Hyuga Asana's words were a wake-up call.
Uchiha Yuan finally understood why the Third Hokage had taken an interest in him.
A ten-year-old Uchiha who awakened the Sharingan wouldn't normally attract Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention. But if this Uchiha's only two friends were from the Hyuga and Yamanaka clans—well, that changed everything.
The Hyuga and Yamanaka clans were firmly aligned with the Hokage.
If Yuan was close friends with Asana and Kagetsu, it meant this Uchiha had the potential to be won over.
A genius from the Uchiha Clan open to alliance? That would be huge.
If Yuan could be persuaded to side with the Hokage, it would be equivalent to placing a spy within the Uchiha ranks. If Yuan grew strong and rose through the clan or Police Force, the political leverage would be tremendous.
Realizing this, a layer of cold sweat formed on Yuan's brow.
"Sorry, Asana. Looks like I dragged you into this," Yuan said with some guilt.
"If you know you've dragged me into it, then hurry up and get stronger! When we're on the battlefield, I'm counting on you to cover my back!"
Yuan nodded. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then started the day's sparring session.
When the session ended, the two of them, as usual, collapsed beside the river.
"Yuan, tomorrow bring our other teammate along," Asana suddenly said.
"You mean Yamanaka Kagetsu?"
"Yeah. We only have six days until graduation. I want to see what his skill level is."
"Alright, but I don't think we should bring him to the riverside."
"Then let's meet at one of the village training grounds. Since the Third Hokage intentionally leaked the team lineup, there's no need to be sneaky anymore."
"Alright, the third training ground it is. It's close to all three of our homes."
Asana thought about the third training ground's location and nodded in agreement.
When Yuan arrived at class, he pulled Kagetsu aside and told him to meet at the third training ground at 5:00 a.m. the next morning.
Kagetsu immediately agreed—this kind of meeting arrangement felt just like how real ninja operated, and he was thrilled.
At 4:30 a.m. the next day, Kagetsu showed up early.
He'd thought he'd be the first one there—but to his surprise, Hyuga Asana had already arrived.
She looked completely different from how she usually appeared at the academy.
There, she always walked behind Hyuga Chiwa and dressed like the other demure Hyuga girls.
At the academy, she always wore a blank expression and seemed indifferent to everything except Chiwa.
But today, she wore a white training outfit, her shoulder-length hair tied up for better mobility. She looked sharp and capable.
When Asana noticed Kagetsu arriving, she stopped her training and looked at him with piercing eyes. The intensity of her gaze made Kagetsu feel overwhelmed.
"So this is what Hyuga Asana is like when Hyuga Chiwa isn't around?" Kagetsu wondered.
"Yo, you're both here already!" A cheerful voice broke the silence behind them.
Kagetsu turned and saw Uchiha Yuan walking over. He hurried to greet him. "Yuan… M-morning!"
Yuan immediately understood something from Kagetsu's tone. He glanced at Asana.
Asana gave a helpless shrug. "I didn't do anything."
Kagetsu wasn't stupid. From their casual interaction, he immediately realized that Yuan and Asana must be quite close.
So all that pretending at school—that distant behavior—had been an act?
As if reading his thoughts, Asana said calmly, "We didn't want Miss Chiwa to know about our relationship. She really dislikes Uchiha."
"Ah… I mean, Asana—cough—I mean, Asana-san, don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Kagetsu stammered. He had intended to address her more casually, but her cold gaze threw him off.
"You can call me by name. We're teammates now—no need to be so formal," Asana replied.
"Same here," Yuan said. "Although you've been doing that with me for a while."
"Then… you two can just call me Kagetsu too," he replied quickly.
"Great. Kagetsu, could you give us a self-introduction?" Yuan asked. "Tell us a bit about yourself."
Kagetsu nodded. After gathering his thoughts, he said, "I'm Yamanaka Kagetsu. My chakra natures are Water and Earth. I can use one C-rank Earth Style jutsu: Earth Style: Earth Wall. I haven't learned any Water Style yet. My Transformation and Substitution—"
"Stop," Asana interrupted. "No need to talk about that. Tell us about your clan's mind-based secret techniques."
"I'm not that great at them yet. I can't infiltrate or read a dead person's memories, for example."
"What about Mind Body Switch?" Yuan asked.
"That's our foundational jutsu. Of course I can do that," Kagetsu replied.
"What about the technique that links the minds of teammates to communicate?" Asana asked.
"You mean Mind Transmission Jutsu? I can use it, but the others can't be too far away."
"What's the range?" Yuan asked.
"My mental sensing range is about fifteen meters. Mind Clone Jutsu's range is about the same."
After hearing this, Yuan and Asana exchanged a glance.
To be honest, Kagetsu's skill level was a bit underwhelming—even less impressive than Yamanaka Ino's when she graduated in the original timeline.
And that was during a peaceful era when ninjas were generally more lax.
But this was wartime.
With these skills, Kagetsu was basically cannon-fodder in waiting.
Still, Yuan and Asana were well above average for genin. If Kagetsu stuck to a support role, it should be fine.
Thinking this through, Yuan said, "Kagetsu, you're not quite on our level yet, but your clan's secret techniques are very useful. Your role in the team will mainly be support.
"As long as you do your part, I think we'll make great teammates."
(To Be Continued...)