Chapter 42 (C42)

As Kana stepped out of the hospital, she ran into Might Guy, who recited the line she'd answered many times before with practiced ease, "Still not awake. Getting better. In a few days."

“Wait, Kana,” Kai stopped her. “I’m not here to see Kakashi.”

Kana's first reaction was: "Something happened to Neji?"

"No, no, no, Neji is fine." Kai quickly explained when he saw her serious expression. "I came to find you."

"Me?" Kana was a little surprised. She didn't think she had any relationship with Kai that was worth "talking about privately" with, except for the matter of Neji.

“Let’s talk,” Kai said solemnly.

They said they wanted to talk, but Kai didn't really know where to begin.

It's no wonder Kana was surprised; the two of them weren't exactly close.

If we go back two years, we would have to add another adjective—very unfamiliar.

Kai's initial impression of Hinata Kana came from what he had heard: a young genius who skipped grades and was admitted to university through special admissions, and who, like the stereotype of geniuses, was aloof and quiet.

Ordinary Chunin and Jonin often team up with others temporarily when carrying out missions, but due to the special nature of the Anbu, Guy has never had any interaction with Hyuga Kana.

Until he became the instructor of the third class.

In the world of ninjas, mentorship is extremely important; a disciple can be considered half a son. This is Guy's first time leading a team, and people always have the deepest attachment to "first times," so he wanted to do his best.

I took over a class with a very obvious gap in abilities.

The top student and the last student in this year's class were both in his class. Kurenai Yuhi described him as a cold genius and a hot-blooded idiot.

"I can teach you, I can teach you anything," Matt Kai thought as he put the training uniform, which he had paid extra to have the tailor shop rush-made overnight, into the gift box.

He kept saying that girls wearing this were practically committing social death, and he even said that he would rather go back to school for another year than accept this offer.

So Kai could only turn his attention to the two boys.

Li Huantian happily accepted the gift and put it on immediately, greatly satisfying Kai's enthusiasm as a new teacher.

Neji stared at the frog-green clothes for a while, unable to come up with an answer, "Why wear it?"

"This way, everyone can immediately tell we're in the same class, which shows how united we are! That's youth for you!!"

"I don't want to."

Neji is a man of his word. No matter how much Guy threatened or bribed him, or how much Lee threw a tantrum, he always said the same two words, "No," and later he even ignored him completely.

The first step in creating the most youthful and passionate Kaiban was a major failure.

It doesn't matter. Kai is not one to get discouraged. As long as we are of one mind, why be bound by formalities?

But the second Waterloo came far too quickly.

When Neji first heard about his three-part training plan of stance, handstand, and running, he didn't understand it, but he still maintained basic respect for his teacher.

After sticking to it for a month, the new training schedule they received showed no qualitative change other than increased intensity. "Is our training content solely focused on physical fitness?"

"What about the use of chakra? What about ninjutsu and genjutsu?" He frowned.

"Oh, that!" Kai gave a thumbs up, smiling brightly and frankly. "I don't know ninjutsu."

Kai, who was the first among his peers to officially become a team leader, once analyzed with his friends in his spare time why these three students were assigned to his class. The conclusion was that their physical skills were among the best in their grade, which happened to be his area of ​​expertise.

But he overlooked one thing.

Lee's graduation report stated that he was good at physical combat, because that was all he knew. Neji, on the other hand, was strong in physical combat because he was strong in all aspects.

The heavy object hit the ground with a dull thud.

Neji removed the weights from his hands and feet, stretched his joints, and turned to leave.

"Wait for Neji." Guy stopped him.

Kai thought Neji would be angry, and perhaps even disdainful. After all, young geniuses like them, who had not yet been beaten, had extremely high arrogance, and this arrogance would not change even when facing Jonin who were now stronger than them.

But unexpectedly, Neji remained calm. "I've finished all the training for today. You can go now."

Kai then realized that Neji had always done twice the amount of training he had done in the past.

Li also worked very hard, putting in a lot of extra effort.

But they are different.

Neji always had energy left after each training session, while Lee's hands and feet would twitch due to overtraining.

Kai took the opportunity to fight the three children up close and discovered the clues.

When he grabbed Neji's arm, he could clearly feel that such muscle density and orderly chakra flow in his body could not be taught by the Ninja Academy alone. This level was not even something that many Chunin would have.

Guy wanted to teach his disciples his "Leaf Whirlwind" taijutsu, and even the Eight Gates, without reservation. However, these techniques demanded extremely high physical abilities—muscles and tendons needed to withstand the impact of high-speed chakra flow, and the chakra needed to be controlled to evenly and stably cover the entire body. Therefore, he hoped they could build a solid foundation.

But now, Neji is unconsciously using chakra to cover his muscle groups and assist them during regular physical training. In other words, he already has that "foundation".

The quality that Kai values ​​most is "hard work," and he himself has gotten to where he is today step by step through hard work.

But what if someone is not only hardworking, but also a genius?

