The Culprit

After some back and forth, with Hyuga Matsuba acting as the matchmaker, the two little ones had now become good friends.

Nawaki, not one to stand on ceremony, greeted Hyuga Matsuba: "So you know my sister too. Tell you what, from now on in this school, if anything comes up, just come to me."

"Then it's settled. If anyone gives me trouble, I'll leave it to you. Don't let me down when the time comes." Hyuga Matsuba was overjoyed inside.

"A word spoken is past recalling!" Nawaki threw an arm around Hyuga Matsuba.

When the batch of newly enrolled brats was just about all gathered, the figure of the Third Elder appeared.

Calling him the Third Elder was a bit premature; the Third Hokage was still young, his abilities at their peak, and his strength nothing to scoff at.

The ceremony officially began, and Hiruzen Sarutobi launched into a rambling speech, starting from the very founding of the village.

He talked about how peaceful our village was, how other villages were always at war with each other—in short, Konoha was the best village.

Then he ran through all the other villages, criticizing them, and compared how Konoha was superior, touching on the spiritual aspect, the Will of Fire, the great achievements of past leaders, and so on.

"I wish you all the realization of your ninja dreams, and that you contribute to our village. The next generation of leaders for this village might be among you!"

"All things cycle endlessly, without break. After the leaves' glory, they become nourishment, supplying future generations to grow and flourish. This is our village's Will of Fire, inherited and carried forward since the First Leader. I hope you will study hard and keep your original intentions."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's concluding remarks were quite on point, getting everyone's blood pumping.

The representative of this was Nawaki. He was now brimming with fighting spirit, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.

But Hyuga Matsuba wasn't interested in any of this. The boss of the company he worked at before his transmigration pulled the same routine at every meeting; his ears were practically calloused from it.

Besides, Hyuga Matsuba had no desire to inherit any spirit of selfless dedication.

That kind of spirit was a joke to Hyuga Matsuba. It was as if those words had never existed in his dictionary.

He had always believed that only himself mattered. If his heart was full of others, what was the point of his own existence?

Unless it was someone very important to him, he might consider lending a hand. If the Hyuga Clan crowd needed help, he definitely wouldn't extend a hand—he might even take the chance to kick them while they were down. That was the kind of person Hyuga Matsuba was.

Hyuga Matsuba appeared to be meek and submissive, but that wasn't the case. Beneath a warm exterior lay a cold heart.

Seen this way, it seemed Aizen had a similar personality, but there were still some differences between them. For instance, Hyuga Matsuba preferred a stable, peaceful life and didn't strive for anything.

After transmigrating, even though Hyuga Matsuba seemed blessed by the gods, with the system treating him like a favored son, he only focused on improving himself, not on conquering the world.

The life Hyuga Matsuba pursued was one with a group of beautiful girls, indulging in wine, women, and song every day—that was the life of a god.

"Hyuga Matsuba, zoning out on the first day of school?"

Tsunade had noticed from earlier that Hyuga Matsuba was just sitting there in a daze, not even glancing at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"You weren't listening carefully either, were you?" Hyuga Matsuba didn't defend himself.

"I've heard it plenty of times already, you know!!" Tsunade put on the airs of a big kid.

"Don't try to change the subject!"

The corners of Hyuga Matsuba's mouth lifted. "The spirit of the First Hokage he's talking about up there was forged in times of war. After we settled down, that spirit had long since vanished. Maybe one day, it'll naturally reappear."

Tsunade grew serious, pondering Hyuga Matsuba's words. They seemed to hold some truth, and she felt he was right.

Tsunade knew quite a bit from her clan. There were constant conflicts and disputes within the clan. From that perspective, what he said wasn't wrong.

As for that spirit, Hyuga Matsuba couldn't care less. It might sound like something important, but in reality, it was just a vision for the future. Looking across all of Konoha, only people like Uzumaki Naruto and Hashirama Senju truly embodied that spirit.

Without them, that spirit might only be encountered in words.

Or perhaps others weren't worthy of possessing such virtue.

It was already noon. Hiruzen Sarutobi's rambling speech finally came to an end—truly admirable. Hyuga Matsuba felt his whole body relax.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's speech was interminable. Hyuga Matsuba was genuinely impressed. Looking at the rows of new students below, every face flushed with excitement, Hyuga Matsuba wondered if this wasn't a school but some kind of pyramid scheme.

After the opening ceremony, they had a hearty meal, and in the afternoon, they would be divided into classes.

Hyuga Matsuba started pulling out the lunch he had prepared for himself from his backpack. Its lavishness made Nawaki's eyes go wide. "Are you planning to open a restaurant at school?"

Hyuga Matsuba rolled up his sleeves and started eating, caring nothing for appearances, letting the facts speak for themselves.

Tsunade watched it all from the side. Ever since reading that notebook, she knew why Hyuga Matsuba's appetite was so huge.

Hyuga Matsuba's lunch was so extravagant that it drew glances from the surrounding crowd. Such a massive appetite was truly astonishing!

Hyuga Matsuba paid it no mind. He had already learned to ignore the outside world, focusing solely on doing his own thing.

After lunchtime ended, the school divided the new students into different classes. Hyuga Matsuba was assigned to Class A.

There were quite a few students in this class. Some he already knew from before, and there were some children from prominent clans. Nawaki was also in his class.

Tsunade had already left the campus. Hyuga Matsuba and Nawaki headed together to their new classroom.

But when they arrived, there were only a few people in the room. Nawaki called out, "Come on, we can sit together!"

"No thanks, I don't really want a deskmate." Hyuga Matsuba rejected Nawaki's request, leaving Nawaki with a face full of hurt and grievance.

But Hyuga Matsuba walked straight over and sat down next to Uchiha Mikoto.

Senju Nawaki finally caught on. This guy was a friend-abandoning, woman-chasing traitor!

Hyuga Matsuba felt a chill run down his spine. Turning around, he saw Nawaki staring at him with a dark expression. Could it be that the ability to increase affection wasn't limited to the opposite sex?

Hyuga Matsuba quickly turned back and extended his hand to his new deskmate. "I'm Hyuga Matsuba. Looking forward to working with you."

Uchiha Mikoto's face instantly flushed red, and she replied in a small voice, "My name is Uchiha Mikoto. Let's improve together from now on!"

"Let's not stand on ceremony either. Just call me Matsuba directly, and I'll call you Mikoto then." Hyuga Matsuba tilted his head with a smile.

Uchiha Mikoto's face was now bright red. The way Hyuga Matsuba called her name like that was far too embarrassing.

Hyuga Matsuba's face really came in handy—he'd already struck up a conversation with a pretty girl this quickly.

"Let's get along well from now on." Uchiha Mikoto answered softly.