[Seamless Robe]: The Dharma robe gained all-around protection. Stability and defense increased by 20%, and attacks received would be dispersed across the entire body.
"What an incredible trait!" Hyuga Ningyuan blinked. Even in his Mirror Water state, that counted as a considerable emotional fluctuation.
Mirror Water, Seamless Robe.
Both of these traits were far more powerful than the previous Autumn Water Bright Eyes, and their effects were much more extensive.
Mirror Water in particular had five effects in a single trait. It was simply absurd!
Moreover, the instant the trait activated, he felt its effects clearly.
Before, he had only vaguely sensed that someone was coming. Now, he could clearly pinpoint that person's location.
Not only that, he could even faintly sense the person's emotional changes. Was it sentimentality? Satisfaction?
This was practically high-level Observation Haki already!
This was the effect of the Arcane Brush Palace's upgrade, increasing external perception and mental acuity by 20%!
"Sorry!" Yūhi Shinku felt that even if he did not show himself, Hyuga Ningyuan could have sat there forever.
So he simply came in.
"Something happened in the village, so I was late!" Yūhi Shinku walked up to Hyuga Ningyuan and sat across from him. "Have you been waiting long?"
"It's fine. I just got here too!" Hyuga Ningyuan said with a smile.
"Is that so?" Yūhi Shinku nodded. He understood, but did not expose him. Instead, he asked, "I heard from Kurenai that you've taken great care of her at school. As her father, I have to thank you!"
"We're classmates. Helping each other is only natural!" Hyuga Ningyuan replied with a smile.
"Only classmates?" Yūhi Shinku asked with a smile. "Then why did I hear someone say that if he were to marry a wife, he should marry Yūhi Kurenai?"
Hyuga Ningyuan's expression remained calm. Mirror Water allowed him to stay composed and avoid embarrassment even in this situation.
He smiled and nodded. "That truly is what I think!"
"You're only five. You already understand marriage? Isn't that too early?" Yūhi Shinku asked.
"Early? I think the timing is just right!" Hyuga Ningyuan said with a smile. "We date for four years at school, graduate at nine, then get assigned to the same team. We do missions for two years, become Chunin together at twelve, then do missions for another five years and become Jonin at seventeen. After settling down and preparing a few things, wouldn't it be time to prepare for a wedding?"
Yūhi Shinku froze as Hyuga Ningyuan continued, "Or should we not date at school and wait until we're assigned to a team? Not to mention that a team will most likely consist of two boys and one girl, which could turn into a love triangle. Maybe the whole team will even be boys."
Might Guy's future team was like that, which was why he stayed single his entire life.
"Once you become ninja, you'll be busy doing missions and improving your strength. By then, you won't even have time to date. If another war breaks out, four or five years might pass in the blink of an eye. By then, you'd already be twenty-four or twenty-five. When you return to the village, you'll find that all the girls your age have long been married off to the people who stayed behind. If you want to find someone younger, you won't even have a way to meet girls. You can't wait until you become a Jonin and then make a move on your own teammate, can you?"
"Ahem." Yūhi Shinku's face reddened. He wanted to refute him, but he could not refute a single word!
Because Yūhi Shinku himself was the perfect example!
Yūhi Shinku had not dated while he was in school. After graduation, all three members of his team had been men.
In truth, it had been two retainers protecting a member of the Sarutobi Clan.
In his early years, he had been busy doing missions and had no time to date at all. By the time he wanted to pursue romance, the First Shinobi World War had broken out!
Though he had not been strong at the time and had merely played a minor role, he had still wasted his youth on the battlefield.
The war had finally eased, only for the Second Hokage to die in battle while signing a peace treaty, causing the flames of war to rise again.
By then, he had already become a Jonin, so he was ordered to lead a Chunin team. Among his teammates had been Yūhi Kurenai's mother.
By the time the war ended, they married and had Yūhi Kurenai, he was already twenty-nine!
Could this brat have known about me and deliberately said all that?
Yūhi Shinku stared intently at Hyuga Ningyuan. Judging from his expression, probably not.
Perhaps the Hyuga Clan had similar examples as well. After all, this sort of situation was quite common.
"Actually, that isn't even the worst outcome." Thinking of Tsunade and Kakashi, Hyuga Ningyuan said, "The worst is falling in love, only for war to break out and your lover to die on the battlefield. Then you suffer a devastating emotional blow and never marry for the rest of your life!"
Yūhi Shinku fell silent. He had seen plenty of such cases as well!
Or rather, far too many!
"Who told you these things? Or did you think of them yourself?" Yūhi Shinku asked.
"I thought of them myself. Who would tell such things to a five-year-old child?" Hyuga Ningyuan spread his hands.
"That's true!" Yūhi Shinku nodded. If this child had thought of everything himself, then he was truly extraordinary!
He did not know what his talent for cultivation was like, but judging by this wisdom alone, he was clearly quite remarkable.
What a pity that he was not using it for anything proper and was only thinking about getting married and taking a wife!
"Since you understand so much, aren't you afraid that another war will break out, and then either you or Yūhi Kurenai..."
One of them might meet with an accident?
"I'm afraid, but whether war breaks out isn't something I can decide!" Hyuga Ningyuan spread his hands. "Even if that really happens, if Yūhi Kurenai and I start dating at five, then at least we'll have loved each other for four or five years, won't we? Unlike some people, whose love ends just as it begins!"
"There would be fewer regrets in the end, wouldn't there?"
Yūhi Shinku was speechless. Those words shook him deeply.
In the face of life and death, one had to seize the time to love, so as to leave fewer regrets behind?
When had the world become like this? Were children now getting together with such desperate resolve?
Yūhi Shinku had never before thought there was anything wrong with this world. Battle had always been the main theme of the ninja world, from the Sengoku era until now. Hadn't it always been that way?
Only now, only today, after gaining a daughter and learning that his daughter had a boyfriend, did Yūhi Shinku begin to think about this question.
It would have been better if he had not thought about it. Once he did, his mood inexplicably grew heavy.
Because he was powerless to change such a world!
He was not the Hokage. He was not even an Elite Jonin.
And even the Hokage seemed unable to prevent war from happening!
He had originally wanted to give this child a lesson and educate him along the way. Unexpectedly, he had been educated instead.
Subconsciously feeling around the table, Yūhi Shinku realized that there was only Hyuga Ningyuan's cup of tea on it.
There was no alcohol.
After a long silence, Yūhi Shinku asked, "You'll protect Kurenai well, right?"
"I can't guarantee it, but I'll die before she does!" Hyuga Ningyuan's tone was resolute.
"That works too!" Yūhi Shinku nodded. He could not even control his own life or death, so how could he guarantee his daughter's safety?
At the very least, the boy before him had the resolve.
"I approve of you!" Yūhi Shinku said softly.
A day ago, he would never have imagined that he would entrust his daughter to someone so quickly.
All he could say was that life was unpredictable!
"Father-in-law!" Hyuga Ningyuan blurted out.
"Mhm!" Yūhi Shinku nodded. Though he still felt somewhat displeased, after accepting the reality, he felt that it was not so bad.
After all, he was a Hyuga. The Hyuga Clan's safety on the battlefield was still relatively assured.
Though he was only from the Branch Family, he was still from the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family!
That was far better than those ninja clans with no bloodline abilities that relied solely on numbers!
The only problem was that this son-in-law's strength might be somewhat lacking because he was from the Branch Family.
"Have you learned the Eight Trigrams Palms?" Yūhi Shinku asked.
"Not yet. The Main Family hasn't taught me!" Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head.
"Then..." Yūhi Shinku asked, "Would you like to try Genjutsu?"
Before you continue