That night.
After a ripple of spatial distortion, Shinichi arrived at the Hyuga Clan compound.
His sudden appearance startled Hiashi, who had been leisurely drinking tea in his study, so badly that he nearly spat out a mouthful. "You bastard, don't you know to knock before coming into someone else's home?" he snapped.
"Knocking is too much trouble. You know perfectly well that I hate troublesome things more than anything."
Shinichi couldn't be bothered with his complaints. He sat down on his own and asked, "How have Neji and Hinata's training been going lately?"
At that, Hiashi's face darkened further.
Damn it!
Wasn't that supposed to be my line?
Who exactly was those two kids' teacher? Had he gotten their roles mixed up?
"I've never seen a more unreliable teacher than you."
Hiashi couldn't help complaining.
Shinichi had left the village just days after taking them as students and had barely taught them anything.
"Hey, Hiashi, get your facts straight. You were the one begging me to become their teacher."
Somewhat displeased, Shinichi spun a glib excuse. "Besides, do you really think I'm that irresponsible? I left the village to find a way to undo Neji's Caged Bird Seal. Could there possibly be a more dependable teacher than me?"
"Really?"
Hiashi's expression softened a little, though his voice remained skeptical.
He kept feeling that this fellow was lying to him, but he had no proof.
"If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to solve that problem soon."
This time, Shinichi wasn't making an empty claim.
With his current mastery of Sealing Jutsu, combined with Orochimaru's research abilities, which ranked among the very best in the Shinobi World, he believed undoing the Caged Bird Seal was only a matter of time.
He had come to the Hyuga Clan compound specifically