Asuma and Yūhi Kurenai

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

After two consecutive months of grueling training, Hyuga Sho...

His entire body now radiated a hint of rugged sharpness.

Furthermore, by continuing to deepen his "hardworking persona"...

Almost everyone, including the Ninja Academy and the Hyuga Clan, now knew that Hyuga Sho was an extremely hardworking Academy Student.

At this point...

Hyuga Sho had obtained the Earth attribute and lit up his second Star Point.

It had naturally followed that he had also trained the accompanying Hardening Jutsu to its utmost level.

Sixty days...

His Doka Degree had risen from 12.5% to 13.5%.

Although his Doka Degree was progressing slowly...

Hyuga Sho's true strength had already undergone an incredible transformation.

With just a twitch and flex of his skin...

Ordinary cudgels, and even kunai and shuriken, could no longer inflict any damage on Hyuga Sho.

Unless his opponent was exceptionally powerful, they would be unable to injure Hyuga Sho with such ordinary weapons.

As for punches and kicks, Hyuga Sho could easily shake them away.

This...

Was somewhat similar to the Main Family's secret taijutsu, Gentle Fist Style: One Strike Body.

Gentle Fist Style: One Strike Body released Chakra through the various acupuncture points throughout the body.

This allowed the user to bind and repel attacks that struck them.

For example, if a Main Family member were bound with ropes...

They could use this technique to shake the ropes apart.

Hyuga Sho could do the same thing now.

This repulsive force...

Would certainly come in handy in many situations.

"At least I don't have to worry about being killed by some minnow among the Academy Students or Genin..."

Hyuga Sho finished his morning training and let out a long breath, thoroughly satisfied with his progress.

In the past, Hyuga Sho had seen many works of art.

In them, important characters would be killed by some minnow that had appeared out of nowhere.

Not only was that kind of ending comical, it was also sad.

Hyuga Sho felt fortunate.

He wouldn't die in such a way in the future.

In other words...

"I've now become a Minnow Killer."

Since minnows couldn't kill Hyuga Sho, it naturally followed that Hyuga Sho could kill any minnow.

He patted himself down.

Hidden weapons were concealed in various places beneath his clothes.

There was also one bottle of Hypnotic Medicine that he had previously obtained from the Iwagakure Female Ninja.

And a Sleeve Sword tied to his cuff, ready to be activated at any time.

A farmer with a gun could kill a knight.

Likewise, Hyuga Sho felt that the Hypnotic Medicine and Sleeve Sword could greatly increase his Combat Power.

Of course...

Unless the situation became critical, these two weapons would remain his Trump Cards.

He couldn't reveal them easily.

After leaving the Branch Family compound...

He slung his schoolbag over his back.

Then he left the settlement with Hyuga Mami.

"Fifty-nine days left..."

Hyuga Mami's ethereal voice drifted over from ahead.

The date she mentioned referred to the day they would graduate.

In fifty-nine days, it would be half a year since they had enrolled.

By then, Hyuga Mami and Hatake Kakashi would graduate early from the Ninja Academy.

They would become two more five-year-old geniuses to graduate after Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade.

Although this didn't represent their ultimate potential...

It did represent the speed at which their talents developed.

For the same task...

Hyuga Mami and Hatake Kakashi learned faster than others.

It was as though they had activated a Protagonist Template.

"Young Lady, I'm preparing to challenge Yūhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma."

Hyuga Sho pondered briefly before stating his goal.

"Defeat Yūhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma first?"

Hyuga Mami neither agreed with nor denied Hyuga Sho's idea.

After arriving at the Ninja Academy...

Hyuga Sho attended class as usual.

The second class was Ninja Tool Throwing Class.

The students went out to the training field.

"All right, just like usual. One at a time."

Funano Daihoku stood there with a notebook and pen in hand, preparing to record the students' throwing abilities.

"Watch this!"

Uchiha Obito took the lead and stepped forward first.

He rubbed his fists and wiped his palms, then cast a glance toward Nohara Rin.

"Rin's watching me... I absolutely can't fall behind... At the very least, I have to surpass that guy Kakashi! Here I go~!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The shuriken spun through the air with sharp whistles and struck the target.

"Hmm..."

Funano Daihoku nodded.

Ever since Hyuga Sho had stood up for Uchiha Obito...

Uchiha Obito had truly begun working hard in earnest.

From missing everything at the beginning to hitting the target with every casual throw now...

"He hasn't disgraced the Uchiha Clan."

Funano Daihoku recorded Uchiha Obito's results.

The Uchiha Clan was proficient not only in Fire Release but also in Ninja Tool Throwing.

In all of Konoha, if the Uchiha claimed their throwing technique was second, not a single clan would dare claim to be first.

"Yūhi Kurenai."

Funano Daihoku called Yūhi Kurenai.

The loli Yūhi Kurenai, with her black, wavy hair and ruby-red eyes, was second only to Hyuga Mami in looks.

The reason Hyuga Sho had chosen to challenge Yūhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma together...

Wasn't merely because of the difference in their strength.

More importantly...

"Sarutobi Asuma has been pursuing Yūhi Kurenai all along."

Hyuga Sho shifted his gaze.

His eyes moved from Yūhi Kurenai to Asuma.

He was cheering Yūhi Kurenai on with all his might. Among all the boys, his voice was the loudest by far.

Sarutobi Asuma.

From the surname Sarutobi alone, one could already infer a few things.

After listening to the other students or Ninja Academy teachers chatting...

One could learn something even more explosive.

Sarutobi Asuma looked carefree and had an unremarkable appearance.

But in fact... he was the son of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of Konohagakure!

That's right.

He was none other than the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu" and the "Strongest Hokage"!

Sarutobi Hiruzen not only commanded thousands of shinobi in Konohagakure...

His own strength was also at the very pinnacle.

One could say... he was the strongest person in Konohagakure.

In this world...

Because of the issue of genetic inheritance...

Bloodline Theory was widespread.

In other words...

"Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and a mouse's son knows how to dig holes."

Who knew how many people favored Asuma and groveled before him at the same time.

Thud, thud, thud!

A dull series of impacts rang out as the shuriken embedded themselves.

Yūhi Kurenai finished throwing.

"One shuriken hit the bullseye. Not bad."

Funano Daihoku praised her.

Her score was at least better than Uchiha Obito's.

"Obito, you've been beaten by a girl!"

The other boys immediately burst into laughter.

However...

After Hyuga Sho had stood up for Uchiha Obito last time, they only dared to mock him verbally.

Just as everyone was laughing and joking, a calm voice joined in.

"Are you sure you're stronger than Obito?"

Hyuga Sho delivered a taunt that could be called a mass provocation.

Especially...

Sarutobi Asuma's gaze immediately turned toward him.