Fifth-year, Class One. A familiar place, but without the familiar faces.
Xin sighed as he looked at the sign on the door, then pushed it open and walked into the classroom.
It felt like something was missing.
As he stepped inside, Xin instinctively glanced up at the doorframe.
It seemed no one in this class had Naruto's guts to prank their instructor, nor did they have someone like Kakashi, dumb enough to fall for it.
"Who are you?" One of the students asked as Xin walked in.
After glancing at the student, Xin ignored him and pointed to the three students who would be in his squad.
"Hyuga Suzune, Uchiha Ryoji, Aida-you three, come with me."
"???"
He can't be our instructor, can he?
The three of them were dumbfounded as they looked at Xin, who was standing at the door. He wasn't much taller than them, and he didn't seem that much older either.
Uchiha Ryoji was the first to snap out of it.
"Usagi Xin!!"
"Bang!!"
"Ow!"
Ryoji clutched his head in pain after Xin threw an eraser at him for calling his name out loud. Xin dusted off his hand and said: "Call me that again, and next time I'll throw something heavier."
Clapping his hands together, Xin spoke with a serious tone.
"My name is Usagi Xin. I'm only a little older than you, and maybe you've heard of me.
Maybe you haven't. Either way, I'm your Jonin instructor.
There's no need to question it. Here's my Jonin identification. Now, come with me."
"Or, if you prefer, you can stay here and repeat the year."
Waving his hand dismissively, Xin turned and walked out. Aida hesitated for a moment before quickly following.
Suzune frowned but followed as well.
Uchiha Ryoji, rubbing the bump on his forehead, gritted his teeth and followed along.
The others might not understand how dangerous Xin could be, but Ryoji knew all too well. Thanks to his grandfather, he knew more about Xin than the other two did.
"Damn it, he actually threw an eraser at me."
Ryoji muttered under his breath.
The bump on his forehead was throbbing, and he suspected Xin had done it on purpose.
This was definitely a personal grudge.
Leading his three students-two bewildered and one grumbling, Xin brought them to the secluded Training Ground 13.
Since he hadn't graduated too many years ago, rumors about Xin still floated around the academy.
As for anything else, it was rarely mentioned because the village didn't like to spread such news. In fact, the higher-ups, including the Third Hokage, even suppressed some of the information.
As a result, aside from Uchiha Ryoji, Hyuga Suzune and Aida knew very little about Xin.
Being a traditional Uchiha, Ryoji had a high opinion of himself. On top of that, the Uchiha and Hyuga clans hadn't gotten along for years, constantly engaging in both open and hidden conflicts.
So naturally, Ryoji wasn't too keen on Suzune, even though she was quite pretty.
He didn't care for Suzune, and being a proud Uchiha, he also didn't want to associate with a civilian like Aida, either.
So, he kept to himself.
Suzune had a similar attitude. As a member of the Hyuga main family, she had no reason to reach out to a Uchiha.
This left the civilian-born Aida awkwardly stuck in the middle.
Glancing at the three of them, Xin couldn't care less about the issues between them.