Riyue's Thoughts

Riyue walked back toward his lodgings, a faint smile on his face. What a wonderful day. Teacher Dan Katō had woken up, and his condition was pretty good. Konoha had also won the great battle. All his hard work had paid off.

"Haha! I wish I could see the look on Danzo's face when he gets humiliated!"

Riyue had made quite a contribution in battle, coming up with strategies and leading counterattacks. Why had he worked so hard? Of course, it was to help Tsunade and get revenge for Dan Katō. And why did he want to help Tsunade? Naturally, it was to help himself, too.

In truth, Riyue had never considered accepting Danzo's offer. No matter what terms Danzo proposed, Riyue would never agree.

The reason was simple: they were on completely different paths.

If Riyue were just a six-year-old child, he would certainly have agreed to Danzo's offer. The terms were far too tempting. But Riyue was a doctor with a mature mind. He knew the path Danzo had chosen, and he could never agree with it. People who had no feelings and lived only for profit, acquiring power by any means necessary, might grow strong enough to be invincible, but they would be nothing more than cold weapons.

If Danzo took power and turned Konoha into what he wanted it to be, they could forget about peace and prosperity. They'd be lucky if the village wasn't destroyed.

Besides, Danzo would betray anyone for his own ends. Riyue could easily be the next person he sold out. If Danzo had only wanted to take Riyue on as a student, Riyue might have considered it. But Danzo didn't even try to win people over with virtue or treat worthy people with respect. He'd started by dangling all kinds of benefits in front of Riyue and bargaining with him.

That showed that the only thing Danzo cared about was "profit." Riyue was simply someone who could be useful to him. The day he stopped being useful, Danzo would toss him aside like trash. This was the kind of underhanded scheme Danzo resorted to. That was the full extent of his character!

How could Riyue agree to that? It would be like conspiring with a tiger!

Finally, the Third Hokage had given Riyue his chance. In his previous life, Riyue had always liked the kind-hearted old man who sacrificed himself for the village. Would Riyue betray his benefactor? If he did, he wouldn't be Hyuga Riyue anymore. Now that he'd chosen to follow the old man, Riyue wouldn't betray him for profit.

Would the Third Hokage really refuse to help Riyue learn Medical Ninjutsu? And even without Danzo's help, couldn't Riyue find a way to deal with the Caged Bird Seal himself? His Senju bloodline was the key. Even if he couldn't solve the problem on his own in the future, Riyue wouldn't go crawling to Danzo. He wasn't interested in becoming Hyuga Clan Head, either.

So Danzo's scheme was doomed to fail.

But why had Riyue pretended to be tempted, as if he were about to accept?

One reason was that he wanted to find out what Danzo was planning. Danzo was a devious man. If Riyue refused, he might resort to underhanded tactics and force him into his service. Riyue might as well find out what Danzo intended to do first, so he could figure out how to sabotage his plan.

The other reason was that Riyue wanted to put on a show for Tsunade. He had activated his Byakugan and already spotted her approaching from behind. She was bound to hear their conversation. So Riyue had deliberately acted as if he were very tempted, letting Tsunade think he was going to "betray" the Third Hokage and decide to give up on him.

Riyue could tell that Tsunade didn't want to give him up as her student. That was why she had come to talk to him. But Riyue didn't want to become her apprentice, so he'd resorted to this plan. By speaking with someone from Root, he could make Tsunade give up on him.

But he hadn't expected Tsunade to refuse to give up, even when Riyue seemed ready to "betray the Third Hokage." She had still been thinking of him and had earnestly tried to talk him out of it.

She could accept that Riyue might not become her student, but she absolutely didn't want him to go down the wrong path. That meant she saw the village's children as family. She had tried to persuade Riyue as a family member, genuinely concerned for him. Any Konoha shinobi who had witnessed that scene would have tried to talk him out of it.

After all, Tsunade loved everyone in Konoha as deeply as her grandfather had!

So Riyue decided to help her. Danzo was inciting the council of elders to replace Tsunade, wasn't he? If Tsunade won a great victory, wouldn't the elders shut their mouths? If they couldn't accuse her of mishandling the battle, how could Danzo poach her subordinates? The Third Hokage and Tsunade would never hand Riyue over to Danzo.

Riyue's agreement to consider Danzo's offer had never been sincere, so he didn't have to worry about Danzo forcibly poaching him or anything like that.

So Riyue had secretly helped Shikaku devise a strategy, bringing Konoha a great victory. Danzo must be absolutely furious, right?

Still, even though Riyue had helped Tsunade, he'd have to change teachers. He'd talk it over properly with the Third Hokage when he got back...

After Dan Katō fell into a deep sleep, Tsunade returned to the tent to deal with the mountain of paperwork. Just then, a messenger shinobi brought her a letter from Teacher Sarutobi. The confidential letter had been delivered by a falcon. Tsunade read it slowly.

