The Three Sannin's Thoughts

The Three Sannin's Thoughts

Seated high in the hall, Jiraiya widened his eyes and turned to his teacher with a questioning look.

Having been master and disciple for many years, they were already as close as father and son. Sarutobi Hiruzen understood exactly what Jiraiya wanted to ask.

"It probably isn't a secret technique passed down through the Hyuga Clan... And for the Byakugan, this kind of attack that projects chakra outward to form armor is quite rare."

"That's what I thought." Jiraiya stroked his chin and sighed. "The moment that kid made his opening move, I thought he was going to use the Rasengan."

"Oh? The one Minato developed?"

"It resembles it in spirit, but this technique lacks the Rasengan's compression and rotational force. That kid seems to have borrowed many of the force-generating methods of the Gentle Fist, increasing its penetration and hardness... This technique probably hasn't been fully developed yet."

"What a genius," Sarutobi Hiruzen praised.

"What a waste of a promising seedling." Jiraiya gave a dissatisfied snort, though his displeasure was naturally not directed at Hyuga Yuto.

Sarutobi Hiruzen silently looked down.

Below, Uchiha Shota was helped back by his clansmen. He did not appear seriously injured. Hyuga Yuto remained where he was, waiting for the next battle. Yet behind this precious gem, the members of the Hyuga Clan offered no cheers. Instead, Hyuga Shinji and the girl from the main house seemed to have strange emotions welling up in their eyes.

Those emotions were certainly not joy or pride.

Taking it all in, the Third Hokage's dissatisfaction with the Hyuga Clan deepened further.

Long ago, the Hyuga had carried far greater prestige than they did now. When used in war, the Byakugan had been an unstoppable weapon. There was once a time when even the Uchiha and Senju had to give the Hyuga some measure of deference.

But the system of the main house and branch houses had utterly destroyed the Hyuga's vigorous vitality.

They clung to the old ways, growing weaker with each generation. Even when geniuses emerged, they often died young for one reason or another.

By now, the Hyuga Clan had not produced a Kage-level expert in a very long time.

Throughout Sarutobi Hiruzen's years as Hokage, weakening the influence of the ninja clans had always been one of his unwavering governing principles. That had never changed.

Yet the Hyuga Clan was an oddity—they did not need him to cut them down. They had taken it upon themselves to cripple themselves.

Year after year, the Hyuga Clan continued to decline, relying on their bloodline limit and the lingering prestige of their ancestors to preserve a semblance of dignity as they barely held on.

The entire clan was a bird trapped in the cage of the main-and-branch-house system.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed soundlessly, then used some ninjutsu to compress his voice into a thin line as he secretly spoke to his three beloved disciples.

"You all know why I gathered you here. Tell me... what are your thoughts?"

His disciples gave no response at all to their teacher's question.

Orochimaru sat there calmly, quietly watching the battle in the courtyard and taking a sip or two of tea now and then.

Jiraiya, meanwhile, furtively pulled out a small notebook, dipped his pen tip in ink, and began writing something, looking for all the world as though inspiration had struck.

Tsunade was the worst of them. As if she had heard nothing, she drank bowl after bowl of wine. Two crimson patches rose on her cheeks, her eyes became unfocused, and she looked dazed and muddled. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought the Senju Clan's "Sage Body" was naturally intolerant of alcohol.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was so angry that he rolled his eyes.

As their teacher, he knew better than anyone what his disciples were like.

Having the Three Sannin take apprentices to spur the Uchiha and Hyuga into contributing more manpower and effort during the war sounded like a wonderful and reliable plan. But it had an important prerequisite—the Three Sannin had to be willing to take apprentices.

Children became hard to manage once they grew up, let alone three Kage-level masters in the prime of their lives.

All three Sannin were rather resistant to taking apprentices.

At this time, although Orochimaru had already begun human experimentation, he was still fairly loyal to the Hidden Leaf Village. As the Third aged, Orochimaru was preparing to vie for the position of Fourth Hokage.

Taking in a member of the Uchiha or Hyuga Clan would win him the support of those two clans, but this apprenticeship was merely exploitation. It might create all sorts of trouble later, so it was better not to take on extra work voluntarily.

As for Jiraiya, although he was quite willing to teach young people a thing or two, ever since the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku had made the prophecy, "Your disciple will bring great change to the ninja world," Jiraiya had become especially cautious about accepting disciples.

And Tsunade... was simply suffering from psychological trauma.

After the deaths of her younger brother Senju Nawaki and her lover Kato Dan, Tsunade developed severe hemophobia. For a ninja, fearing blood was an enormous weakness in itself. Thus, Tsunade had become utterly disheartened, left the Hidden Leaf Village, and wandered from place to place with the young Shizune, too lazy to concern herself with the village's affairs anymore.

The Three Sannin were acting like spoiled children, yet Sarutobi Hiruzen could hardly reprimand his disciples in front of so many people. He could only sit in his seat and watch the boys and girls battle in the courtyard.

Time passed, and before long, all four Uchiha and all four geniuses of the Hyuga Clan had taken the field.

Among them, the most dazzling performer was naturally Hyuga Yuto.

His outstanding physique and Gentle Fist techniques, honed through steady training; his genius self-created ninja body technique, Lion Fang Severance; and his keen insight and excellent judgment allowed him to stand out among his peers, nearly crushing them.

At the end of the day, these people were merely ordinary geniuses.

True monsters, such as the still-young Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi, who was still in his mother's womb, could not possibly have appeared here. That was why Hyuga Yuto had won so easily.

Once the boys and girls had all displayed their abilities, the banquet returned to normal. No one had suffered serious injuries, and the Sarutobi Clan had a dedicated medical team. Before long, all eight geniuses had returned to their seats.

After they had eaten and drunk for a while, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly gave a dry cough and stretched lazily.

"Everyone, our Sarutobi Clan was once renowned throughout the ninja world for botanical research. Even now, this clan estate preserves rare flowers and fruits carefully cultivated by our ancestors. Go stretch your legs. We will gather here again in fifteen minutes."

Everyone froze for a moment, then immediately understood the Third Hokage's intentions. He wanted to send them away so he could speak privately with the Three Sannin. It was certainly about taking apprentices.

Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi exchanged a few polite words, then respectfully took their clansmen and departed.

In the hall, Sarutobi Hiruzen, now over fifty years old, stood with his hands behind his back for a long while. Finally, he slowly turned around and said wearily, "Little Tsunade, Jirai... Hm?"

He had just been about to speak from the heart and offer the Three Sannin some persuasion, but when he turned around, not one of his three disciples was there.

While their teacher was gathering his emotions, his disciples had already slipped away.

"You three little brats..." In the hall, Sarutobi Hiruzen tugged at his beard, nearly losing his composure and cursing aloud.

At the same time.

In a fragrant garden somewhere within the Sarutobi Clan estate, Hyuga Yuto stopped walking.

He cupped his hands and bowed, polite and respectful just as his clan had taught him.

"Young Master Shinji, Lady Miko."

(End of Chapter)