Chapter 13: Classifications
Although the official Shinobi classifications are only 6, Genin, Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin, Kage, and God ninja, Rasa already knew that this was in name only as within each classification there was a level separation that most ninjas knew.
First, there was: Cannon fodder Genin, Genin, and then elite Genin.
Second: Junior Chunin, normal Chunin, and elite Chunin.
Third: Special Jonin, then Normal Jonin, and finally Elite Jonin.
Fourth: Semi Kage and Kage.
Fifth: Legend.
Sixth: Supreme.
Seventh: Semi-God and God.
Eighth: Semi-Celestial, Celestial and Celestial elite (Unknown to everyone in the ninja world except for Rasa or Kaguya).
Nomad was already as strong as an elite Chunin and his Chakras were close to those of a special Jonin.
Custus was at the strength level of a junior Chunin and his Chakras were at the level of an elite Chunin.
And Captain Canteen was an elite Jonin with Chakras at the level of a normal Jonin.
Rasa, to his team members he had the strength level of a normal Chunin, but if he used his gold powder he could reach the strength level of an elite Chunin and his total power with the use of the metal reached the peak of a special Jonin and he was only a little weaker than a normal Jonin.
Rasa's biggest problem now was that his strength and Chakra levels were extremely imbalanced, as his Chakra was only that of a junior Chunin, currently, everyone on the team had higher Chakra levels than Rasa.
"You are both partially right, for a Shinobi strength is extremely important, but if it is not used wisely, the Shinobi can still die no matter how strong they are, always remember that," Canteen said seriously, causing Nomad and Custus to stop arguing and nod to what he said.
Rasa also agreed with what the captain said.
For him, intelligence and knowledge were as important as strength, and his case was the best example.
The Kekkei Genkai magnet was always seen as not as powerful as others, moreover, if it wasn't because the Third Kazekage was smart enough to study Shukako's abilities to the point of replicating them with the magnet element, likely, the Kekkei Genkai magnet would still be just a junk skill that no one could use properly.
And if we add to that that now Rasa knew that with his knowledge he could turn the Kekkei Genkai magnet into one of the most powerful and OP in the ninja world, no doubt he could agree with the affirmation that intelligence, knowledge, and strength are equally important.
"Well, tomorrow will be our first official team mission, everyone gets a good rest today and get ready" after saying that Canteen also disappeared.
"See you tomorrow, I recommend you to improve your strength if you want to survive," Nomad said goodbye laughing lightly as he left.
"That idiot, he thinks that because he's a little stronger he's above us, surely he's the first to die" complained an irritated Custus.
"Well, I guess the idea is that none of us die, but I guess that's too much to expect," said an amused Rasa.
"Remember what I told you, I assure you that in the future Nomad with his stone brain will be the first to die of the team," said a confident Custus.
"You know, saying that, it sounds like as soon as Nomad turns his back on you on a mission you will throw a Kunai at him," Rasa told him.
"Please, like I'd need to do that for that idiot to die, surely he and his stone head will end up getting ambushed" Custus scoffed.
Rasa only laughed lightly and nodded her head.
'Looks like my team already has their Sasuke and Naruto' thought Rasa amused as he observed Nomad and Custus' behavior.
'Mmmm, though in this case, it would be more of a Jiraiya and Tsunade since Nomad is male and Custus female, that would only leave me as the Orochimaru of the group, fair enough I guess' Rasa analyzed to himself and nodded as he agreed that his team was quite similar to the famous Sannin team, Nomad as Jiraiya, Custus as Tsunade, Orochimaru as him and Captain Canteen as the Third Hokage.
"Yeah, we're definitely the cheap version of Team Sannin" whispered Rasa with a smile.
"Did you say something?" asked Custus who didn't quite understand what Rasa was whispering.
"Huh?, Oh, no, I was just thinking about what kind of mission tomorrow will be" replied Rasa quickly and calmly.
"Yea, I'm so excited, I hope it's out of the Wind country, I've never done a mission out of the country, I want to see something else besides sand and more sand."
"If I were you I wouldn't get my hopes up, I don't think our first team mission will be out of the Wind country."
"Shhhh, one can always dream Gold."
"I guess so, well, see you tomorrow Custus, I want to get all my stuff ready for tomorrow and get some rest, today was quite exhausting."
"Yeah, Skull didn't give us a break in these weeks and today was even worse, but at least that hell is over, see you tomorrow Gold, don't be late."
After greeting each other they both disappeared from the place and went to their respective homes.
In these 3 weeks, Rasa had greatly improved his skills.
