"You've already... grown stronger than me, your teacher..."
Hatake Sakumo revealed a faint smile.
He acknowledged his disciple's progress.
His tone held both gratification and amazement at how quickly time had passed.
"..."
Hyuga Sho shook his head.
There were still powerful enemies he had yet to deal with.
He still couldn't stop moving forward.
"Teacher, you saw it, didn't you... My current strength still isn't at the very top..."
Those words.
They represented his plan to continue improving.
They also foreshadowed something...
What he had previously told Hatake Sakumo.
That if he continued growing stronger, he would eventually destroy the Shinobi World.
"..."
As Konoha's strongest living expert aside from Hyuga Sho, Hatake Sakumo...
Even after sleeping for more than a decade,
no one had been able to shake his position.
It was both a blessing and a tragedy.
"Looks like... I won't be able to continue my retirement after all..."
Hatake Sakumo scratched his head.
Those words also represented his resolve.
He needed to continue growing stronger so he could protect Konoha... and protect this world.
But the problem was...
The road to becoming stronger was long.
At his level, every inch of progress was even more difficult than ascending to the heavens.
"I do have a good idea..."
Hyuga Sho set his sights on a certain Sealing Scroll.
After they finished sparring,
Hyuga Sho took Hyuga Mami and Hatake Sakumo to the Hokage Building.
Tsunade was working.
The instant she saw Hatake Sakumo... she thought she was seeing a ghost.
"S-Sakumo, Mr. Sakumo...?!"
With a smack, Tsunade stood up.
Her second reaction was that this was one of Hyuga Sho's pranks.
Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Well, in any case... a lot of things happened..."
Hatake Sakumo glossed over the matter in a single sentence.
In short, he