Overall, the advanced applications of chakra were nothing more than changes in nature and changes in form. But even after a technique changed, its essence was still chakra. Under normal circumstances, chakra could not be transformed into matter. Even the water condensed through Water Release was usually made from water molecules that already existed.
However, there were some great ninja who were exceptions. They added Yin-Yang properties or other elements to their Ninjutsu, allowing them to create physical objects from chakra out of thin air.
"Whew..." Hyuga Ao let out a long breath, put away the scroll, rubbed her sore eyes from reading for so long, stretched luxuriously, and flipped down from the tree.
She looked at Namikaze Minato, who was striking the Wooden Dummy with total concentration. Her heart stirred, and she suddenly shouted:
"Minato, you still claim you're not Senju!"
Namikaze Minato was startled. His movements broke, so he had no choice but to set the Wooded Dummy upright again and end the practice session.
Interrupted while he was fully focused, Namikaze Minato felt quite uncomfortable, but in the end, he could only say helplessly:
"Ao'er, what is it this time? I'm just about finished."
Hyuga Ao held up the scroll and pointed out the final passage to Namikaze Minato, smiling as she said:
"Minato, when school first started a year ago, I said you were a descendant of the Senju who had scattered into Konoha, but you didn't believe me."
"But the Senju bloodline was naturally extraordinary, and having a legacy and not having one were two completely different things."
"Look at this passage. This isn't information an ordinary person could know."
Namikaze Minato read the final passage on the scroll back and forth twice, then turned his head toward Hyuga Ao in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
Hyuga Ao's delicate little face was filled with seriousness. Her lively phoenix eyes were solemn, exactly as they had been when she had conned Namikaze Minato a year ago. She said leisurely:
"Konoha was located in the center of the Land of Fire, surrounded by lush forests that could be called a natural defensive fortification. Guess how these woods came to be."
Namikaze Minato was puzzled.
"Wasn't it because Konoha ninja had flexible fighting styles and were best suited for combat in mountainous forests, so our predecessors chose this place to build the village? The forest naturally existed already."
Hyuga Ao smiled at that and closed the scroll.
"Naive. Konoha was originally the territory of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. The two strongest clans were hereditary enemies, separated by only a single river, and had fought for years. After such prolonged battles, how could a forest this dense still exist?"
Hyuga Ao paused, her eyes filled with yearning.
"This forest was created by the First Hokage using Wood Release."
Namikaze Minato was shocked. However, after spending a year with Hyuga Ao, he trusted her to a certain degree and quickly accepted the explanation. Coming back to himself, he asked:
"But what does that have to do with you interrupting me while I was hitting the Wooded Dummy?"
Hyuga Ao's smile stiffened. Why wasn't Minato following the script this time? She gave an awkward laugh and changed the subject.
"It's noon. Come on, I'll treat you to lunch."
Namikaze Minato sighed. Looking at Hyuga Ao's raised little face as she tried to curry favor with him, he could only pretend nothing had happened. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"I really don't know what to do with you."
On the way, Namikaze Minato glanced at Hyuga Ao's profile and thought:
She usually looks like some kind of celestial being. Tsk, what a shame.
Inside Ichiraku Ramen.
At this time, Otsutsuki Ikkaku had just moved to Konoha from another village. He was still young enough for Hyuga Ao to call him Big Brother.
"Big Brother Teuchi, two extra-large bowls of tonkotsu ramen, with extra chashu!"
"Coming right up!" Teuchi replied enthusiastically.
Ichiraku Ramen had only just opened and was still nearly empty, so the two bowls of ramen were brought out very quickly.
As he ate his ramen, Namikaze Minato still couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked:
"Ao'er, how are you so rich? Aren't you in the same situation as me? You've treated me to quite a lot of ramen this past year."
Hyuga Ao raised her head and pointed at the birdcage carried by an old man outside the door.
"Minato, if you raised a bird, wouldn't you have to prepare food and water for it?"
After spending the past year with Hyuga Ao, Namikaze Minato naturally knew about the Cursed Seal on her forehead. He realized he had asked something he shouldn't have and hesitated.
"You mean..."
Hyuga Ao looked at the cautious Namikaze Minato and smiled freely.
"Besides, the Hyuga family is a clan centered on Taijutsu. The saying goes that scholars need little money, while martial artists need wealth. Naturally, they have to keep us branch-family members well fed. So, until I become an adult, I receive a monthly allowance. Adding in what my parents left me, taking care of you is still quite easy."
Namikaze Minato was left speechless by Hyuga Ao. What does she mean, taking care of me? But when he recalled how many times he had paid over the past year, he decided to focus on eating his noodles.
Seeing that Minato had fallen silent, Hyuga Ao smiled faintly and continued eating.
On the way to the Ninja Academy, Namikaze Minato seemed to want to say something several times. Seeing this, Hyuga Ao asked him:
"What do you want to say?"
Namikaze Minato spoke awkwardly.
"How about we stop using Shadow Clones to attend school this term?"
"What, are you feeling like you can't keep up?"
Namikaze Minato nodded.
"Every day, I have to divide off most of my chakra to attend school and practice Wing Chun with you. We don't use much chakra when practicing, but it's still exhausting. Even as a Senju, I can't take it anymore."
Hyuga Ao shot him a sidelong glance and thought: You didn't say that when you found the Shadow Clone at your house a year ago.
