Naruto: Becoming a master taijutsu using martial arts.

The roasted boar over the fire turned out way better than I thought. Yeah, it was a bit tougher than expected—like trying to chew through a flip-flop—but if we had some garlic bread and farofa, it could've been a legit Brazilian BBQ. 10/10, would eat again, but only if I'm really hungry.

I decided to keep one of the tusks as a trophy. You know, a little souvenir to remind me of what went down, what I did, and what I'm probably gonna have to keep doing in the future.

It'd been about four hours since we started this exercise.The sun was blazing down, right in the middle of the sky, and the day had barely begun. But, wow, I was exhausted. Herding a bunch of misfits wasn't exactly a spa day.

As I tucked the tusk away, Hiyomi was sprawled out on the ground, trying to pretend like she was in a different dimension where we didn't exist. But of course, that wasn't what Jimei had in mind.

Jimei had his eyes glued to her. With a grin so big it could've swallowed a small planet, he did this dramatic shuffle toward her, like he was about to reveal that he was Otsutsuki Kaguya's lost son, and then started talking in a way-too-loud voice.

"Hiyomi-chan! Hiyomi-chan!" He practically sang her name, crouching down next to her, practically vibrating with excitement. "Hiyomi-chan, you were amazing with that jutsu earlier! I've never seen anything so cool... you're basically a shadow master!"

"Hmmm… Thanks, Jimei... now if you could just let me sleep…" Hiyomi groaned, her hand over her eyes, clearly trying to ignore him and get some shut-eye.

But Hiyomi clearly had no clue who she was dealing with. Jimei wasn't about to give up. He squatted down even closer, now practically in her face.

"I'm starting to think you're, like, ninja royalty, you know? Like, secret Nara clan elite. What's the secret? Come on, tell me! I'm dying to know!" He crouched, hands on his knees, looking at her.

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Hiyomi sighed so hard, I could feel her frustration from across the camp. I thought for a second about stepping in, but nah, she could handle this on her own.

"Jimei, please... I just want to sleep..." She turned her head, completely ignoring him like he was a fly buzzing around.

"But Hiyomi-chan!" Jimei insisted, with his eyes practically sparkling. "I know you've got these awesome ninja tricks, but seriously, what do you use on your hair? It's so soft and shiny... is it some kind of... secret Nara shampoo?" 

He touched his own hair and gave himself a little inspection, like he was about to crack the greatest beauty secret of the century.

Hiyomi, clearly done with all this, slowly turned her head towards him with half-open eyes, like she was mentally saying, "Why me?"

"Jimei... I just use... regular shampoo, okay? Now... let me sleep..."

Poor Hiyomi, Jimei was relentless. 

"But which one? Apple shampoo? Lavender? Or maybe it's some kind of ninja shampoo only you know how to make?"

At this, Hiyomi opened one eye, glanced at him, and sighed dramatically, as if staying awake was the hardest task in the world. When she finally looked the other way, her eyes landed on Natori, who was, as usual, silently staring off into the distance.

The mere sight of Natori made Hiyomi's cheeks flush immediately. The sleepiness evaporated from her face, and she sat up straight, like a bomb had gone off around her. Poor Jimei still hadn't realized that she was completely uninterested.

I almost felt bad for Jimei, all embarrassed and trying so hard to get Hiyomi's attention. But before I could step in, Tokuma, as always, stepped up and said what was probably on his mind the whole time. And, of course, he was insufferable.

"Look, the food was okay and all, but we're here to win this exercise, not have a picnic." He looked around like we were wasting his precious time. "We need to grab more flags to win this. But, I guess I shouldn't expect much from our leader, huh? He's not even from a real ninja clan, so how would he know what to do in a situation like this?"

Oh, great. Here we go. Those words hit me like a slap to the face. What was he implying? Sure, I knew he wasn't wrong about needing to capture more flags, but that smug tone... it was too much. I took a deep breath and gave him a cold smile.

"You know, Tokuma, you're right about one thing: we do need more flags. But where does it say we have to act like lunatics to do that? You think being a ninja is just about running around and fighting for victory at any cost?" I stood up and locked eyes with him, my gaze steady.

My words hung in the air, heavy and sharp like a blade cutting through silence. I stepped forward toward him without breaking eye contact. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jimei, Hiyomi, and Natori all watching us.

"Being a good leader is about making good decisions, and I know exactly what I'm doing. If you've got a problem with my leadership, feel free to challenge me for it. But if you haven't beaten me in a fight in the last two years, I doubt today's going to be any different." I said, my voice calm and steady.

For a moment, the atmosphere grew tense. It felt like a fight was about to break out. Tokuma was clearly pissed but held himself back.

"You'll see, Kenshin." he muttered, frustration dripping from his words. "I won't forget this."

I could tell Tokuma was holding back. He hated being confronted directly, but instead of blowing up, he decided to bottle up his anger. And that told me everything I needed to know: he wasn't in a position to challenge my leadership, even if he wanted to.

Without wasting any more time, I turned to Natori and Hiyomi.

"Alright, let's get back on track. Natori, Hiyomi, stay here and guard the camp. Jimei, Tokuma, you're with me. We're going after a flag."

Hiyomi gave Natori a quick glance, her cheeks even redder than before, fidgeting with her clothes, while Natori, as always, just gave the bare minimum—a slight nod to show he was on board.

Tokuma still looked pissed, but he didn't argue. We headed off into the forest, with everyone following. The challenge had just begun, and if I had to lead this squad of misfits, I was going to do it with style.