On his second day at the Ninja Academy, Tianyun Hyuga once again made his entire class skip school. Meanwhile, he lounged over his desk with nothing to do, waiting for those rich kids to come and hand him their money.
Even Heigui Inuzuka and Daishi Akimichi, whom Tianyun Hyuga had taught a lesson, along with Shingao Uchiha and Ba Uchiha, who had only just reached the school gates, had sprinted home to ask their families for five hundred thousand.
As for getting revenge on Tianyun Hyuga, they had already put that out of their minds. All they wanted now was to learn his fighting art.
At seven that morning, Iruka put yesterday's frustration behind him and set off for school with a fresh outlook, ready to give those students who had skipped class a proper lesson and make them train hard.
But to Iruka's fury, the moment he entered the teaching building, he ran into teachers from other classes who told him that all his students seemed to have run out of the school. None of them were in the classroom.
Hearing this, Iruka rushed to his classroom, only to find that the sole student there was Tianyun Hyuga, who had enrolled just yesterday.
Holding back his anger, Iruka loudly questioned Tianyun Hyuga, who was resting with his head on his desk. "Tianyun, where did the other students go? Why is everyone gone? Did you fight with them again...?"
Tianyun Hyuga raised his head and glanced at Iruka, then said calmly, "Teacher, I haven't done anything today. They skipped class on their own..."
Iruka was practically exploding with rage. He told Tianyun Hyuga directly, "Tianyun, study on your own. I need to go out for a while..."
With that, Iruka left the classroom and hurried out of the school.
What Iruka had not expected was that less than five minutes after he left, Neji Hyuga returned to the classroom with a hundred thousand.
Then the other students returned one after another, crowding around Tianyun Hyuga to hand over their money.
Neji Hyuga was rather bewildered. He had been the first to leave and had no idea what had happened afterward. Now, watching his classmates hand money to Tianyun Hyuga one after another, he was so stunned that he let himself get squeezed aside.
Tianyun Hyuga was delighted. There were thirty-five students in the Elite Class. Apart from Neji Hyuga, who paid a hundred thousand, every other student paid five hundred thousand, instantly swelling his funds to 16.6 million.
He could actually have earned another five hundred thousand, but that money belonged to Tenten. She would be a major customer of his in the future, and he certainly would not let a mere five hundred thousand put distance between them. So he waived her payment and agreed to teach her Tai Chi for free.
Once everyone in the class had finished paying, Neji Hyuga pushed through the crowd and approached Tianyun Hyuga. Frowning, he warned, "Tianyun Hyuga, your fighting style belongs to the Hyuga Clan. How can you just teach it to people outside the clan? Aren't you afraid the clan will punish you?"
"Neji Hyuga, if Tianyun Hyuga wants to teach it, he can! What business is it of yours...?" Shingao Uchiha had just paid, so there was no way he would let Neji Hyuga interfere. He immediately led a group of his followers over to block Neji Hyuga and keep him from approaching Tianyun Hyuga again.
"Exactly! Neji Hyuga, mind your own business..." Some children from other clans also chimed in to support Shingao Uchiha.
Although everyone in Konoha was on bad terms with the Uchiha Clan, a new Ninjutsu was at stake now. They were willing to back Shingao Uchiha rather than let Neji Hyuga ruin their opportunity.
After Shingao Uchiha and his followers shoved him aside, Neji Hyuga hesitated but said nothing more. No matter how strong he was, he could not withstand the entire class ganging up on him. He could only retreat helplessly.
Tenten, who was sitting beside Tianyun Hyuga, had just formed a slightly better impression of him because he had refused to take her money. Neji Hyuga's warning made her ask, "Tianyun, you won't really be punished by your clan, will you?"
"I'm so touched. Are you worried about me?" Tianyun Hyuga asked her in return.
Tianyun Hyuga's words left Tenten terribly embarrassed. She glared at him and said, "Who's worried about you? Whatever happens to you has nothing to do with me."