Should we treat the training of different children differently? Before Kai, who was a teacher for the first time, could figure out a solution, the conflict erupted.

Lee felt that Neji's habit of leaving early every time was very disrespectful to Kai.

Neji, on the other hand, felt it was unnecessary to waste time on such simple and mechanical training.

"I still need to practice ninjutsu. Do you think he can teach me if I stay here?"

Because he couldn't use ninjutsu, Lee suffered a lot of ridicule from a young age and also felt discrimination from some teachers. Guy was the first person to affirm him, and in his heart, Guy was like a teacher and a father figure. Neji's words, however, sounded to him like a disdain for Guy's inability to use ninjutsu.

Even if it's someone he considers an opponent, he would never forgive them for saying such things about Teacher Kai.

When people argue, they often say hurtful things in the heat of the moment, but sometimes unintentional words are the most hurtful.

"Didn't your family teach you to respect teachers?"

Tenten later thought about it carefully and realized that it was probably this sentence that angered Neji.

No matter how Lee used to ramble on in front of him about being a destined rival or how stupid he was, Neji remained calm, letting it go in one ear and out the other, completely unconcerned.

That was the first time in the six years since Tenten had known Neji since they met at the Ninja Academy that she had seen him angry.

Tian Tian knew very well that she was not strong enough to stop the two of them, so she decisively ran to get reinforcements.

By the time Kai arrived with her, Neji had already used his Byakugan to beat Lee so badly that she was lying on the ground unable to get up.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Tian Tian only had time to explain the key point that "two people got into a fight," and Kai, who did not understand the cause and effect, was very angry.

In any case, it is wrong to lay a hand on a fellow human being—especially with such force.

Neji did not attend the training session on the second day.

There was none on the third day either.

On the fourth day, the person finally arrived.

But what they got was another Hinata.

Hyuga Kana walked up to Guy and asked, "Can you give me a reasonable explanation for Neji's injuries, senpai?"

"He hurt his comrade."

"So, teachers can hurt students?"

Kai admitted that he went too far because Neji had lost his mind and had even used the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. If he hadn't been serious, he really wouldn't have been able to subdue him. He also wanted to teach the kid a lesson.

This was something he learned from Kakashi, who was also hailed as a genius. Kakashi was so annoyed by him that he said, "A ninja only respects those who are stronger than him. You have to let him know that you are stronger than him, much stronger."

Kana looked around to make sure the place was secluded enough that a fight wouldn't affect the village's buildings. She then raised her right hand to her chest, making a gesture.

He also reminded them, "You two kids over there, stay away from here."

Kai's eyebrows furrowed.

That was the gesture ninjas used to request duels, regardless of whether they died or were injured. It was banned the year after the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

Kana flattened the katana tucked behind her back. "Didn't you say, senpai—I'll question you when I'm stronger than you?"

No, that's not what he actually said to Neji! Kai is devastated.

"Neji's parents, calm down..."

Around Kana, round, pearl-like water droplets condensed in mid-air, the lightning within them refracting into a shimmering light like shattered diamonds.

In the darkness, they would be like fireflies shimmering with a faint light.

Kai suddenly remembered that this was Hyuga Kana's signature move that made her famous in the ninja world, and it was also the origin of her nickname "Snowflake".

Kai instantly realized—she was serious.

His judgment proved to be very accurate.

A slight stinging pain came from below his ear. Kai reached down to touch it, and his fingertips were stained with blood. If he hadn't decisively opened the fourth level of the "Injury Gate," the injury would certainly have been more severe.

Those "water droplets" looked as fragile as fireflies in summer, but each one actually carried an A-rank lightning release technique. Hyuga Kana used water release to make up for the shortcomings of lightning release, such as relying on human bodies to gather, being unable to attack from a distance, and having low accuracy.

In the current ninja world, very few people can fuse and apply different chakra natures. Although she is far from being able to combine two chakra releases into a new one like the First Hokage, she is only a teenager, and her potential is terrifying. All the villages are wary of Konoha producing another absolute powerhouse like Hashirama Senju, which is why her bounty at the Gold Exchange is as high as those of the S-rank rogue ninjas who massacred villages and destroyed countries.

The "duel" had only been going on for less than ten minutes when it alarmed the Third Hokage.

"Do you know you're in a crucial period of your promotion evaluation?" the Third Hokage said in a deep voice, his anger barely contained. Kai believed that if he had a cane right now, he would definitely whack Kana Higashikata on the head with a look of utter disappointment.

Kana, seemingly unconcerned, said, "Then fire me."

"Kana."

There are limits to pulling a tiger's whiskers. Kana turned her head away in protest, but obediently shut her mouth.

After finishing his reprimand of Kana, the Third Hokage turned around and said, "Kai," he felt he had sighed more today than in the past month, "Kana is fifteen. Are you fifteen too?"

I'm so sorry!

"Consider today a friendly spar between the two of you, and let it end here." The Third Hokage sealed the matter, "Now, seal the reconciliation."

