Hyuga and Uzumaki!

"Sure!"

"If you don't mind the trouble, Sister Kushina, I'd be willing to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique from you."

Faced with Kushina's sudden interjection, Shinichi Hyuga gave his answer immediately after a brief moment of surprise.

Wasn't this... a gift falling right into his lap?!

For Shinichi Hyuga, although he had not yet formally read anything about the Flying Thunder God Technique, he was certain that mastering it would never be easy.

Otherwise, over all these years, Konoha would not have had only Tobirama Senju and Minato capable of using the Flying Thunder God Technique proficiently.

For a ninjutsu of this level, having a teacher and trying to teach himself were probably entirely different in difficulty.

Since there were ready-made "giants' shoulders" to stand on, Shinichi Hyuga had no reason to refuse.

On the other hand, deepening his ties with the Fourth Hokage and his wife was exactly what Shinichi wanted.

In this world, many things were actually deeply interconnected.

If Shinichi Hyuga wanted to protect himself and those he cared about, the most likely thing he could change at this stage was the coming Nine-Tails Attack.

If Minato and Kushina could survive that crisis safely, it would bring nothing but benefits to both Konoha and the Hyuga Clan.

Perhaps his strength could not influence the battle itself, but if the information he possessed could be properly used, it would certainly change the course of the future.

Who knew? With Shinichi around, perhaps he could even help Minato and Kushina raise one of the phantom gods of power in the Naruto world—the "Killer Intent" Naruto, who grew up eating healthy food...

If he wanted to influence those events, he first had to build a deep relationship with Minato and Kushina, so both sides could develop a certain degree of trust.

Kushina's spur-of-the-moment idea had truly given Shinichi a good opportunity.

Shinichi had originally been planning to have his mother, Hyuga Hanako, find an excuse to approach Kushina. As fellow pregnant women, the two of them should have had some common ground.

If his nominal mother could establish contact with Kushina, it would also be easier for Shinichi to arrange "chance encounters." If possible, he could also reveal some information about Obito through their everyday conversations.

But now, it seemed there was no need to go through so much trouble.

Shinichi Hyuga had agreed so readily that Kushina Uzumaki was naturally delighted. Before he had answered so decisively, Kushina had been somewhat uneasy. If this talented brat had been too arrogant and looked down on her as a female ninja, she really would not have known how to save face.

But this kid, Shinichi Hyuga...

"You've got good taste, kid!"

"I'll definitely teach you properly!"

Kushina's face was full of smiles now that she had something to do. Seeing how happy his wife was, Minato, as her husband, did not want to spoil her mood and could only smooth things over for her.

"Shinichi, that's just Kushina's personality. Don't take it to heart."

"Let's head upstairs first. If there's anything you don't understand while learning the Flying Thunder God Technique, you can ask me."

As Minato said this, Kushina was glaring at him with a look full of resentment. Seemingly unable to bear his wife's stare, Minato gave an awkward smile before hurriedly adding,

"Of course, you can also ask Kushina."

"Don't let her appearance fool you. As someone from the Uzumaki Clan, she is also highly skilled in Sealing Jutsu."

"To learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, you need a certain foundation in Sealing Jutsu. In that regard, Kushina really can help you."

Only after Minato finished did a satisfied smile return to Kushina's face. She casually smacked Shinichi Hyuga on the head and said with unmistakable pride,

"Hey, kid, from now on, I'm your teacher!"

"Call me Teacher Kushina first!"

Who knew what had triggered Kushina's particular fondness for teaching? At this moment, she was completely different from the gentle woman she had appeared to be when visiting the Hyuga Clan. She had the air of a tough big sister from the streets.

"..."

"Teacher Kushina."

Shinichi Hyuga did not feel as though he was losing out on anything. Calling Kushina his teacher was no big deal to him.

She was an Uzumaki survivor, and unlike those members of the Uzumaki Clan who had fled across the world after Uzushio Village's destruction, Kushina had inherited Mito Uzumaki's legacy and was proficient in the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.

