Senior and junior disciples

Xia Yan really had not expected this groundbreaking meeting to end with such mixed results.

Xia Yan knew very well that Minato Namikaze did not trust him, but he knew even better that Minato had no other choice right now.

Therefore, choosing to extend a measure of trust despite his distrust, then using the intelligence he received to judge Xia Yan's true intentions, would be Minato's best option for the time being.

Besides, Xia Yan had several identities working in his favor. For example, he had been Kakashi's classmate, and now counted as someone Kakashi trusted.

He was also a Squad Leader with five years of service in the Anbu. Though his position was not high, he still had access to quite a few things.

The value these identities brought really mattered, and Minato did indeed need those things.

Moreover, Minato knew perfectly well that he had no way of winning over those at Director Level right now. He could not even do much about the Captains.

Someone with Xia Yan's standing was therefore his best choice at present.

From small to large, from weak to strong, Minato had already mapped out the path he wanted to take.

And to make it easier to stay in contact with Xia Yan, he had even taken the initiative to offer to teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique.

That was because Minato knew very well that someone from the Senju Clan like Xia Yan would certainly not lack detailed information on the Flying Thunder God.

Xia Yan's own performance had proved this. He understood the Flying Thunder God and could even activate its cursed seal.

He lacked only one thing: sealing jutsu.

But Minato felt that teaching him sealing jutsu alone would clearly not be enough to satisfy him.

Since he had no choice, he would gain the greatest possible benefit from the choices still available to him.

War had taught Minato many things. However gentle he was, however much goodwill he held toward others, he would still make certain choices at certain times.

Thus, the trust he could demonstrate by teaching Xia Yan the complete Flying Thunder God Technique would definitely be far more worthwhile than merely teaching him sealing jutsu.

But Minato's choice really had left Xia Yan dumbfounded. He did indeed need instruction in the Flying Thunder God Technique, but as someone with a cheat, he could master it with ease!

And compared with the Flying Thunder God, he actually had more ideas about further applications of sealing jutsu.

Yet now he found that Minato intended to get personally involved. How could that not give Xia Yan a headache?

Unfortunately, despite his headache, there was nothing he could do. He really could not refuse Minato's "kindness."

Forget it. I'll just leave it at that.

Sitting in the Anbu lounge, Xia Yan sighed inwardly.

The outcome of this meeting with Minato had been fairly good. Although it had not achieved everything he had hoped for, it was still much better than the alternatives.

At least his Flying Thunder God Technique had a way forward now. All that remained was to master it completely over these nearly ten months and find a way to obtain more sealing jutsu.

Xia Yan was not worried at all about whether he could master the Flying Thunder God. With his cheat's properties there, he was very confident about that aspect.

The only thing he needed to pay attention to was how to unleash the technique's full power in actual combat once he mastered it.

Anyone who mastered the Flying Thunder God would certainly not be weak. Just look at the Second Hokage and the Fourth Hokage, the only two people who had mastered it.

Not only were they both outstandingly powerful, but the opponents they had defeated or even killed using the Flying Thunder God alone were enough to demonstrate the technique's potential!

Much the same went for sealing jutsu, except that there were far more varieties of sealing jutsu than of the Flying Thunder God.

And Xia Yan personally felt that sealing jutsu's potential was certainly no less than the Flying Thunder God's!

Those unbelievably ferocious tailed beasts all ended up getting put in their place like little kids when they ran into sealing jutsu, didn't they?

Tailed beasts were indeed terrifying existences, especially for ordinary ninja-even including some Kage Level ninja-and were extremely difficult to deal with!

Yet some people could suppress a tailed beast completely from beginning to end, all the way to its death, without giving it any chance to cause trouble.

For example, the Senju Clan tormented tailed beasts physically, the Uchiha Clan tormented them mentally, and the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu inflicted both mental and physical torment.

Strictly speaking, the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu could not compare with the Uchiha's genjutsu or the Senju Clan's Wood Release.

But its advantage lay in combining both effects, allowing a tailed beast to experience double the pleasure at once-imprisoning its body while letting it see the outside world, yet never letting it experience freedom.

Xia Yan did not have Wood Release at this stage, perhaps because he had not yet obtained the seed.

He was therefore quite willing to spend some time on sealing jutsu, and he certainly did not believe that sealing jutsu was only effective against tailed beasts.

Such techniques could undoubtedly have unimaginable effects on people too. Just look at the Reaper Death Seal the Third Hokage had used on Orochimaru. That was one derivative application of sealing jutsu.

Xia Yan would not consider the Reaper Death Seal, but he felt he would consider other options, such as directly sealing someone's chakra.

"Captain." Just as Xia Yan was thinking, a voice suddenly came from behind him. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, Kakashi." Xia Yan turned his head slightly for a look, then smiled. "Nothing much. Just thinking about some other things."

"I see." Kakashi nodded without giving it much thought and sat straight down. "By the way, Sensei wanted to see you..."

"He intends to teach me sealing jutsu," Xia Yan said with a smile. He had never intended to hide it.

Having Minato teach him sealing jutsu, or even the Flying Thunder God Technique, was a selling point that would be very useful to Xia Yan.

Xia Yan even had a deeper plan, but that matter would require careful planning and some patient waiting.

He did not believe that the Third Hokage would show no reaction to an Anbu Squad Leader like him remaining in constant contact with Minato.

As long as there was a reaction, Xia Yan could gain more benefits from it. Why would he hide such a good opportunity when it had come right to his door?

"Sensei is going to teach you sealing jutsu himself?"

Kakashi froze for a moment, then, for once, actually smiled.

His eyes suddenly narrowed slightly into crescents. Even without seeing his entire face, Xia Yan knew he really was smiling.

"In that case, we're going to be senior and junior disciples."

"That's true, but we'll have to wait until Lord Hokage has time." Although Xia Yan was amazed by Kakashi's change, he did not let much show on his face.

"By the way, there's something I need to tell you." Kakashi soon opened his eyes, his expression returning to its previous calm. "Do you remember what happened to Team 5 and Team 9 of the Second Division, the teams that were wiped out?"

"Of course." Xia Yan nodded. Two of his own subordinates had been transferred over to lead and rebuild those teams. How could he possibly forget?

"According to our intelligence, they were killed by one person."

"Oh? Who would do something like that?"

"As it happens, this has something to do with us. The person who killed them was Kakuzu."

"..."