Ishiki Kujo's team was finalized quickly.
As expected, Samui became one of his teammates, and the third was a shinobi from the Land of Earth—Bunya, a Chūnin in his thirties.
Additionally, the team was assigned a Jōnin overseer whose purpose was to record their performance throughout the exam. He functioned as a silent observer, only intervening if they encountered something beyond their ability—or if their lives were at risk.
That observer was none other than Konoha's own Jōnin: Hatake Kakashi.
This was the first time Ishiki had interacted with Kakashi since arriving in this world, and the two only exchanged a silent nod.
Kakashi was only two years older than Ishiki, but had become a Jōnin at the age of twelve and was now part of the ANBU. From what Ishiki knew, Kakashi would likely become ANBU Captain later this year.
He still held the record for Konoha's youngest Jōnin.
Even Uchiha Itachi never broke that record. Though Itachi became a Chūnin at age seven, he never officially took the Jōnin Exam, instead entering ANBU directly and becoming a squad leader at thirteen.
A genius comparable to Itachi, Shisui also became a Jōnin at thirteen—that was just last year.
According to what Ishiki had learned, Shisui was born in Year 38 of the Konoha calendar, and his father was none other than Uchiha Kagami, one of the elite bodyguards who had served under the Second Hokage alongside Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Kagami died young—only twenty-five—shortly after Shisui was born, during a mission.
In official databooks, Kagami was referred to as Shisui's ancestor. But a little math showed otherwise: if he wasn't Shisui's direct father, then Shisui would be no older than three now.
Clearly, something had gone screwy between the manga, anime, and reality. But Ishiki had long since gotten used to those inconsistencies.
Otherwise, if Shisui were really three years younger than Kakashi, then he'd have been around seven or eight during the Third Shinobi War, and the nickname "Shunshin no Shisui"—Shisui the Body Flicker—would've bordered on fantasy.
Even stretching it, assuming the war dragged on another few years, Shisui would have been eleven or twelve when he was already acknowledged by the Land of Lightning as the strongest genjutsu user—and still wouldn't have surpassed Kakashi's Jōnin record. It all seemed unlikely.
But in the version of the Naruto world where Ishiki now lived, Shisui was confirmed to be one year younger than Kakashi.
Kakashi handed them their mission details without fanfare and began silently observing the three of them.
Their target: eliminate a newly formed shinobi faction within the Land of Fire.
The exact affiliation of the enemy was unknown, only that they had taken root in the coastal southeastern region of the Fire Country. Estimated numbers were around twenty, and they were decently strong.
For Ishiki, it was barely worth calling a mission. But there were a few critical factors: investigate the faction's origins, neutralize them swiftly, and remain vigilant—particularly regarding their teammates from the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
Glancing at the statuesque Bunya and the cool-eyed, full-figured Samui, Ishiki couldn't help but feel the mission wouldn't be too complicated.
He didn't know what missions the other mixed teams had received, but after a quick briefing, the three left Konoha.
They hardly spoke during the trip. Kakashi, for his part, acted as though he didn't exist.
The southeastern coast was about two days away at their current pace.
Along the way, Ishiki sensed through his Ripple-based scanning that they were being tailed—but he couldn't tell whether the observers were from Konoha's surveillance squad or someone else.
He chose not to react. This mission, for him, was about embodying his role as a medical-nin. Strong as he was, he never forgot his roots.
Even if the team composition was different now—even if he had to cooperate with shinobi from other villages—his role and duty remained unchanged. Until someone was wounded or the team was attacked, he wouldn't act.
They took some time during the journey to understand each other's roles.
Ishiki, a medical-nin, was also competent in close-quarters combat.
Samui specialized in intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, and assassination. Bunya was a specialist in fūinjutsu and trap deployment.
With that, intelligence-gathering duties were passed to Samui.
Bunya was aware of Ishiki's formidable sensory capabilities—his intel made that much clear—but he also acknowledged Ishiki's identity as a registered Konoha hospital medic-nin.
True, Ishiki also held authority within the Police Force, but on paper, he remained primarily a healer.
Unlike Konoha, Iwagakure and Kumogakure didn't assign dedicated medical-nin to these squads.
While both villages had begun to understand the importance of medic-nin in the field after clashing with Konoha, their training systems were still in early stages. Building infrastructure on Konoha's scale would take years.
During the mission, Samui periodically released small birds—hummingbird-sized summoning animals, nimble and fast—perfect for recon.
Using them, she quickly confirmed the presence of a team following them.
"There's someone trailing us," she said coldly. "We need to identify them."
"I'll handle it," Bunya volunteered.
Ishiki glanced at Kakashi. The Jōnin remained unbothered, which told Ishiki the trailing shinobi probably weren't from Konoha's surveillance team.
He began to suspect another possibility—but Samui was already giving him a sharp look.
Before he could voice it, Bunya activated a jutsu Ishiki had never seen before.
After forming several seals, Bunya opened his mouth—and spat out what looked like a stone eyeball.
At the same time, his right eye closed.
He casually tossed the eyeball-like stone onto the roadside. It rolled into place, indistinguishable from any other chunk of roadside rock.
It appeared to function like Ishiki's sand-eye, which he created using sand and the Left Eye of the Corpse.
Essentially, Bunya had transferred his vision into the stone using chakra, effectively turning it into a remote visual sensor.
"This position works," Samui said, arms crossed. She gave the stone a glance and nodded at Bunya.