My Jonin Instructor Was Clearly Overpowered, So Why Was He So Socially Anxious?

Leaf Village.

Inside an Akimichi Clan barbecue restaurant.

Aburame Shibi stared at the mountain of empty plates piled before him and began questioning his life.

Three hours earlier, to celebrate the formation of Team Three, he had invited its members to barbecue according to Leaf Village custom.

He had thought it would be an ordinary, simple gathering, but he quickly noticed something was wrong.

Fast!

Far too fast!

Was this even a human appetite?

The moment the barbecue was served, Hyuga Satoru ate like a demon suppressed within his bloodline had been unleashed, stuffing himself frantically.

He had eaten more than half of that mountain of barbecue plates.

On the other side, Anko was also eating with abandon, the barbecue vanishing at a visible pace.

The two of them were now clutching their swollen bellies as they lounged comfortably on the sofa.

"Um... the total is twenty thousand ryo. Which one of you will be paying?"

The plump restaurant owner stood before the table with the ledger in hand, completely at a loss.

Twenty! Thousand! Ryo!

Hearing the price the owner named, Aburame Shibi felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck him squarely on the head. He froze in his seat.

You two...

Aburame Shibi gritted his teeth as he looked at Hyuga Satoru and Anko. Both were resting on the sofa, their faces full of satisfaction and bliss.

"Um... how about I pay?" Uchiha Rin took a sip of tea and asked tentatively.

She felt a little embarrassed. Besides, she was not short on money.

"No!"

Aburame Shibi refused firmly, trembling as he pulled out a stack of brand-new bills from his wallet. No matter what, he could not let his students pay.

This was his last shred of dignity!

Ah! His heart was bleeding...

"Please come again."

The owner waved at them cheerfully from the entrance.

The moment they left the barbecue restaurant, Aburame Shibi immediately departed from the team on the excuse of having a mission. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would embarrass himself even worse.

"That Teacher Shibi was pretty interesting, wasn't he? He seemed rather different from the rumors." Uchiha Rin shrugged.

"He was pretty interesting. When I first saw how he looked, I thought he'd be the especially hard-to-get-along-with type. I didn't expect..."

Anko burst out laughing, having apparently forgotten how she had struggled desperately amid the swarm of insects earlier.

Hyuga Satoru contentedly rubbed his bloated stomach. It was not that he had eaten so much just to take advantage of a free meal; maintaining both the Byakugan bloodline and the Life Magnetic Field meant his appetite already far exceeded that of ordinary people. Besides, eating large amounts also helped improve his physical abilities.

Clicking his tongue softly, Hyuga Satoru said in a low voice, "I think our instructor has a mild case of... social anxiety."

"Social anxiety?" It was Anko's first time hearing the term, and she looked at Hyuga Satoru curiously.

"Yeah... it basically means he isn't good at socializing. Though for the Aburame Clan, it seems like most of them are like that."

Anko thought of how Aburame Shibi wrapped himself up so tightly that only a small patch of skin on his face was exposed, as though he were terrified of being noticed. Suddenly, she felt that social anxiety was an incredibly fitting term.

As expected of you, Satoru. She had learned another new word.

Hyuga Satoru thought about it. His future mission life would probably be quite interesting. My Jonin instructor was clearly overpowered, so why was he so socially anxious?

A knock sounded from the Hokage's Office.

"Come in."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was buried in paperwork. He looked up to see a man wrapped in a loose robe enter, looking somewhat dejected.

"Shibi, is it? How are the new team members? Are you satisfied with them?"

"They are all exceptionally talented, but I'm not sure whether I can teach them well."

"Shibi, don't belittle yourself. You are one of Leaf Village's famed all-rounder Jonin!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a smile.

Aburame Shibi gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Lord Hokage, you know why I'm called an all-rounder Jonin. Compared to working in a team, I prefer fighting alone. Teaching students is truly a little difficult for me."

Sarutobi Hiruzen set aside his work, sat upright, and looked at him seriously.

"Shibi, being a ninja is a profession that requires cooperation. An individual's strength is ultimately limited. The three of them have yet to determine their paths of development, and only an all-rounder Jonin like you is best suited for this task. This will be no small opportunity for growth, both for you and for the entire team."

"Is that so? Lord Hokage, you truly put a great deal of thought into this." Aburame Shibi nodded.

"It's good that you understand. Now report their circumstances to me."

Aburame Shibi recalled the Byakugan brat who had decisively slit his clone's throat, then suddenly smiled. "That Hyuga brat with the Dual Bloodline Limit is quite an interesting person. His appetite is astonishing too. He..."

"Hey, Satoru, is this really the post-graduation training life you talked about?"

In an area littered with garbage, Anko covered her mouth and nose with a towel in disgust as she forcefully poked at a clogged sewer with a wooden stick.

"Um... look on the bright side. This counts as training our willpower too, doesn't it?" Hyuga Satoru said as he swept up trash beside her.

"So helping an old lady clear a clogged sewer counts as training too?"

Uh...

Anko sighed. Every mission they had received these past few days had been garbage jobs like finding cats, finding dogs, and clearing sewers. She suddenly missed her days at the Ninja Academy. The workload had not been heavy then, and at least she had not needed to do such dirty, exhausting work.

Why did I listen to Satoru's nonsense and graduate in the first place?

Wouldn't it have been nice to just lie flat? Anko gritted her teeth in resentment.

She had learned the phrase "lie flat" from Hyuga Satoru, and it perfectly matched her ideals. But when she glanced at Hyuga Satoru and Uchiha Rin beside her, she felt despair. With two monstrous heirs of great clans around her, lying flat was so difficult! she roared inwardly.

Hyuga Satoru did not have much of an objection. A record of completing D-rank missions was a necessary requirement for taking higher-rank missions. Still, he seriously suspected that missions like clearing sewers had been deliberately accepted by Aburame Shibi as revenge.

What a petty ninja!

As for his daily training, it had not been affected much. On the back mountain where he usually trained, a Shadow Clone was making up for the effort he had lost.

He had gotten the Shadow Clone training method from Uchiha Rin. For her, a B-rank training ninjutsu was not particularly precious.

After spending some time mastering the Shadow Clone, he could finally train and complete missions without either interfering with the other.

Hyuga Satoru had always felt a sense of urgency. The approaching Third Shinobi World War and the shackles on his forehead were constantly driving him onward.

Without strength, he would be nothing but meat at the mercy of others. Life at the Ninja Academy had been comfortable, but it did not fit his principles. Only constant progress could make him feel secure.

The Main House's attitude toward him was rather subtle. No matter what, the title of the first Dual Bloodline Limit ninja in Hyuga history would attract plenty of attention. From what he understood, it seemed that only pressure from the Hokage's side had allowed him to live so peacefully within the Hyuga Clan thus far.

Caged Bird. If outside forces could not remove it anytime soon, then research was the only path left. A major reason he had pulled Anko into the team was to establish a connection with Orochimaru. After all, in the original story, Anko had become Orochimaru's disciple.

"I really hope we can start taking combat missions soon!"

Uchiha Rin's voice pulled Hyuga Satoru back to reality. He looked up to see her stretching her limbs, her face eager for action.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Uchiha Rin looked at him, her dark eyes filled with anticipation.

"The clan elders said the Sharingan can only awaken in the midst of life and death. I can't wait to obtain that kind of power."

She was working way too hard, wasn't she? Hyuga Satoru's mouth twitched slightly.