"Codename?"
Shion's question caught Uchiha Shinji off guard.
Shion frowned. "You haven't even thought of a codename? Shinji, you're not brushing me off again, are you?"
Shinji shook his head. "Our organization is unique. Members don't know each other's true identities and usually operate alone or in pairs. So, we haven't settled on official codenames yet."
Undoubtedly, Shinji had no intention of revealing the true identities of the other members to Shion.
Imagine if Shion learned that her academy classmates—Karin, Haku, Neji, Sasuke, Yakumo, and Kimimaro, whom she saw daily—were all part of the same organization. With her personality, keeping that secret would be impossible.
Shion eyed him suspiciously. "Isn't your codename 'A'?"
Shinji chuckled. "That's just a label the village slapped on us to tell us apart!"
Shion pouted. "Well, I need a codename too!"
Shinji lowered his head, deep in thought.
Aside from Karin and Haku, he had initially recruited his subordinates with the intent to use them, so he hadn't put much thought into codenames.
Now, with his organization growing larger and more complex, he realized it was indeed time to establish formal codenames for ease of address.
"A, B, C…"
After some consideration, Shinji found that the temporary codenames assigned by the village weren't a bad choice to adopt.
These simple letter codenames carried no information beyond their order, making them far more discreet and practical than some grandiose titles he might come up with.
Thus, Shinji silently decided to use the village's temporary codenames.
As the leader, his codename was 'A.' Karin was 'B,' Haku was 'C,' and Yakumo and Ido shared the codename 'D.'
Having participated in the great battle in the Land of Grass, Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Neji also had codenames in the village's intelligence files.
Sasuke, with the hawk mask, was 'E.' Kimimaro, with the snake mask, was 'F.' Neji, with the blank mask, was 'G.'
This way, the seven of them took the letter codenames A, B, C, D, E, F, and G in sequence.
With his decision made, Shinji looked at Shion. "Then your codename will be 'H.'"
"H?" Shion thought for a moment, then shook her head. "That codename's no good. I'll pick my own. My codename is 'X'!"
"Fine by me!"
Since it was just a codename with no special meaning, Shinji agreed readily.
Shion immediately asked, "Shinji, who else is in our organization? Is… is Uchiha Itachi one of us?"
Shinji shook his head. "Our Akatsuki is different from their Akatsuki!"
He briefly explained the differences between the two Akatsuki organizations, from their attire to their ideologies.
Shion sighed in relief. "So, our Akatsuki and the one Uchiha Itachi and Moryo joined are actually mortal enemies?"
"Pretty much!" Pausing, Shinji cautioned, "If you ever encounter someone from the 'Dark Akatsuki,' be extremely careful!"
"Got it, got it!"
Shion nodded repeatedly.
The next morning.
As usual, everyone arrived early at the academy's training field to begin their individual training.
Unlike her usual dawdling and distracted demeanor, Shion, upon arriving, quietly slipped to a secluded corner to practice her 'Breathing Techniques.'
By the time Shinji found her, she was already drenched in sweat.
After looking her over, Shinji smiled. "Not bad, not bad!"
"Really? Hehe!" Shion leaned closer to Shinji, lowering her voice. "I can already maintain 'Breathing Techniques' constantly now!"
Training could be addictive!
Especially when every bit of effort yielded immediate results, the addiction grew stronger. Shinji no longer needed to supervise Shion; she was pushing herself to train.
Shinji was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Shion to be so compatible with 'Breathing Techniques'—or rather, he hadn't realized her physical potential was so immense.
"Perhaps I could promote 'Breathing Techniques' on a small scale…"
Shinji mused.
But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the idea.
Having mastered 'Water Breathing' himself and reached the level of 'Total Concentration: Constant,' if he spread 'Breathing Techniques' among his subordinates, they might connect him to the Akatsuki's 'A' through the technique.
Once someone knew about 'Breathing Techniques,' identifying whether a person was using them would be easy. It wouldn't even require dojutsu like the Byakugan—just observing breathing rhythms and physical reactions would suffice for a rough judgment.
As class time approached, the classmates heading to the school building chatted about the barbecue Shinji and Yakumo had treated them to the previous night.
They laughed and reminisced about the delicious meat.
The food itself was secondary; the real joy came from a group of peers eating, drinking, and talking openly. In the high-pressure atmosphere of the academy's intense training, it was a rare moment of relief.
Hearing Choji and Kiba's laughter up ahead, Naruto said to Sasuke beside him, "Sasuke, you really missed out by not coming yesterday!"
Sasuke snorted. "Idiot, it's just a barbecue. What's there to miss?"
With that, he glanced at Shinji in the crowd behind them.
Since their life-and-death battle, he hadn't spoken a single word to Shinji.
Though he acted indifferent, the incident gnawed at him, something he couldn't let go of.
But asking him to swallow his pride and apologize? Impossible.
Especially now, with Shinji and Yakumo stealing the spotlight at the academy. Recently, their completion of two S-rank missions had spread their fame beyond the academy to the entire village.
In such circumstances, there was no way he'd lower himself to apologize to Shinji!
"Hmph, just two S-rank missions!"
He silently resolved not only to surpass Shinji and Yakumo in S-rank missions but also to defeat 'Upper Moon Two,' completely outshining Shinji and Yakumo, who had captured 'Upper Moon Five.'