Chapter 31

"I'll pass, I have plenty of other things to do today and spending a couple of extra hours on leisure would be too wasteful," I waved my hand dismissively.

"I also have things to do today," Tsume replied, throwing a quick glance at me.

Ishi said nothing, but from the way he couldn't tear his eyes away from the figure of the wet Hyuga, I understood that someone had fallen for our mentor.

"Well, I wanted to do something together, like one team," the girl grumbled offendedly, but didn't stay upset for long. "Then, let's reschedule our trip for another time!"

"Goodbye, Sensei," I sighed. "See you all."

Turning around, I slowly headed towards the village. Ishi soon joined me, while Inuzuka decided to ignore our company and sped up, rushing ahead with her dog. Well, it's her business.

"Tell me, Ryo, why did you really decline?" my partner asked after a short silence. "After all, any guy would go far to see the sensei without clothes."

"Are you talking about yourself?" I smirked and enjoyed watching the boy blush. "But the real reason is simple—I won't see anything new there, and I don't want to waste a couple of hours of free time just for that. Over the past years, I've seen hundreds of naked bodies of shinobi of both genders. That's all."

I didn't bother to mention that all of them were more or less wounded, and some didn't even resemble humans much—not necessary to scare the younger generation prematurely.

"Well, not everyone is as advanced as you," sighed Rotaro.

Shaking my head at the gloomy boy, I decided it was time to explain something to him before it was too late.

"If you're hoping for something with Kanade, you better leave your dreams and find someone better," I advised.

"Why?! She's beautiful, has a great character, a strong kunoichi, and she's not that much older than me to matter," Ishi retorted.

"That's true, but you're forgetting one huge drawback that outweighs everything else—she's from the side branch of the Hyuga clan."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"She doesn't belong to herself and will do what's beneficial for the clan and its head, so forget about your love—nothing will come of it anyway," I shrugged. "Besides, there's another significant detail—all members of the side branch bear a seal on their forehead, with which any fool from the main branch can inflict excruciating pain with a simple touch or even kill if any of the side branch members disobey."

"But that's almost like slavery!" the boy grimaced in disgust.

"It's the tradition of the clans, and it's not for us to change," I said solemnly. "Even if you marry her, all your children will receive the same seal and will be dependent on the whims of fools from the main branch. I don't need to tell you what a person can do when they're confident in their power and impunity."

Feeling a bit darkened, I remembered a couple of cases where I had to literally pull marked Hyuga out of the grave, not because of enemies, but because of members of their own clan.

"And no one fights against this barbarism?" he asked incredulously.

"To interfere in the internal affairs of such a powerful clan? Even the Hokage wouldn't do that without a very compelling reason, let alone everyone else. So think carefully and decide—do your children need such a 'gift,' or is it better to find a girl without a juuinjutsu on her forehead?"

"Not to mention that the sensei seems to have taken a liking to you," Ishi looked at me suspiciously. "Maybe you're saying all this on purpose to get rid of a competitor?"

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