Revolution in the Ninja World

Anbu work was surprisingly simple; in a word, it was like being a security guard… Well, that was probably because Habara's team was made up of newly promoted Anbu ninjas, so they wouldn't be assigned overly complex tasks.

In any case, guarding the military commander of a nation was definitely an important mission.

But whether Chunin or Jonin, the fact that Habara could enter the Anbu meant that he was recognized as an elite ninja.

Honestly, the Anbu missions Habara initially performed were a bit monotonous. Standing guard required maintaining a high level of mental concentration, which wasn't easy… If something targeting the Hokage actually happened, these Anbu had to act immediately, so the daily pressure was considerable.

For the Anbu, the enemy was both external and internal, because even within Konoha, not everyone believed that Namikaze Minato was suitable to be the Fourth Hokage. Some of these people might have their own little schemes, and the Anbu's duty was to protect the Hokage's safety.

Because the Anbu were the Fourth Hokage's Anbu.

Routine duty shifts, and usually staying at Anbu headquarters as a rapid response reserve force. Although he was just a pawn, Habara had come into contact with the core of Konoha.

After completing three guard duty shifts, Habara became familiar with the workflow, and he also discovered some interesting things.

The Anbu's underground headquarters had a public reading room. Although most of the books were boring reads just to pass the time, there were some useful materials.

Of course, there weren't any high-powered ninjutsu or forbidden techniques, only basic knowledge, such as how to more efficiently extract and use chakra.

And the book Habara was currently reading explained how to perform chakra nature transformations. It mentioned that the usual learning method for chakra nature transformation was called the "Critical Training Method," which utilized the strengths and weaknesses of chakra natures to learn new transformations.

Simply put, for example, a Wind Release ninja could use the basic relationships of Fire conquering Wind and Wind conquering Lightning to learn the other two nature transformations. That is, while performing Wind Release chakra transformation, by suppressing its formation while simultaneously using the Fire Release hand seal "Tiger," one could gradually comprehend Fire Release nature transformation. By amplifying the wind transformation, and combining it with the Lightning Release seal, "Ox" one can learn Lightning Release.

Every ninja was born with at least one nature, so in theory, everyone had the ability to learn all five releases… Of course, that was just in theory.

Although the Critical Training Method was the most common way to learn nature transformations, its shortcomings were also obvious. First, it could only be used to learn adjacent natures. Second, it only applied to the five common nature transformations. Third, how long it took to complete a nature transformation ultimately depended on the practitioner's "comprehension."

Of course, nature transformation was only the first step. There was a huge gap between nature transformation, multiple nature transformations, and being able to use release techniques… Take Naruto as an example. He had Wind Release chakra when he particularly enjoyed destroying Konoha's cityscape, but there was a long time span before he could use Wind Release ninjutsu.

For ordinary ninjas, it often took years or even decades to go from learning a nature transformation to being able to use ninjutsu of that nature.

"Let's see… Fire Release seal is Tiger, Lightning Release seal is Ox, Earth Release seal is Snake, Water Release seal is Hare, Wind Release seal is Dragon…"

Habara held the book while recalling the elementary school content he had taught himself.

He thought that since he was naturally endowed with Earth, Wind, and Lightning Release transformations, why not put in some effort to complete the set and learn the remaining two… One could only say he was quite ambitious.

The Critical Training Method was very suitable for Habara, because he had three natures, which would inevitably be adjacent to the remaining two.

"Fire, fire… Is this Fire Release? Hmm, doesn't seem like it."

Habara immediately attempted the training, and then he discovered that this training wasn't so simple. Success on the first try was a bit of a pipe dream—the way things worked was like this: the more fundamental something was, the less likely there were shortcuts. One had to take it step by step, training session after training session.

After staying in the Anbu for six hours, Habara was off duty. However, just as he was about to change into his own clothes and leave, he found a card in his pocket.

On the front of the card was a location, and on the back was a time.

"Meeting place and meeting time? Overtime, huh…"

Now Habara didn't need to change his clothes.

Without even thinking, it was unpaid overtime.

For the missions above, Anbu ninjas were expected not to ask questions or raise doubts. During missions, they were to be silent, emotionless, and expressionless, emphasizing division of labor, secrecy, stillness like a maiden, and action like a startled hare, drawing blood with a single strike, and achieving a one-hit kill.

It was no longer a routine guard duty; a real Anbu mission was coming, wasn't it?

......

At 7:00 AM, Habara arrived at the rooftop of a certain building as per the mission requirements. Soon, his Anbu team assembled.

"Now for the mission briefing."

Seeing that everyone was present, Captain Takajo didn't waste any time and immediately began explaining the mission.

"Our next mission is to capture a special ninja. He will be leaving Konoha alone to perform a certain task, and we will ambush him on his way out of the village… Note, we must capture him alive. We absolutely cannot kill the target."

One important reason why Anbu ninjas wore masks to hide their identities was that they often drew their blades against fellow village ninjas.

"A spy from another village?" Batsu asked.

"No, the target is a legitimate Konoha ninja, but his ideology is very dangerous and has already posed a threat to the stability and safety of the village," Takajo explained.

He knew that newly promoted Anbu often had a mental burden the first time they faced this kind of operation, so he had to explain.

"Don't worry, I guarantee the legitimacy of the operation. But because we are acting against a fellow village ninja, this mission must be carried out in secret, and afterwards, we must keep our mouths shut and never mention the mission content to anyone for the rest of our lives."

Such a request was understandable; most Anbu missions had similar requirements.

"Because the enemy's identity is rather special, this mission will primarily rely on Riku, with the three of us responsible for containment and Riku responsible for capturing the target. Understood?"

Although ninjas' secret techniques were often kept confidential, as the captain, Takajo certainly knew some information about Habara. Otherwise, how could he be the captain?

Magnet Release ninja, proficient in seal-less ninjutsu, this was Habara's specialty in the captain's eyes.

Habara nodded. Since his side was a four-person Anbu team and the enemy was alone, whether he was the main attacker or not, it wouldn't be too dangerous.

"What about the enemy's strength and identity?"

"The enemy is a Jonin, from the Uchiha clan, named Uchiha Tetsu. He is a staunch anti-Konoha faction member within the Uchiha clan.

Habara: "…"

Wasn't this a coincidence?