Hyuga Tetsu.
He was a ninja of the Branch Family, in the same graduating class as Hyuga Yu, though a year older in age.
He had brown hair tied in a neat ponytail and a stern, rigid face that made him look like a very serious person.
Before this, Hyuga Yu hadn't had many interactions with him. They had only bumped into each other a few times while the Border Reconnaissance Squad was on duty; at the time, Tetsu was a member of Team 9.
Perhaps they had exchanged a few words during breaks between shifts.
However, Hyuga Yu, who had been busy training in the [Byakugan Stealth Technique] back then, really couldn't remember clearly what Hyuga Tetsu had said to him.
"Don't you remember?"
"Last year, when Team 8 and Team 9 were performing patrol duties, we talked."
At this moment, Hyuga Tetsu looked at Hyuga Yu, his brow slightly furrowed, speaking in the tone of an older brother:
"Back then, I asked you: what exactly are you thinking?"
"Why can't you be a little more normal?"
"You always cling to those eccentric methods, never caring about how others view you, always going your own way and thinking you're right."
"But look at the result,"
"You relied on shortcuts to awaken the Byakugan ahead of schedule, yet you neglected the training of the clan's secret techniques. Your failure in the Chunin Exams is the price you pay for your own actions!"
Listening to these words, Hyuga Yu's eyes remained completely unwavering. He simply responded indifferently:
"Oh."
"You—"
Receiving such a perfunctory answer caused the veins on Hyuga Tetsu's forehead to throb, and he looked ready to explode.
Hyuga Yu interrupted him first: "Is there anything else?"
Hyuga Tetsu took a deep breath, suppressing the dissatisfaction rising in his heart. With a darkened expression, he brought up another matter, questioning him:
"I heard you gave up on Elder Chongguang's letter of appointment?"
Hyuga Yu gave him a strange look and nodded calmly. "That's right."
Hyuga Tetsu grew even more furious at Hyuga Yu's indifferent attitude.
He clenched his fists, his face sinking as he glared at Hyuga Yu, scolding him:
"What on earth are you thinking?"
"You, Hyuga Yu, have neither aptitude nor strength. You were only lucky enough to have parents who saved a Main House Elder to receive such an opportunity—to receive such preferential treatment that allows a Branch Family member to act so willfully!"
"Do you have any idea what a precious opportunity you refused?"
"Do you know that Elder Chongguang has been waiting for this day to repay your parents' kindness?"
"Do you know how many people in the Branch Family envy you?"
Hyuga Yu smiled.
"Envy what? Envy the fact that I can get on my knees and kowtow to people every single day?"
Hyuga Tetsu's face turned iron-blue. He pursed his lips, laughing out of sheer anger as he pointed at Hyuga Yu and rebuked:
"Hyuga Yu!"
"Are you still dreaming that self-righteous, unrealistic ninja dream of yours?"
"Even if you don't care about the ridicule of outsiders, even if you don't care about the reputation of the Hyuga Clan!"
"Why don't you think about Natsu?"
"What did Natsu do wrong to be stuck with a rotter like you?!"
"Starting as a servant, accepting training and heavy responsibilities along the way, and eventually becoming a steward for the Main House lineage... Hyuga Yu, both you and I should understand that this is the path with the highest ceiling for you in this life!"
"It is also the only place where you can be worthy of Natsu!"
"But now... but now... you've thrown this chance away with your own hands!"
Hyuga Tetsu stared at Hyuga Yu with a look of hatred for iron not becoming steel. Even the whites of his eyes were savagely streaked with blood. His gaze held regret, annoyance, but mostly a kind of fury—
The fury of wishing he could take his place.
Hyuga Yu understood.
He tilted his head, looking at Hyuga Tetsu with an amused expression, and asked:
"You like Natsu?"
Hearing this, Hyuga Tetsu's sturdy frame jolted. The anger on his face vanished as quickly as snow melting under a warm sun, replaced by a flush of embarrassment as intense as the scorched earth of midsummer.
He pursed his lips, trembling all over for a moment.
Then, his face darkened. He lowered his head and stiffly reached out, grabbing Hyuga Yu's arm. He spoke in a muffled, nasally voice:
"Come with me!"
"Go to Elder Chongguang and apologize. Beg him to withdraw his command so you can continue working for the Main House."
"I... I will help you become a steward of the Main House lineage. I'll even... even help you become the Grand Steward who manages the affairs of the entire Hyuga Clan."
