Team Leader Jonin Hizashi Hyuga

For ordinary ninjas without much of a background, a team leader was practically the only path upward to obtaining advanced teachings. But for clan ninjas, a team leader could only be considered their superior.

Under such circumstances, clan students did not have many instructional demands of their teachers, nor did they require their teachers to be the same type of ninja as themselves. On the contrary, they hoped their teacher would be as strong as possible—the stronger the team leader, the safer the ninja squad would undoubtedly be.

Uchiha Feiyu believed that the team leader assigned to them would definitely not be some nobody—the Third Hokage would surely pay a little more attention to his son's safety.

"Is this Team 1?"

While the three were still discussing, a calm voice came from the doorway. They turned toward it and saw a young ninja in his twenties enter, with long hair and Byakugan.

"We're Team 1! I'm Uchiha Feiyu, and these two are Sarutobi Asuma and Kurenai!"

Uchiha Feiyu waved directly, straightened his posture, and spoke with a smile.

"Hello. I'm your team leader, Hizashi Hyuga! From today onward, you three are my students and subordinates!"

Asuma and Kurenai looked astonished, their gazes shifting between the smiling Uchiha Feiyu and Hizashi Hyuga, whose expression revealed nothing. What was the higher-ups thinking? They had found a Hyuga to teach an Uchiha?

The Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan were among the foremost ninja clans in all of Konoha, even the entire Shinobi World. Coincidentally, both were ocular technique clans. If these two clans ever got along harmoniously, that would be the real miracle.

However, the Uchiha had always held the upper hand over the Hyuga—the Sharingan was simply more effective in battle than the Hyuga's Byakugan. That was an ironclad fact. Not to mention that the Hyuga Clan had nearly castrated its own potential because of the Caged Bird Seal.

Coupled with the Uchiha Clan's arrogant nature, the Hyuga Clan had never been particularly polite toward them after being perpetual runners-up. The members of the two clans had always disliked the sight of one another, and there had never been a teacher-student relationship between a Hyuga and an Uchiha!

Besides, what could the Hyuga and Uchiha even learn from each other? Uchiha could not learn the Gentle Fist, while Hyuga would not study Fire Release or Genjutsu. Both were self-contained ninja clans within Konoha, with no possibility of currying favor with each other. That was precisely why the two clans had always kept their distance.

Asuma and Kurenai were somewhat worried, afraid that a conflict might arise between Uchiha Feiyu and their teacher. Yet Uchiha Feiyu looked overjoyed, practically beaming.

"That's great! I never thought I'd have a Hyuga teacher. This is fantastic!"

The moment he said that, not only were his two companions stunned, but even Hizashi Hyuga could barely maintain his cool expression. He asked in confusion,

"Though we are both ocular technique clans, the Byakugan and Sharingan are completely different systems. I have no way to guide your Uchiha training."

"That doesn't matter. At the very least, with a Hyuga Clan captain, our survival rate is definitely guaranteed!"

"The Hyuga Clan has the highest survival rate of any ninja in the entire Shinobi World!"

Uchiha Feiyu spoke with a grin. The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan might not count as the strongest bloodline limit, but it was absolutely the best bloodline limit in the entire Shinobi World for staying alive. Ninjas with Byakugan would not fall into ambushes, and their ability to escape was unquestionably first-rate.

With a human radar like that as his teacher, what was there for Uchiha Feiyu to dislike? As for the friction between the Hyuga and Uchiha, Feiyu, an outsider to the Uchiha Clan, cared even less.

In any case, given Hizashi Hyuga's status and position, he could not truly make things difficult for Feiyu. At most, he would be a little colder because of Feiyu's Uchiha identity. How could that compare to the importance of his own life?

After hearing Uchiha Feiyu's words, Hizashi Hyuga found them rather strange. Asuma directly mocked him instead.

"You, are you really an Uchiha? You're so strong, you've even awakened the Sharingan, and yet you're still this afraid of dying!"

"Isn't being afraid of death perfectly normal? If it weren't for these Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan would never have come looking for me and forcibly dragged me here to become a ninja!"

Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes as he spoke. At that moment, Hizashi Hyuga coughed twice, and only then did their discussion come to a stop.

"Alright, let's introduce ourselves to each other! I'll go first."

"As I said earlier, my name is Hizashi Hyuga. I am a Jonin, and I specialize in the Gentle Fist and the Byakugan."

After speaking, Hizashi Hyuga revealed a somewhat self-mocking smile.

"Of course, I imagine that once you saw my eyes, you already knew what I specialized in."

"Uh, shouldn't we mention dreams or something?"

Asuma blurted out tactlessly. After Kurenai shot him a glare, he did not say another word.

Among the Hyuga Clan, those who appeared in public were definitely branch family ninjas. Could a branch family ninja's dream really be spoken aloud?

The self-mocking look on Hizashi Hyuga's face deepened as he spoke softly.

"It would be better not to speak of my dream. You can talk about yours instead. You can mention what you like and dislike as well."

"I'll go first. I'm Sarutobi Asuma. I specialize in Fire Release, fist fighting, and swordsmanship. There's nothing in particular that I like or dislike. As for my dream, in the short term, it's to surpass Uchiha Feiyu. In the long term, I hope to surpass my father!"

Hizashi Hyuga nodded. Although Asuma had not said who his father was, as their team leader, Hizashi Hyuga surely already knew. Wanting to shed the label of being so-and-so's son was also the dream of many second-generation heirs, so Hizashi Hyuga was not surprised.

"My name is Kurenai. I specialize in Genjutsu, and my dream is to become an outstanding female ninja like Lady Tsunade!"

Hizashi Hyuga was equally unsurprised by Kurenai's words. Among Konoha's female ninjas, at least half had dreams similar to Kurenai's.

Then his gaze turned to Uchiha Feiyu, who stood at the edge. Uchiha Feiyu scratched his head and spoke casually.

"My name is Uchiha Feiyu. I have the Two-Tomoe Sharingan and specialize in the Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship. My weakness is that I'm extremely afraid of dying. As for my dream... for now, I just hope to live safely and peacefully."

The corner of Hizashi Hyuga's mouth twitched. His weakness was being afraid of death, and his dream was to live safely and peacefully... Was the boy before him really an Uchiha? Was he sure he did not have Nara Clan blood mixed in?

Even within the Nara Clan, someone who could lie flat as thoroughly as the boy before him would be one in a million, perhaps even entirely unprecedented!

Fortunately, Hizashi Hyuga did not care about that—the Hyuga Clan's branch family had the Caged Bird Seal, and because of it, five out of every ten had a laid-back attitude.