She tugged at the bangs hanging over her forehead, thought for a moment, and said:
"Fine. Then take a year off. Your Wing Chun is almost good enough, and this year the school is starting some Ninjutsu practice. The chakra provided by a Shadow Clone really is a little insufficient, and the academy is also starting practical combat classes."
"Still, doesn't this mean you've accepted my judgment? But you know nothing about the physical strength of the Senju."
Realizing that Hyuga Ao was about to start sharing another secret, Namikaze Minato focused his attention and prepared to listen.
"The Uchiha and the Senju came from the same lineage. Each inherited one thing: the Sage's Eye and the Sage's Body."
"The Sage's Eye is the Sharingan—you should know what the Sharingan is. As for the Sage's Body, it means inhuman amounts of chakra, an inhuman physique, and inhuman recovery. Believe me, you haven't reached your limit yet."
Hyuga Ao turned her head and looked suspiciously at Namikaze Minato.
"What do you do at night? Why do you get tired so easily?"
As she spoke, she teased him earnestly:
"Young man, you need to exercise some restraint!"
People in the Naruto world matured relatively early. Namikaze Minato clearly understood what Hyuga Ao was implying. He sighed helplessly inwardly, turned his head away, and ignored the misbehaving Hyuga Ao.
Namikaze Minato suffered in silence. He didn't say anything. He couldn't win if they fought, so he could only ignore Hyuga Ao for the time being. He felt that if this continued, he would eventually lose his temper entirely.
When Hyuga Ao saw that Namikaze Minato no longer answered, she could only turn her head away in boredom. In this way, they walked quietly to the school.
Just as Hyuga Ao and the others began class, the homeroom teacher led in a red-haired little girl.
Seeing that Uzumaki Kushina had finally arrived in Konoha, Hyuga Ao's eyes lit up. The main reason she had befriended Namikaze Minato over the past year was because she coveted Uzumaki Kushina's Sealing Jutsu.
She also coveted the heights Namikaze Minato would eventually reach and the help he could provide her, but at this stage, what she coveted most was still Kushina's Sealing Jutsu.
"Minato, Minato, hurry, switch seats."
The Ninja Academy seated three students to a desk. Hyuga Ao was currently sitting on the right side of the far-right row, while Namikaze Minato sat in the middle, with a chubby boy from the Akimichi Clan on his left.
Although Namikaze Minato didn't understand why, he quickly switched seats with Hyuga Ao and then began waiting for Uzumaki Kushina to introduce herself.
Hyuga Ao, meanwhile, used this time to make the chubby boy from the Akimichi Clan switch seats, telling him to move farther back.
Although the chubby boy didn't want to sit in the back, he obediently moved after being threatened by the class tyrant's pale little fists.
For the past year, Hyuga Ao and Namikaze Minato had both attended school using Shadow Clones. Namikaze Minato's chakra was running a little short, and Hyuga Ao wasn't much better.
Both of their chakra reserves were only barely enough to maintain their Shadow Clones.
Hyuga Ao was slightly better off because she had mainly been reading the books in Minato's family library that year, allowing her to leave more chakra for her Shadow Clone.
So, to reduce activity, aside from class, Hyuga Ao adopted a complete one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with interruptions from the other children during breaks.
As for those who came looking for trouble, Hyuga Ao demonstrated one of her special techniques—striking their numb points.
Those struck by Hyuga Ao felt a tingling numbness in the affected area that lasted for more than ten minutes. Even when they reported it to the teacher, the teacher couldn't find anything wrong. As a result, everyone became afraid of Hyuga Ao. She became a true class tyrant, and word of the Hyuga family genius spread far and wide.
However, Namikaze Minato's reputation inevitably suffered. Everyone said he was Hyuga Ao's kept pretty boy, and Hyuga Ao regularly used this to tease him.
"I will definitely become this village's first female Hokage!" Uzumaki Kushina declared from the platform.
Below, Hyuga Ao slandered her inwardly: You can't become Hokage, but you can become the Hokage's woman.
Although she was ranting internally, her face wore a bright smile. When everyone else burst into laughter, she began clapping, and the laughter below gradually faded along with the sound of her applause.
"That's amazing!" Kushina exclaimed in surprise.
She carefully observed Hyuga Ao below, but no matter how she looked, all she saw was a delicate and adorable little Byakugan girl.
Judging by her appearance alone, it was impossible to imagine that this tiny person could possess such intimidating power.
Hyuga Ao's homeroom teacher was also perceptive and directly told Kushina to sit in the empty seat beside Hyuga Ao.
After Kushina sat down, Hyuga Ao leaned over affectionately, gently lifted Kushina's bright red hair, and immediately went for a direct compliment:
"Big Sister, your hair is such a beautiful color."
"Is, is it?" Kushina's red hair, which she herself disliked, had suddenly been praised. Her little face flushed bright red, making her especially adorable.
"It is!" Hyuga Ao nodded cutely, beginning to use her sweetness to befriend the older girl.
Hyuga Ao pointed at Namikaze Minato.
"Look, look, Minato has golden hair. I like making friends with people whose hair is a different color."
"Because I want hair of another color too. Black hair is just too traditional and ordinary."
Kushina turned her head toward Namikaze Minato, thought he looked a little girlish, and immediately stopped paying attention to him, turning back to chat and laugh with Hyuga Ao.
Minato smiled warmly at Kushina. For some reason, as he watched Kushina and Hyuga Ao play around, he felt a powerful sense of déjà vu, as though he had experienced this scene before.
He shook the feeling from his mind, shifted his gaze back to Kushina, and felt a strange sensation rise within him.
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