"Izayoi-kun, this is amazing—we did it!"
Having successfully left the Hyūga compound with Izayoi, Hinata could no longer contain her excitement, her voice trembling slightly with emotion.
"Stay calm. Be careful—your father might have sent guards to secretly follow us. They might hear you if you talk like that," Izayoi reminded her with a smile.
Upon hearing that, Hinata quickly covered her mouth and glanced around furtively, looking absolutely adorable.
"Let's go. I'll take you somewhere."
Izayoi wasn't entirely sure whether any guards were following them or not, so he didn't dispel the Transformation Technique. Instead, he led Hinata away from the central street and toward a training field in the wild.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Once they entered the forest, Izayoi created a shadow clone, which instantly vanished using Body Flicker.
Not long after, Izayoi canceled the Transformation Technique.
Seeing this, Hinata's face lit up with joy:
"Izayoi-kun… does that mean no one's following us?"
"Yeah, I've confirmed it. No one's tailing us."
Izayoi nodded, then grinned:
"In a bit, I'll teach you a new technique. Practice it at home. If your father sees it, he probably won't stop you from going out anymore."
Upon hearing this, Hinata's smile grew even brighter.
---
Disguising himself as Yamanaka Ino and inviting Hinata out—this was Izayoi's plan.
If he had gone himself to invite her, Hinata would never have been allowed to leave.
At best, he would've made the trip for nothing. At worst, he might have been warned by Hyūga Neji, acting on orders. He could even be moved to another seat—or another class entirely.
The other kids might not understand what's going on.
But Izayoi knew very well—this was how adults operated.
In a world where daimyos and nobles still existed, class divisions were even more obvious than in his previous life.
Hinata was the daughter of a powerful noble ninja clan.
Izayoi, on the other hand, was a nameless orphan from the civilian class.
Between the two of them lay an unbridgeable chasm.
If Izayoi were a girl, he might have had some hope of becoming friends with Hinata.
But as a boy, his proximity to Hinata could easily be seen as a threat—both because of the risk of her developing feelings for him and the danger of Hyūga bloodline techniques being leaked.
Neither Hyūga Hiashi nor the elders of the main house would allow Izayoi and Hinata to grow too close.
Unless... Izayoi's value was extraordinarily high.
If he was a civilian genius worth recruiting, he might be allowed to marry into the family.
If he was like Naruto Uzumaki—a hero of the village, a savior of the ninja world—only then could he dream of marrying the heiress of the Hyūga clan.
Until he proved that value, Izayoi could only rely on clever tricks.
---
Yamanaka Ino was the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan and one of the new generation's Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
Even if her personal strength was lacking, her clan's secret techniques would allow her to become a key figure in the Intelligence Division—a position of real power.
The Ino-Shika-Chō clans were longstanding allies.
If anyone among the Konoha Nine was qualified to be Hinata's friend, it was Ino—without a doubt.
Only by transforming into Ino could Izayoi invite Hinata out and have a high chance of avoiding the watchful eyes of her guards.
If not for the growing power gap between them—and the rising difficulty of triggering Hinata's red trait—Izayoi honestly wouldn't want to take such a risky move.
But once the first major exam came around and he secured the top spot, he'd finally have some real leverage.
Compared to Naruto and Sasuke's red trait entries, Izayoi was even more eager to trigger Hinata's red trait entry.
As long as he awakened the Tenseigan, he would no longer have anything to fear.
That's why he didn't want to waste this vacation.
---
Upon arriving at an abandoned training field, Izayoi turned to Hinata and asked:
"Hinata, have you learned the Three Basic Jutsu yet?"
"Not yet," Hinata shook her head. "Father wants me to focus on training the Gentle Fist. He said I can only practice other ninjutsu once the school teaches them, and only then in my spare time."
"In that case, I won't teach you the Three Basic Jutsu either."
Izayoi smiled and said:
"Instead, I'll teach you a technique that improves your chakra control. Whether it's your clan's Gentle Fist or learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu, it'll make everything twice as effective with half the effort."
Hinata's eyes widened in surprise:
"Izayoi-kun, are… are you really going to teach me the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
"That's right."
Izayoi nodded.
"From now on, my real body will rarely go to school. You can come here anytime to find me—or train the Shadow Clone Jutsu like me. Let your clone go to class while your real body comes here to train with me."
Upon hearing this, Hinata was deeply tempted.
Ever since she found out Izayoi used a shadow clone to attend class, she'd wanted to learn the jutsu too.
Not for any other reason—just so she wouldn't fall too far behind him.
But as she said earlier, Hiashi Hyūga only allowed her to focus on Gentle Fist. He wouldn't teach her anything else, nor allow her to learn other jutsu.
Forget the Shadow Clone Jutsu—Hinata didn't even know the Three Basic Jutsu.
Now, hearing that Izayoi was willing to teach her the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and that she could secretly come here every day to train with him—gaining both friendship and a taste of the freedom she yearned for—
Hinata was naturally thrilled.
Seeing the look on her face, Izayoi instantly understood her thoughts.
"Follow me. I'll teach you how to improve your chakra control."
He smiled at her and led the way to a large tree that would take several people to encircle.
He formed a Ram hand seal, then said to Hinata:
"Form the seal and gather your chakra at the soles of your feet. Then, conquer your fear and do what I'm doing…"
Under Hinata's wide-eyed and amazed gaze, Izayoi raised his right foot and stepped onto the tree trunk.
With one foot on the bark, he lifted his left foot and stepped up as well.
Now completely off the ground, Izayoi stood perfectly upright in front of Hinata—his body horizontal to her line of sight.
Then, step by step, as if walking on level ground, Izayoi walked up the trunk from the base of the tree all the way to the top.
Turning to face Hinata from the treetop, Izayoi's body was at a perfect right angle with the trunk. He smiled and said:
"Walking up trees with your feet—that's the technique I'm going to teach you."
"Ama… amazing!"
Looking up at Izayoi as he defied gravity, Hinata was completely stunned.
When he came back down from the tree, Izayoi said with a smile:
"Tree-walking is just the first stage. The next level is walking on water."
"Once you've mastered these two techniques, whether it's the Three Basic Jutsu, Shadow Clone Jutsu, or even the Body Flicker Technique—none of them will be difficult for you."
"C-Can I really learn it?" Hinata asked nervously, lacking confidence.
"Don't underestimate yourself. You're the Hyūga Clan's heiress."
Izayoi patted her 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 me… I won't wait for you."
That last sentence came with a teasing tone, as if he were joking.
But those words firmed Hinata's resolve. She nodded hard:
"Mm!"
She had already disappointed her father—she couldn't disappoint Izayoi too.
More than that, she didn't want to lose her only friend.