Formal Apprenticeship

After Bai Yue gave a few perfunctory replies, the two fell silent again.

This was a little awkward, Little Sun Minato.

Scratching his head, Bai Yue prepared to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Lord Minato, what exactly did you want to talk to me about?" Bai Yue asked directly.

"..." Minato Namikaze was somewhat conflicted. He regretted impulsively bringing Bai Yue out here.

But whenever he thought of those Hyuga Branch Family ninja on the battlefield, with their numb expressions, looking exactly like Tool People, Minato Namikaze wanted to do something.

But he knew that, as he was now, there was no way he could shake the Hyuga Clan's system. Even if he became Hokage, he still would not be able to shake it.

"Bai Yue, as a member of the Hyuga Main Family, what do you think of the Hyuga Clan?" The sunny and cheerful Minato Namikaze did not hesitate for long. Although he could not change anything, he still wanted an answer.

A young member of the Hyuga Main Family might perhaps give him some inspiration.

"Lord Minato, that question isn't very polite." Bai Yue spoke blandly. He was only asking him; if it had been one of those elders instead, the relationship between Minato Namikaze and the Hyuga Clan would definitely have dropped to freezing point.

"But I can answer you." Bai Yue said indifferently, "The Caged Bird is cruel, but it was born to resist an even crueler world. The Branch Family's Caged Bird is carved onto their foreheads, while the Main Family's Caged Bird is carved into their hearts."

"Perhaps you think I'm taking my blessings for granted. The Caged Bird controls everything about the Branch Family, but doesn't it also trap us of the Main Family in a cage?" Bai Yue said lightly, though inwardly he thought, Mm, that's right, all of that was just pretty talk. Being a freeloader was simply the best!

Those few casual words left Minato Namikaze stunned where he stood.

He understood the reasoning, but he still felt uncomfortable inside!

The Branch Family was certainly miserable, their identity as Tool People decided from the moment they were born, but was the Main Family necessarily at fault?

This was all the world's fault!

It was this cruel world that had given birth to the cruel Caged Bird!

"I will change this world!" Minato Namikaze clenched his fist. His already resolute heart became even more determined.

"How great. As expected of the First Predicted Child—you want to change the entire world and fill it with peace and love." Although Bai Yue did not know why Minato Namikaze looked so determined, he guessed that was probably it. After all, this was the righteous and honorable Fourth Hokage.

"Bai Yue, are you willing to take me as your teacher?" Minato Namikaze asked directly.

"Of course I am, Teacher Minato." Bai Yue agreed without hesitation.

Becoming Minato Namikaze's disciple did not offer much benefit and might even bring some trouble.

With this bond between teacher and disciple, Bai Yue would have to consider the Nine-Tails' Night Brother Tsuchi would bring in the near future.

It could be said to be rather troublesome, and Bai Yue happened to be someone who feared trouble.

But there were still hidden benefits.

For example, Kushina was an expert in Sealing Jutsu. Unlike his clan's Caged Bird, which focused on sealing Curse Marks, Bai Yue was quite interested in Sealing Jutsu that could directly increase combat strength.

And then there was the Hokage lineage. Although Bai Yue had no interest whatsoever in the position of Hokage, the foundation of the Hokage lineage—or rather, Konoha—was an astonishing resource.

Compared to the so-called Hokage, Bai Yue wanted longevity, even Eternal Life. Even if Konoha's foundation could not provide him with an opportunity for longevity, it could still add enough knowledge to his arsenal.

Therefore, Bai Yue chose to become his disciple. With the Hyuga Main Family behind him and the status of the Fourth Hokage's disciple, aside from the secret techniques of various clans, Bai Yue might even be able to obtain Root's hidden treasures.

After all, Danzō Shimura might not have treated the Hyuga, the perfect Tool People, especially well, but there was certainly something to be said for it. He had even wanted to remove the Byakugan that had been lost outside the village while fleeing.

"Let's head back."

"All right, Teacher Minato." Bai Yue gladly accepted.

The Flying Thunder God activated again, but this time Minato Namikaze was polite enough not to teleport directly into the Hyuga Residence. Instead, he appeared some distance away from the entrance to the clan land.

Tsk, tsk.

Although the guards were somewhat surprised that Minato Namikaze had come to visit again and had even brought a member of the Main Family with him, they did not stop him from reporting their arrival.

They merely nodded amicably at Minato Namikaze, but when facing Bai Yue, their smiles could only be called stiff, perfunctory service smiles.

Very good. This was very Branch Family.

Long accustomed to it, Bai Yue paid it no mind and calmly headed toward the reception hall.

"You're back." Upon seeing his precious grandson, Hyuga Jinren immediately greeted him.

"Yes, Grandpa. Teacher Minato agreed to take me as his disciple." Bai Yue immediately said.

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone present immediately turned their eyes toward Minato Namikaze.

"Mm. Bai Yue is a good child." That gentle smile appeared on Minato Namikaze's face once more.

"Very good. Jinren, you need to prepare some gifts for the apprenticeship." Hyuga Tokuma smiled. His objective had already been achieved.

The Hyuga Branch Family could die, but they had to die on the battlefield, die on the path of preserving the Hyuga Clan—not be tied to operating tables and dissected!

Without the Hyuga Clan's support, the odds in the contest for Hokage between Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru would probably be forty-sixty: Minato at forty percent and Orochimaru at sixty.

But with the Hyuga Clan's support, Minato Namikaze's support rate would definitely reach seventy percent, perhaps even eighty!

It could basically be said that victory was assured!

After all, even the always-neutral Hyuga Clan had chosen a side. The vast majority of neutral factions would follow the wind.

"All right." Hyuga Jinren, the one who had gained the greatest benefit, naturally agreed with a broad smile.

With an extremely powerful teacher, combined with his status as a member of the Hyuga Main Family, his beloved grandson's safety would be greatly improved.

"Minato..."

All right, it was time for the ever-popular socializing again. Under normal circumstances, Bai Yue could naturally slip away, but today he was the bridge connecting the future Hokage with the Hyuga Clan, and could barely be considered one of the main players.

So he could only endure it in silence.

The adult world was truly exhausting. Good thing I was still just a child.

The adults of the Hyuga Residence began socializing.

Elsewhere...

Within the dim atmosphere, Danzō Shimura frowned deeply as he carefully listened to his subordinate's report.

After a long while...

"The Hyuga Clan, Minato Namikaze... I truly didn't expect this..." His expression remained calm, but the bulging veins on the back of his hand reflected the turmoil in his heart.

"I thought Orochimaru was my formidable rival, yet Minato Namikaze had to emerge! Damn it!!!"

He had many weaknesses to use against Orochimaru. As long as he wished, he could expose them at any time, so the higher Orochimaru's support grew, the better.

Besides spreading news of his own achievements, he had even been building momentum for Orochimaru, all so that he could expose Orochimaru at the final moment and secure his victory in becoming Hokage.

But man proposed, and heaven disposed.

Minato Namikaze, having mastered the Flying Thunder God, gradually rose to prominence. Then he created the Rasengan, a hand-sign-free Ninjutsu perfectly suited to the Flying Thunder God, achieving an almost unsolvable combination technique.

As a result, Minato Namikaze's reputation soared.