Chapter 5.1- One Thousand Hands

XXXX- SAKUMO HATAKE

When hw had said that he would beat teamwork into them, he had not expected that they would make him have to actually do it. He’d thought that their first experience against a completely superior opponent would teach them that they had to work together, but he had clearly been mistaken. Now, they tried their best to work around each other, with the Uchiha girl unwilling to stomach even the thought of relying on any of her teammates and the Senju being too consumed with his amusement at very unamusing situations to spend time thinking on working with his teammate.

He would never have expected that the Civilian would turn out to be his favourite student, but it had happened. He caught the kick aimed at his leg and then stretched the limb before moving to snap it in two. The boy dissolved in mud immediately after. The Senju family knew what he was trying to teach, but they were also perfectly willing to encourage their scion’s foolhardy quest to overcome him on his lonesome. Hokage-sama probably saw it as a win. The boy they’d struggled to make focus on his n inna arts as a priority was now growing by leaps and bounds as he struggled to get strong enough to beat his Jounin sensei.

He body flickered backwards as a massive fire missile tore through the air where he’d once been. Working together, the two of them would have been able to make any regular jounin sweat. But with the way they ignored each other and seemed dead set on getting the other caught up as collateral damage from their attacks, even a chunin could dispatch them with careful planning.

He flexed his chakra coils and broke from the genjutsu that the third member of the team tried to put him under, Takehada Toshiro could work well with Shorirama Senju, but he’d learned to look out for it, and now the boy was determined to harmonise his attacks with that of the Uchiha girl as well. Hew ws the glue that gave the entire arrangement some semblance of teamwork. Senju followed him in his shunshin and appeared with a kick aimed for his head again. The same attack twice told him something was wrong, and he was proven accurate as the boss tore to shreds as seven different air bullets shot through it, heading for him.

He surrounded himself with chakra, leaning on his trained wind release affinity and nullified the jutsu before it hit him. At least, the constant spars had been just as useful for training his skills as it had for training theirs. Jutsu nullification was quickly transforming from a cool idea in the cradle to a working technique that could turn aside even B-ranked offensive techniques with the right forewarning.

“Alright. My turn” He said, as he prepared to jump at them.

XXXXXX- TWO MONTHS LATER (THREE MONTHS SINCE THE FORMATION OF TEAM FOUR)

“You will cease this illogical sidelining” An elder from the side spoke up. This was his first time in a meeting like this, and now he found that he did not enjoy it at all. Especially considering how he had been summoned with no warning while in the middle of a training session. He’d just been forced to contend with a unique chain of earth and water release jutsu from his own Senju genius. Taught by the man sitting at the centre, undoubtedly.

“I will not send the team on any missions until I am satisfied with their ability to work together.” He said, feeling like a broken record as he was forced to reiterate his points over and over again.

“And yet the Anbu have seen them execute tactical formations and arrangements as a unit” Another elder spoke out. It was clear that the hokage did not want to be seen as unncessarily interfering with the activities of the team that contained his heir and was allowing the Council of Clan Heads bring up the concerns instead.

“Yes, they have. But almost always unknowingly. Both standouts of the team- Shorirama Senju and Uzume Uchiha- are uninterested in cooperating with one another, and so are being directed by their third member Takehada Toshiro to complete attack patterns that bear similarities to existing formations. It is an impressive feat of tactical and strategic acumen, but it still fails to show the same results as true teamwork. In their first clash with a skilled enough opponent, all three of them will be taken apart and killed with little fanfare.” He said, trying to impress the severity of the situation on the Council.

The Uchiha Clanhead, Uzume’s father, took a breath. That sound alone put the room on edge. He sat at the opposite end of the very large table from the Hokage, and it was clear even from the feeling of his chakra that he was not a man to be underestimated.

“My daughter is a shinobi of the Uchiha Clan. It is unacceptable that she has been held back from missions for this long. I killed my first man at the age of Seven. Hokage-sama did it even younger. Team Four must be sent out. They will learn to work together, or they will die.” Sakumo did not flinch at the words said. Even though the fact that the girl’s own father would display such a callous attitude did take him aback. He buried the instinctive flash back to his upbringing. No. Konoha would be different. It had to be.

“She is a shinobi of Konohagakure, you mean” The Hokage said, pinning the Uchiha Clanhead to his seat with a stare until the proud man conceded the point with a nod.

“Beyond that, I agree with your words. My brother created this village so that children would not be forced to die in senseless war, but these are not children. They are shinobi. Blade over heart. They will overcome their foolish and childish rivalries in the fires of conflict. Team four will leave for its first mission tomorrow.” He wanted to object. To argue. They weren’t ready. Not for the kind of missions he took, at least. But he was a loyal ninja, and his Kage had spoken.

“Yes, Hokage-sama”

“Dismissed”

A/N; In this AU, missions will work differently. I’m going to assume (with no evidence) that D-ranks were invented by Hiruzen and that in this stage, the only missions Genin with Jounin sensei took were the ones that the Jounin would ordinarily have been sent on. Yes, it’s not the most efficient system and has a lot of obvious flaws, but it’s my story and I can do as I wish. Thank you for reading.