Izayoi's Plan

"Izayoi-kun, this is great—we succeeded."

After leaving the clan grounds with Izayoi, Hinata could no longer contain her excitement. Her voice trembled slightly.

"Stay calm. Your father might have sent a Guardian to secretly follow us and hear you say that," Izayoi reminded her with a smile.

Hearing that, Hinata hurriedly covered her little mouth and secretly looked around, adorably nervous.

"Come on. I'll take you somewhere."

Izayoi was not certain whether a Guardian was following them in secret, so he did not dispel his Transformation Technique. Instead, he led Hinata away from Central Street and toward the Training Grounds in the wilderness.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

After entering the forest, Izayoi created a shadow clone, which vanished in a Body Flicker.

Before long, Izayoi dispelled his Transformation Technique.

Seeing this, Hinata asked eagerly, "Izayoi-kun, does that mean no one was following us?"

"Yeah, I've confirmed it. No one was following us."

Izayoi nodded, grinning. "I'll teach you a technique in a moment. Practice it at home after you go back. If your Father sees it, he probably won't stop you from going out anymore."

The joy on Hinata's face deepened.

Transforming into Ino Yamanaka and inviting Hinata out.

That was Izayoi's plan.

Otherwise, if he went to invite her himself, there was no way Hinata would be allowed to come out.

At best, he would make a wasted trip. At worst, Neji Hyuga, having received orders, might come warn him off. Or he might be moved to another seat in class, perhaps even another class altogether.

Children might not understand what was going on.

But Izayoi knew clearly that this was how adults operated.

In this world, where Feudal Lords and nobles existed, class divisions were even more pronounced than in his previous life.

Hinata was the Young Lady of a prestigious Ninja Clan, while Izayoi was merely a commoner orphan without even a surname.

A vast gulf lay between them.

If Izayoi had been a girl, he might still have had some hope of becoming friends with Hinata.

But he was male. Whether to prevent Hinata from falling for him or to keep the Kekkei Genkai from leaking out, neither Hyuga Hiashi nor the Clan Elders of the Main House would allow Izayoi and Hinata to grow too close.

Unless... Izayoi's value was high enough.

If he were a commoner genius worth recruiting, then he would qualify to marry into the clan.

If he were like Naruto Uzumaki—a hero of the Hidden Leaf Village, the Savior of the World of the Ninja World—only then could he marry the Young Lady of the Main House.

Before proving his worth, Izayoi could only resort to a few small tricks.

Ino Yamanaka was the Young Lady of the Yamanaka Clan and one of the new generation's Ino-Shika-Cho. No matter how poor her combat ability was, she could still rely on the Clan Secret Technique in the future to become an important figure in the intelligence division, someone with real authority.

Ino-Shika-Cho were allied as one. Among the Konoha 11, if anyone was qualified to be friends with Hinata, it was undoubtedly Ino Yamanaka.

Only by transforming into Ino Yamanaka could he invite Hinata out, with a high chance that no Guardian would follow her.

If he were not worried that, as he kept growing stronger, the gap between him and Hinata would only widen and the difficulty of triggering her Red Perk would continue to rise, Izayoi truly would not have wanted to take such a risk.

Once the first major exam arrived and he won the title of Top Student, he would have at least a little confidence.

But compared to the Red Perks of Naruto and Sasuke, Izayoi wanted to trigger Hinata's Red Perk even more.

As long as he awakened the Tenseigan, he would have nothing to fear.

That was why he did not want to miss this break.

Arriving at an abandoned Training Grounds, Izayoi looked at Hinata and asked, "Hinata, have you learned the Three Body Technique?"

"Not yet." Hinata shook her head. "Father told me to focus on practicing the Gentle Fist. I can only practice other ninjutsu in my spare time after the academy teaches them."

"In that case, I won't teach you the Three Body Technique either."

Izayoi smiled. "I'll teach you a technique that can improve your Chakra Control. Whether you're practicing your clan's Gentle Fist or learning the Shadow Clone Technique, it'll make everything twice as effective with half the effort."

Hinata's beautiful eyes widened in astonishment. "Izayoi-kun, you... you're going to teach me the Shadow Clone Technique?"

"That's right."

Izayoi nodded. "From now on, my Main Body will rarely go to the academy. You can come here to find me whenever you want. Or you can practice the Shadow Clone Technique and, like me, secretly have a shadow clone attend class while your Main Body comes here to train with me."

Hinata was deeply tempted by those words.

After learning that Izayoi sent a shadow clone to class, Hinata had wanted to learn the Shadow Clone Technique too.

Not for any other reason—she simply did not want Izayoi to leave her too far behind.

But just as she had said, Hyuga Hiashi only wanted her to focus on learning the Gentle Fist. He would not teach her anything else, nor would he allow her to learn anything else.

Forget the Shadow Clone Technique—Hinata did not even know the Three Body Technique.

Now that she had heard Izayoi wanted to teach her the Shadow Clone Technique, and that she could secretly come here every day to train with him, she would have both friendship and the freedom she had longed for.

Hinata was naturally deeply tempted.

Seeing her expression, Izayoi immediately understood what she was thinking.

"Come with me. I'll teach you how to improve your Chakra Control."

Izayoi smiled at Hinata, then walked beneath a massive tree that would take several people to encircle.

He formed a Hand Seal with both hands and said to Hinata, "Use Hand Seals to gather chakra beneath your feet, then overcome the fear in your heart and do as I do..."

Under Hinata's wide-eyed, astonished gaze, Izayoi raised his right foot and stepped onto the trunk.

The moment his right foot touched the trunk, Izayoi lifted his left foot and stepped up as well.

With both feet off the ground, his body stood straight out horizontally before Hinata.

Then, step by step, as though walking on level ground, Izayoi walked from the base of the tree all the way to its crown.

Turning to face Hinata below, his body formed a right angle against the tree as he smiled. "Tree Climbing. That's the technique I'm teaching you."

"So... so amazing!"

Watching Izayoi defy gravity, Hinata was utterly stunned.

Walking back down from the tree, Izayoi smiled. "Tree Climbing is only the first stage. There's an even more difficult technique: Water Walking."

"As long as you master these two techniques, the Three Body Technique, the Shadow Clone Technique, and even the Body Flicker Technique won't pose any difficulty for you."

"C-can I really learn them?" Hinata lacked confidence.

"Don't underestimate yourself. You're the Young Lady of the Hyuga Clan."

Izayoi patted Hinata on the shoulder and encouraged her, "Go on, give it a try. Don't be afraid of falling. I'll catch you."

"If you fall too far behind, I won't wait for you."

Izayoi's final words carried a teasing note, as though he were joking with her.

Yet that single sentence strengthened Hinata's resolve. She nodded firmly. "Mm!"

She had already disappointed Father. She absolutely could not disappoint Izayoi as well, nor did she want to lose her only friend.