Konoha's Gray Fang

"Teachers, were you looking for me?" Shiyu's voice suddenly rang out, and the Shadow Clone vanished with a pop.

Shiyu reappeared behind the Hyuga brothers, holding a Kunai in each hand and pressing them against the brothers' backs.

"Sorry, teachers, but you've lost," Shiyu said calmly.

"When!?"

"How did you get behind us? That's impossible!"

"There wasn't a single Kunai marked with your formula behind us. We'd already smashed them to pieces with the Gentle Fist from the start." Hiashi was completely baffled. He couldn't understand how Shiyu had so easily teleported behind them.

"Could it be that he really can teleport instantly, wherever he wants?" Hizashi shook his head, trying to dismiss the unlikely idea.

"You were both on guard against my special Kunai, and you were expecting me to appear in front of you at any moment. But you overlooked the Shadow Clones," Shiyu replied.

"Shadow Clones?"

The Hyuga brothers still didn't understand what he meant.

"I created five Shadow Clones. Two engaged you in combat, and I marked another one with the formula. Then I had the clones rush at you. It was all just a ploy to mislead you into thinking I'd use the formula on a clone to suddenly appear beside it and launch a surprise attack."

"My real body had already used the Substitution Jutsu. That's why, when you thought you were attacking me, it turned into a huge wooden log."

"You still haven't explained how you got behind us. Could it be...?" Hizashi seemed to have guessed the answer.

"The useful Flying Thunder God Formulas had already been marked on your backs by the clones while you were fighting them, before you even noticed. I just kept you distracted, so you never realized."

"But even if you had noticed, it wouldn't have mattered. Once you're marked with the Flying Thunder God Formula, your defeat at my hands is all but certain." As Shiyu finished speaking, he vanished again and appeared above the Hyuga brothers.

Shiyu landed steadily after a graceful flip, then continued, "I can appear anywhere within a limited range around a marked object. In other words, I can launch a sudden attack from above you, behind you, straight in front of you, or even from beneath your feet."

By then, the Hyuga brothers were thoroughly convinced.

"I don't know whether to say the Flying Thunder God Technique is incredible or you are, Shiyu. You may well become one of the Shinobi World's next pillars," Hizashi praised him.

"Shiyu, you really are strong—almost absurdly so. I'll tell you about your mother, Hinata Shinku, as promised." Hiashi was ready to keep his word.

"Your mother, Hinata Shinku, was a genius of the Hyuga Clan and the clan leader's eldest daughter. At a young age, she could already activate the Byakugan, and she had mastered nearly all the Hyuga Clan's secret techniques. The clan leader—your maternal grandfather—was extremely pleased with her."

"No one could match her, so Shinku was chosen as the next clan leader. But many clan elders opposed the decision, and your mother herself didn't seem to want the clan to become her shackles. Then a man entered her life. That man was your father."

"Your father was completely different from the other members of the Uchiha Clan. He loved freedom, and he and your mother soon fell in love. But from the very beginning, their story was counting down to tragedy."

"The Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter was practically branded a traitor to her clan. She and a genius of the Uchiha Clan left Konoha together and went into hiding elsewhere in the Land of Fire. Later, when the Second Shinobi World War broke out, they both fought as Konoha Ninja."

"In the end, it seemed they both died on the battlefield. You were entrusted to Konoha at the time, and that was how you came to settle here."

When Shiyu learned the truth, tears glimmered in the corners of his eyes.

"Were they wrong? Was there anything wrong with living as themselves? With choosing the life they wanted? Isn't that what life is about? In the end, they still gave their lives for Konoha, yet their own clan never accepted them? What a joke! Is that what you call a family?"

Shiyu's way of thinking was clearly out of step with the shinobi world.

"If you want to know why, it's because they were shinobi, and shinobi of their respective clans. From the moment they were born, they were destined to fight for their clans as shinobi." Hiashi shook his head. Shiyu's words had made him think of the Caged Bird Seal on Hizashi's forehead.

"Bullshit! A person becomes a person first and a shinobi second! If you can't even live freely as a person, how can you be a shinobi?!" Another figure appeared at the gate.

The man before them was tall and imposing, with gray hair and a mask covering everything below his nose. He stood six feet tall, with a gray blade strapped to his back. Beside him stood a miniature version of himself: Kakashi Nao.

"Konoha's Gray Fang? Hatake Sanyu?" Hiashi was startled. He glanced at Hizashi, who nodded.

"The Third Hokage informed us that anyone taking the Chunin Exams must meet with their guardian and receive confirmation before being allowed to participate," Hizashi explained.

"Yeah. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered coming here. All I smell is rot, corruption, and stubbornness." Hatake Sanyu spoke scornfully, then looked at Uchiha Shiyu. "Kid, I like the way you think."

Hizashi Hyuga and Hiashi Hyuga seemed to know Konoha's Gray Fang well, and said nothing more.

"Are you sure you want Kakashi Nao to take the Chunin Exams?" Hizashi asked.

"Hmph! It's only the Chunin Exams. Do you really need to confirm it? I just heard that Kakashi will be taking the exams again. It's the perfect chance to teach that kid a lesson and make him eat humble pie!"

"Right, that settles it. Let's wait a little longer for Kurenai," Hizashi said.

While they waited for Kurenai, Hatake Sanyu said to Shiyu, "Kid, I hear you're strong?"

"Stronger than strong," Shiyu replied even more arrogantly. He treated people the way they treated him.

"Arrogant! But I like it! Kakashi Hatake has been a Chunin for a while, but the exams have to be taken as a team, so that kid's been forced to participate."

"I hope you make Kakashi eat humble pie this time! Ha! Take that kid down a peg!" Hatake Sanyu urged him.

"I will." Shiyu had been wanting to put his junior in his place for a long time.