Konoha: Starting with the Tenseigan, Taking Over Team 7

For the first time, he felt pressure from someone his own age.

And the person putting that pressure on him was, of all people, that eternal dead last!

"Damn dead last!" Sasuke Uchiha slammed his fist into the ground. His emotions surged, and the crimson Two-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in his eyes.

That dead last!

That idiot Naruto!

What kind of joke was this?

The first person to qualify as a Chunin would be me, Sasuke Uchiha!

Back to training!

"How do I draw out more Lightning Nature?" Sasuke Uchiha raised a hand. Pale blue Chakra emerged from his palm, threaded with tiny currents. For now, all he could do was release the slightest bit of Lightning Release Chakra.

Chidori's Many Forms, Haku's Fate.

"Fire Release feels... tsk." Sasuke Uchiha frowned. He had been trying to infuse the Chakra he released with Lightning Nature Transformation, following the same feeling he used for Fire Release.

But.

It was hard.

When he used Fire Release, he could easily channel Chakra into his throat. Releasing Chakra outside his body and adding Lightning Nature Transformation was another matter.

Most importantly, he had never worked with Lightning Release before. Everything he had learned was Fire Release.

What was he supposed to do?

At this rate, Naruto, that colossal idiot, would leave him completely behind.

And...

Sasuke Uchiha glanced coolly at Sakura Haruno, who was punching a tree trunk in the distance. It looked ridiculous, but that ugly girl's training seemed to be going well.

In other words, he was the only one in Team 7 who had hit a wall.

At this rate, he would become the weakest member of Team 7!

Do I have to ask Cangyue? Sasuke Uchiha frowned slightly and looked toward Aogetsu Hyuga, who was lounging on a sofa with Icha Icha Paradise.

There was no way he would ask Cangyue for guidance!

Sasuke Uchiha could already picture Cangyue's mocking grin when he came to him because he had hit a wall.

"Hmph." Sasuke Uchiha stood, then stopped. After a moment's hesitation, he sat back down.

Even if he couldn't finish his training in five days, even if he lacked the strength to face the Demon of the Mist, even if he became the weakest member of Team 7...

I will never ask Cangyue for guidance!

He had had enough of Cangyue's arrogant attitude and mocking grin!

Sasuke Uchiha had too much pride to endure Cangyue's ridicule. He could work through his training himself. There was no need to humbly ask Cangyue for help.

Even if Cangyue was an exceptionally powerful teacher!

He still didn't need his guidance!

By the time Sasuke Uchiha finished thinking that, he was standing beside Cangyue.

"No need to be shy. Plenty of women are like that. They say they don't want it, but their bodies tell a different story."

Aogetsu Hyuga didn't look up from Icha Icha Paradise. He had noticed earlier that Sasuke seemed to want something from him, but the brat had been standing around, wrestling with himself.

"Ahem." Sasuke Uchiha cleared his throat and turned his head away, his face faintly red. "How do you add Nature Transformation?"

Cangyue Hyuga yawned and turned a page. "I told you before, didn't I? Playing hard to get is out of style. And who wants to see a man do it? If you were a beautiful girl, I might let you get away with it."

Sasuke Uchiha shoved his hands into his pockets, embarrassment plain in his eyes despite his cool tone. "You know a shortcut, don't you?"

"How strange." Cangyue Hyuga sat up, rubbed his chin, and studied Sasuke with a faintly mocking smile. "A genius of the Uchiha Clan needs a shortcut? And here I was, naïvely thinking you'd improve faster than anyone else in Team 7."

Putting on an air of superiority, Aogetsu Hyuga said, "Is Chidori really that hard to learn? It took me only three minutes. Of course, you don't have to learn it in three minutes. You're not as gifted as I am."

He had learned Rasengan in three minutes, and Chidori had taken just as long.

He had already mastered Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation before learning either technique, so picking them up had been easy.

"..." Sasuke Uchiha's face darkened, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing. He had known Cangyue would ridicule him mercilessly if he came for help.

Three minutes?

Who would believe that?

How could a technique that difficult take only three minutes to learn?

Cangyue Hyuga said, "There's no convenient shortcut. If there were, why would anyone work hard? The moment you start looking for one, that naïve, foolish idea becomes an obstacle to getting stronger."

Sasuke Uchiha paused and considered Cangyue's words.

Aogetsu Hyuga went back to Icha Icha Paradise and said lazily, "Don't think too hard about it. That advice only applies to ordinary ninja. I just thought it would sound cool, so I tried saying it."

A shortcut?

Of course there was one!

His Tenseigan was a shortcut to power. So was the Mentor-Disciple System. Both let him grow stronger with barely any effort.

To be a ninja, you needed an unfair advantage!

He felt a little sorry for ordinary people who trained tirelessly in hopes of growing stronger.

But fairness simply did not exist in this ninja world.

Without a bloodline or some special advantage, all the effort in the world would get you nowhere. At best, you could become powerful by ordinary ninja standards.

Take the legendary Sannin, or that old Third Hokage.

To become truly one of the strongest in the ninja world, you needed a bloodline and an unfair advantage!

And it had to be a massive advantage!

No Tailed Beast? No ocular powers? Then you might as well go home and sleep.

No Six Paths Power, and you still wanted to stand at the very top?

