Prelude to War

Chapter 39 Prelude to War

"With the teacher here, the disciple naturally feels at ease."

Hyuga Yuto smiled and wrapped his arms and hands with bandages again:

"Huh? Teacher, is it muted?"

"I dropped her off at the ninja academy." The blonde beauty yawned.

"I've been a bit busy lately and can't take care of her for the time being. Letting her go to school and meet people her own age is a good thing."

Hinata Yuto was a little surprised:

"Tsunade-sensei, you've taken up a position in the village again?"

"No, the old man just assigned me some work... Oh, right, this also relates to you." Tsunade paused, then continued:

"Yuto, you've been away from the village for two months. How do you find the outside world?"

"Life is pretty tough in most areas, but the Land of Fire is peaceful." Hyuga Yuto said this sincerely. Putting aside personal opinions, Konoha Village is indeed a peaceful place. In the end, the world is all about who's worse off, and there are countless places that are even worse than Konoha Village.

"What's going on?"

"It's so chaotic, teacher. There are more and more signs of unidentified ninjas appearing around the Land of Fire... Is war about to break out?"

"Yes." Tsunade nodded. As a powerful figure who had experienced the Second Shinobi World War, she was very familiar with this situation.

"It could be tomorrow, it could be the next second, war could break out at any time, it just depends on who can't hold back first... The first batch of combat troops in Konoha has been assembled, under the command of Orochimaru."

"Given the current situation, the village needs a large number of available combat forces and outstanding elites who can stand alone."

"In a few days, the old man will promote a few young people to become Jonin, both to expand the elite team and to boost morale—look, the flame of our Konoha is burning brightly, and outstanding seeds are emerging one after another."

"The old man insisted on making me the chief examiner, tsk, just because he thinks I'm too idle... cough cough."

"Getting back to the main topic, I've seen the list of those promoted to Jonin this time, and you're on it. Oh, by the way, Kakashi Hatake, the son of White Fang, is also on the list."

Hinata Yuto suddenly felt a sense of exhilaration, as if he finally had someone above him.

—How could I lose when the chief examiner for my promotion is my own teacher?

Perhaps guessing her disciple's thoughts, the blonde woman reached out and flicked Hyuga Yuto's headband:

"You are my apprentice, but I won't go easy on you because of that, understand?"

"I understand. Teacher, you have a broad mind; you have embraced the entire village with love."

"Heh..." Tsunade glanced down at herself, feeling that the words were a bit of a teasing remark. If it had been Jiraiya who said it, he probably would have punched him already.

But when she looked up, she met the eyes of her 13-year-old apprentice, pure as white paper (in a sense, indeed whiter than paper). She immediately realized she was overthinking things. Yuto was a very positive and good kid, not that lecherous Jiraiya.

The blonde woman coughed lightly to cover her embarrassment:

"Stop being cheeky. In short, there's only one sentence: I won't give you any special treatment, and I'll even make it harder for you to pass, because you're my disciple, a genius of the Hokage lineage, and a role model! But if you fail because of this... Hmph!" She suddenly tightened her grip, creating a sonic boom.

"Understood!" Hyuga Yuto nodded frantically.

"Huh? But teacher, I remember I haven't accumulated enough mission merits to be promoted to Jonin..."

"War could break out at any time, so we can't follow the old rules."

"Okay, teacher... Oh, right, these are for you. I went to the Land of Waterfalls and picked up some gems and stuff, all about the size of a thumbnail, perfect for carrying around, natural gambling chips..."

……

After having dinner at Tsunade's house and talking for a while, Hyuga Yuto left the Senju clan's territory in the afternoon.

At this time, due to the tense situation in the outside world, the village has reduced the number of missions assigned and recalled a large number of ninjas.

Along the way, Hyuga Yuto encountered many acquaintances: Hatake Kakashi wearing a half-face mask, the energetic Uchiha Obito, and Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai, with whom he already had a good relationship...

He even saw a tiny child carrying an even smaller child on their back, buying candy on the street.

"Shisui and... Itachi?"

Itachi Uchiha was only a few months old, but those two tear troughs were so noticeable that, considering his age, it wasn't surprising that Yuto Hyuga recognized him.

However, the young man who had separated from the family only glanced at it before continuing on his way.

Let's put Itachi and Shisui aside for now; there will be plenty of opportunities to see them later. Right now, these two are too young, and there's really no use in exploiting them. Gouging out their eyes wouldn't be of much use either.

Hyuga Yuto quickly arrived at the Hyuga clan's territory.

Surprisingly, he did not see Hiashi Hyuga. After making a few inquiries, he learned that Hiashi Hyuga and several other clan leaders had all been invited to a meeting at the Hokage Building.

—War was indeed imminent.

With Hiashi Hyuga absent and Hiruzen Sarutobi presumably too busy to listen to his report, Yuto Hyuga has nothing much to do today.

The sudden free time made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Go find the teacher?"

The thought flashed through Hyuga Yuto's mind, but he immediately shook his head. Based on the branch family boy's understanding of Tsunade, at this moment, she was definitely being ripped off at the casino.

With nowhere else to go, he could only return to his home in the Hyuga clan's territory.

It remained deserted, uninhabited for two whole months, and cobwebs had formed on the corners of the walls.

Hinata Yuto sighed, took out his cleaning tools again, and began a thorough cleaning.

As his body gradually grew and he trained in superhuman strength and medical ninjutsu, his coordination greatly improved, and even his cleaning speed increased significantly. Before it got dark, Hyuga Yuto had cleaned the entire house spotless.

Chakra can be seen as the "productivity" of the ninja world. It is very efficient, and with chakra, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

After finishing his chores, Hinata Yuto didn't feel hungry, so he simply didn't cook and just lay in his room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

After lying there for an unknown amount of time, the boy who had separated from the family suddenly got up and left home.

Leaving the clan's territory, he followed the familiar path and arrived at his secret training ground.

Hyuga Yuto took a deep breath and suddenly felt much better.

When he does nothing, he always feels panic and unease. The caged bird etched on his forehead seems to be a curse that drives him forward endlessly. Hyuga Yuto cannot stop. He has never experienced the carefree lifestyle of those transmigrators who "steal half a day of leisure".

"I'm just destined to be a workaholic," Hyuga Yuto quipped to himself, as he pulled a mannequin out of a tree hollow and placed it in the forest.

bang bang bang bang...

Hyuga Yuto kept striking, using all the techniques he had learned.

In that moment of utter exhaustion, he finally calmed down.

(End of this chapter)