He had finally mastered the Nature Transformation and Form Manipulation of his Earth element Chakra and was only a few steps away from achieving it with his Wind element Chakra as well.
When his Master the Third Kazekage learned of this he was very surprised as Nature Transformation is an advanced form of chakra control that is fundamental to Chakra manipulation and the creation of new Ninjutsu.
While Form Manipulation is an advanced form of Chakra Control and a technique that is fundamental to Chakra manipulation and the creation of new Jutsus.
And that Rasa managed to use both in his earth element at the age of only 9 years old was simply beyond words, he was undoubtedly the genius of Sunagakure.
It should be noted that it is remarkable that few shinobi can use both Form Manipulation and Nature Transformation at the same time, and they usually practice for several years before achieving it, many do not master even one of these techniques.
And usually, the shinobi who can use both, only manage to do it in one of the types of Chakra with which they have an innate affinity, as in the case of Rasa who has an innate affinity to the nature of Earth, Wind, and Water, but usually, the Shinobi have only one or two affinities.
Nature Transformation and Form Manipulation are the two techniques necessary for the creation of a Jutsu.
Nature Transformation involves molding and defining your chakra into an innate type of chakra nature.
Form Manipulation is about changing the shape and movement of chakra, determining the size, scope, and purpose of a Jutsu.
As Rasa prepared the equipment he would be taking on the mission tomorrow at home he couldn't help but think of one of her most recent targets.
'It won't be long now until I fully master my wind element so I can start recreating Naruto's characteristic technique, the rasenshuriken' Rasa thought with a smile.
He had already decided to follow the training Jiraiya gave Naruto to master the rasengan.
'Mmmm, I should feel bad for stealing someone else's technique, well... in my defense currently Minato is still many years away from creating this technique, so I would be the first to actually create it if I succeeded so I wouldn't have actually stolen it' Rasa convinced himself.
After all, the Rasengan might seem like a very simple technique, but it was too OP, especially the upgraded versions of the Rasengan that had no match as the Rasenshuriken that I plan to learn.
If he could master the Rasengan and the advanced versions as the Rasenshuriken, Rasa was sure he could cover his biggest weakness which was close combat, the rasengan being a close combat technique of the highest level was Rasa's best option whenever he had no choice but to attack someone who had gotten too close to him.
Chapter 14: Mission
The next day Rasa's Anbu team gathered at the same meeting point Skull had set up earlier for training.
Everyone on the team had agreed to keep this place as the meeting point for now.
"Alright everyone, today is our first official mission and the Kazekage has ordered us to take on a small group of bandits who apparently have a rogue ninja from Suna as their leader" Canteen began by telling the group.
"What is the strength level of this rogue ninja and his followers" asked Custus to the captain.
"The information we have is that he is a ninja of Jonin rank, and the bandits are just civilians that this one taught ninja techniques to, but the information is from two months ago so there may be changes" Canteen replied calmly.
"Perfect, the only problem will be the Jonin and the captain is the only one who can deal with him, while the rest are just desert rats, it seems that I won't be able to have fun in this mission" complained Nomad.
"Idiot, think, if it's a ninja of Jonin rank that defected from the village, then he must have confidential information that the Kazekage doesn't want to be leaked and two months is a long time to do all sorts of things" reminded Custus with a deep frown at how unprofessional his teammate was.
"Custus is right, the objective of the mission is not only to take care of the rogue ninja and the Bandit group, but we must also find and eliminate all possible people involved with him and the information he has" nodded Canteen.
" In short, we will have to eliminate any possibility of knowledge of this ninja leaking out, either by eliminating bandits or civilians, won't we?" commented and asked Rasa.
"That's right and the longer we delay the more complications we will have. Alright, let's get going" said Canteen leading the team to the approximate location of the rogue Jonin and the bandits.
A group of four ninjas dressed in black clothes, sandy brown flak jackets with extended shoulders, gauze covering their heads, and a turban covering their faces, walked through the misty desert towards a village surrounding a small oasis.
The four of them entered the village without attracting the attention of the residents.
This small village was part of the Wind Country and their major source of livelihood was the natural oasis they had.
Many traveling merchants passed through this village every day as well as many others to stock up and then head to Sunagakure.
Canteen, as the captain, gave the order to Rasa and Nomad to stay hidden and on guard at all times.
While Custus was given the task of getting supplies for the team.
This is because Custus was the only one in the team willing to show her identity to the rest for the time being.
She was entrusted to merge with the villagers and get everything they needed while the rest of the team kept watching.
