Chapter 456: Any With White Hair?

Chapter 456: Chapter 456: Any With White Hair?

Pfft—

Kagami had just taken a sip of sake when he saw the title of the book and immediately spat it out.

Wiping his mouth, he complained inwardly, "What the hell is this? A book written by an old bachelor is treasured like a holy scripture by a young bachelor, who then passes its teachings on to another young bachelor?"

Others might not know, but Kagami knew perfectly well that the author of Icha Icha Paradise, Jiraiya, was a genuine lifelong bachelor—a fool who had spent most of his life pursuing Tsunade without ever managing to win her over.

Kakashi said listlessly, "Why are you reacting so strongly?"

Asuma, meanwhile, snatched Icha Icha Paradise from Kakashi’s hands and began flipping through it.

"I’ve heard of this book. Apparently, it sells pretty well."

Kakashi smiled proudly. "Of course it does."

Seeing the dismissive look on Kagami’s face, Asuma closed the book and asked, "Kagami, do you know any good ways to pursue a girl?"

Kagami replied indifferently, "Sorry. I don’t really understand the troubles you bachelors go through."

To prevent their Kekkei Genkai from spreading outside the clan, marriage within the clan was extremely common among prestigious bloodline clans such as the Hyuga and Uchiha.

Therefore, from childhood to adulthood, Kagami had never once needed to worry about finding a wife.

The clan would provide one.

Asuma’s face darkened.

"I don’t know why, but suddenly I really want to beat you up."

Kakashi’s face darkened as well, and he nodded in agreement.

"Tch, weaklings!" Kagami curled his lips disdainfully. "Fine. I’ll give you two some pointers!"

Just as Kagami was speaking, Hayate pushed open the door and walked in. After greeting everyone in the private room, he naturally found a seat off to the side.

Strictly speaking, Hayate was actually one year below Kagami, Kakashi, and the others at the Academy. However, because of the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War, several classes of students had graduated at the same time, so Hayate and Kagami’s group could just barely be considered members of the same graduating class.

However, Hayate himself was accustomed to treating Kagami and the others as his seniors, and in their daily interactions, he usually regarded himself as their junior.

Kagami asked Asuma, "By the way, what did Kakashi teach you today?"

Asuma replied, "Kakashi told me to invite Kurenai to the hot springs today. I even prepared discount coupons. What do you think of the idea?"

"Ahem, ahem!" Kakashi coughed twice before emphasizing, "That move is one of the sure-kill techniques from Icha Icha Paradise!"

"Hot springs, huh..." Kagami thought about it for a moment before saying, "Sounds pretty good."

Asuma was delighted. "You think so too?"

Listening to Asuma, Kagami, and Kakashi discussing the matter, Hayate didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He raised his hand and timidly asked, "Asuma-senpai, have you and Kurenai-senpai actually established your relationship yet?"

Asuma scratched his head. "I haven’t gotten around to confessing yet."

Hayate was immediately speechless.

"You haven’t even established a relationship yet? Then I suggest you don’t directly invite Kurenai-senpai to the hot springs. That would come across as pretty disrespectful."

Asuma hurriedly asked, "Then what should I do?"

Hayate pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Kurenai-senpai has a rather strong-willed personality. If you want to pursue her, then at the very least, you need to be stronger than her—and the stronger, the better. If you can become so strong that she actually admires you, then you’ll practically have her in the bag!"

"Is that so..." Asuma fell into thought, muttering, "But that’s kind of difficult..."

In terms of overall strength, Asuma was clearly a notch above Kurenai. However, Kurenai specialized in genjutsu, and if Asuma let his guard down even slightly, he could easily fall victim to one of her illusions and lose.

Therefore, the outcome of a fight between the two would depend heavily on the circumstances. Asuma might have somewhat better odds of winning, but he was nowhere near strong enough to completely overwhelm her, much less strong enough to make Kurenai admire him.

Hayate said, "Then that makes things difficult."

Asuma pulled a long face. "You mean I don’t have a chance?"

Hayate shrugged. "If you’re willing to keep pestering her and refuse to give up, then maybe you’ll get somewhere after a few years. I’ve never pursued a girl with a personality like Kurenai-senpai’s before, so I’m afraid I can’t be of much help."

Just as Asuma was secretly agonizing over the matter, Kurenai, Yugao, Anko, and the other girls arrived at the private room together. Guy arrived shortly afterward as well.

With more people present, the private room immediately became lively. Moreover, nearly everyone there was from the same generation, so they had little reason to be guarded around each other and chatted freely about whatever came to mind.

After chatting idly for a while, Asuma moved over to Kurenai and asked, "The old man didn’t give you a hard time today, did he?"

Kurenai smiled and shook her head. "Lord Hokage just casually asked me a few questions, then told me to go home and rest."

Hearing this, Kakashi, who was nearby, frowned slightly. "Lord Hokage didn’t question you in detail?"

The matter involved the missing-nin Orochimaru and Kamigami. Moreover, Orochimaru had even summoned the First and Second Hokage during the battle. In Kakashi’s view, no matter how he looked at it, the Third Hokage shouldn’t have treated the matter so lightly.

Seeing that Kurenai seemed unwilling to talk much about it, Asuma quickly changed the subject. "The old man really has been acting a little strange lately."

Woooo—Woooo—Woooo—

Suddenly, the shrill sound of an alarm rang out from outside the window.

Everyone in the private room merely glanced toward the window, without the slightest trace of nervousness on their faces. After all, the village had already announced yesterday that an evacuation drill would be held in the eastern district this evening.

Yugao asked quietly, "This is the third time, right? Why has the village been holding evacuation drills so frequently lately?"

Kagami casually replied, "Maybe they’re preparing for retaliation from the Akatsuki."

In truth, Kagami could tell that everyone present had noticed something was off to some extent.

After all, they were all either jonin or special jonin, which already placed them among the village’s elite. As long as they paid attention, it wasn’t difficult for them to notice certain abnormalities.

However, the person who knew the most was probably still Kagami.

Because only Kagami knew that, of the Five Kage, four were already gathered in Konoha, while the remaining Third Tsuchikage was also on his way.

Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was somewhat distracted, Kurenai quietly moved closer to Kagami.

"Captain, let’s have a drink!"

"Something’s off!"

Even as Kagami raised his sake cup, he secretly became vigilant.

In private, Kurenai had always called him directly by name. She would never address him as ’Captain.’

After they shared a drink, Kurenai lowered her voice slightly and asked in a deliberately casual tone, "Captain, there shouldn’t be many people in the Hyuga Main family, right? Do you know all of them?"

Kagami gave Kurenai a suspicious look before nodding.

The Hyuga Main family consisted of two bloodlines: the clan head’s line and the elders’ line.

This arrangement existed to prevent the Hyuga Clan from instantly collapsing if a powerful enemy managed to decapitate the clan head’s line.

Because of this, the elders’ line had always maintained an extremely low profile. They rarely left the Hyuga Clan grounds, avoiding unnecessary exposure to the eyes of potential enemies.

And just like the clan head’s line, regardless of how many children were born into each generation of the elders’ line, only one person was permitted to remain exempt from the Caged Bird Seal, serving as a backup in case something happened to the clan head’s line.

Therefore, even counting the old, middle-aged, and younger generations together, the entire Hyuga Main family numbered no more than ten people.

Kurenai continued, "Then... is there anyone in your Main House with white hair?"