Hyuga Asana's words were a sudden revelation.
Uchiha En finally understood why the Third Hokage was paying attention to him.
An Uchiha Clan member who activated the Sharingan at age 10 was not enough to warrant the Third Hokage's attention, but the meaning changed completely when that Uchiha Clan member's only two friends were members of the Hyuga Clan and the Yamanaka Clan.
The Hyuga Clan and the Yamanaka Clan were firmly part of the Hokage Faction.
Uchiha En being friends with Hyuga Asana and Yamanaka Teruzuki meant that he, a member of the Uchiha Clan, had a chance to be swayed.
The significance of a genius from the Uchiha Clan who could be pulled to their side was completely different.
Once Uchiha En leaned toward the Hokage, the Third Hokage would effectively have his own spy planted within the Uchiha Clan.
If Uchiha En could grow stronger, he might even rise to the high ranks of the Uchiha Clan or even the Police Force, allowing for much more maneuvering room.
After figuring this out, a layer of cold sweat seeped onto Uchiha En's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Asana, I dragged you into this," Uchiha En said with some guilt.
"If you know you dragged me into this, then hurry up and get stronger! On the battlefield, I'm entrusting my back to you!"
Uchiha En nodded, took a deep breath to calm himself down as much as possible, and then began today's sparring session.
After the sparring session ended, the two of them slumped down by the river as usual.
"En, call our other teammate over tomorrow!" Hyuga Asana suddenly said.
"Call Yamanaka Teruzuki?"
"Yes, graduation is in six days. I want to gauge his strength beforehand."
"Alright! But I think we shouldn't bring him to the river."
"Then let's use a training ground in the Village! Since the Third Hokage deliberately had someone leak the team assignments this time, we can meet openly," Hyuga Asana said.
"Understood. Then let's meet at Training Ground Three tomorrow! That training ground is relatively close to all three of our homes."
Hyuga Asana considered the location of Training Ground Three, then nodded in agreement.
Arriving in class, Uchiha En called Yamanaka Teruzuki over and told him about meeting at Training Ground Three at 5 AM tomorrow.
Upon hearing this, Yamanaka Teruzuki immediately nodded in agreement, highly excited by this meeting style, which felt exactly like something Ninjas would do.
The next morning at 4:30 AM, Yamanaka Teruzuki arrived at Training Ground Three half an hour early.
He originally thought he would be the first to arrive, but to his surprise, Hyuga Asana was already there.
Hyuga Asana's image and demeanor were completely different from how they were at the Ninja Academy.
At the Ninja Academy, Hyuga Asana always followed behind Hyuga Chiwa, and her attire looked very ladylike, similar to most females of the Hyuga Clan.
However, at the Ninja Academy, Hyuga Asana always maintained a poker face and was indifferent to everything except Hyuga Chiwa.
Today, Hyuga Asana was wearing white athletic wear, and her shoulder-length hair was coiled on top of her head so as not to interfere with movement, giving her a sharp and capable appearance at first glance.
When Hyuga Asana saw Yamanaka Teruzuki approaching, she stopped her training movements. She looked up at Yamanaka Teruzuki, and her sharp gaze immediately made Yamanaka Teruzuki feel immense pressure.
"So this is how Hyuga Asana is when Hyuga Chiwa isn't around—so sharp and imposing?" Yamanaka Teruzuki thought to himself.
"Yo! You guys are here already!" A greeting sounded from behind, breaking the silent atmosphere.
Seeing Uchiha En arrive, Yamanaka Teruzuki quickly ran over and greeted him: "En, good m-morning!"
Uchiha En understood something upon hearing this. He turned to glance at Hyuga Asana, who said helplessly, "I didn't do anything."
Yamanaka Teruzuki wasn't stupid. Seeing the familiar interaction between Uchiha En and Hyuga Asana, he immediately realized that their relationship must be good.
So, was their never-speaking-to-each-other demeanor in class all fake?
As if seeing through Yamanaka Teruzuki's thoughts, Hyuga Asana said in a calm tone, "We just didn't want Miss Chiwa to know about our relationship, because Miss Chiwa really dislikes members of the Uchiha Clan."
"Asana... *Cough, cough!* I mean, Classmate Asana, don't worry, I definitely won't say anything."
Yamanaka Teruzuki had originally intended to call Hyuga Asana by her name directly, but he was scared off by her cold gaze.
"You can call me by my name directly. We are teammates now, so there's no need to be so reserved," Hyuga Asana said.
"Same here, although you've already been calling me that," Uchiha En added.
"T-then you can also call me Kagetsu directly," Yamanaka Teruzuki quickly said.
"Alright, Kagetsu, please give us a self-introduction! Tell us about your general situation," Uchiha En said.
"My name is Yamanaka Teruzuki. My Chakra natures are Water and Earth. I know one C-rank Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, but I don't know any Water Release yet. The Three Basic Jutsu..."
"Stop! There's no need to mention those things. Focus mainly on your Yamanaka Clan's mind-based secret techniques!" Hyuga Asana interrupted Yamanaka Teruzuki.
"My practice of our clan's mind-based secret techniques is only average. I can't yet achieve the level of invading and reading the memories of the deceased."
"What about the Mind Body Switch Technique?" Uchiha En asked.
"That is the foundation of our Yamanaka Clan's mind secret techniques. Of course, I know it," Yamanaka Teruzuki replied.
"Then, do you know the Jutsu that connects the minds of the three of us to facilitate communication?" Hyuga Asana asked.
"Are you talking about the Mind Transfer Jutsu? I know that too, but you can't be too far from me."
"What is the exact distance?" Uchiha En asked.
"My mental sensing range is about 15 meters, and the range for the Mind Clone Switch Technique should be similar."
After hearing Yamanaka Teruzuki's words, Uchiha En and Hyuga Asana exchanged glances.
To be honest, Yamanaka Teruzuki's level was quite poor, perhaps even worse than Ino Yamanaka right after graduation in the original work.
Keep in mind that when Ino graduated, Konoha had enjoyed many years of surface peace, and the Ninjas of that era were already somewhat lax.
But now it was a time of war. Having only this level of strength during wartime—wasn't he definitely cannon fodder material?
However, Uchiha En and Hyuga Asana were considered high-tier Genin, so if Yamanaka Teruzuki was merely providing support, there shouldn't be an issue.
Thinking of this, Uchiha En said, "Kagetsu, your strength gap is a bit large compared to ours, but your clan's secret techniques are still very useful. Your role in our squad from now on will primarily be support."
"As long as you do your job properly, I think we should be able to become great teammates."
I have seen some of the questions and suggestions everyone has raised. One reader even offered many suggestions. Thank you all for your feedback, but currently, what everyone has mentioned are not actually problems; they just haven't been written about yet. Please continue reading patiently.