Tianyun Hyuga said disappointedly, "Aw, come on. I thought my sincerity had finally moved you and you'd be willing to play with me from now on."
Tenten simply turned away, refusing to look at Tianyun Hyuga's theatrics anymore.
Seeing that Tenten really was ignoring him, Tianyun Hyuga hurriedly said, "All right, Tenten, you don't need to worry about the Hyuga Clan punishing me. This is a new fighting style. It doesn't belong to the Hyuga Clan, so I can teach it to whoever I want. Still, it's most powerful when used by someone from the Hyuga Clan. Once you learn it, you'll be able to handle Ninja who specialize in Taijutsu, but it won't be much use against Ninjutsu or genjutsu specialists."
That piqued Tenten's interest. She turned back and asked curiously, "Then if I learn all of it, could I take on a Chunin...?"
"Heh..." Tianyun Hyuga shook his head and said helplessly, "You still need to be strong enough yourself! Let me put it this way. If you're a Genin fighting a Taijutsu-focused Chunin head-on in close combat, you could fight them to a draw. But if they're an elite Chunin, you wouldn't have enough strength to handle them..."
Although it only let them fight above their rank in Taijutsu, that already qualified it as a mid-to-high-level Nintaijutsu. Hearing Tianyun Hyuga's explanation, the students of the Elite Class could not help growing excited.
Shingao Uchiha of the Uchiha Clan was the first to lose patience and call out, "Tianyun Hyuga, we've already paid you. Hurry up and teach us! Stop wasting our time."
Tianyun Hyuga turned and glanced at Shingao Uchiha, then said with displeasure, "That five hundred thousand only got me to agree to teach you. I never said when I would teach you. If you want lessons, make an appointment in advance. Each appointment costs ten thousand and gets you one hour of instruction."
Shingao Uchiha felt like coughing up blood. He pointed at Tianyun Hyuga, speechless, his face flushed bright red. Finally, he took out twenty thousand and slapped it onto Tianyun Hyuga's desk. "Here's twenty thousand. Teach Hachiro and me your fighting style right now."
The moment Shingao Uchiha brought out the money, Tianyun Hyuga pocketed it and said with satisfaction, "I believe in payment on delivery, too. Since you've paid, let's go outside and train."
With that, Tianyun Hyuga glanced at the other students and said with a crafty expression, "Ba Uchiha and Shingao Uchiha have paid, so I'll teach them separately. Those of you who haven't paid can only wait until I'm in a good mood."
Then Tianyun Hyuga turned again and said to Tenten with a beaming smile, "Miss Tenten, you and Neji don't need to pay anything more. Come find somewhere to train with me! I promise I'll teach you everything I know."
With the whole class staring at her enviously, Tenten's face turned bright red. "Tianyun Hyuga, there's nothing between us. I'll pay too. It's not as if I can't afford ten thousand."
With that, Tenten pulled a note from the five hundred thousand she had just taken back and handed it to Tianyun Hyuga. "Here. I'm paying tuition too, understand...?"
Tianyun Hyuga would not take Tenten's money. He pushed it straight back into her arms and said, "Come on, we're close friends. How could I take your money? Put it away."
To Shingao Uchiha, Tianyun Hyuga and Tenten's back-and-forth looked like flirting. Eager to learn Tianyun Hyuga's new fighting style, he could not help saying, "Tianyun Hyuga, the other students have already put together three hundred and ten thousand. Hurry up and take us to train!"
Tianyun Hyuga looked back at the other students. Sure enough, some of them had borrowed ten thousand from classmates who had brought money and handed it to Shingao Uchiha. They were all waiting for Tianyun Hyuga to take them to train.
Having achieved his goal of raking in money, Tianyun Hyuga did not want to antagonize these privileged kids any further. If he truly angered them and their parents came looking for him, things would get troublesome. He stood and swept his hand through the air. "There's a small forest behind the school. Let's train there!"
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