“The insects are terrified — a fear unlike anything they’ve ever felt!”
Shino Aburame’s perpetually neutral face was streaked with cold sweat, drop by drop.
“Whimper—”
Kiba Inuzuka pulled Akamaru in tight, as if holding on hard enough might make them both a little less afraid.
Choji’s hand froze mid-bite.
Ino stopped fussing with her hair.
Shikamaru felt something cold settle deep in his chest.
Sharp as Shikamaru was, the identity of the person standing there was already clear, the man Shikamaru’s own father couldn’t speak of without fear.
The one every clan had drilled into their children never to provoke.
The Hyūga clan’s madman: Tiange Hyūga.
To think he’d unleash killing intent on children.
Truly…
the rumors hadn’t done him justice.
In the entire room, the only one who felt no fear at all was Hinata.
“Say it again.”
“Team 7.
Get out here.”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
Tiange Hyūga’s voice came out flat and cold, and this time it was even colder than before.
His gaze paused for a beat, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke.
All three felt the hair rise across their entire bodies.
They scrambled to their feet at once, including the ever-aloof, always-composed Sasuke.
Every one of them had the same thought: one second slower, and this man would have killed them all.
Seeing them rise, Tiange Hyūga turned and walked toward the classroom door.
He’d barely taken two steps when Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma walked in.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the killing intent hit them like a wall.
Both tensed immediately.
Then they saw Tiange Hyūga’s expressionless face coming straight at them.
“Greetings, Jōnin Tiange!”
They started, then rushed to address him.
Tiange Hyūga paid them no mind, walked right past as though they weren’t there, without so much as a glance.
The three kids trailing behind, watching that, became very well-behaved indeed.
Eyes fixed straight ahead, they followed out of the classroom without daring to slow down for even a moment.
Only after Tiange Hyūga’s figure disappeared did the entire room exhale.
“Phew.”
“That was…
that was terrifying.”
“That’s really Naruto’s squad leader?”
“A moment of silence for those three.”
“Who knows if they’ll still be around someday.”
“I swear I felt it, he was going to kill every single one of us.”
“Right?”
“You saw how Naruto never shuts up, and just now he went completely silent.
Not one word.”
“Who would dare say anything?”
“I couldn’t even breathe.”
“Shikamaru, do you know who that was?”
“I got the feeling those two who came in after, they’re squad leaders too, right?
And they looked genuinely scared of him.”
Ino was still shaken, not even daring to raise her voice.
Leaning close, Ino whispered to Shikamaru.
“Just don’t think about provoking him.”
“Stay respectful when you see him and you’ll be fine.”
“You’ve probably heard of him.
There’s only one person in all of Konoha with killing intent that thick.
Your families would have warned you too.”
“It’s him…”
Ino’s pupils shrank.
Of course.
Ino should have put it together sooner, but how could someone like that end up leading a genin squad?
“Team 8 — follow me!”
“Team 10, follow me!”
Before Ino could think any further, Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma stepped forward.
“Let’s go.”
Shikamaru called out to Choji and Ino, got up, and headed toward Asuma.
This time, Ino didn’t say a single word about Asuma’s scruffy beard.
Compared to who they’d just seen, the bearded man in front of her felt perfectly agreeable.
On the other side, Hinata and the other two hurried after Kurenai Yuhi, just stepping out the door.
“Kurenai, watch those three for me, I’m going to find Kakashi.
That guy still doesn’t know Team 7’s already gone.”
“Sure, go.”
“I’ll keep them here and wait for you.”
On the other side, Tiange Hyūga led the three of them toward the training ground, one step at a time.
Not a word the entire way.
Naruto’s trio didn’t dare speak either.
They followed along in silence.
They had barely reached the training ground when Tiange Hyūga turned to face them, just about to lay out what came next.
Then,
CLANG!
The killing intent surging through every inch of Tiange Hyūga’s body snapped backward.
The sword on his back cleared its sheath in an instant.
“Easy, it’s me, Kakashi!”
The blade stopped.
Less than a millimeter from Kakashi’s throat.
A thin line of blood had already seeped through the skin there.
Sword’s edge.
If Kakashi had spoken even a breath later, he’d have died on the spot.
Kakashi had tried to dodge.
The killing intent had arrived first, overwhelming, not the kind you push through.
Even with years of Anbu assassination work, even carrying considerable killing edge of his own, it hadn’t mattered at all.
Kakashi hadn’t even fully recovered from the assault of that killing intent before the blade was already there.
Biting down hard on his tongue, Kakashi forced clarity back and shouted.
“From now on, don’t appear suddenly behind me without warning.”
“Un, understood.”
CLANG!
Tiange Hyūga turned around.
Eyes found Kakashi, and the coldness in them looked ready to spill over.
After Kakashi answered, Tiange Hyūga’s fingers pressed into a hand seal.
The sword flew back into its sheath on its own.
“Gulp.”
“That’s…
so cool.”
The three of them stared, throats dry, swallowing hard.
Naruto watched the sword on Tiange Hyūga’s back fly out on its own and return on its own.
Naruto hadn’t caught the hand seal, figured it was something about the sword itself.
Couldn’t hold it in, and the words just came out.
Naruto saw cool.
Sasuke saw something else entirely: strength.
A level of strength he had never witnessed before.
And deep in his chest, something fierce and burning ignited.
With someone like this guiding him, he would kill that man.
Soon.
“You.
Why are you here.”
Tiange Hyūga didn’t look at the three of them.
Eyes moved to Kakashi, and that flat, emotionless voice came again.
“The Third arranged for me to be your assistant, my experience in this area is solid enough to be useful.”
Kakashi didn’t dare mention that the Third had actually sent him to keep an eye on Tiange Hyūga, out of concern Tiange Hyūga might do something to Naruto.
After what had just happened, Kakashi thought the Third had been completely overthinking it.
Even if Tiange Hyūga actually meant to do something, Kakashi stood no chance of stopping it.
None at all.
Besides, everyone always said Kakashi was hard to get along with.
This man made him look easy.
First meeting, and he’d nearly put a sword through Kakashi’s throat.
Every word out of his mouth was ice.
Kakashi made a silent vow: the next time anyone called him difficult, he was dragging that person in front of this man and letting them see what difficult actually looked like.
After Kakashi finished speaking, Tiange Hyūga said nothing.
Just stared.
Dead-set and unblinking.
It made Kakashi’s skin crawl.
Someone, anyone, please, this was too much to handle.
“Really…
just an assistant.
No other purpose?”
“No, none at all.
Absolutely none.”
Kakashi shook his head quickly.
The bitterness had hit rock bottom.
Right now, even if there were some other purpose, Kakashi had already decided.
A humble assistant, nothing more.
Whatever else someone might have been meant to do here, that person was welcome to it.
Kakashi couldn’t.
“Fine.”
“When things are wrapped up here, go tell him.”
“Whatever you do, do not give me a reason to kill him.”
➤ Next: You’re Nowhere Near His Level