Kamimusubi

The newcomer was short and stout.

He had a large nose.

Small eyes.

And a little mustache on his chin.

"Teacher Daihoku?!"

Morino Ibiki called out the man's name.

Funano Daihoku.

Hyuga Sho and Morino Ibiki's homeroom teacher.

Wearing a flak jacket, he stood behind the woman.

Funano Daihoku looked a whole head shorter than the woman.

He was holding a wallet in his hand.

"Hehe..."

The woman was initially startled by the sudden appearance of someone behind her.

This nesting-doll situation where she had caught the black-clad brat, only for someone else to catch her from behind... displeased her greatly.

Then she smiled.

"Thank you."

She put the wallet back into her pocket.

The woman started walking.

As she passed Funano Daihoku, she said, "Woman, woman, woman... You'll never find a girlfriend acting like that~~."

"..."

Funano Daihoku watched her retreating figure, his face devoid of joy or sorrow.

Only after she had vanished completely...

Did Funano Daihoku erupt in a puff of smoke.

His 1.6-meter-tall body reverted to Hyuga Sho's appearance.

"Hyuga Sho?!"

Morino Ibiki was stunned.

He had never expected that the person who had gotten him out of trouble was not the real Funano Daihoku.

It was Hyuga Sho, who had intimidated and scared her away with nothing more than an E-Rank Transformation Technique!!!

"Our homeroom teacher, Funano Daihoku, is a Chunin. He wears the flak jacket that symbolizes Chunin, Special Jonin, and Jonin... But maybe she doesn't know Teacher Daihoku is a Chunin. Maybe she mistook him for a Jonin! That was such a brilliant idea..."

Cold sweat still trickling down his forehead, Morino Ibiki sincerely praised Hyuga Sho's intellect.

That strategy had been absolutely perfect!!

Hyuga Sho definitely possessed the mind of a ninja!

"Are you still planning to keep following her?"

Hyuga Sho accepted Morino Ibiki's praise.

He asked expressionlessly.

"Yeah."

Morino Ibiki nodded firmly.

"I'm a Konoha person, and I will become a Konoha Ninja. My dream is to protect the village as an interrogation and torture specialist. Even if it gets me killed, there are things that must be done..."

"Is that so? Then good luck."

Hyuga Sho glanced at the place where the woman had disappeared and remained silent for a long time.

More than ten minutes later.

Hyuga Sho and Morino Ibiki sat on the steps outside a convenience store.

Hyuga Sho handed him a drink.

Morino Ibiki thanked him.

"No need to thank me. Pay up."

Hyuga Sho held out his hand and asked Morino Ibiki for the money for the drink.

Morino Ibiki: "..."

A moment later.

Morino Ibiki took a sip of his drink, then raised his head and looked towards the sky. "I've decided... I'm going to keep following that woman."

He rubbed his fists together, ready to show what he could do.

"Even though that woman used forged documents to deceive the Police Force, I don't believe she can escape my investigation! Hey... where are you going?"

Morino Ibiki looked at the Hyuga Sho who had risen to his feet in confusion.

"I'm going back to train. Once you get results, come find me at the Hyuga Clan compound."

He walked away, leaving Morino Ibiki behind alone.

Hyuga Sho was still thinking about that woman.

Her appearance foreshadowed something.

What Morino Ibiki had said might all be true.

Another two days passed.

The Ninja Academy reopened.

Over those two days, Hyuga Sho trained while keeping watch for unusual activity at the Hyuga Clan compound.

Yet he found nothing during that time.

Not only had Morino Ibiki not come, but that woman had not appeared either.

"Has anyone seen Morino Ibiki?"

In the classroom.

Homeroom teacher Funano Daihoku swept his gaze around the room and discovered that Morino Ibiki had not come to class.

He had not come in the morning.

Nor had he come at noon.

Picking through Hyuga Natsu's Heart Bento, Hyuga Sho thought that perhaps Morino Ibiki had already been killed by that woman.

Afternoon... evening...

The second day, then the third day.

Morino Ibiki still did not come to school.

He had probably really died.

Thursday evening.

Having finished training, Hyuga Sho exhaled a breath of stale air.

[Doka Degree: 11%]

After several days of practice.

Hyuga Sho had trained Leaf Whirlwind to its limit, causing his Doka Degree to stop increasing.

Based on his previous experience.

If he wanted his Doka Degree to rise again.

He would have to defeat powerful enemies.

Or learn other Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, perhaps even Genjutsu.

He sat down cross-legged.

Hyuga Sho glanced outside.

The setting sun was shedding its last lingering glow.

Clearly, it was not time for dinner yet.

"..."

He closed his eyes and immersed his consciousness in his mindscape.

A vast scene appeared before him.

The cosmos, the starry sky, constellations.

Hyuga Sho stood within it, as though the entire universe were under his control.

A few days ago.

The matter of the Chakra Paper had given Hyuga Sho some food for thought.

Unlike Ordinary People, who possessed one Chakra Nature.

Hyuga Sho was so gifted that he did not even possess a single nature.

"Perhaps I should try unlocking an Evolution Chart. Maybe I'll obtain a Chakra Nature that way."

As Hyuga Sho pondered this, Constellation Charts swept past his eyes one after another.

Which constellation should he choose?

Hyuga Sho had actually long since had an answer.

The fewer constellations there were, the weaker the completed Evolution Chart would be.

Conversely, the stronger it would be.

But the difficulty of cultivation would inevitably be higher.

Quick achievements, or a slow rise.

"Four... There are four Evolution Charts that meet my criteria."

Hyuga Sho placed the four constellation Evolution Charts before himself.

"Kamimusubi, Mitamusubi, Take-Mikazuchi, Sugawara no Michizane. Sure enough... judging by their number, I should choose either 'Kamimusubi' or 'Mitamusubi'..."

Once Kamimusubi was mastered, it would be First in Slaughter.

Once Mitamusubi was mastered, it would be Speed First.

"Being fast really is an advantage, and it makes running away easier. But... there are always battles in this world that cannot be avoided."

Because of what had happened when nuclear missiles had struck him in his previous life...

Hyuga Sho settled on the Evolution Chart of "First in Slaughter."

[Activate the "Kamimusubi" evolution path?]

"Yes!"

With Hyuga Sho's answer.

The other constellation Evolution Charts vanished in an instant.

The vast sea of stars expanded before his eyes.

A moment later, the Evolution Chart of "Kamimusubi" lit up.

At last, Hyuga Sho was able to see its full picture.

"This is..."

Hyuga Sho's eyes abruptly widened.

Ever since coming to this world, his heart had been as still as an ancient well. At last, a ripple stirred within it.

"It's practically tailor-made for me! Choices determine fate... Sure enough, fate rests in one's own hands!!"

Hyuga Sho clenched his fists, blazing fervor bursting forth in his eyes.