Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Li Anshi's figure darted through the forest, heading towards the main command tent. Occasionally, he spotted other figures emerging from the surroundings, all rushing in the same direction.
In less than thirty seconds, Li Anshi reached the vicinity of the main tent.
However, like most of the gathered shinobi, he waited outside instead of entering. Only Jonin-level ninjas were permitted inside the command tent. They held the most authority and possessed the greatest strength within this camp.
Even on this major battlefield, the number of ninjas inside the tent didn't exceed twenty.
Of course, among the Chunin waiting outside, there were quite a few, like Li Anshi himself, who possessed strength equivalent to a Jonin. However, without the official rank of "Jonin," they lacked the qualification to step into Konoha's circle of power.
They didn't have to wait long. Within ten minutes, the Jonin emerged from the tent, standing behind the Third Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, now in his late twenties, wasn't the stooped, seemingly kind old man Li Anshi remembered from the future, but a robust young man with a straight back.
Li Anshi didn't pay close attention to the specifics of the Third Hokage's speech; it was mostly the usual morale-boosting rhetoric. Afterwards, combat directives were issued one by one.
Previously, on this Cloud Village front, only Sasuke Sarutobi, head of the Sarutobi clan, and Kagami Uchiha of the Uchiha clan possessed the power to contend with the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. This left the Konoha forces suffering heavy casualties under the attacks of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
But now, Uchiha reinforcements had arrived, and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had also brought Konoha's "reinforcements" – himself.
Being designated as the Third Hokage by Tobirama Senju signified that Tobirama recognized him as possessing Kage-level strength. This meant Konoha now had top-tier powerhouses capable of engaging all three of the Cloud Village's Kage-level threats, allowing them to launch a counteroffensive.
As for why the Third Hokage, who Tsunade had mentioned arrived nearly a month ago, only appeared three days after Li Anshi and the other reinforcements from the Land of Wind… any secrets behind that timing were beyond the knowledge of a Chunin like Li Anshi.
His immediate task was to find the three Genin assigned to his command.
...
As a Chunin, Li Anshi held the responsibility of independently leading a squad to complete missions. On the Land of Wind battlefield, there hadn't been enough available Genin to form his squad, so he had operated as a one-man team.
Here, on the Cloud Village front, there were still over a hundred students who had graduated early from the Ninja Academy. Therefore, ninjas like Li Anshi had two choices.
First, find a Jonin and become their subordinate. The danger in this was frequently undertaking A-rank or higher missions alongside the Jonin, facing opponents who were often Chunin or even Jonin themselves. The benefit was receiving guidance from the Jonin and learning powerful ninjutsu.
The second option was to select three Genin, become a squad-leading Chunin, and complete missions independently.
The advantage here was gaining three obedient subordinates. Whether or not Li Anshi chose to teach them ninjutsu was entirely up to him.
Once these Genin became his subordinates, regardless of their own feelings, they were marked as his. Unless Li Anshi died, or their own strength significantly surpassed his, they couldn't easily switch allegiance.
The disadvantage was the risk of the entire squad being wiped out if they encountered a powerful enemy.
However, this potential drawback meant little to Li Anshi. Aside from a select few individuals, he feared no one.
Furthermore, seeing these early-graduated civilian ninjas reminded Li Anshi of himself before receiving the boon from his past life.
Back then, he, like them, lacked ninjutsu resources, limited to learning only the most basic Three Techniques at the Academy... If things hadn't changed, he might have ended up as just another piece of cannon fodder.
He considered himself lucky; the First and Second Hokage had bought him the time he needed to develop.
Now that he had grown stronger and possessed some ability to protect himself, Li Anshi didn't mind sheltering a few more civilian ninjas. At the very least, he genuinely respected the First Hokage's original intention: "not wanting children to go to war."
Sagawa Yui, Kondo Kazuya, and Sakamoto Toshio were the three Genin assigned to Li Anshi. All three were fourth-year students who, fired up by Hiruzen Sarutobi's speech, had submitted early graduation applications along with their classmates, successfully passed the exam, and arrived on the battlefield.
The subordinates of other squad leaders were similarly composed, mostly classmates. This ensured that even newly formed squads had some inherent understanding and better coordination.
"Follow me."
Li Anshi spoke as he looked at the three youths standing before him – their faces a mixture of three parts aspiration, three parts excitement, three parts fear, and one part pride.
"Yes, Sensei."
They replied in unison.
Leading the three aside, Li Anshi spoke, "Hello. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be your supervising instructor during this war, leading you on combat missions. Before that, let's introduce ourselves to understand each other better. My name is Li Anshi. You can call me Li-senpai or Li-sensei."
"Li-sensei."
Sagawa Yui, Kondo Kazuya, and Sakamoto Toshio quickly bowed to Li Anshi, all addressing him as "Sensei."
Indeed, Li Anshi had offered them the choice between "Senpai" (senior) or "Sensei" (teacher). But the choice of address held significance. In the ninja world, besides clan inheritance, there was also the "master-disciple" lineage.
Sagawa, Kondo, and Sakamoto were Li Anshi's subordinates. If he had intended to treat them merely as subordinates, he would have only allowed them to call him "Senpai." This would establish a standard superior-subordinate relationship.
However, by allowing them to call him "Sensei," Li Anshi signaled his intention to potentially teach them. By calling him "Sensei," they effectively became his "students." From then on, regardless of whether their strength eventually surpassed his, they would always be considered his juniors in his presence.
"Mm."
Seeing their response, Li Anshi nodded. Thankfully, these three didn't possess the arrogance of thinking they were invincible hotshots. Otherwise, Li Anshi wouldn't waste his time on them.