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Two years later.
Sunagakure haven't changed little in appearance: the same eternal dunes, the same relentless sun, the same walls of compacted sand protecting the village from the desert. But for Daigo, everything was different.
He was nine years old now. His body, once strong but childish, had transformed into something that even chūnin looked at with respect. Defined muscles under sun-tanned skin, height that put him above most kids his age, and a presence that shows power and well build body.
The months—no, years—of training with his father had borne fruit. The Breathing of the Seven Heavens was part of him. He could activate the First Breath for a for minutes in combat, and he could use the Second Breath, but only in moments of absolute necessity.
His chakra had grown to nearly mid-jōnin level. Chiyo had confirmed it on more than one occasion, with that look between pride and worry that only a grandmother gives. In a few words, she had grown fond of Daigo from spending more time at her house with Sasori.
Sasori had changed too. At eight years old, he was taller, slimmer, with longer red hair and an expression that remained cold, but no longer quite so empty.
His puppets were masterpieces now: fast, heat-resistant, with mechanisms that combined close and long-range attacks. Chiyo had pushed him mercilessly, and Sasori had responded with a determination that surprised even her.
He no longer talked only about perfect puppets. He talked about puppets that, every time they broke, could be completely rebuilt into something new. In Sasori's own words, they were a Work of Art.
And today was the day.
The graduation ceremony was simple in Suna. Nothing like the grand speeches in Konoha. Just the Kazekage and one of his advisors in the center of the academy, a table with the forehead protectors, and the students lined up.
Daigo stood in the front row, uniform clean, hands behind his back. Beside him, Sasori. Behind, the rest of the class: a dozen kids who had survived the accelerated training of the last years.
The advisor, a veteran jōnin with war scars, spoke in a grave voice.
"Today, you become genin of Sunagakure. You are no longer children. You are shinobi. Your village needs you. Serve with honor and lead Suna to the highest heights."
One by one, they were called. Daigo received his band with steady hands. He tied it to his forehead, feeling the symbolic weight. Sasori did the same, without visible emotion.
In the stands, Haru and Chiyo watched. Haru with quiet pride. Chiyo with a small smile. Pakura, now a full jōnin at thirteen, stood in a corner, arms crossed. Her eyes lingered on Sasori and then on Daigo a second longer than usual. She nodded slightly to herself and then disappeared.
As Pakura had promised, she had let them practice in the training ground—where Daigo used it the most, since his nature required more space for jutsu.
So, over these years, Daigo had been able to talk with the serious and proud kunoichi, getting to know her and learning more about her bloodline.
Scorch Release was truly very strong—even against the element strongest against fire, which is water, it could evaporate water in seconds if close enough. With Pakura's skill in hand-to-hand combat and her agility, it was a lethal weapon.
With that, he shared the idea Daigo had in mind: creating his own bloodline. Thanks to his extremely strong Earth affinity, Daigo thought Pakura would laugh at him or treat it like a kid with big dreams—but she didn't.
To his surprise, she found the idea interesting and explained more about how she had trained her bloodline almost alone, since her clan was now nearly extinct, with only around ten members left alive but old or out of Shinobi service.
Thanks to that, the two spent more time together—training and spending almost every night at the training ground trying to create a bloodline, but nothing worked.
Even Sasori himself, when he wasn't in his workshop creating puppets, put his mind to helping Daigo—but nothing worked. Though this didn't stop him from keeping at it.
After the ceremony, the advisor announced the teams.
"Team 1: Daigo, Sasori... and Shizuka."
Daigo raised an eyebrow. Shizuka. He knew her by sight: a quiet girl from the class, always in the shadows during training. Short black hair with bluish highlights, gray eyes that seemed to see everything without blinking. She belonged to a minor clan in Suna, one that rarely stood out. But rumors spoke of a bloodline related to wind.
Quite interesting for Daigo, who didn't remember any wind bloodline in Suna—maybe they were all killed during the Third Ninja War, leaving it extinct.
Shizuka approached when they were called. Her voice was low, almost a whisper.
"Nice to meet you and to be on a team with you," she said in her quiet voice.
Daigo extended his hand.
"Daigo. We're going to be a good team."
Sasori just nodded.
The assigned sensei was a jōnin named Takumi: tall, slim, short gray-silver hair (from war stress), fine scars on arms and neck from past battles. He wore the standard jōnin vest but with long sleeves and a purple scarf around his neck (symbol of his minor clan).
"We'll meet tomorrow at dawn at the main gate," Takumi said in his serious, grave voice.
"Huh? Sensei Takumi, do we already have a mission?" Daigo asked curiously.
"We have one, but first I want to do some things with you to see if you're worthy of my time. Also, bring the basics for going out into the desert," Takumi said, then disappearing in a whirlwind of wind.
Daigo smiled inwardly. Finally.
"Guys, got anything in mind? If not, I'll head back home," Shizuka asked, looking at both. Sasori just looked at Daigo, waiting for his response.
"Huh? Well, I was thinking of warming up my muscles. How about a little training to get to know each other better as a team for tomorrow?" Daigo replied.
"I have no problem," Sasori said.
"Let's go—I can stay until dusk," Shizuka said, and the three headed to the training ground.
There, as Daigo had suggested earlier, they warmed up—especially conditioning and throwing shuriken, kunai, and senbon. Sasori was training his chakra control, trying to handle five puppets at once.
