Is He Worth Two Million Ryo?

Early in the morning, before the sky had fully brightened, the gates of the Hyuga Clan were pushed open.

Hyuga Hiashi hurried away with massive dark circles under his eyes.

Because of Feng An, he had not slept well all night. Whenever he fell asleep, he dreamed of his daughter Hinata flirting and teasing Feng An every day.

Especially when the two of them, half-pushing and half-yielding, were about to kiss.

Fortunately, Hyuga Hiashi woke with a start every time it happened.

He could not wait any longer. He had to make Kurenai kick Feng An out as soon as possible.

He moved at incredible speed, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and taking the shortest route in a straight line.

Many people had not even gotten out of bed before the noise on the rooftops woke them.

There was no need to guess that it was one of those ninjas. The civilians cursed and loudly sent their regards to his family.

But as long as Hyuga Hiashi moved fast enough, the sounds could not reach his ears.

"Whoosh." Hyuga Hiashi leaped down from a rooftop and arrived at Kurenai's residence.

Kurenai, who was watering the flowers, sensed someone had arrived at her door.

She poked her head out of the window and saw Hyuga Hiashi standing there, his face filled with urgency.

Kurenai was somewhat confused. She knew Hyuga Hiashi was the head of the Hyuga Clan, but the two had not interacted much.

"What brings you here?"

Seeing Kurenai stick her head out, Hyuga Hiashi hurriedly stepped forward. "Kurenai, there's something I need to discuss with you."

As soon as he came closer, Kurenai noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes.

"Please come in and talk."

Kurenai put down her watering can and opened the door.

After entering, Hyuga Hiashi looked as though he did not want to waste even a moment resting. He immediately said, "Kurenai, can that student named Feng An be transferred to another class?"

Kurenai raised an eyebrow.

She had been wondering about it, but now she instantly understood why Hyuga Hiashi had rushed over so early.

He had come as a parent to break up a pair of lovebirds.

"Senior, Feng An's situation is quite special."

"I know. No teacher is willing to take him in. Don't worry, I can send one of the elites from our clan to teach him."

Hyuga Hiashi thought Kurenai was concerned about the teacher-student bond, so he offered to have someone from his clan help Feng An.

But he deliberately kept it vague. An elite from the clan—who knew whether he meant a jonin or a chunin?

He believed he had already shown enough sincerity. After all, he had long since inquired about Feng An. At the Ninja Academy, he was dead last, of average aptitude, and had never displayed any talent.

Yet Kurenai merely shook her head.

"Senior, you misunderstand. What I mean is that Feng An is a special case. In my eyes, he is very much worth nurturing."

Hyuga Hiashi froze. He had not expected to be refused.

Giving up a dead-last student in exchange for a good relationship with the head of Konoha's strongest Hyuga Clan was a deal that could only bring profit, never loss.

After thinking it over, he could only conclude that Kurenai had noticed what was going on between Hinata and Feng An and had anticipated that he would come to her. She was using an excuse to demand benefits.

It could not be that Feng An was genuinely talented, could it?

After considering it, Hyuga Hiashi calmed down considerably. A smile lifted the corners of his lips. If she merely wanted benefits, the Hyuga Clan's foundations were more than enough to satisfy her easily.

"Afterward, I'll give you one million ryo in my personal capacity."

Kurenai frowned. "What do you take me for?"

Not enough?

Hyuga Hiashi said in a low voice, "Two million ryo."

In his view, that price had already far exceeded what a dead-last student was worth. But for his daughter, he was willing to take a greater loss.

The gentleness in Kurenai's eyes turned cold.

"I don't know what gave you the impression that I'm someone who would sell her student. Please leave, Senior."

Hyuga Hiashi's face turned livid. He had not expected her appetite to be so large. Even two million ryo was not enough!

Only S-rank missions paid over one million ryo, and those were missions only Kage-level shinobi could accept.

Kurenai had only recently become a jonin. Even assuming her strength was so exceptional that she could complete A-rank missions alone, an A-rank mission generally paid one hundred and fifty thousand ryo. She would still need to complete more than a dozen missions to earn two million ryo.

That did not even account for the danger and time cost involved in missions.

Even if she took ordinary B-rank missions that paid eighty thousand ryo each, it would take even more of her time, and the danger went without saying.

If she gave up high risk for low profit and took C-rank missions paying thirty thousand ryo and D-rank missions paying five thousand ryo, she would still have to work continuously for around three months to earn two million ryo.

He abruptly rose to his feet and said coldly, "Hmph. A snake trying to swallow an elephant—does one worthless student deserve two million ryo?"

Kurenai knew that he was the head of the Hyuga Clan, so she had always politely addressed him as Senior and had no desire to make an enemy of him.

But in Kurenai's eyes, his behavior was an insult to her.

Kurenai stood as well and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Feng An is a student I chose myself. In my eyes, he is no worse than Neji Hyuga."

Ever since entering the academy, Neji Hyuga had been hailed as the Hyuga Clan's greatest young genius. But only the Hyuga Clan knew what a huge joke that was—the Hyuga name had been earned by the genius of the Branch Family.

Hyuga Hiashi's expression darkened. Neji Hyuga had always been a thorn in his heart.

Although Neji Hyuga was from the Branch Family, he had no choice but to acknowledge the other boy's talent.

"What makes a piece of trash who barely graduated from the Ninja Academy qualified to surpass Neji?"

In his eyes, this was merely an excuse Kurenai had found for her greed, and an utterly ridiculous one at that.

Kurenai looked at him coldly. "The trash you speak of has already learned the Great Fireball Technique."

"It's only a C-rank Ninjutsu. It merely proves that he works hard."

"Have you ever seen a freshly graduated genin casually unleash a Great Fireball Technique with a diameter of five meters?"

Hyuga Hiashi chuckled. "Hmph. So what if it's five meters?"

Wait.

"Five meters in diameter?!"

Hyuga Hiashi's eyes widened.

Being able to unleash a fireball five meters in diameter was enough to prove that Feng An had fully mastered the Great Fireball Technique. Even Uchiha Sasuke, the widely recognized genius alongside Neji, would find that difficult to accomplish.

Five meters was already Feng An holding back. In truth, breathing out a ten-meter fireball was effortless for him, and the Chakra it consumed was negligible.

Could he really not be trash?

Hyuga Hiashi found it somewhat strange.

"Then why did he establish the image of being dead last?"

Kurenai shook her head slightly as well. "I don't know either. Perhaps it's simply his personality."

Hyuga Hiashi's expression eased. "Sorry, I misunderstood you earlier. My tone was a little harsh."

"This junior understands that you are deeply concerned for your daughter. Rest assured, Senior, I won't let them fool around."

Seeing him take the initiative to apologize, Kurenai gave him a way out. At the same time, she offered him reassurance, making it clear that she would keep a closer watch on Hinata.

Whether she would actually watch over Hinata and the others afterward depended on Kurenai's mood. Hyuga Hiashi could not control her anyway.

"Sorry for disturbing you."

Hyuga Hiashi turned and left.

He urgently needed to verify whether what Kurenai had said was true.

He quickened his pace back home.

"If what Kurenai said is true..."