Chapter 96.6- One Thousand Hands

She didn’t make it two steps before I grabbed her by the head, tucking her underarm again to prevent her running off and making too much of a nuisance.

“Think things through, Kushina. She said he’d be in the red if he treated us, but as you can tell, he didn’t. I paid for our meals and then some. That money should probably go into keeping things working for a time longer.”

“So he’s fine?”

“I’d never let my cute little sister’s favorite ramen place close down, would I?” I began rubbing her head, drawing groans from her and the rest of the group.

—

“So Minato, what do you think your role in this team is?” I asked, sitting across from the three of them.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. In fact, a better question would be for all of you— whaat do you think this team is designed to do?” I asked.

“Front line battle” Minato answered instantly, hand on his chin.

“Oh yeah? Tell me more”

“Well, there’s you first of all, Sensei. Can’t imagine you being anywhere other than the front lines with how strong you are. Then there’s Kushina. When she uses her tailed beast cloak, I don’t think even Jounin can beat her. Then there’s Mikoto-san, she has her sharingan and can learn a bunch of stuff to make her even more dangerous, plus she’s pretty good at using genjutsu in fights, and even her ninjutsu is perfect. Then me, I guess, I would be direct taijutsu and combat” He said.

“Hmm. And do the rest of you agree?” I asked.

Mikoto nodded her head almost instantly while Kushina looked far more hesitant.

“Anything in mind, Kushina?” I asked.

“We can’t really fight on front lines, though” She said, not looking particularly sure of herself, but speaking regardless. I waved her on to continue.

“My tailed beast state isn’t really made for fighting in the middle of large groups. And Shori-nii likes to fight alone so he can use his powerful attacks” She said.

“So what would that mean for the team?” I asked.

“I don’t know”

“Well, you got closer to the answer than Minato at least so that’s something” I said, turning a blind eye to the way she stuck her tongue out at Minato.

“As a team, your strengths aren’t just geared towards front line battle. While I imagine you could slot in admirably in any battlefield, it would be a waste. When I chose all three of you— and don’t get it wrong, I did choose each and every one of you for this purpose— it was with the goal of creating an assassination team.” I said.

“Assassination? There’s nothing subtle about any of us” Kushina barked a laugh.

“You’re not for assassinating nobles or merchants. I drafted the three of you to assassinate those who stand above the rest of the ninja world. People like me who walk as gods among me. You’re my godslayers.” I said, leaning down towards them.

“And now that every other concern is off my table, I hope you’re ready to be moulded into just that” I completed, watching as they matched my smile. Good.

A/N: Team building chapter as we witness the birth of our next Team 7.