④① · A Household Name

Yuzuru, his entire body enveloped in pale green Chakra, floated through the air toward Orochimaru like a god. That indescribable aura and pressure made everyone forget that he was only six years old and a first-year Academy student, instinctively treating him as an equal...

Orochimaru had not felt this kind of oppressive sensation in a long time. His attitude had shifted from playful at the start to serious before, and now he had implicitly raised Yuzuru to the same level as Teacher Hiruzen. All of this indirectly showed that Yuzuru's strength was already approaching Kage level, enough to leave even an elite Jonin struggling to cope!

But Orochimaru had never willingly admitted defeat. Even though he knew the coming exchange would be difficult, he would still fight with everything he had.

"Kusanagi Blade Shadow Clone Technique!"

Orochimaru threw the Kusanagi Blade in his hand at Yuzuru like a shuriken, then immediately formed hand seals. The thrown Kusanagi Blade instantly transformed into tens of thousands of shadow clones, densely shooting toward Yuzuru.

The countless Kusanagi Blades flew like slanting drizzle falling from the sky, instantly blanketing the entire battlefield and leaving Yuzuru nowhere to evade. The power of the A-rank ninjutsu was every bit as formidable as it appeared, inspiring a feeling that it simply could not be resisted.

"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

Yet as Yuzuru watched the sea of sword shadows descending from midair, his expression remained calm, as though this A-rank ninjutsu was nothing worth mentioning. He gently raised his right hand, which held the Golden Light Sword, and opened his palm toward the sky. The Golden Light Sword immediately shrank and broke apart into several pitch-black spheres, which began spinning violently. In an instant, they became a dazzling silver storm and charged directly into the countless sword shadows!

The powerful repulsive force became a silver storm, blowing back the incoming sword shadows with unstoppable force. As they rebounded, the Kusanagi Blade shadow clones were forcibly destroyed, exploding into clusters of white smoke. Only the Kusanagi Blade itself remained, landing with a clang and embedding itself diagonally in the ground not far from Orochimaru.

"The Golden Light Sword that cuts through everything, the silver storm that combines defense and offense..."

"Could this be Yuzuru's Eye Technique?"

"Or is it related to his current form...?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had originally intended to stop the battle at once, immediately held back that thought. Yuzuru's abilities kept appearing one after another, and he wanted to continue watching to see whether Yuzuru had any other hidden powers.

In an inconspicuous spot outside the arena, an utterly ordinary middle-aged man stood among the crowd, so unremarkable that he barely seemed to exist. He stared at the scene before him in shock, his heart suffering a tremendous blow. He had thought this would merely be a sparring lesson, so how had it turned into a one-sided crushing match? And hadn't their roles been reversed? Shouldn't Orochimaru, the Hokage's direct disciple, have held the upper hand? How was he being suppressed by a six-year-old first-year Academy student?

Could this be a genjutsu aimed at him?

With that thought, the middle-aged man felt a chill run down his back and immediately checked the flow of Chakra within his body without drawing attention.

Everything was normal?

It seemed his identity as a spy had not been discovered!

Then this scene before him...

The middle-aged man unconsciously swallowed. That Hyuga brat was too terrifying. If he were allowed to grow completely, he would definitely become a second Hashirama Senju!

He had to report this to the village and let Lord Raikage decide what to do!

Orochimaru blankly watched his A-rank ninjutsu get effortlessly broken. At that moment, he committed an error no ninja should make: spacing out. If he had been facing a real enemy, he would likely have been killed while distracted.

But Orochimaru was facing Yuzuru. The latter had no intention of killing him. Looking at the dazed Orochimaru, Yuzuru slowly descended to the ground a short distance in front of him. The pale green Chakra around his body also vanished at a visible rate. As the Tenseigan Chakra Mode faded, Yuzuru could no longer float and could only land lightly on the ground. Then he said to Orochimaru, "Lord Orochimaru, I lost. I don't have enough Chakra left to maintain this special mode."

Yuzuru's sudden words snapped Orochimaru out of his brief daze. He instinctively sensed Yuzuru and indeed felt no intense Chakra flow from him. Instead, he detected exhaustion and weakness. It seemed Yuzuru was not lying. He truly had run out of Chakra...

The moment Tsunade, standing outside the arena, heard Yuzuru admit defeat, she immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to arrive beside them and declared Orochimaru the winner.

That abrupt turn left the spectators outside the arena feeling unsatisfied. They had truly thought Orochimaru was about to lose. Faced with Yuzuru's terrifying techniques, none of them dared claim they could withstand them...

