For a ninja to increase their strength, following a so-called step-by-step approach is often the slowest method. For the vast majority of ninjas, learning a new jutsu can often lead to a qualitative leap in their power.
Hyūga Shinichi is the best example of this. In terms of Taijutsu alone, Shinichi could never defeat the able-bodied Hyūga Keisuke.
In terms of stamina, strength, and speed, the current Shinichi simply could not compare to him. However, through the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, many of Shinichi's weaknesses were compensated for, and coupled with his inherently massive chakra reserves, his strength saw a qualitative jump.
Even a battle-hardened Branch Family Hyūga like Keisuke was no longer Shinichi's match.
Now that Shinichi had personally experienced the power of Forbidden Jutsu, he could finally understand how the teenage Uchiha Obito managed to inflict so much damage on Konoha. If the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique offered such a massive boost, let alone the Kamui Ninjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
That technique allowed a failure like Obito to instantly become a super-strong opponent capable of challenging a Kage-level fighter like the Fourth Hokage. Although Minato struck him with the Rasengan in their confrontation, Uchiha Obito was ultimately the victor in the entire Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha incident.
"Forbidden Jutsu improves my strength far beyond my imagination."
"From this perspective, even with my young age, if I can master enough strong techniques, I can also gain the power to change the course of future battles."
"The Flying Thunder God..."
"I must master it before Sensei Kushina gives birth!"
The bright moon hung high, and cold moonlight shone through the window into Hyūga Shinichi's room. Shinichi, lying on the tatami, had not yet fallen asleep. Instead, he organized the existing intelligence and analyzed the things he needed to do in the future before sleeping.
A quiet environment was conducive to thinking, and contemplating before sleeping had already become Shinichi's habit.
Shinichi had already mastered most of the Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist secret techniques in just a few short years.
All that remained was repetitive practice to make combat an instinct for his body, and then physical training to enhance his body's "base stats." But this was painstaking, slow work that could not be rushed; the young Shinichi could not possibly achieve quick results in this area.
To further increase his strength, he either needed to learn powerful secret techniques or develop more potent Ninjutsu.
The latter was time-consuming and required a solid foundation in Ninjutsu, making it premature for the current Shinichi. What he could do was learn powerful Ninjutsu suitable for his use. However, for Shinichi, who came from the Hyūga Clan, the improvement offered by ordinary Ninjutsu was not significant.
His chakra natures were Lightning and Fire. Lightning Release Ninjutsu typically had high power but also high chakra consumption.
Fire Release Ninjutsu were characterized by wide range and moderate-to-low killing power. Of course, in the Naruto world, the biggest feature of Fire Release was "mercy," as it was a "non-killing element." For Shinichi, practicing ordinary Fire and Lightning Ninjutsu yielded almost zero benefit.
At this stage, the Flying Thunder God Technique was the jutsu that would help Shinichi the most. Having established this goal, Shinichi now had a clear direction for his efforts.
...
The next day, after a morning of hard training and a brief rest, Shinichi dragged his tired body to Namikaze Minato's home, escorted by his guards.
It was their first day visiting to learn Ninjutsu, so the Hyūga Clan naturally wouldn't arrive empty-handed. Although this matter was just a verbal agreement between Shinichi and Kushina, the Hyūga Clan treated the apprenticeship as a serious event. This was true even if the relationship between Kushina and Shinichi was merely a simple teacher-student one.
Hyūga Hiashi, as the Clan Head and patriarch, was busy preparing for an impending trip out of the village to visit the distant Takeguchi Clan. Leading Shinichi to Minato's home was his mother, Hyūga Hanako.
When Kushina, inside the house, heard the knock and opened the door, she saw a group of Hyūga clan members carrying various gifts.
"Hello, Sensei Kushina."
Hyūga Hanako wore a simple kimono. Holding Hyūga Shinichi's hand, she offered a gentle bow to the opening Kushina and greeted her warmly.
Kushina was surprised to see Keisuke and the others carrying large bags of gifts behind Shinichi and was momentarily flustered. She had never encountered such a scene in her life.
"Lady Hanako, Shinichi, and everyone from the Hyūga Clan, what is all this...?"
"Ah! Please, come in!"
After a brief moment of being stunned, Kushina quickly ushered everyone inside.
"Excuse our intrusion," Hyūga Hanako murmured politely, then looked at the people behind her. They understood and, after bringing the gifts into the house, consciously retreated outside.
Shinichi and Hanako then entered the house with Kushina and sat down on the sofa at Kushina's invitation.
The gifts brought by the Hyūga Clan were numerous. Besides some Sealing Technique scrolls collected by the Hyūga Clan, there were also general ninja tools, brushes, ink, blank scrolls, and some dried meat, rice, and flour.
While labeled as gifts, some of these items were things Shinichi would need for his future training. These things were essentially a small portion of Shinichi's tuition fee.
"You came all this way and even brought things..."
"This..."
Despite being the Hokage's wife, Kushina had never actually received gifts like this over the years. With Minato also absent, Kushina was momentarily unsure how to respond.
"These are token gifts for the instruction."
"They are nothing valuable, so please don't be offended."
"Shinichi will be learning Ninjutsu from you in the future. This child... can be a handful."
"I hope you will look after him, Kushina."
Hanako's tone was gentle, but her words contained an undeniable force. As the wife of the Hyūga Clan Head, the gentle Hanako possessed a subtle, hard-to-resist power.
"This..."
Kushina looked at the gently smiling Hanako, then at the calm Shinichi, sighed softly, and reluctantly accepted:
"Lady Hanako, please don't worry. Shinichi is a genius, and I will teach him well, no matter what."
"Honestly, it wouldn't have mattered if you brought gifts or not. Minato and I would be dedicated to this."
Hearing Kushina's promise, Hanako smiled and bowed again. She had no intention of staying long. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Hanako stood up to take her leave. As she departed, she introduced Hyūga Mio to Kushina and explained Mio's role as a personal attendant. After receiving Kushina's consent, she left Hyūga Mio in the house.
By the time Kushina planned to start the day's teaching, Mio had scanned the room. Seeing some unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink, she ignored Kushina's protests and immediately started cleaning them herself, adopting the demeanor of a servant.
"Shinichi... the people in your family are truly..."
Interacting with the Hyūga Clan members again, Kushina felt there was an indescribable quality about them. Polite? That word didn't quite capture it. In Kushina's eyes, the Hyūga were "excessively" mindful of rules, so much so that she even felt a degree of pressure herself.
"Sensei Kushina, you'll get used to it."
"What will we study today?"
Shinichi could understand why Kushina felt this way. Coming from a prestigious clan, Hyūga Shinichi also bore immense pressure and burden; the sense of restraint was difficult for outsiders to grasp.
"Oh, let's start with Sensor Techniques (Kanchi Ninjutsu)."
"I've tentatively divided the study of the Flying Thunder God into three stages. Sensing is the first stage."
"Marking a space with your own chakra; sensing the location of that mark; and performing the spatial jump."
"The very first thing you need to do is learn Sensor Techniques and improve your ability to sense chakra."
"This Sensor Ninjutsu is quite different from your Byakugan. Don't underestimate Sensor Ninjutsu just because you have the Byakugan."
"Study hard."
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