Spring Festival

A month later.

Spring Festival.

Today was Spring Festival.

Even within the Hyuga Clan compound, which had always been solemn, rule-bound, and traditional,

every household had hung red lanterns to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Across all of Konoha, red could be seen everywhere. Firecrackers rang out one after another, children played noisily in the streets, and the entire village brimmed with festive cheer as it welcomed the new year.

Early that morning.

For once, Hyuga Kazuya did not train. Instead, he gave himself a day off for this important holiday.

Over the past month, Hyuga Kazuya's strength had grown tremendously.

Lightning Style Chakra Mode no longer discharged electricity wildly in every direction. He could now control it to a basic degree, while the improvement in his physical condition brought by a month of training was equally astounding.

Eight Gates had reached 2.2 Gates—meaning he had opened two gates. His progress could only be described as rapid.

Hyuga Kazuya's Taijutsu had originally been close to Jonin level. Now that he possessed these two powerful Taijutsu techniques, after merely one month of training, his Taijutsu alone had reached the standard of an ordinary Elite Jonin.

If he activated Eight Gates, it would improve further by a certain margin.

Although he had not reached Kage-level, there were not many Kage-level Taijutsu specialists in the Shinobi World to begin with. Therefore, if they spoke only of Taijutsu, Hyuga Kazuya was now among the top ranks of the Shinobi World.

Combined with the overwhelming lethality of the Byakugan and his bow and arrows, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Hyuga Kazuya's overall strength had reached Kage-level.

Of course, training in these two Taijutsu techniques over the past month had also brought something Hyuga Kazuya had not expected.

That was, every few days, he had to go to Kushina to reinforce the Isolation Seal.

When he activated Eight Gates and Lightning Style Chakra Mode, his chakra surged rapidly, breaking through the restraints of the Isolation Seal.

It needed reinforcement every few days.

This further intensified Hyuga Kazuya's longing for Sealing Jutsu and his motivation to learn it.

After spending a month on Sealing Jutsu, Hyuga Kazuya could only be said to have barely entered the field. Whether he could successfully cast it was still uncertain.

The area that had progressed the fastest, however, was his chakra.

Because of the Isolation Seal, Hyuga Kazuya no longer refined chakra in a sporadic, inconsistent manner. As a result, his chakra reserves had now reached an astonishing three Kakashis.

In other words, they had nearly tripled in a month.

However, Hyuga Kazuya also knew this was only temporary. His chakra could not continue growing at such a sustained rate forever.

There would be a limit, and that limit was the limit of an ordinary human.

It was the limit inherent to the human race.

Although he was still far from that limit,

Hyuga Kazuya believed that, given his rate of growth, reaching it was not too distant a prospect.

As for what to do after reaching that limit, he could only worry about it when the time came.

Because today was Spring Festival,

early in the morning, Hyuga Kazuya and the Maids hung red lanterns and put up fresh spring couplets, filling the courtyard with festive cheer.

They welcomed the most important holiday of the year.

"A little more to that side. Ah, yes, yes, right there."

Hyuga Kazuya directed the Maids as they put up the couplets, gesturing at their positions and demanding that they be symmetrical.

At that moment, Uncle emerged from the house dressed in brand-new white robes. Tall and vigorous, he did not look like a man nearing seventy in the slightest.

Seeing the scene, Uncle chuckled and said to Hyuga Kazuya,

"Kazuya, why are you so happy every Spring Festival?"

"Because it's Spring Festival! Uncle, why shouldn't I be happy during Spring Festival?"

Hyuga Kazuya's answer was simple, but there was actually much more he wanted to say.

Because it was Spring Festival.

It was the day most similar to his previous life in this world, and the only familiar button connecting him to it.

The same holiday, yet the world and the people beside him were different!

"Enough, enough. Things at home are more or less taken care of. Go find your little girlfriend."

"Huh?"

Hyuga Kazuya was a little stunned.

Uncle teased, "You go out to play with that little girl named Momona every few days. My eyesight isn't failing yet. How could I not notice?"