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi quietly left as well. Since the battle was over, Tsunade and the others could handle the rest.

"All right, everyone, disperse. After that battle, both of them need to rest properly."

Tsunade then immediately dismissed the spectators outside the arena.

Thus, the guests who had attended Tsunade's birthday banquet all responded and departed. They had already attended Tsunade's birthday celebration and witnessed such a shocking battle, so they needed to go home and properly digest what they had seen. Then they would inform their clans, allowing the higher-ups to decide whether they needed to build a good relationship with the Hyuga Clan in the future...

Anyone with a brain knew how great Hyuga Yuzuru's future potential was. They also understood that Konoha's future would undoubtedly be led by Hyuga Yuzuru, the son of the Hyuga Main Family!

Only after everyone outside had left did Tsunade reveal a strange expression. She asked doubtfully, "You brat, you didn't voluntarily admit defeat just to preserve Orochimaru's dignity, did you?"

Hearing Tsunade's words, Orochimaru's mouth twitched slightly. Was she really asking that so openly, with absolutely no concern for his dignity as the person involved...?

Yuzuru merely shook his head and said seriously, "Tenseigan Chakra Mode consumes an enormous amount of Chakra. With my current body, I can't maintain Tenseigan Chakra Mode for long. Once I am forced out of that mode, it means the Chakra in my body has entered a depleted state. If I force myself to use it, it will affect the condition of my Tenseigan..."

Tsunade and Orochimaru both showed looks of realization. The moment they heard Yuzuru mention Tenseigan Chakra Mode, they immediately thought of the Cloud Village Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Because the Raikage possessed an abnormal physique, Chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast's, and a body far tougher than an ordinary human's, he could maintain Lightning Release Chakra Mode for a long time. Yuzuru, on the other hand, was only six years old. The fact that he had maintained Tenseigan Chakra Mode for this long was already unbelievable.

This also gave Orochimaru a reason for why he had been able to win. But when he thought about how narrowly he had "won" against Yuzuru, even someone as detached as him suddenly felt a little embarrassed...

"Don't worry. Your Chakra will naturally grow stronger as your body matures. And you're no ordinary person, so once you reach adulthood normally, you'll definitely have enough Chakra!"

Tsunade patted Yuzuru on the shoulder and spoke from experience. Those with Kekkei Genkai possessed physiques far beyond ordinary people, let alone Yuzuru, who had awakened the Tenseigan.

After all, awakening a bloodline Eye Technique would also feed a massive amount of Chakra back to its user. The most obvious example was the Uchiha Clan. Once they awakened their eyes, both their strength and their body's total Chakra reserves would rise drastically...

Jiraiya, once again pretending that nothing had happened, sauntered over with his usual carefree manner. His gaze moved back and forth between Yuzuru and Orochimaru, and he clicked his tongue several times, as if saying, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Orochimaru, how did you nearly overturn the boat?" This immediately earned him a look from Orochimaru that clearly said, Idiot, shut up!

Just then, a cloud of white smoke suddenly exploded beside them. Orochimaru and Jiraiya, who had been staring at each other, both turned to look and saw Tsunade's awkward face.

"If I said it was an accident, would you believe me?"

Tsunade spoke awkwardly. She had not expected that she had merely used a little too much force when "lightly" patting Yuzuru's shoulder, only to blow him up outright!

"A Shadow Clone?"

"A Shadow Clone!"

Orochimaru and Jiraiya paid no attention to Tsunade's embarrassment. Instead, they spoke at the same time with shocked expressions. The Yuzuru who had nearly defeated Orochimaru had actually only been a Shadow Clone?

Then weren't all his earlier words about lacking Chakra and such only referring to that Shadow Clone?

The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Yuzuru's real body certainly would not be short on Chakra, so then...

"Tsunade, how did you know that was Yuzuru's Shadow Clone?"

Jiraiya and Orochimaru both looked at Tsunade curiously.

Tsunade was instantly speechless. She could hardly say that she had failed to control the strength in her hand, could she?

"I guessed."

"..."

August 9th, Year 31 of Konoha.

After a week of spreading, the matter of Yuzuru's battle with Orochimaru had made Hyuga Yuzuru's name known throughout all of Konoha. Nearly everyone knew that Hyuga Yuzuru was the future second Hashirama Senju. This topic had undoubtedly brought the Hyuga Clan's reputation to its peak, and it even seemed poised to become Konoha's foremost noble clan...

Inside Tsunade's luxurious residence.

Nawaki and a group of friends were comfortably eating grilled meat. He had saved up for a long time before finally being able to afford this feast.