Hyuga Tetsu was, after all, only a fourteen-year-old boy. He couldn't hide his feelings, and in a moment of impulse, he made such a twisted promise to Hyuga Yu.
However, Hyuga Yu shook his head and calmly pulled his arm back.
Hyuga Tetsu raised his head in disbelief, glaring at Hyuga Yu with a dark expression.
"You... I've conceded to this extent, what more do you..."
As he spoke, a look of panic rose on his face.
"I understand. I can also—"
"Enough, Tetsu." Hyuga Yu interrupted him, turning his body sideways to let Tetsu see behind him.
At this moment, in the corridor of the second floor of the apartment building, the wooden door marked 205 opened.
A young girl stood smiling in the doorway. She wore a pristine white sundress and had her long hair tied back. Her skin was so fair and tender it seemed to glow. Illuminated by the white incandescent light of the corridor ceiling, she looked like a translucent, porcelain doll.
She looked over like a virtuous wife, wearing a gentle smile on her face that no one could find fault with.
It was Hyuga Natsu.
"Natsu..." Hyuga Tetsu looked at the girl's silhouette. All the words in his throat choked up in that instant. In the end, he could only raise his head helplessly, looking at Hyuga Yu—who wore an amused expression—with pleading eyes.
It was as if he were begging Hyuga Yu to accept his conditions.
It was as if he were humble enough to sell his soul to the devil just for a legitimate reason to appear before the girl.
But Hyuga Yu was not a devil.
He looked at Hyuga Tetsu with a face so calm it bordered on indifference. Gradually, an obscure, inexplicable light flickered in his eyes.
Then, he suddenly asked:
"Tetsu, is Team 9's transfer order for tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's why when I heard about this, I immediately came to find—" Hyuga Tetsu nodded subconsciously. Halfway through his sentence, his face suddenly flushed with embarrassment, and he raised his hand to correct himself. "No, don't misunderstand, I mean..."
Hyuga Yu furrowed his brows slightly, thought for a moment, and then asked: "Is the destination Kusanami Coast?"
Kusanami Coast.
Located on the eastern side of the Land of Fire, connecting to the Land of Waves. In this season, it was one of the few main routes leading to the eastern coastal front lines of the Land of Fire.
Hyuga Tetsu froze in place. The expression on his face seemed to say, How do you know? But he forcibly swallowed the words that were about to escape his lips.
Ninjas were bound by confidentiality regulations regarding their missions, even more so during wartime. Although the mission Hyuga Tetsu was to execute wasn't the most critical part, it was still of significant importance.
He could not tell Hyuga Yu.
But from the changes in Hyuga Tetsu's expression, Hyuga Yu had already guessed the answer.
Team 9, to which Hyuga Tetsu belonged, was led by a Jonin of the Hyuga Clan. They had only withdrawn from the battlefield in the Land of Rain to the village half a month ago. According to custom, they should have been resting in the village for a month.
Yet, Hyuga Yu had seen the members of Team 9 replenishing their ninja tools while passing the training grounds. Clearly, they had received an urgent mission to head out. Currently, there weren't many missions that required members of the Hyuga Clan to be deployed specifically.
Inferring from this, the time for the Main House Young Master, Hyuga Genko, to leave the village for the Hidden Mist battlefield must be tomorrow.
Seeing Hyuga Yu suddenly fall silent and drift into thought, Hyuga Tetsu gritted his teeth and spoke forcefully once more:
"In short, I don't have much time to chat with you about this. Hyuga Yu, you must come with me to Elder Chongguang's place right now."
"Tetsu."
Hyuga Tetsu's anxious voice snapped Hyuga Yu back to reality. His expression shifted slightly, as if he had made a decision, and he interrupted the other party with abnormal calmness.
"What?"
"I won't give Natsu to you."
Hyuga Tetsu's eyes widened abruptly. "You... what are you saying?"
"I will become a Chunin, become a Jonin, and become an Elite Jonin."
"Then,"
"Become Hokage."
Hyuga Yu looked certain, calm, and even indifferent as he suddenly declared:
"You're right. I'm going to dream this absurd ninja dream—"
"Until the day I die."
Listening to a reply that seemed completely irrelevant to the conversation, and looking at the calm and serious Hyuga Yu, Hyuga Tetsu inexplicably felt his mouth go dry.
Yet, strangely, he felt a trace of relief, like receiving a great amnesty.
"You... you are simply..."
"Crazy."