Overclocking

The students due to graduate soon all completed their assessments, after which the Third Hokage presented each of them with a Ninja Headband.

After all, this was a great opportunity to win people over. Just imagine it: when you graduated, the leader walked up, patted you on the shoulder, and said, "XXXX. Work hard, young man. The nation's future needs you."

For youths who had been taught since childhood to be "loyal" to the village, the impact was enormous.

It was not just the Third Hokage. Anyone sitting in that position would have done the same. It was simply too easy a way to win people over.

When the Third Hokage reached Hyuga Kazuya, he patted him on the shoulder and offered a kindly smile as he encouraged him.

"Keep it up, young man. Konoha's future will depend on you young people."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. I will continue working hard and do my best to protect Konoha."

Hyuga Kazuya hurriedly echoed him, his face unable to hide his excitement.

There was no denying that the Third Hokage's "performance" was excellent. He perfectly embodied a benevolent ruler. Anyone unfamiliar with him would have believed him to be a kind old man devoted heart and soul to Konoha.

But for those who had watched Naruto, everyone had their own opinion of the Third Hokage.

What kind of person was the Third Hokage in this world? Hyuga Kazuya did not know. But that did not affect the basic respect he showed a superior, nor his appropriate display of loyalty and value.

After leaving the Third Hokage, Hyuga Kazuya walked over to Elder Yang and bowed respectfully.

"Elder, thank you very much for coming to watch my graduation assessment today."

He appeared so polite, so humble, so gentle and refined.

Elder Yang looked at Hyuga Kazuya's performance today, then compared it to the Hyuga Kazuya in his memories. The corner of his mouth could not help twitching.

This brat really knew how to put on an act.

"Not bad. You did not disgrace our Hyuga Clan."

Elder Yang went along with Hyuga Kazuya's words, then cast a provocative glance at the Uchiha Clan elder beside him.

That Uchiha Clan elder ignored Elder Yang. Still, judging by his clearly unpleasant expression, who knew how ruthlessly he would drill the younger members of his Clan after returning home.

The Third Hokage watched the elders of the two great Clans competing beside him with a smile, saying nothing as though everything had already been understood.

After presenting the Ninja Headbands, the Third Hokage congratulated the graduating students and expressed his hopes for their future.

Then he "quickly" brought today's Ninja Academy graduation assessment to an end.

After the Third Hokage and Konoha's higher-ups left their seats, Hyuga Kazuya's class teacher stepped onto the stage and offered everyone another round of congratulations.

He also told them to return to the Ninja Academy in three days, when they would be assigned their instructors.

Then he immediately dismissed them.

The moment the students at the Ninja Academy saw that all the teachers had left, many little girls immediately gathered around Hyuga Kazuya.

"Kazuya-kun, Kazuya-kun, are you thirsty?"

"Kazuya-kun, you were amazing today."

"Kazuya-kun, do you have time tonight?"

A group of little girls chattered around Hyuga Kazuya.

Some wanted to fawn over him, while others directly asked him out. What a precocious bunch of children.

Hyuga Kazuya looked at the group of little girls surrounding him and felt a headache coming on. However, as the top student of his year, he had long since become immune to this sort of thing.

At first, he had found it novel, felt proud, and even enjoyed it. But after a while, all it brought was irritation.

Still, in order to maintain his "Will of Fire" persona, Hyuga Kazuya could not easily lose his temper. He merely used his movement technique to quietly slip out of the encirclement.

After slipping out, Hyuga Kazuya saw Hyuga Momona, who had already escaped the crowd and was waiting for him in the distance.

Without further explanation, the two exchanged smiles before Hyuga Kazuya left the school gates together with Hyuga Momona.

On the way home, Hyuga Momona happily congratulated Hyuga Kazuya.

"Big Brother, you have no idea how shocked everyone was when you kicked the teacher away. They were all dumbfounded." Hyuga Momona, who was holding Hyuga Kazuya's arm, spoke excitedly as though she had been the one to kick the teacher away.

"It was nothing. The teacher was too careless. He probably did not take us seriously, so he suffered for it." Feeling the substantial softness against his arm, the slightly embarrassed Hyuga Kazuya still analyzed the matter calmly.

"I don't care, I don't care! Big Brother is the strongest." Like a child refusing to admit it, Hyuga Momona rapidly shook her head. Her Ponytail spun wildly and repeatedly struck Hyuga Kazuya, making him wince in pain.

"Big Brother, you're so strong. It would be great if I could be as strong as you." As she spoke, she looked at Hyuga Kazuya with envy before raising her head to gaze into the distance, seemingly pondering what she would do if her dream truly came true. She appeared to sink deeply into her fantasy.

Watching Hyuga Momona seemingly fall into her own imaginary world, Hyuga Kazuya was speechless. Youth really was wonderful—whatever they thought of became real to them.

But Hyuga Kazuya cruelly grabbed her Ponytail and lifted it toward the sky, putting on a show of pulling her up by it.

"Ah!"

Pulled back to reality, Hyuga Momona puffed out her cheeks and glared fiercely at Hyuga Kazuya. If there had been an affection system, a prompt saying "Affection -1" would have clearly appeared.

But youths lost their tempers quickly, and they got over them just as quickly.

Before long, Momona, who had just been angry and ignoring Hyuga Kazuya, began chattering again, with endless questions to ask.

"Big Brother, why are you so strong? Why can't I do it?" Hyuga Momona, who had never really understood, finally asked the question. She could not understand why everyone studied the same things, had the Byakugan, and was around the same age, yet their gaps were so vast.

Was the difference between people really that great?

"It's nothing. I'm strong only because I train while others rest. Talent is only one part of it; hard work is the foundation of strength."

Hyuga Kazuya scratched his head, thought for a moment, and ultimately encouraged her. Of course, that was also partly the truth.

After all, he could not tell her that he was strong because of his ability. He could only explain that his strength came from his talent and hard work.

As for that ability, Hyuga Kazuya had not discovered it until five full years after he came into this world—after he was born.

When Hyuga Kazuya was five, he discovered that he could store something similar to mental energy. Once it reached a certain amount, he could make his brain enter an Overclocking state.

It was also at the age of five that he first came into contact with the Chakra Refining Technique. He then used that Overclocking state once. In less than one or two minutes, he had extracted chakra from his body.

By this world's standards, anyone capable of extracting chakra within two days was considered a genius, yet Hyuga Kazuya had taken only a few minutes.

At the time, he had shocked his Uncle, Elder Yang, terribly.

Perhaps because he had been young and his brain had not fully developed, his first Overclocking state had lasted only a few minutes. Although those few minutes had already helped Hyuga Kazuya immensely, allowing him to surpass his peers in chakra extraction and chakra control from the very beginning.

But storing the mental energy required for Overclocking had taken a full five years.

Five years of charging for a few minutes of use?

Fortunately, in the years that followed, Hyuga Kazuya discovered that as his body grew, the amount of mental energy he could store also increased.

Likewise, the time needed to fill his mental energy reserves became shorter and shorter. At first, he could Overclock only once every five years, then every three years, two years, and one and a half years.

The number kept decreasing.

Until recently, Hyuga Kazuya had sensed it for no apparent reason and discovered that he now needed only one year before he could Overclock again.

But Hyuga Kazuya had an inexplicable feeling that one year would be the final limit. From then on, it would only ever be measured in one-year intervals.

Could it be that what I stored was not "mental energy" at all, but something I did not understand?

After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Kazuya realized there was no point in considering such questions now. Nor was this the time to calmly study his "ability."

When he lacked the power to resist, he should honestly accept everything—even if it was not something good.