Tsunade had won a great victory, securing Konoha's advantage in a single battle. The Third Hokage naturally praised her at length. Then he changed the subject and told Tsunade that the council of elders wanted Riyue to choose a new teacher. He had temporarily put the matter on hold.

The Third Hokage hoped Tsunade would have a proper talk with Riyue and not be so stubborn. If they truly couldn't come to an agreement, she should let Riyue choose a new teacher. The Third Hokage had decided that he would become Riyue's teacher himself.

After reading the letter, Tsunade sighed helplessly.

She wanted to have a proper talk with her "student," too! But lately, Riyue had been deliberately avoiding her and wouldn't listen to her explanation. Perhaps Danzo had already won him over, and Riyue had made up his mind to betray Teacher Sarutobi. Or perhaps the boy was just too stubborn, and had put on that act to avoid becoming her student.

Tsunade remembered what Dan Katō had said and made up her mind. "I'll talk to Riyue properly first. If he insists on going to Danzo, I'll stop him no matter what. If he just doesn't want to be my student... then he doesn't have to be... Even though I've already come to think of him as one..."

As Riyue walked along, he suddenly saw two people coming toward him. He froze, and the smile vanished from his face. The newcomers spotted him, too, and came over with bright smiles.

When the man reached Riyue, he smiled and said, "Riyue, long time no see!"

But Riyue could tell at a glance that the smile was fake and full of malice. A young man followed behind him, and both of them had Byakugan.

"A Genin, Hyuga Nisshin? What are you doing on the front lines?" Riyue looked at him coolly and spoke with scorn, putting heavy emphasis on the word "Genin," as if he didn't care about him at all.

In truth, Riyue was furious to see him. He wasn't afraid of this piece of trash; he just couldn't start a fight in the camp. Otherwise, he would have repaid Nisshin double for the humiliation he'd inflicted on him.

Seeing how little Riyue cared, a flash of anger crossed Nisshin's face before he resumed smiling. This little beast dares to ignore me! Hmph! You'll be dead soon enough!

"As one of the candidates for Hyuga Clan Head, of course I have to come to the battlefield and get some experience. I'm here to carry out a mission assigned by the Main Family."

"Hmm." Riyue turned and walked away, too lazy to waste his breath on someone like that. Nisshin couldn't push him around anymore.

If Riyue acted afraid of him, Nisshin would despise him as a useless nobody. If Riyue glared at him, he would get angry: how dare a nobody glare at me? If Riyue ignored him, that would infuriate him most of all: how dare this nobody ignore me! No matter what Riyue did, someone who thought himself superior to everyone else would be unhappy. So Riyue might as well make him as unhappy as possible.

If Nisshin pushed Riyue too far, then whether he belonged to the Main Family or anything else, Riyue wouldn't hold back.

Watching Riyue leave, Nisshin ground his teeth, his face twisted with rage. "Damn little beast! You'll pay for this!"

Nisshin turned to the lackey behind him and said viciously, "Carry out the plan!" The man behind him vanished in a flash...

As he walked, Riyue pondered the situation. He had been deliberately provoking Nisshin to test the reason for his arrival at the front. Just as Riyue turned to leave, he had seen the murderous intent in Nisshin's eyes with his Byakugan.

Riyue felt uneasy. "What did Nisshin come to the front for? I'd better watch out for any underhanded tricks."

After thinking it over, Riyue created a Shadow Clone and had it follow Nisshin in secret. He saw Nisshin return to his lodgings and go to sleep without doing anything unusual. But Riyue still felt that he'd overlooked something...

Nisshin's lackey arrived at Tsunade's tent and handed her a scroll.

"Are you the Jonin Hyuga U?" Tsunade glanced at the scroll, then looked up and asked.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Hyuga U answered respectfully and immediately showed her his identification papers.

"This is a mission from the Hyuga Clan, approved by Lord Hokage. While looking through their ancestral manuscripts and scrolls, the Hyuga Clan unexpectedly discovered the location of a ruin. It's connected to the Hyuga Clan's ancestors, so this time the clan has decided to investigate it. We need you to assign a few people to assist with the mission. We hope you can provide support and assistance." Hyuga U explained everything in detail to Tsunade.

"A Hyuga Clan ruin? I'll cooperate. I'll assign three Chunin with reconnaissance skills to you." Tsunade nodded.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade. I'd also like to designate one Hyuga Clan member to join the mission." Hyuga U made his request.

"Oh? Someone from the Hyuga Clan? It wouldn't happen to be my 'student,' would it?" Tsunade grew wary. She knew about Riyue's relationship with the Main Family. Was the Hyuga Main Family after Riyue? What were they really planning?

"No, Lady Tsunade. Hyuga Riyue isn't the person we need for this mission." Hyuga U shook his head.

"Oh? Then who is it?" Tsunade relaxed, feeling she'd been overthinking things.

"Hyuga Mizuki!" Hyuga U said with a kind smile.