Custus changed her Anbu clothes and now wears civilian clothes, she wears her shorter black hair loose and a white scarf along with red clothes that highlight the curves of her body, revealing a beautiful feminine figure.
You could see at a glance that she was about 15 years old.
Due to being away from the multitude for several days searching for the Jonin and his group of bandits, after entering this small town and observing the noisy multitude, the four of the team felt a touch of necessity to finish this mission in order to stop wandering in the desolate desert.
Custus pretended to be indifferent, but his eyes looked around.
Her heart is a little anxious.
She always inexplicably feels that someone might find out she is a ninja, she was not used to undercover missions.
Custus looked around where there was a place selling food and another selling jewelry.
Of course, this was not because she was unprofessional and interested in jewelry on a mission.
This is Canteen's request.
After entering the town, Custus would pose as an upper-middle-class woman, buy supplies for the trip, ask for the price of some jewelry, and get information from the sellers and civilians she came across.
It was obvious that Custus was not the ideal person for the task, her nerves were showing, but she still obeyed Canteen's orders.
Inevitably a young and beautiful woman will attract the attention of others in the village, which is not likely to lead to hiding or going unnoticed, but it is likely to get more information from those who approach her for conversation.
During the week-long journey, Rasa's team saw many travelers and businessmen.
They all carried a lot of goods from town to town, but none had managed to give useful information about the location of the Bandits and the rogue Jonin ninja.
Once Custus finished with his duties, he sneaked into an alley and disappeared.
After a while, he appeared next to Rasa and Nomad who were hiding in a small abandoned inn.
"How did it go, any useful information this time?" asked Rasa as he saw her arrive.
"I think so, apparently one of the jewel sellers heard from a customer that there is a village where bandits steal their possessions from all the merchants who pass through the place."
"Mmmm, maybe it could be them, but we would have to check it out first" commented Rasa.
"Let's hope it's not another false trace, we've been looking for these guys for over a week now and we still haven't found them" complained Nomad.
"Well, get everything ready, we are leaving for the town that the seller mentioned, Custus, can you tell us where it is located?" suddenly spoke Canteen as he appeared next to them.
He had been on the lookout for no one following Custus or that by any chance anyone would notice that she had suddenly disappeared.
"Sure, it's a few miles from here, we should be able to get there in a day if we don't stop on the way" nodded Custus.
"Perfect, as soon as you change we leave," Canteen told him and looked at Rasa and Nomad.
It didn't need him to say anything for them to know that the three of them should leave Custus alone to change back into his Anbu uniform.
The three of them left the inn and walked through the village one last time.
By the time they returned, Custus was already dressed in her Suna Anbu clothes, so the four left for the village where their target might be.
The next day, the group of four arrived at the village that the seller had mentioned to Custus.
When they entered, the first thing they did was to make sure they went unnoticed.
Canteen had decided to investigate alone this time since being a Jonin the ninja they are dealing with, he would be able to detect Rasa, Nomad, and Custus if he was really in this town.
So he alone hid in the shadows, while the rest of the team put on large brown tunics over the Suna Anbu uniform to cover their identities, but the three of them kept all their equipment under the tunics in case they had a confrontation with the bandits.
Luckily it was already getting dark when they reached the village and there were many people wearing tunics like their own, so it wasn't going to be too hard to go unnoticed.
As they walked through the village Rasa felt a little strange with the situation he was witnessing.
'The seller said that the bandits were robbing all the merchants that approached the village, so why does everything look so prosperous?' wondered Rasa.
"Wow, and here I thought I would find a poor village with civilians terrified of vandalism, yet all I see here is one of the most prosperous villages I saw in the Wind Country" commented Nomad in a whisper to the group.
"I think for the first time I agree with Nomad, this is very different from what the salesman told me" commented Custus in a low voice.
'Is it logical that the village is prosperous with Bandits preventing merchants from passing through here?, is it logical that people don't seem the least bit concerned when they know bandits are robbing and attacking merchants?' wondered Rasa again analyzing the situation.
"Something is not right" mumbled Rasa.
"Clearly, the thing that's not right is the information Custus got, again we got a false lead, what a surprise!" said Nomad sarcastically as he looked at Custus as if it was her fault.
"Don't look at me like that, I couldn't know if it was true or not the information, besides this time it really seemed to be correct?" Custus told him with a frown because she was very puzzled by the situation.
"There is no other choice, for now, we must wait for the captain to finish his research to then decide what to do next, so first let's look for a hotel where we can stay," Rasa told the two of them.