Kai never imagined that at his age he would one day be forced to use the "Harmony Seal" after a fight among the ninja school kids. He felt truly ashamed.

Kana, clutching the knife, cried, "No!"

As expected of siblings, Kai noticed that their tone and eyes when saying "no" were exactly the same.

Kana met the Third Hokage's gaze directly, refusing to back down in the face of his oppressive aura. "The problem hasn't been fundamentally solved. The Harmony Seal is merely a facade. Is this the result you wanted?"

She scoffed and extended her right hand to Kai first, "Then let's do it this way."

No matter how approachable the Third Hokage was on ordinary days, he was always the decisive and ruthless top decision-maker at the top of Konoha, and Guy had never actually seen the Third Hokage back down.

The Third Hokage wasn't wearing his Hokage hat. When Guy saw the gray in his temples, he suddenly realized that the unrestrained and sharp ninja from his childhood memories had unknowingly grown old.

He sighed heavily, "You acted too impulsively in this matter."

“No matter how deep or wide the roots of a tree are in the soil…” Kana seemed to be speaking to him, but not only to him, “As you’ve seen, I’m not a calm and calculating person. If it attacks Neji again…”

She smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I will definitely cut it down, no matter the cost."

The Third Hokage did not ask them to reconcile again. Before leaving, he turned back and said, "I believe you can handle this. Don't let me down, Kana."

That being said, how can a senior let a junior shoulder such a responsibility?

"I'm sorry!" Kai bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle. "As a teacher, I still have many shortcomings."

"Strictly speaking, it's because of me that they're implicated."

Kana's initial impression of him was too cold and domineering, but her sudden calmness made Kai feel a little uncomfortable.

“Neji and that kid… his name is Li, right?” Kana said. “The fact that they attacked each other so fiercely was probably due to the influence of hypnosis, which amplified their emotions. We’re not sure what medium they used, but there will be traces if they did it.”

Kai is straightforward and doesn't have any guile, but that doesn't mean he's an empty-headed idiot. Based on her conversation with the Third Hokage, he could vaguely guess the direction of things.

—She was warning that clandestine force, and also serving as a deterrent.

Kana was quite frank, saying, "Someone asked me to do something, but I refused, so they're trying to get something out of Neji."

“Neji is my disciple. It is my dereliction of duty as a teacher not to discover him in time and not to protect him.” Kai said solemnly, bowing again. “I am very sorry.”

"Senior Kai is indeed as easy to talk to as the rumors say."

She doesn't hold grudges. Otherwise, Kana wouldn't have come knocking on his door directly—he's Neji's mentor, and offending him wouldn't do her any good.

Kana extended two fingers forming the "Harmony Seal," and said, "Thank you for fighting alongside me."

Well, at heart he's a very straightforward person.

Kai extended two fingers, hooked the four fingers together, and made peace.

"Now, let's talk about Neji's training."

“…Okay, okay.” Despite being only a teenager, he was neither humble nor arrogant in front of his seniors, and his aura was not weak at all.

"Has Kai-senpai ever heard of 'teaching according to aptitude'?" Kana asked. "If, in the name of fairness, the child who is running ahead is made to stay in place and wait for the person behind, isn't that also a kind of 'unfairness'?"

"I know that you might not like Neji very much, senpai..."

"I……"

Kana shook her head, her face showing no resentment. "I didn't mean to criticize you, senior. Humans are inherently flawed; they're destined to be unable to treat everyone equally. How fortunate it is to find a disciple who suits your taste..."

"However, if the senior is unwilling to teach him more, then please allow him to leave after he has completed your training."

Kai sensed it from the first time he met Neji; he felt an urgency to become stronger.

Logically speaking, becoming stronger is the lifelong pursuit of every ninja, a passion etched into their bones, a choice that needs no further explanation. However, Neji's urgency goes far beyond this. "Why does he want to become stronger so much?"

“Senior,” Kai remembered, it was a very gentle laugh, as silent as a feather falling to the ground, “people like us have no choice.”

She took out a scroll and handed it over, saying, "This is a medical ninjutsu scroll for external injuries."

Kai had never heard of this before.

"This is a little gadget I made myself," Kana explained in detail. The technique on this scroll was already pre-set, so even if you don't know ninjutsu, "you can use chakra to activate the technique by covering the wound with the scroll, which can serve as an emergency treatment. Of course, I hope you never have to use it."

During missions, many ninjas didn't die on the spot, but from excessive blood loss due to delayed rescue. Guy had heard similar words many times in the hospital—"If only it had been a little earlier, even just half an hour or ten minutes..."

Every second counts in the race against death, but Konoha's per capita medical resources are severely insufficient. This scroll may not cure the person, but it can buy more time for subsequent treatment. In a sense, it's a lifesaver in critical situations.

"I can't accept this." Precisely because he knew how valuable this thing was, he was even more unwilling to accept it.

"Consider it my apology." Kana tossed the scroll into his arms, put her hands behind her back, and took a few steps back. "Farewell."