Cashing In the Promise? Target: Flying Thunder God!

After seeing off the Third Hokage and the Fourth Hokage and his wife, Hiashi returned home with Shinichi Hyuga. Perhaps the encounter had stirred in him the desire to teach.

Once they were back, Hiashi did not let Shinichi leave. Instead, he said,

"For your first meeting with the Third Hokage and the Fourth Hokage, you conducted yourself well. You are worthy of being my son, Hiashi Hyuga's son."

"Tell me, what were your impressions of those two Hokage?"

Judging people was an important ability for a ninja. During missions, ninjas who understood how to read others could often avoid greater danger and had a higher chance of survival.

Moreover, Hiashi was raising Shinichi as his heir, making this ability to judge people all the more crucial.

"We only met once. There is ultimately too little information."

Shinichi shook his head as he answered. Before Hiashi could show disappointment, Shinichi changed direction and continued,

"Still, there are some things we can tell."

"The Third Hokage appeared experienced, steady, and kind. But throughout their conversation, whether in his words or his gaze, the Fourth Hokage seemed to subtly revolve around the Third Hokage."

"It is hard to imagine that the Fourth Hokage is Konoha's Hokage. He looked more like the Third Hokage's nephew."

"However, while the Fourth Hokage showed the Third Hokage respect in every regard, it was not as though he had no thoughts of his own."

"That promise he made to you before leaving should have been a signal he deliberately released."

"Although I cannot analyze their personalities, I think their relationship is likely not as inseparable as it appeared."

Hiashi had merely intended to ask his son for his first impressions of the two Hokage. He had not expected to hear such words from Shinichi.

He stared blankly at Shinichi Hyuga, his expression frozen in place.

Only after a long while did Hiashi Hyuga snap back to his senses. He abruptly crouched down, grabbed Shinichi's arms, and asked with some excitement, "You analyzed all that just now?!"

"Is there more?"

Hiashi had long been deeply astonished by Shinichi's talent as a ninja, but talents differed from one another. Like the current head of the Nara Clan, Shikamaru Nara possessed political wisdom far beyond ordinary people, yet his talent for ninjutsu was only average.

He had never imagined that his exceptionally gifted son would be so keen in the matter of reading people as well.

"What else would you like to know, Father?"

"If you are asking for my view on this entire matter, then I think it is a rare opportunity for our Hyuga Clan."

"Didn't the Fourth Hokage promise to help our Hyuga Clan as much as he could?"

"If you ask me, we should take this opportunity to make a few harmless requests and ask the Fourth Hokage for assistance."

"That way, our Hyuga Clan and the Fourth Hokage can naturally establish a good, mutually supportive relationship. Afterward, our two sides can interact more often."

Upon hearing Shinichi's words, Hiashi's excitement instead faded away.

Hmm... A child was still a child. Though Shinichi had some skill in reading people, that was all there was to it!

Yet Hiashi did not feel disappointed. Instead, he slowly straightened up, gently patted Shinichi's head, and "instructed" him, "You are indeed clever, but you still have much to learn!"

"To judge people, look at their hearts. To hear words, listen to their meaning."

"The Fourth Hokage saying he would help our Hyuga Clan as much as possible was merely polite talk."

"Even if the Fourth Hokage truly would help us as much as he said, would we really use up such a precious opportunity like this?"

"Wouldn't it be better to ask for his help when our Hyuga Clan truly encountered some difficulty?"

Hiashi spoke to Shinichi with a smile. In truth, he was greatly enjoying the satisfaction of teaching his son.

Everyone had a side that liked to teach others. Even in the modern era, some people liked to offer commentary from the sidelines while driving or playing games. Hiashi was that kind of person too, especially in front of his son.

"No, Father. If that is how you understand it, then you are completely mistaken."

Shinichi shook his head. Clearly, he held a different opinion from Hiashi.

"Judging from how you and the Fourth Hokage addressed one another during tea, the personal relationship between our Hyuga Clan and the Fourth Hokage should not be particularly deep."

"If you think that, should some major event happen to our Hyuga Clan in the future, we can rely on the goodwill from this single guard mission to ask the Fourth Hokage to agree to something, then that is far too naïve."

