Shogi Night Talk

One did not speak while eating or talk in bed, yet the four of them sitting together for a meal somehow felt like a harmonious family.

Yūhi Kurenai especially looked at Hyuga Ningyuan with not only affection, but also a newfound closeness reserved for family.

Though she was young, children in the shinobi world matured early. She had long understood things like marriage and husband and wife.

Unfortunately, she could not dance with Ningyuan after dinner, because his father-in-law had pulled him away.

At the Yūhi Clan residence, in the backyard, atop the steps.

"Do you know how to play shogi?" Yūhi Shinku asked.

"No." Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head.

"Give it a try. It's simple. We can talk while we play." Yūhi Shinku smiled slightly. He had finally found something he could use to bully his son-in-law.

"Alright." Hyuga Ningyuan nodded.

"I know a little about the situation of your Hyuga Branch Family." Yūhi Shinku asked, "Have you thought about how to handle your relationship with the Main Family?"

He could tell that Hyuga Ningyuan was not someone who followed rules and kept his head down. Otherwise, he would never have asked such a question.

"I haven't thought about it yet. Do you have any advice, Father-in-law?" Ningyuan asked.

"My advice is to maintain the status quo. Don't touch it," Yūhi Shinku said.

"Why?" Ningyuan asked.

"If this system has endured for a thousand years, it must have its merits. Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they don't exist," Yūhi Shinku said. "Even if you have mastered Genjutsu and gained the power to resist!"

Ningyuan nodded. So he was worried that I would get carried away after mastering Genjutsu.

"Actually, although the Branch Family has the duty of protecting the Main Family, think about it carefully. How many people are there in the Main Family? Even if they are somewhat arrogant, domineering, extravagant, and wasteful, how much could they really spend?"

Hyuga Ningyuan nodded, but he could not agree with that argument.

True enough, neither Hyuga Hiashi nor Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Hanabi were ill-tempered people. Under their management, the Hyuga Branch Family lived reasonably well.

But it was like emperors in feudal dynasties. You could not assume every emperor would be wise just because one or two happened to be enlightened.

There might not be any Main Family members who were ill-tempered and exploited the Branch Family now, but there had been such people in the past, and there would be such people in the future.

So was there any way to ensure that an emperor remained wise forever?

The answer was simple: without an emperor, there would naturally be wisdom.

Hyuga Ningyuan did not trust the wisdom of future generations, nor did he want to leave this difficult problem to his descendants.

Seeing that Hyuga Ningyuan seemed to have taken it in, Yūhi Shinku nodded in satisfaction and added, "A major event occurred in the village these past few days. Do you know about it?"

"I sensed something," Hyuga Ningyuan said. "But I don't know exactly what happened."

"Mm." Yūhi Shinku nodded. "Two teams of Cloud Ninja infiltrated Konoha's territory, then abducted one of the village's Chunin!"

"Huh?" Hyuga Ningyuan froze, then immediately realized what had happened. Still, he put on a face full of confusion. "A Chunin?"

"That Chunin possessed an exceptionally powerful bloodline. She came from the Uzumaki Clan!" The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was one of the village's most closely guarded secrets, so even Yūhi Shinku did not know. But he did know that Kushina came from the Uzumaki Clan.

"The Uzumaki Clan comes from the Land of Whirlpools. They are born with immense reserves of Chakra and are skilled in Sealing Jutsu!" Yūhi Shinku looked toward Hyuga Ningyuan. "What do you think about this?"

"What do I think?" Hyuga Ningyuan considered it, then said, "Should I have an opinion?"

"This matter seems unrelated to you, but in truth, it is connected to you," Yūhi Shinku said. "Think about what you have in common with that Chunin!"

"The Hyuga Clan? A powerful bloodline?" Hyuga Ningyuan asked.

"That's right." Yūhi Shinku nodded. "You live under the protection of the Hyuga Clan, and the Ninja Academy is also very safe. So in your mind, Konoha may be a very safe and peaceful place. But that is not the truth!"

"Kumogakure abducting people like this is not an isolated case. They were discovered this time, and that Chunin was rescued. But how many others were never rescued?"

"Huh?" Hyuga Ningyuan froze, and his expression immediately turned grave.

That did seem to be the case!

Modern society had surveillance cameras all over the streets, and the government constantly cracked down hard on such crimes, yet child trafficking cases still emerged one after another. How much worse would it be in the shinobi world, where the rule of law was incomplete and there were no cameras?

The Kumogakure kidnapping incidents mentioned in the book only happened twice. Could there really have been only two?

Besides, Yūhi Shinku might not necessarily have been talking about ninja from other villages.

Do not forget that Orochimaru was conducting research in Root during this period!

This was also when he was abducting children to study Wood Release!

Although the story never said that any missing children came from the Hyuga Clan, what if they had?

"You mean I should hide my talents?" Hyuga Ningyuan asked.

"It's good that you understand." Yūhi Shinku breathed a sigh of relief. His understanding of Hyuga Ningyuan was still rather shallow, and he feared the boy might be stubborn by nature, so he could only couch some of his advice in roundabout terms.

They would understand each other better after spending more time together.

"Actually, if there's something you want to tell me or a lesson you want to teach me, you can just say it directly," Hyuga Ningyuan said with a smile. "Having to guess back and forth is pretty troublesome."

"Haha!" Yūhi Shinku laughed as well. "Kids like you, with minds of your own, have always had your own ideas. I was afraid you wouldn't listen."

"How could that be?" Hyuga Ningyuan shook his head. "My father isn't home, so there are many things that still need to be taught by an elder."

"As long as you don't find me bothersome." Yūhi Shinku had no son. Since he had already accepted Hyuga Ningyuan, he regarded him as his own son.

What was more, Hyuga Ningyuan was also the inheritor of his Genjutsu. That identity made him even closer than a biological son!

"You admire the Second Hokage very much?" Yūhi Shinku asked.

"Mm-hm." Ningyuan nodded.

"Can you tell me why?" Yūhi Shinku asked.

Logically speaking, children of this generation ought to admire the Third. After all, under the Third's leadership, Konoha had won the Second Shinobi World War.

"A person's life has weight. Some people's deaths are lighter than a feather; no one cares while they live, and their deaths change nothing. But other lives weigh more than mountains. Their deaths are not merely a loss to the village, but a loss to Human Civilization!" Hyuga Ningyuan said in a solemn tone. "I believe the Second Hokage was such a person!"

"Huh?" Yūhi Shinku was stunned.

He had thought Hyuga Ningyuan's admiration for the Second Hokage was merely a child's simple admiration for the strong, or for a Hokage. He had never expected him to elevate the Second Hokage to such heights.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he invented the Shadow Clone Technique and the Flying Thunder God Technique!" Hyuga Ningyuan said.

"Eh?" Yūhi Shinku was stunned again.

No, I thought you were going to mention some technique like Sea Style.

Come to think of it, I know the Shadow Clone Technique, but what kind of technique is the Flying Thunder God Technique?

But as his father-in-law, he was too embarrassed to ask directly. He could only ask, "Why? Is there something special about these two techniques?"

"Of course there is!" Hyuga Ningyuan smiled. "But before that, we need to understand a concept!"

"Human Civilization!"