"Hehe." Hyuga Kazuya laughed awkwardly a few times, then jokingly asked, "What do you think of her, Uncle? Could she be your niece-in-law?"

"I don't mind. I'm already old. As long as you like her, that's enough."

Uncle was very open-minded and optimistic. He did not interfere in the children's relationships.

"Hehe, that's good, that's good. Then I'm off, Uncle."

With a wave of his hand, Hyuga Kazuya turned and ran off to find Hyuga Momona.

Outside Momona's house.

Momona happened to be home at the time.

So Hyuga Kazuya did not have to put in much effort to call her out.

Together, they wandered through Konoha's lively streets.

The weather was clear today, the streets were packed with people, and there were especially many stalls along both sides of the road.

Hyuga Kazuya took Momona around Konoha for the day.

Shopping, buying things, and playing all at once.

They also played interesting games such as puzzles and claw machines.

And there was the street food, with its varied styles and completely different flavors.

Because they were happy, the day passed especially quickly.

In the blink of an eye, night had arrived.

Today was a rare holiday, so how could their sunshine-like Teacher Minato forget a certain problem child?

Thus, Hyuga Kazuya and Momona ran into a "family of three" on the street.

Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Kakashi.

Father, mother, and child—weren't they the perfect set?

Combined with Kakashi's tragic background, Kushina's maternal instincts as a young woman had overflowed, so she had always taken great care of Kakashi.

Thus, in the eyes of outsiders who knew nothing, they were a family of three out enjoying Spring Festival together.

"Teacher Minato, Master's Wife Kushina, and Kakashi, hello. Happy New Year."

Holding a grilled dango skewer, Hyuga Kazuya crouched down and offered it to Kakashi.

Kakashi merely glanced at it, took a step back, and did not accept it. Instead, he stared at Hyuga Kazuya with dissatisfied eyes.

"I'm not a child. I don't eat that."

"What? You were eating it with such enthusiasm in the Land of Artisans."

Hyuga Kazuya teased.

Hearing that, Kakashi turned his head away and ignored him.

"Alright, alright, Kazuya, stop teasing Kakashi." Kushina was the first to smooth things over, but she took the dango from Hyuga Kazuya's hand.

Then she stroked Kakashi's white hair.

"Come on, Kakashi, eat this. Open your mouth, ah..."

Kakashi glared even more furiously and kept his mouth shut.

Seeing Kakashi like this, the others could not help but smile, though they held back their laughter.

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around."

This time, Minato Namikaze genuinely stepped in to mediate. He then asked Hyuga Kazuya,

"Kazuya, Momona, are you two on a date?"

Kushina nudged Minato Namikaze with her elbow.

"Isn't that obvious? Of course they are. Let's go, let's go. Don't hold up these young lovebirds."

Hyuga Kazuya merely smiled awkwardly, while Momona's pretty face instantly turned red. She lowered her head and stood behind Hyuga Kazuya.

"Alright, alright, we won't tease you two anymore. Let's go, Kushina. We haven't been down that side of the street yet."

"Kazuya, bye-bye." Kushina took Kakashi, who was eating the dango, by the hand and waved goodbye to Hyuga Kazuya and Momona.

"Mm, goodbye, Teacher. See you tomorrow."

Afterward, Minato Namikaze and the other two headed deeper into the marketplace, while Hyuga Kazuya led Momona, who had spent the entire day walking around with him, toward the edge of the market.

They had been out since morning, and after wandering around all day, they were actually somewhat tired.

If this had been his previous life, with it already being nighttime, Hyuga Kazuya probably would have taken Momona to get a room long ago.

But in the relatively traditional Hyuga Clan, staying out overnight was a serious matter.

Besides, Hyuga Kazuya also maintained the proper moral boundaries when it came to minors.

So the two only strolled through a park in Konoha for a while longer, exchanged sweet words and whispered secrets, and then Hyuga Kazuya escorted Momona home.