"Nawaki, you really are smart. You directly got the Akimichi Clan's grilling equipment and barbecue chef over here. Eating grilled meat here really is a whole different kind of pleasure!"

"Woof, woof!"

After Inuzuka Gouichi spoke, the brown puppy perched atop his head also barked in agreement. It seemed to wholeheartedly approve of his words, as its mouth never stopped chewing. Clearly, it was enjoying the barbecue immensely.

Nara Zentaro, Aburame Hotaru, and the others did not say anything, but their actions made it clear that they were also enjoying the barbecue.

Before long, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill.

"Nawaki, thanks for the treat."

Nara Zentaro and the others spoke, then added in unison, "And happy birthday!"

"What the heck! I thought you guys had forgotten!"

Looking at them, Nawaki immediately pretended to be angry.

"I was originally going to make you split the bill, but since you still remembered that today is my birthday, I'll treat you all!"

Nawaki then spoke with a grin.

This made Nara Zentaro, Inuzuka Gouichi, and the others smile broadly.

"Nawaki, this is the birthday gift we prepared for you."

Nara Zentaro then took out the gift they had prepared together and handed it to Nawaki, who accepted it immediately.

"Nawaki, hurry up and open it. You'll definitely like it."

Faced with his friends' urging, Nawaki naturally did not refuse. He opened the exquisitely wrapped gift box before them.

"This is..."

The instant the birthday gift box was opened, Nawaki's eyes lit up. He spoke with excitement, "This is my favorite ninja tool set!"

Black fingerless gloves, shoulder guards, knee guards, an oversized ninja tool pouch, and a pair of cool ninja boots...

"Thank you, everyone!"

This was the ninja tool set Nawaki had always wanted to buy, but he had never saved enough money. He had not expected Zentaro and the others to give it to him as a present, and it made him very happy.

"As long as you like it, Nawaki."

After all, they had been classmates for four years. If they did not even know some of Nawaki's preferences, that would have been rather inexcusable.

So Nawaki continued chatting with them for a while, discussing topics that had happened in the village. Yet as they talked, the conversation inevitably shifted toward the topic of #Hyuga Yuzuru#.

"I heard that Lord Orochimaru was able to beat Hyuga Yuzuru only because Hyuga Yuzuru himself lacked enough Chakra..."

"And I heard that the Hokage might specially approve Hyuga Yuzuru's early graduation next year, allowing him to become a Genin..."

"Not only that. According to some rumors, one of Konoha's high-ranking advisors has invited Hyuga Yuzuru to join his special organization and intends to give him an extremely important position..."

"..."

For a time, the entire hall of the luxurious residence was filled with talk of Hyuga Yuzuru. Their voices were full of envy and admiration. At first, they had also felt negative emotions such as jealousy, but those feelings had gradually faded away. They knew their own limits and would not trouble themselves pointlessly. At most, they felt a little discouraged.

"No! Hyuga Yuzuru, a junior student, has already reached this level. How can we possibly fall behind? Even if we can't catch up to him, we still have to pursue him with everything we have!"

Nawaki suddenly stood up and spoke with incomparable resolve. If he did not even have the courage to chase after him, how could he possibly become Hokage in the future?

Nara Zentaro and the others looked at Nawaki and were all inspired by his actions and tone.

"Then let's make a promise. We have to train hard!"

Nawaki spoke to them, then slowly extended his fist.

Seeing this, Nara Zentaro and the others all extended their fists as well and bumped them against Nawaki's. At that moment, it was as though they had sworn an oath!

Cloud Village, the Raikage's office.

A desk split in two lay miserably on the floor. Beside it stood a middle-aged man whose entire body was enveloped in lightning. The violent Lightning Release around him displayed his restless emotions.

Only after an unknown amount of time had passed did he calm down.

This man was the current Raikage of the Cloud Village. He had dark skin, long pale blond hair, and an exceptionally conspicuous tattoo of the character for "lightning" on his right shoulder.

"That Hyuga brat must be eliminated!"

The Third Raikage, A, clenched his fist and spoke seriously to the secretary and guard beside him.

This was the decision Third Raikage A made several days after receiving intelligence on Hyuga Yuzuru from Konoha spies!

"Lord Raikage, now is not the time to start a war!"

"That's right, Lord Raikage. The village is still in a period of development!"

Although the Raikage's secretary and guard also feared Hyuga Yuzuru's potential, they still tried to dissuade him.

"Who said I was going to start a war?"

The Third Raikage A smiled and spoke.

"Lord Raikage, you mean...?"

"There are so many wandering bounty ninja. Someone will always dare to risk everything..."