It was Uchiha Fugaku. He seemed to have been watching Kakashi and the others train at the Training Ground for some time.
"Looks like Dan-kun's strength has grown to a level I can't even measure."
Uchiha Fugaku offered a few words of praise from the sidelines, a look of astonished amusement on his face.
"I couldn't be nearly as relaxed and composed as that under Hatake-kun's attack just now."
"Even with the Sharingan activated."
Uchiha Fugaku wasn't exaggerating. Given Kakashi's speed and Kenjutsu, he was already capable of threatening a Jonin.
A Jonin would have to go to considerable trouble to deal with a tricky opponent like Kakashi.
What's more, some of Nara Dan's theories on actual combat were profound yet easy to understand, and Fugaku had learned something from them too.
More importantly—
He's completely reined in his presence.
Even his build has gotten smaller.
Uchiha Fugaku was secretly astonished. He had often sparred with Nara Dan in the past, so he knew just how fierce and oppressive Dan's presence had been.
But now—
Fugaku studied Nara Dan as he was now. His muscles were merely lean and well-defined, and he was still tall.
More importantly, his presence was as expansive as the sea and as deep as the sky, radiating a profound aura.
Simply standing there, he seemed to bring a fresh, invigorating feeling. People couldn't help but feel drawn to him.
That sense of danger from before was completely gone.
That was precisely why Uchiha Fugaku was even more wary.
Even I, with the Sharingan, was unconsciously affected by his presence.
Perhaps only a ninja like the First could possess such breadth of spirit.
"You're too kind, Fugaku-kun."
Nara Dan wasn't surprised by Uchiha Fugaku's arrival; he had sensed him long ago.
But for some reason, Uchiha Fugaku hadn't come over to greet them. He had simply watched their training in silence.
So Nara Dan hadn't paid him any mind, letting him watch as he pleased.
As for worrying that someone might learn from watching, the power of the Sharingan was stronger than most people imagined.
The Sharingan alone was enough to keep the Uchiha Clan busy studying it for a lifetime. Everything else was merely a bonus to them.
"Fugaku-kun has been a famous Jonin for a long time."
"And even I have to be wary of the Sharingan's power."
"Isn't that right?"
Uchiha Fugaku was startled. Faced with Nara Dan's casual gaze, he felt a chill run down his back, as if the greatest secret in his heart had been laid bare.
Can he see it?
That shouldn't be possible. Yin Release and his Taijutsu are in completely different fields.
Though he didn't let anything show, Uchiha Fugaku's wariness instantly rose to its highest level.
"Heh. Nara-kun is still the better one."
"I learned quite a bit from your theories on actual combat just now."
"I hope you don't mind me learning from you."
Uchiha Fugaku laughed awkwardly, letting the matter drop and easing the tension.
Nara Dan chuckled inwardly. God-Seeing Indestructibility had given him highly precise intuition.
It let him sense the changes in Uchiha Fugaku's state of mind.
And, as someone familiar with the story, he knew what Fugaku was hiding.
The Mangekyō Sharingan, huh?
He was still curious about power on that level.
The Otsutsuki's power often went straight to the essence of Chakra, something Nara Dan couldn't escape either—
not as long as he remained within the Chakra system.
"All right, enough small talk."
Nara Dan smiled and teased Uchiha Fugaku.
"The Uchiha Clan's head is a busy man. When I asked you to spar before, you kept saying you didn't have time."
"So why do you have time now to watch a Special Jonin like me complete a team mission?"
Uchiha Fugaku gave an awkward smile.
As if. Who wants to spar with a monster like you every day? That'd just be asking for a beating.
Uchiha Fugaku clearly remembered when he could still keep up with Nara Dan's speed, trading wins and losses back and forth.
But starting half a year ago, sparring with him had become a steadily worse experience. Fugaku hadn't won once, and Dan kept breaking his arms and legs. It was a full-on beatdown.
It wasn't as if he could fight him using Susanoo!
Fugaku rubbed his right hand, the memory of having it broken still vivid.
"I came because I have something to discuss with you, Dan-kun."
"I happen to have some fine tea here."
"Why don't we head over to my clan's compound and talk at our leisure?"
Nara Dan understood without needing to ask. Fugaku had probably seen that his strength had fully matured, while Hyuga's undisguised attempts to recruit him had brought a series of political changes.
The Uchiha Clan clearly couldn't sit still either.
Their position in Konoha was even more awkward than Hyuga's.
Though he wasn't particularly interested in political maneuvering, he and Uchiha Fugaku did have some history.
He couldn't slight him.
"All right, that's enough training for today."
Nara Dan said this to the three youngsters.
"Your foundations are still rather weak. First, you need to improve your physical fitness."
It wasn't that Nara Dan was unwilling to teach Hyuga Nana and Ino Rinya more.
They hadn't worked hard enough yet to make their natural talent the deciding factor,
let alone to push through the next bottleneck.
As he spoke, Nara Dan flicked one hand, sending two scrolls flying into the hands of Hyuga Nana and Ino Rinya.
"Take a good look at these scrolls."
With that, Nara Dan left the Training Ground with Uchiha Fugaku.
Hatake Kakashi quietly took his leave soon after.
Hyuga Nana and Ino Rinya were left staring at each other, unsure what to do.
They had been hoping Nara Dan would guide them step by step, the way he had with Kakashi.
They hadn't expected Teacher Nara to think their foundations were so poor that he wouldn't even pay attention to how their training was going.
Still, they understood. They weren't foolish enough to feel resentful.
Hyuga Nana had the clan overseeing her training, so she was fairly diligent.
But her talent couldn't match a prodigy like Kakashi's, and she wasn't as hardworking as Kakashi either.
It was only natural that she hadn't caught Nara Dan's eye.
As a civilian, Ino Rinya had no inherited techniques, and he was also inconsistent with his training.
Even after practicing his stance for three days, his physical fitness and ninja fundamentals were still far behind those of the other two.
Half an hour later,
in the Uchiha Clan Compound,
Nara Dan and Uchiha Fugaku sat facing each other, a pot of steaming tea between them.
The tea's aroma drifted through the rising steam and spread around them.
Nara Dan lifted his tea and drank it down without minding how scalding it was, leaving Uchiha Fugaku beside him looking astonished.
"Mmm, it really is good."
Nara Dan nodded in appreciation.
"It must have come from the Land of Grass, right?"
"Top-quality stuff."
"It's hard to find even among the Nara Clan."
"If you like it, Dan-kun,"
"you can take plenty back with you later."
Uchiha Fugaku didn't give a second thought to tea leaves worth a fortune.
The Uchiha Clan's history was even longer than the Nara Clan's, and they certainly weren't short of money.
Everyone, I'm begging you—please don't stop reading!
As long as you don't let the chapters pile up, we're good!
The chapters are short, and that's my fault. I admit it!
Before you continue