"We Hyuga are Konoha Ninja to begin with. We should obey the Hokage's orders. In principle, the Fourth Hokage would have been perfectly justified in promising us nothing, because carrying out orders is simply considered our 'duty' in his eyes."

"The reason he said that was actually because he wanted to draw the Fourth Hokage closer to our Hyuga Clan."

"If that is the case, then we should trouble him more often. Only after this instance of 'mutual benefit' can our two families interact more deeply, right?!"

A faint smile appeared on Shinichi Hyuga's face. As he spoke, he slightly raised his head to look at Hiashi Hyuga. His expression of confident control made Hiashi pause.

"Hmm... What you say... does make some sense..."

Although Shinichi was young, after carefully considering his words, Hiashi Hyuga could not help nodding.

That was right... With only this one encounter, the two sides could not possibly be said to have established any deep friendship. If something really happened to the Hyuga Clan in the future, this relationship alone would likely be of no use.

If they wanted to deepen their relationship, they needed deeper ties.

"But... Shinichi, though what you said makes some sense, our Hyuga Clan currently lacks nothing. What sort of favor could we ask the Fourth Hokage for?"

"And the extent of it... would not be easy to control!"

As he spoke, a thoughtful look appeared on Hiashi's face. A moment later, he stared at Shinichi as though he had thought of something, but the next instant, he shook his head and spoke regretfully.

"What a pity... Our Hyuga Clan's ninjas have our own methods of growth. Otherwise, asking the Fourth Hokage to take you as his disciple might have been a fine 'request.'"

"Your talent would absolutely not lose to Kakashi Hatake's."

"What a pity..."

By the end, Hiashi Hyuga's face was full of regret. His words also caused Shinichi Hyuga's expression to darken.

What Hiashi Hyuga said was not entirely true. The greatest reason was actually the pride of the Hyuga Clan.

As one of Konoha's strongest Kekkei Genkai clans, the ninjas of the Hyuga Main Family had always been trained within the clan. They simply did not think highly of other ninjas, not even the Fourth Hokage.

This phenomenon was not limited to the Hyuga Clan. The Uchiha Clan, Nara Clan, Akimichi Clan, and other ninja clans were the same. Their children might have teachers when they were young, but the ninjutsu they truly learned consisted entirely of Secret Techniques passed down through their families.

These ninja clan children almost never learned ninjutsu beyond their inherited Secret Techniques.

Whether for the sake of so-called inheritance or the so-called dignity of the clan, this system had, in short, constrained many children of ninja clans.

Shinichi Hyuga did not share such thoughts, but having been born into the Hyuga Clan, his path of growth was still, for the time being, decided by Hiashi.

Though he too wanted a Hokage as his teacher, the time was not yet right. Besides... if he could not change the future Nine-Tails Attack, then even becoming the Fourth Hokage's disciple would bring limited benefits.

Fortunately, there was still time, and he had already thought of how to make use of the information he possessed.

As for Hiashi Hyuga's current concern... Shinichi had a plan in mind as well.

"Father, can we ask the Fourth Hokage to teach our Hyuga Clan the Flying Thunder God Secret Technique?"

"I have heard that the Space-Time Ninjutsu the Fourth Hokage excels at most is called Flying Thunder God. I am very interested in that technique. If possible, I would like to learn it."

"Space-Time Ninjutsu is highly compatible with our Hyuga Clan's Nintaijutsu and can greatly increase our strength."

Shinichi Hyuga shifted his gaze away from Hiashi Hyuga, lowered his head slightly, and spoke in a deep voice.

Flying Thunder God!

For someone like him, who feared death, learning that technique would surely greatly improve his chances of surviving all kinds of future crises.

If his wish came true, Shinichi would certainly make good use of Flying Thunder God and bring one of the supreme conceptual gods of the Hokage world—"Going-Home Minato"—into this world!

"The Flying Thunder God Technique?"

"How did you... Hmm..."

Hiashi was surprised that Shinichi, who rarely left the house, knew so much about Minato Namikaze. But after a moment's thought, he understood.

So many ninjas took care of Shinichi. It was hardly strange for one of them to have mentioned Minato Namikaze.

Hearing that his son was interested in the Flying Thunder God Secret Technique, Hiashi stroked his chin and fell into thought.

"Flying Thunder God..."