That body of knowledge was powerful enough to rival the Scroll of Seals. If possible, Shinichi truly wanted to learn advanced Sealing Jutsu.

More importantly, Shinichi wanted to improve the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal. To do that, he would need a strong foundation in Sealing Jutsu as well.

In Shinichi Hyuga's eyes, the Caged Bird Seal was both the crucial ninjutsu that had allowed the Hyuga Clan to endure from the Warring States period to the present, and the shackles that had restrained the clan's potential.

The Caged Bird Seal did protect some of the weaker Byakugan users, that was true, but at the same time, it prevented one generation after another of talented Branch Family members from fulfilling their potential.

If the Hyuga wanted to grow stronger, they could only rely on the sparsely populated Main Family producing geniuses. That model of development could not last forever.

And the Caged Bird Seal controlled the life and death of the Branch Family. One day, when the Branch Family's resentment toward the Main Family accumulated to a certain point, the tragedy that had happened on the moon would play out again among this branch of the Hyuga Clan on Earth.

During the few short minutes it took to follow Minato and Kushina to the Hokage's Office, Shinichi Hyuga thought of many, many things.

Some things needed to be planned in advance; others could only be buried in his heart for now. Only when he had ability and influence would he be able to put them into action.

After they arrived at the office, Kushina, who regarded herself as Shinichi's teacher, showed no intention of leaving.

Minato Namikaze did not avoid his wife either. He took the Scroll of Seals from a hidden compartment and handed it to Shinichi Hyuga.

The Third Hokage seemed not to have "come to work" yet, so today, it was Kushina who accompanied Shinichi as he looked through the scroll.

However, Shinichi had no intention of examining any other Forbidden Jutsu today. Under Kushina's guidance, he quickly turned to the section on the Flying Thunder God Technique and began reading it carefully.

From Kushina's familiarity with the Scroll of Seals, Shinichi gleaned some information.

It seemed... Kushina Uzumaki had looked through the Scroll of Seals quite often as well...

He did not know whether she had read it while Mito Uzumaki was still alive, or after marrying Minato, using his status as Hokage to access it.

While studying the Flying Thunder God Technique, Shinichi Hyuga also noticed another familiar presence hidden outside the door. Through his Byakugan, he recognized the person as Kakashi Hatake.

The current Kakashi had been assigned by the Fourth Hokage as Kushina's personal Anbu guard. Wherever Kushina went, he followed. Even inside the Hokage Building, Kakashi continued to shadow her in secret.

That made Shinichi consider contacting Kakashi again.

But... the most urgent matter right now was learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Just as Shinichi Hyuga had expected, the Flying Thunder God Technique was not merely a single ninjutsu. It was actually a series of Space-Time Ninjutsu.

From simple to complex.

The Body Flicker Technique, Substitution Technique, storage ninjutsu, Summoning Technique, Reverse Summoning, and so on...

The Flying Thunder God Technique could be said to be the culmination of this entire series of ninjutsu. Its learning difficulty was unquestionably S-rank.

In a single day, Shinichi Hyuga had only managed to gain a general overview. During that time, under Kushina's guidance, he briefly practiced storage ninjutsu and successfully stored the tea table inside a Sealing Jutsu Scroll covered in complex patterns.

Of course, Kushina had drawn the storage sealing jutsu herself; Shinichi had merely activated it.

But even so, Shinichi Hyuga's success on his first try left Kushina mildly surprised.

This also showed, from another angle, that Shinichi Hyuga truly had talent for learning Space-Time Ninjutsu.

This attempt also greatly boosted Shinichi Hyuga's confidence in mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique.

As Shinichi's nominal teacher, after personally experiencing his talent, Kushina's chuunibyou side flared up. She began imagining the disciple she had trained slaughtering his way across the Shinobi World in the future.

If Kushina had any regrets in life so far, it was that she had not become Konoha's first female Hokage, but had instead become the Hokage's woman...

If her nominal disciple could become Hokage in the future, then she, as his teacher, could at least share some of that glory.

Between being the Hokage's wife and the Hokage's teacher, it went without saying which title the competitive Kushina preferred.