Can't Stand This

"...Fire also lives on endlessly!" As the Third Hokage droned on with his Will of Fire speech for war mobilization, Bai Yue felt himself growing drowsy.

He could really ramble on and on~

Were all leaders this good at talking nonsense?

But it was finally over!

As the speech ended, the fallen heroes were buried one by one, their names and deeds carved onto the Memorial Stone.

Bai Yue could clearly sense the soaring fighting spirit.

To borrow a phrase, morale was usable.

"Maku Ken~ Take care!" Hyuga Tokuma grasped Hyuga Maku's hands.

"Mm!" Hyuga Maku Ken was still in that half-dead, mind-wandering state.

"Gentlemen! Take care!" Hyuga Tokuma said again as he looked at the Clan Members standing silently behind Maku.

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, the Uchiha's art style was clearly different. Every one of them was excited beyond belief.

Perhaps for the proud Uchiha Clan, the sea of corpses and blood on the battlefield was more exciting than maintaining order in the village and managing all sorts of trivial matters.

Was this the difference between the Uchiha and the Hyuga?

Seeing this, Bai Yue thought to himself, no wonder their masters kept emerging one after another.

Compared with the Uchiha, where masters appeared in endless succession, the utterly ordinary Hyuga were simply... well... utterly ordinary.

They were just a little too crazy. The only one who seemed like a normal person, Uchiha Sasuke, had been forcibly driven insane too.

Still, it was pretty good. Though utterly ordinary, they had stubbornly risen from third place to become Konoha's number one great clan precisely because of that ordinariness.

The once world-dominating Senju Clan had faded into Konoha, and the equally matched Uchiha Clan would be totally annihilated in a few years, leaving behind only a sole survivor.

Only the Hyuga—though their internal conflict was terrifying—the existence of the Caged Bird kept this ancient and rigid clan unchanged.

They had no highlight moments, but they would never fall into a low point either.

A clan as steady as an old dog was simply the perfect soil for low-key development.

Setting everything else aside, Bai Yue was truly satisfied with this development environment.

After returning to the clan land, Hyuga Jinren immediately brought Bai Yue to the training ground. "Bai Yue, starting today, you will begin Ninja training."

"Yes!" Bai Yue nodded at once. He was looking forward to it!

"You're still young, so there's no need for Chakra refinement yet. The Chakra you awaken on your own is enough for body tempering through the Gentle Fist Style!" Hyuga Jinren said calmly. "So from now on, you'll study basic knowledge in the morning and learn the Gentle Fist Style from me in the afternoon!"

Chakra awakened on its own? That did seem to make sense. Even without actively refining Chakra, everyone's body would produce some Chakra to varying degrees. Naruto was a typical example.

Bai Yue didn't believe that tail-end would obediently refine Chakra. In Naruto's early days, perhaps part of his Chakra had been refined by himself, but more of it came from the Uzumaki Clan's special physique and the influence of the Nine-Tails.

Though the Hyuga Clan couldn't compare to the Uzumaki Clan and didn't have the Nine-Tails as a cheat, it was normal for them to produce a small amount of Chakra... right?

"Alright, Grandpa!"

"The Gentle Fist Style~ is one of the foundations upon which our Hyuga Clan establishes itself in the Ninja World. It can perfectly complement our clan's Byakugan..."

"Hiss, hiss~ It hurts, it hurts, Aunt Hanako, be gentler..." As Hyuga Hanako massaged him, Bai Yue grimaced in pain!

This was completely different from getting a foot wash! Proper massage really hurt!

But Aunt Hanako was actually a Medical Ninja too. Well, that was normal enough. Though the Byakugan was a reconnaissance artifact, it was also well suited for medical work.

For Hyuga Ninja who didn't want to fight, specializing in medical work was professionally suitable.

"Hehe~" Hyuga Hanako chuckled softly, then picked Bai Yue up. "Young Master, next comes the medicinal bath. The process may not be very comfortable, but it's very good for your body."

"Hiss~ This really is uncomfortable!" Soaking in the medicinal bath, Bai Yue felt numb and tingly. Sometimes it itched, sometimes it hurt.

It really was quite torturous!

"Aunt Hanako, can a medicinal bath really make me stronger?" Bai Yue grimaced again.

Though it was unpleasant, it was still within his tolerance. But Bai Yue really wanted to know whether this thing actually worked.

In those novels he had read before, the protagonists all underwent a complete transformation after soaking in medicinal baths and became extremely powerful.

"Young Master, the medicinal bath's main function is to help the body recover quickly, prevent unnecessary hidden injuries, and its effect on strengthening physique is very small."

"Ah?! Then can I stop soaking?" Bai Yue immediately pulled a miserable face. If it wasn't useful, why did he have to suffer through this?!

"Young Master, that won't do~ You must take the medicinal bath!"

?!

Why do I feel like Aunt Hanako is a little scheming?

Wait, no! My physique seems to be growing stronger? Is that an illusion?

Time was fleeting, passing in a flash!

In the blink of an eye~ Bai Yue was already six years old.

More than a year had passed since the Memorial Stone War Speech.

Although he stayed at home, information from the outside world still reached Bai Yue's ears from time to time.

For example, the Yellow Flash—Minato Namikaze—whose fame had soared.

For example, Uchiha's Hero, Obito, whose name was carved onto the Memorial Stone.

And then there was~ Might Duy, who was like a shot in the arm, kicking the Seven Ninja Swordsmen who had intended to assassinate the Hokage into the Auspicious Three Treasures with one kick within the Land of Fire!

Along with veteran powerhouses like the Sannin and Ino-Shika-Cho.

One Konoha Strongman after another emerged, nearly shattering the fighting spirit of the other Ninja Villages.

If it had truly been a righteous four-against-one, that would have been one thing. The key was that the various Ninja Villages were tangled up with each other.

Iwagakure had paid a huge price to stubbornly wear down the Third Raikage to death.

Sunagakure and Kirigakure, two places that had nothing to do with each other and were separated by the Land of Fire, had somehow ended up fighting each other in an inseparable battle.

"It looks like the Third Shinobi World War is about to end."

After all, Brother Tsuchi's name had already been carved on the Memorial Stone. Once the Kusagakure Battle ended, Iwagakure would soon sign a ceasefire agreement.

Then the other villages would also cease hostilities one after another.

And then the Ninja World would enter a brief period of peace.

Panel

[Name]: Hyuga Baiyue (Bai Yue)

[Talent]: Perfect Blood

[Bloodline]: Byakugan lv3 (19%)

[Skills]: Gentle Fist Style lv4 (29%) Eight Trigrams Palms lv1 (42%) Konoha Steel Fist Style lv1 (19%) Sealing Jutsu lv4 (67%) Caged Bird lv2 (42%) Medical Ninjutsu lv2 (78%)

[Draws]: 0

Bai Yue was quite satisfied with his own growth, but he was speechless whenever he looked at the draws section.

This draw was actually only available once a year. The long wait would have been fine, but there was even a THANK! YOU! FOR! PARTICIPATING!

This was simply unbearable!