Dream on!

"Ordinary ninja... I understand." After a moment's thought, Sasuke Uchiha grasped what Cangyue meant.

Because it was clear to him.

Teacher Cangyue was saying that anyone who wanted to become truly strong must not dream of taking shortcuts. Only by enduring hardship could a ninja become strong!

The corners of Sasuke Uchiha's mouth lifted slightly.

Who would have thought the arrogant, willful Teacher Cangyue could say something so inspiring?

Only ordinary ninja took shortcuts?

What Teacher Cangyue meant was that ninja who thought only of shortcuts would hit a wall someday. When that happened, they would lose all confidence in themselves as ninja.

Power came from weathering countless hardships and building a solid foundation!

He understood!

Teacher Cangyue might be flippant, but he really was a good teacher.

"Is that so? Glad you understand." Aogetsu Hyuga was speechless. He had a feeling the brat had taken his words in a wildly different direction.

"Cangyue, you..." Sasuke Uchiha broke off when he saw Aogetsu Hyuga close his book, then quickly corrected himself. "Teacher Cangyue, please demonstrate Chidori one more time."

That was close.

He had almost gotten himself beaten.

Naruto, that colossal idiot, could take all the beatings!

Cangyue Hyuga said with distaste, "What a pain. You haven't even paid your tuition, and you want one demonstration after another."

"Once the Uchiha Clan district is reopened and I can sell the houses, I'll pay what I owe." Sasuke Uchiha's voice was cold, but grief flashed through his eyes.

The once-proud Uchiha Clan had now fallen into ruin, becoming a forbidden area within the village!

Cangyue Hyuga paused.

He had almost forgotten: the Uchiha brat was a young master.

The Uchiha brat might be penniless now, but once that old Third Hokage died, the Uchiha Clan district could be reopened. Then all its property would belong to Sasuke.

After all, Sasuke Uchiha was the only member of the Uchiha Clan left in the village!

The kid was secretly rich.

All the Uchiha houses might be notorious for the deaths that had happened there, but they could simply be demolished and rebuilt.

A teacher for a day, a father for life!

You can call me your teacher. I'll call you my adopted son!

Then all that property will be mine!

"I'll demonstrate it one last time. Keep your eyes open." Cangyue Hyuga raised a hand. Pale blue Chakra appeared in his palm, then turned into azure lightning.

He could profit from the property and advance the Master-Disciple Mission at the same time. Two birds with one stone!

What a haul.

"Chakra Nature Transformation..." Sasuke Uchiha watched the azure current in Cangyue's palm with his Two-Tomoe Sharingan, not blinking once.

I think... I get it.

"That's right. Then..." Cangyue Hyuga paused. The lightning in his palm changed shape, becoming a sword of electricity. "This is Chidori's Shape Transformation."

"As long as you have enough Chakra and can control it precisely, you can give Chidori any shape you want." The lightning sword in Aogetsu Hyuga's hand melted toward the ground. The azure current became two tigers made of lightning.

"You can even turn it into a busty beauty." Cangyue Hyuga moved a finger. The two lightning tigers merged, then took on the rough outline of a woman.

Kakashi, this is how Chidori is meant to be used!

"Handy technique, isn't it?" Cangyue Hyuga withdrew his Chakra. The lightning dimmed and disappeared. "You don't need to worry about Shape Transformation yet. I just wanted to demonstrate it and show off."

"I know what I was doing wrong." Sasuke Uchiha deactivated his Sharingan, shoved his hands into his pockets, and turned away. After a few steps, he stopped and said awkwardly, his face red, "Thank you."

With that, Sasuke Uchiha headed back to his training spot.

He had spent the entire demonstration watching Cangyue perform Chidori with his Sharingan. Now he knew where he had gone wrong.

"Stubborn brat." Aogetsu Hyuga sounded annoyed. He sank into the soft sofa, covered his face with his book, and prepared to catch up on his sleep.

To be fair.

The Uchiha brat was clever. He had real potential.

Perhaps when the final showdown came three days from now, Team 7 could defeat the Mist ninja known as the Demon without even drawing on the Tailed Beast's power.

Zabuza was a Jonin, but his strength was nothing extraordinary. Without the Kubikiribōchō, he was considerably weaker.

Either way, Team 7 was bound to win. If they were outmatched, Naruto Uzumaki could always bring out a few tails!

No matter what, he would get the Lottery Pack.

Luckily, the Side Mission only required Team 7 to defeat Zabuza Momochi. If they had to defeat Yuki Haku, that would be much harder.

After all, that pretty boy was stronger than Zabuza.

"Time to sleep." Cangyue Hyuga closed his eyes.

A few minutes later...

"So this is the place." A slender, graceful figure approached Aogetsu Hyuga. He wore a white kimono and had delicate features, smooth, snow-pale skin, and glossy black hair that fell down his back.

He was beautiful.

But he was a man!

He was Yuki Haku.

"Cangyue Hyuga..." Yuki Haku crouched beside the sofa, resting his fair cheek on one hand. With a faint smile, he studied Cangyue's handsome, refined face.

He had heard the stories about Aogetsu Hyuga. According to the rumors, Cangyue was a cold, merciless monster who used his power to crush the weak.

Wherever he went, disaster followed.

That was why people called him the Disaster Ninja.