Apprenticeship?

"Forget that loser. I'd better keep grinding away at my Sealing Jutsu."

Bai Yue's schedule was still quite full. He studied Basic knowledge in the mornings and trained in Taijutsu such as the Gentle Fist Style in the afternoons.

At night, after finishing his medicinal bath, he studied Sealing Jutsu. As for Medical Ninjutsu, he learned it from Aunt Hanako under her guidance.

With the Heaven Rewards Diligence Panel supporting him, those obscure and difficult Sealing Jutsu were actually quite easy to learn.

Mm, that's right. It was all thanks to my own hard work.

Incidentally, perhaps because of Perfect Blood, Bai Yue could feel his physique improving after every medicinal bath.

That was no illusion. Bai Yue did not think a child only a few years old should possess such a physique.

"Young Master Bai Yue, Elder Jinren wishes to see you." Hyuga Bun's voice came from outside the door.

"Alright, I'll be right there." Hearing this, Bai Yue put down the Sealing Jutsu scroll in his hand, rose, and headed outside. "Uncle Wen, did Grandpa say what it was about?"

"No, he did not," Hyuga Bun immediately answered.

"Fine, then." Without getting an answer, Bai Yue did not dwell on it and simply strolled along behind Hyuga Bun.

After more than a year of interacting with Hyuga Bun, Bai Yue had come to understand him somewhat.

He was a guard Hyuga Jinren had specifically groomed for him. However, he was not yet capable of standing on his own, so he was essentially an exclusive guard who had yet to graduate.

At present, he mainly served as a bridge of communication between Bai Yue and Jinren. In terms of strength, he was probably a Chunin. With the Byakugan's enhancement, he could barely count as a reconnaissance-oriented Special Jonin.

He was still a long way from becoming a Jonin.

After living with the Hyuga Clan for over a year, Bai Yue had also gained a basic understanding of this world's common sense.

Just because Jonin seemed to be everywhere in the original work did not mean they were actually commonplace.

In reality, Jonin were absolutely rare talents. Every Jonin in Konoha even held a certain amount of real authority, making them roughly part of the middle and upper ranks of Konoha's Ninja Village.

Have you not seen how even a torture-oriented Special Jonin like Ibiki Morino could become the captain of an Anbu interrogation unit? Or rather, a small unit might not even have a proper Jonin.

That alone showed how scarce Jonin were.

Even in the original work, only thirty or forty Jonin appeared. Double that number, and Konoha probably had only seventy or eighty Jonin in total at most!

It might not even have had that many Jonin!

His thoughts wandering as he strolled behind Hyuga Bun, Bai Yue soon arrived at their destination.

"Grandpa."

"Bai Yue, the war is about to end. Do you want to attend the Ninja Academy?" Before his only direct descendant, Hyuga Jinren was nothing more than a kindly old man.

"Grandpa, I don't think the Ninja Academy will help me become stronger." Bai Yue frowned, full of resistance toward this sudden suggestion of attending school. "Rather than playing house with Ninja games, training at home would temper me better."

Besides that reason, there was another: he did not know anyone there. He was two years older than Itachi Uchiha and Hana Inuzuka, and none of the other plot characters were his age.

There was nothing there to attract him, so why would he play house with a bunch of brats?

After all, in the Ninja World, the Ninja Academy was the only path for commoners to become Ninja. But for clan descendants, it was merely a social game, a place to expand their networks.

"I'm planning to find you a Teacher." Hyuga Jinren did not care about Bai Yue's resistance and said calmly, "What do you think of the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze?"

"???" Minato Namikaze was going to be my Teacher?

He was about to become the Fourth Hokage. Where would he find the time to take on a disciple?!

Old Man, are you messing with me?

Oh, right. At present, Minato Namikaze was not the only candidate for Fourth Hokage. Besides him, there was also another popular candidate: Orochimaru.

Apart from those two popular contenders, there were two less-favored candidates as well.

Fugaku Uchiha.

Danzo of Root.

If Tsunade and Jiraiya had not withdrawn voluntarily, there would have been two more candidates for Fourth Hokage.

"The Hyuga Clan plans to support Minato Namikaze in becoming the Fourth Hokage, and you are the most suitable link between the two."

"Grandpa, does the Hyuga Clan really need to take a side in the Hokage selection?" Bai Yue did not understand. As an evergreen force in the Ninja World, a millennium-old clan that had endured from the Shinobi Sect era until now—

A formidable force that had stubbornly endured its way into becoming the number one clan in the Ninja World—did it still need to back a Hokage candidate to gain political capital?

"Adding flowers to brocade may not compare to offering charcoal in the snow, but it is still better than nothing, isn't it?" Hyuga Jinren said with a faint smile.

What a pity, Old Master. Minato Namikaze was just a pitiful short-lived man. From becoming the Fourth Hokage to his downfall, he only had two years.

Investing in him would be worse than investing in Tsunade, who was nursing a broken heart right now. At least she would become the future Fifth Hokage.

Come to think of it, in two years, or perhaps a little more, could I gain the power to take down the Nine-Tails and Obito?

If he could take down the Nine-Tails, Bai Yue would quite like to save Minato Namikaze. He wanted to see what kind of waves a surviving Fourth Hokage would stir up.

Many people in his previous life had said that Minato Namikaze was Jiraiya's prophesied child. He had merely died too early; otherwise, he could have changed the entire Ninja World.

Bai Yue did not entirely believe it, but he still wanted to know what would happen.

"If possible, I would not mind becoming Minato Namikaze's disciple." Bai Yue did not refuse.

If he could truly establish a connection with Minato Namikaze, he was quite willing to do so. For no other reason than to study the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.

Although the Hyuga Clan's Sealing Jutsu was also formidable, it probably could not compare to that of the Uzumaki Clan.

More precisely, the two clans' Sealing Jutsu had different focuses.

The Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu emphasized combat, while the Hyuga Clan's Sealing Jutsu emphasized Curse Marks.

Bai Yue was still very interested in Sealing Jutsu that could increase combat strength.

After all, Sealing Jutsu was the pinnacle of techniques in the Ninja World.

"Good! Since you agree, then it's settled!" Hyuga Jinren had clearly never considered the possibility that Minato Namikaze would refuse. He said confidently, "In three days, Minato Namikaze will return to report on his duties before heading to the Kirigakure battlefield. I will take you to meet him then."

"Alright, Grandpa."

Become Minato Namikaze's disciple?

If it really succeeded, that would be quite interesting.

What a shame. This stunt of the Old Master's was like flirting with a blind man—completely wasted effort.

Although Bai Yue did not know Minato Namikaze very well, he did not think Minato Namikaze would take on a disciple.

"Grandpa, I want to take a walk around the village." On a whim, Bai Yue wanted to wander around the village.

Victory was near, and peace was about to arrive.

Konoha was probably no longer as gloomy and despondent as it had been before, was it?

It was the perfect time to go take a look. He had been transported here for over a year, yet aside from the earlier Memorial Stone War Speech, Bai Yue had never truly explored Konoha.