Shizuka, practicing weapon throwing with Daigo, was surprised by her teammates. She had expected her teammates to be silly kids who didn't take the dangerous shinobi profession seriously and would slack off—but that wasn't the case.
She had heard about both. Sasori, one of the geniuses of this generation, grandson of Chiyo-sama—one of Suna's strongest ninjas. And Sasori wasn't just that; his talent in puppetry arts was outstanding, earning him the title of genius, as said by her father in clan meetings.
Now Daigo was the academy's surprise and the one who drew the most attention. Coming from a family with a civilian mother and a chūnin father, he had shown talent in learning ninjutsu, passing the academy test with the highest score in all of Suna's academy records.
On top of that, he was also a student of Chiyo-sama, who had taken him under her wing—making many minor clans stop trying to tie him to their families, including hers.
Though what drew the most attention to Daigo was the secret technique of the Seven Heavens. Not much was known, but the Kazekage had given it S-rank, and only Daigo and his father Haru had it—along with his hand-to-hand combat skill.
So she was happy. Maybe there was a chance to get her clan a status again and show off her bloodline.
"Huh? Shizuka, you okay? You've been staring at me for like a minute without moving," Daigo asked, looking at her.
Shizuka just shifted her gaze away and crossed her arms to hide her blush at being caught lost in thought.
"I was thinking about something. I think it's time for me to go. See you tomorrow at the gate. Bye," Shizuka said, then leaving—leaving just the two boys, who soon separated to head to their respective homes.
The next day, in the early morning
The three could be seen beside the main gate, waiting for Takumi-sensei. Normally everyone would carry backpacks, but they all seemed to know how to use scrolls, so they opted to save the weight of a backpack for a small one at their waist where they stored their scrolls and things.
Soon after, Takumi appeared as he had left—in a whirlwind of wind—to tell them to follow and leave the village.
The three followed Takumi in silence. No one complained; they just followed. Takumi didn't look back, just kept going. The morning winds weren't like daytime—they were cold and strong, enough to drag you if you weren't paying attention.
Some time later
They didn't know how long they'd been running, but Takumi showed no sign of stopping. The sun had already risen in full splendor, visible and warming the sands frozen by the night.
And now, instead of cold, the heat hit them. Of the three, Daigo kept running as if nothing was happening—the harsh training with his father had prepared him, and with his breath control, he could go without stopping for a day.
Sasori and Shizuka were a completely different case. Though neither gave up, it was clear they needed a break to continue at full speed again.
Takumi, ahead, had noticed everything—so approaching some large rocks where they could get shade right underneath, he stopped, making the other three do the same.
"You can rest. You passed the test," Takumi said, looking at the three as they all grabbed their canteens to drink water.
"Huh? Sensei Takumi, what was the point of this test?" Daigo asked.
"You're Daigo, right? You're the best in terms of physical and mental conditioning. You've had a very solid foundation—that tells me you're not just thinking about jutsu and the fun of being a shinobi.
Sasori, I'd heard about you from Chiyo-sama, but I wanted to know if you'd function under enough pressure to see if you had a ninja's patience—and you did.
And last but not least, Shizuka—I wanted to see if you could keep up with your teammates and not go off alone. Your father told me about your behavior, so all this let me know that Daigo and Sasori are serious about being shinobi alongside you," Takumi said.
"So you're saying you didn't want to train kids who saw being a shinobi as a game, and that's why you wanted to test our mental strength with all this running—and if we'd give up," Shizuka asked.
"That's right, and you passed. From today, Team 1 is formed. I hope you keep pushing. Now we'll do quick introductions to get to know each other better. Start with you, Daigo," Takumi said.
"Well, my name is Daigo. I love training and eating delicious food. My goals are to master my family technique, and the ultimate one is to become the Fourth Kazekage. I'm strong in hand-to-hand combat and Earth Release jutsu," Daigo introduced himself to the three, who nodded.
"Now you, Sasori."
"My name is Sasori. My goal is to create the best puppets in the world and show my art. My specialty is concealment, poisons, and my puppets," Sasori said.
"And you last, Shizuka."
"My name is Museifu Shizuka. I'm from the Museifu clan, which specializes in our bloodline called Whisper Release. My goals are to become the strongest kunoichi in Suna and raise my clan to new heights. My specialty is my bloodline, Wind Release, and I'm training to imbue my weapons with wind chakra," Shizuka said.
"Perfect. Now it's my turn. My name is Takumi. I'm an elite jōnin of Suna—you probably haven't heard of me because I previously served in ANBU. My likes are training and teaching people who take things seriously.
Listening to the three of you, I have ideas on how I can help with your training to prepare you before we start missions—since we won't do D-rank missions. Those are for those who don't take being a shinobi seriously," Takumi said.
"Huh? So we'll start with C-rank missions, Sensei?" Daigo asked.
"That's right, but first I want to see your current level so I can start teaching you. I think that's enough for today. We'll head back to Sunagakure, and tomorrow I'll wait for you at Training Ground Number 1," Takumi said, standing up and preparing to run back.
The three did the same. The only difference was that they all seemed more serious about what was coming—they had the necessary tools and an elite jōnin eager to teach them. They wouldn't waste it.
End of chapter