moving on."
As soon as he said that, Tenten pulled out a scroll.
Yamato blinked.
What now?
With practiced ease, Tenten formed seals and released the scroll.
A stove, a pot, vegetables, noodles, and various utensils popped out one after another.
"Being on missions is rough enough. Let's cook something simple. Please don't mind if it's a bit casual," she said.
"This is already luxurious," Yamashiro Aoba muttered.
He quietly looked between Yamato and Tenten, his feelings complicated even behind tinted lenses.
One could create a fully furnished shelter from trees.
The other pulled out a complete kitchen and groceries from a scroll.
Traveling with these two… was like carrying a portable villa.
Compared to that, if they hadn't been invited to tag along, their squad would be huddled under a tree, hiding from the sun and chewing on soldier pills.
The gap in quality-of-life was… brutal.
The four men silently envied Souma and Kasa.
What a cushy team to be on.
"You used a space–time technique just now, right?" Genma asked.
"Yeah. I've been studying space–time ninjutsu lately—especially the Flying Thunder Formation. I was hoping to learn from you, if the chance comes," Tenten said, bowing deeply.
Genma nodded with equal seriousness.
"Of course. On the way to the Fire Country's border, we'll have time to exchange pointers. Those two over there also know the Flying Thunder Formation," he added, pointing at Raidō and Iwashi.
The three of them were once the Fourth Hokage's personal guard. In their current four-man cell, only Yamashiro Aoba was the odd one out, added later for his great synergy with Raidō.
Yamato formally introduced everyone.
Back under the pavilion, a hot meal in their stomachs and names exchanged, the distance between the two squads shrank considerably.
The conversation naturally drifted to more serious topics.
Genma had long wanted a proper sit-down with Souma.
Now that he had the chance, he didn't intend to waste it.
"Souma-kun, there's a question I've been wanting to ask you," he began.
"Go ahead," Souma said, relaxed.
Genma nodded.
"You suggested to the Third Hokage that a single shinobi with space–time talent could form a Flying Thunder Formation with two who don't have it—
one 'carrying' two, essentially."
He paused, expression puzzled.
"But when we tried it, it failed."
"How did it fail? Can you explain in detail?" Souma asked, interested.
In principle, division of roles should work. As long as they followed his design, the formation ought to function.
Genma thought for a bit, but Raidō spoke first:
"The space wasn't stable."
"How exactly were you doing it?" Souma frowned.
In theory, it shouldn't have that issue.
"We did it the old way," Genma said.
"Three people sharing portions of the formula and maintaining the formation together. We just made the non–space–time users handle more of the structure and maintenance."
"No wonder."
Souma sighed.
"That won't work. You can't use the old method. You have to switch to the new framework."
He continued,
"Before, the three of you were each taking responsibility for a chunk of the space–time formula and logistics, right?"
"Yeah," they all nodded.
"Well, what I meant was: the one with space–time talent should put all their effort into constructing and stabilizing the space. You can't cling to the old division of labor."
Souma added,
"And the other two don't need space–time talent, but that doesn't mean they don't have to learn the Flying Thunder Formation at all."
"Yeah," Tenten cut in. "There are a lot of aspects that require coordination. If they're completely clueless, the 'one' in that 1+2 setup has to shoulder everything. A normal person could never pull that off."
Everyone turned to look at Souma.
Kasa and Yamato quickly looked away again, their expressions smoothing back into neutrality.
It was true.
Souma probably could do it.
Genma's squad shared a silent look.
They knew Souma was strong—
but the way these three treated him still felt a bit over the top.
Genma couldn't help grumbling internally.
"Souma, how about you show us?" Yamato suggested, looking over.
Souma shot Tenten with a side-eye, then smiled.
"It's not as exaggerated as they make it sound. I can't quite do that."
"How about trying anyway?" Yamashiro Aoba said gently.
His teammates didn't argue either.
They, too, wanted to see exactly where Souma stood in terms of the Flying Thunder Formation.
After all, this kid had combined Flying Thunder Formation with summoning to create a Summoning Formation. His conceptual grasp had to be impressive.
"Fine," Souma said.
"Captain Yamato, Aoba-senpai, can you two work with me?"
"No problem."
The three of them stepped out of the pavilion and took their positions.
After a round of explanation, Yamato and Aoba nodded repeatedly as the setup clicked in their heads.
"In this configuration," Souma said, "I won't be able to teleport living things with you two assisting. Let's just move that scroll in the middle. Genma-senpai, could you go some distance away?"
"Got it."
Once everything was prepared, Souma formed a seal and activated the jutsu.
A complex pattern spread out beneath his feet, extending to Yamato and Aoba. As they fed chakra into it, the scroll in the center—
Vanished.
"It worked?!"
Raidō stared.
He immediately turned to look in Genma's direction.
About ten seconds later, Genma walked back from the distance—
with the scroll in hand and a very complicated expression on his face.
They'd seen the whole thing with their own Flying Thunder Formation.
Using two non–space–time-adept shinobi, they couldn't even transmit a scroll. Not without the formation destabilizing.
Genma let out a long breath.
"The Third Hokage first asked if I wanted to be your captain," he admitted. "Later he said I wasn't suitable. I was… a bit unconvinced."
Now he wasn't.
"Seeing you in action, I understand. There's no way I could fill that role."
If Genma were to captain Souma's team, it would be like sitting on a bed of nails day and night.
The gulf in their growth potential was simply too big.
Souma had only been able to move an object instead of a living person not because he lacked understanding, but because his own space–time ability was still relatively new.
Give him a bit more time and refinement…
Genma honestly felt that beyond sharing battlefield experience, he had very little he could teach this kid.
"…"
Wait, what? Souma thought.
So the Third Hokage had considered Genma as his captain first?
That old man really was casual about some things.
Yamato, on the other hand, almost teared up.
He wanted nothing more than to grab Genma's hand and weep.
Being Souma's "captain" was actually really hard.
In name, he led the team.
In reality, he often felt like Souma's assistant.
Genma turned to Yamato, expression sincere.
"Yamato-senpai, being able to serve as Souma-kun's captain… that's incredible."
"Ah—well—" Yamato laughed awkwardly, changing the subject.
"Anyway, let's all work together and give this mission our best."
He roughly knew what had happened.
The Third Hokage had originally considered Genma, but after consulting Kakashi, had switched to Yamato.
In a way…
He really had to "thank" Kakashi for the recommendation.
Yamato ground his teeth inwardly.
When they got back, he was absolutely going to shake Kakashi down.
One meal wasn't going to cut it.
He'd be covering Yamato's food for a long time.
"Lunch is done. Let's move again," Yamato said, regaining his captain's voice.
"This mission can't afford delays."
"Yes, sir!" Everyone answered.
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