Tsunade had left.
Hyūga Ming let out a long breath.
With his current strength, he was nowhere near ready to participate in a real war. Fortunately, there was still some time before the conflict truly erupted.
What he needed was to follow Tsunade to the front lines—and then find opportunities to level up rapidly.
The Second Shinobi World War was an absolute gold mine for experience.
The higher his level, the more terrifying the returns.
But before grinding levels—
The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward, revealing a row of white teeth.
Konoha Year 37.
The year the Second Shinobi World War officially broke out.
It was also—
The year Nawaki died.
Among all named characters in the Naruto storyline, there were only two who were "killed" by explosive tags.
One was Nawaki.
The other was Hidan—but that lunatic was only blown to pieces and didn't actually die.
Which meant that from start to finish of the Naruto story, the only named character truly killed by explosive tags… was Nawaki.
As for nameless fodder? The story didn't bother counting them.
So—
If he wanted his future little brother to still be alive, standing behind him and waving flags—
Then some education was clearly in order.
When Nawaki woke up, he looked dazed.
Especially when he saw Hyūga Ming smiling at him.
For some reason, his back felt cold.
Hyūga Ming extended a hand calmly.
"Hand over your allowance."
Nawaki instantly went on guard.
"Big bro, what are you trying to do?"
That was money he'd saved up with great difficulty!
Hyūga Ming put on the expression of a street tyrant.
"I said hand it over, so hand it over. Less talking."
The truth was simple—he was broke and needed to buy some tools.
Nawaki hesitated, but in the end still handed it over.
After all, Hyūga Ming was the big brother he acknowledged.
Looking at the fifty thousand ryō in his hand, Hyūga Ming nodded in satisfaction.
"Go to the academy today and ask for three days off. Then come with me."
"Before I leave, I'm giving you special training."
"Yes! No more reading books!!"
Nawaki cheered and flung his textbook aside.
During this time, Hyūga Ming had been studying nonstop—and hadn't spared Nawaki for even a moment.
Hyūga Ming looked at his excited face.
Laugh while you can.
Tomorrow, you won't be laughing.
At dawn the next day, Hyūga Ming led everyone out the door.
He paused, looking hesitantly at the little redhead trailing behind Nawaki.
Uzumaki Kushina.
"…What's her situation?"
Nawaki scratched his head.
"Grandma Mito told me to bring her along to train with you."
Uzumaki Mito?
Hyūga Ming glanced at Kushina, who looked timid and withdrawn.
She looked soft and harmless—but he knew better.
This was the kind of girl who smiled sweetly in front of you and then ambushed you after school.
"Alright, new question."
Hyūga Ming looked expressionlessly at the blond kid standing nearby.
"And what about him?"
The blond boy flashed a bright smile.
"Nice to meet you, senpai. I'm Namikaze Minato. I'm Nawaki's junior."
Hyūga Ming looked at Nawaki suspiciously.
"These two haven't even finished learning everything at the academy yet, have they?"
The way he'd "subdued" Nawaki back then was simple—he beat him into submission.
And now Nawaki seemed to be enthusiastically carrying on that tradition.
Before graduating this year, Hyūga Ming had already heard that Nawaki had formed his own "faction."
According to rumors, in order to defeat Nawaki and reach the "peak" of the Ninja Academy, multiple groups had already formed.
At this point, it wasn't a ninja academy anymore.
It was a battle shōnen academy.
Seeing Hyūga Ming's doubtful look, Nawaki immediately turned red and defended himself.
"Big bro, he challenged me first! After he lost, he became my underling!"
"Don't underestimate him—he's really strong. Even in our year, not many people can beat him."
He slung an arm around Minato's shoulders.
"He's my successor! The one who'll inherit my position, reach the top of the academy, and become the Third Generation!"
The First Generation was Hyūga Ming.
What kind of underground crime syndicate succession ceremony was this?
Hyūga Ming fell into deep contemplation.
Did I… corrupt the children at the academy?
Meanwhile, inside the Ninja Academy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had a headache as he looked at the damage report in his hands.
"'The Inuzuka Faction challenged the Nawaki Faction and destroyed an entire classroom'… What kind of nonsense is this?!"
The grade director beside him looked troubled.
"You see, Nawaki-sama is now considered the 'peak' of the academy. He openly welcomes challenges. The Inuzuka group was just one of many."
The academy was now riddled with factions:
The Ino–Shika–Chō faction.
The Uchiha faction.
The Hyūga faction.
The strongest was the Nawaki faction.
Second strongest—the Uchiha faction.
"Should we step in and issue a warning?" the director asked hesitantly.
He was at his wit's end.
The root of all this chaos was Nawaki.
And Nawaki just happened to be the First Hokage's grandson.
What could he possibly do?
He knew the real culprit was Hyūga Ming.
But the one actually building this fragmented power structure… was Nawaki himself.
All under the banner of "inheriting Hyūga Ming's will."
It was… hard to evaluate.
One could only say—
As expected of the First Hokage's grandson.
"Bring Nawaki to me," Hiruzen said, rubbing his temples.
"The academy is about to split in half. What 'peak' is he even talking about?"
The director coughed awkwardly.
"…Nawaki-sama requested three days of leave."
Hiruzen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger.
"Then bring Tsunade to me!!"
Two ANBU figures appeared instantly in front of him.
"Yes!" they replied in unison, vanishing in a flash.
At the same time, Hyūga Ming and Nawaki both shuddered as they slipped into the Forest of Death.
They exchanged a look, a shared sense of impending disaster passing between them.
Hyūga Ming asked gravely,
"Nawaki… have you caused any trouble lately?"
Nawaki searched his memory.
Recently, the only thing he'd done was defeat the Inuzuka faction.
After school, he'd gone straight home to study.
When would he even have time to cause trouble?
He shook his head.
"No."
Hyūga Ming frowned and thought for a moment.
He'd been behaving himself too, lately. No mistakes.
"…Probably just my imagination."
A shared illusion.
Minato looked around curiously at the towering trees.
He knew the Forest of Death by reputation—this was a restricted area.
There were wild beasts and ninja beasts here. Ordinary people entering would be in serious danger.
They stopped at a secluded spot.
Hyūga Ming turned to the three of them.
"From today onward, we'll be spending three days here."
"For these three days, I'll be putting you through special training."
"You'd better be mentally prepared."
"One mistake… and you can die."
As he spoke, killing intent poured out of him, enveloping all three.
Their bodies stiffened instinctively.
"I won't die!" Kushina declared stubbornly.
"I'm going to become the first female Hokage in Konoha, dattebayo!"
Realizing something, she quickly covered her mouth—she'd let her verbal tic slip again.
Hyūga Ming didn't care.
His face was cold and grim as he continued:
"For the next three days, your only objective is this—catch me."
"If you succeed even once, you'll get food, ninja tools, treatment, and supplies… from me."
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