23

Today was Haru's first day of class with his new teacher. After learning from Kazuki where the training would take place, he arrived fifteen minutes early and waited. Haru wanted to make a good impression, and being on time or even slightly early had always worked well with his previous teachers.

After a while, Haru saw a man around 30 years old being escorted by a maid. As the man approached, the first thing Haru noticed was his white eyes, which were very intimidating to look at, especially when combined with his overly expressionless face.

Haru nodded at the maid, who then left before he approached the man and said, "Hello, my name is Haru Ishida. I'm looking forward to your classes." The man nodded at Haru and replied, "My name is Masayuki Hyuga. I will be your new teacher for the time being."

After that, Masayuki began teaching Haru without delay. His character was serious, with a no-nonsense approach that matched his appearance. Despite his limited time, he had already prepared his lesson plan and began teaching Haru theoretical knowledge for an hour and a half. For the following thirty minutes, he asked Haru questions to ensure his understanding of today's lesson. During the remaining time, he allowed Haru to ask questions, but since the lesson was easy and basic, Haru remained silent. After a few minutes, the two-hour lesson ended quickly, and Masayuki departed immediately.

Haru stood silently for a few minutes before he sighed and left. It was clear from his new teacher's attitude that he wasn't enthusiastic about the job and would only do the bare minimum. Whether or not Haru learned the gentle fist didn't seem to be Masayuki's concern; he was just going through the motions. Unlike Haru's previous teacher, Masayuki didn't seem interested in teaching and didn't need the money. He wasn't receiving any personal gain from the Senju clan; it was merely an obligation he was fulfilling. Haru didn't know why Masayuki was chosen, but based on his attitude, it didn't seem like he was a willing participant.

Haru was okay with this and wasn't interested in changing the status quo. What he wanted was just the gentle fist, not a relationship with the Hyugas. And at least for today, his new teacher was very responsible and taught him well. That was more than enough for him. Life is like this - not everyone you meet will become a close friend. Some people remain acquaintances even if you both have no problems and are on good terms. That's just how adults are. Even though Haru is currently a child, he still has memories from his past adult life, and most people he meets outside of his family are adults, so he is familiar with how to respond in such circumstances.

Even when Mito asked, Haru said he was fine. He knew that Mito was already aware of everything that had happened that day. A jonin from outside the Senju spending time in the clan, especially with the Byakugan, had caught the attention of the clan's secret guards. They weren't even discreet about it; Haru could spot them even without his senses. A jonin like Masayuki would have noticed the same thing. From the beginning, this was just a business deal. The two clans wouldn't magically become friendlier with each other because of Haru. This was real life, and it would take far more than this for something of that sort to happen. If they wanted a closer relationship, a lot of interests and resources would need to be exchanged politically. After all, these were two of the biggest clans in Konoha.

The Hyuga clan's sensitive relationship between its main and side branches should also be considered. Mito's sealing achievement made it difficult for her to have a close relationship with the main branch as it allowed her to potentially influence over their affairs, which she wouldn't do so with her character and status as the clan head. But just the possibility made the clan elders uneasy about her closeness to the clan.

Overall, most of the clans in Konoha are not close to each other, especially the three biggest ones - the Senju, Hyuga, and Uchiha. While medium clans have slightly better relationships, they are still limited to just a few clans, like the Naras.

And just like that, two weeks had passed. Haru was still attending school normally and having classes with Matsuyaki. However, they were still going at a very slow pace, at least for Haru, but he didn't mind or complain. He continued to follow Matsuyaki's training plan, which he found very easy. After their classes, he would train his taijutsu alone in a quiet training ground, he was matching Matsuyaki's energy. He was serious and practical about his training, and he didn't bother or try to get closer to Matsuyaki. As a member of the branch family, he was only allowed to taught certain things, and even if Matsuyaki wanted to teach him more, he wouldn't be able to due to the seal on his forehead.

Even if Matsuyaki didn't show it, he was very satisfied with Haru, who didn't bother him or ask anything he couldn't answer. This just made his life far easier.

Today's lesson was the first one that Haru was actually interested in. In the past, they had only done theoretical work or practiced stances against a wooden pole, but today was different. Finally, they got to the chakra pathway and chakra points in the body, which is what Haru was interested in.

The gentle fist works on the principle of targeting the tenketsu points in the body to restrict chakra usage or even send chakra in the wrong direction, causing injuries to the body. This is possible for the Hyuga clan because of their Byakugan. What Haru is after is their excellent chakra control. As the gentle fist uses chakra pathways and tenketsu points, Haru's goal is to find a better way to control his chakra using the principles of the gentle fist. With his knowledge of anatomy and the Hyuga's knowledge of chakra, he is looking for a way to use his chakra pathways and tenketsu points to achieve the best chakra control possible. The Hyuga clan is the most knowledgeable in this area, but they wouldn't give this knowledge to Haru. So his best choice is to learn the gentle fist, as its core principle works in his favor.

Although they are still early in their lessons, he is sure that his teacher will use the gentle fist on him eventually , which will help him identify his tenketsu points. With this information, he hopes to eventually identify all the points in his body on his own.

Of course, this would be very complicated, but at least it would be far easier than trying to learn the gentle fist and using it in actual combat. It is next to impossible to locate tenketsu points in one's opponent's body mid-battle without the Byakugan. So, Haru's plan from the start was twofold: first, to use the gentle fist to achieve perfect chakra control, and second, to try to use this knowledge to create techniques that were suitable for people without the Byakugan and to evolve his taijutsu skills. If one touch could damage an opponent's internal organs, it would make Haru impossible to fight in close combat. However, that was just an idea for now. For now, his priority was still the first point. Even if he hadn't made any progress yet, just confirming that his plan could work in reality was enough to make him very excited.

Haru didn't know that another piece of good news was coming his way, as a blonde girl was expected to return from her mission in the next couple of days.