Ninja Have Their Limits

As for whether his actions would make these three brats hate him...

Ah... Watching the three brats wolfing down their food, Sarutobi Hiruzen silently stroked his chin.

There was no need to question it. The three of them probably already hated him to the bone.

But did that matter? It did not.

What mattered was that he was personally teaching them. To the Hyuga Clan and the Senju Clan, this was a gesture of goodwill from him.

Before long, he would likely receive a response from both the Senju and Hyuga.

As for the three brats...

A smile curled at the corner of Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips. Once they grew up, they would surely understand his good intentions today.

Yes, they definitely would.

So this was the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen?

As he ate, Shuji pondered silently to himself.

With nothing more than a simple, almost shameless tactic, he had fully stirred up Nawaki and Hiashi's motivation.

And, barring any surprises, by tomorrow, his parents would learn that the Third Hokage had personally guided their son tonight.

Good grief, wouldn't they have to haul over a pile of expensive gifts to thank Sarutobi Hiruzen?

They would probably even have to go together with the head of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family.

As for whether they were truly thanking Sarutobi Hiruzen for teaching him...

Did that matter? It did not.

To be honest, Sarutobi Hiruzen was the Hokage, which sounded incredibly impressive.

But when all was said and done, he was merely a Jonin born into the Sarutobi Clan who had studied under Senju Tobirama.

Sarutobi? What the hell did Sarutobi know about the Gentle Fist?

So, to the clan, what mattered was not thanking Sarutobi Hiruzen for teaching him and Hiashi.

What mattered was thanking Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage.

"All right, time's up. Training begins now."

As Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice fell, Shuji and the others immediately stopped what they were doing.

After cleaning up the mess on the table, the three began their usual daily training.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, meanwhile, found a place to sit. With a cigarette between his lips, he watched the three youngsters begin their taijutsu training.

Nawaki practiced a set of taijutsu forms developed by the Senju Clan. Whether he practiced them well or not was hard to say, but his movements were still quite smooth.

Meanwhile, the difference between Hiashi and Shuji, who were both practicing the Gentle Fist nearby, was extremely obvious.

"Hyuga Shuji awakened the Byakugan at the age of five, developed the A-rank taijutsu Shunpo, and learned Tsunade's Superhuman Strength."

Amid curling smoke, Shuji's movements paused slightly at Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, and he looked toward him.

"Don't stop. Keep going."

Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a light smile. He had specifically looked into Tsunade's disciple.

Shuji nodded and resumed practicing the Gentle Fist.

Since Shuji had dared to show these things, he was not afraid of others finding out.

After all... as Tsunade's disciple, he was naturally one of Sarutobi Hiruzen's own.

"At six, he learned the A-rank Medical Ninjutsu, the Mystical Palm Technique, and began studying the S-rank medical Sealing Technique, the Yin Seal."

Flicking away the ash, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke softly.

"It can be said that Hyuga Shuji is the most gifted ninja I have ever seen, without question."

At that, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up at Nawaki and Hiashi.

"You two? Envious?"

"Not envious!"

Nawaki and Hiashi answered without the slightest hesitation.

Hiashi silently glanced at Shuji, then continued practicing the Gentle Fist with focus.

How could he not be envious?

Watching Hyuga Shuji grow stronger day by day, watching the gap between himself and Shuji widen more and more.

Hiashi was practically grinding his back teeth to dust.

"Heh..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed at their response, then continued.

"Of course you're envious. You're the same age, and you enjoy the same training resources. No, Nawaki and Hiashi's training resources are even better than Shuji's.

So why can Shuji accomplish things that you cannot?"

As his words fell, Nawaki and Hiashi both fell silent. Yet the fists they threw and the palms they struck with—

grew noticeably more forceful.

Yeah, why could he do things that we couldn't?

Was it just because Shuji had been born with stronger spiritual power?

Sigh...

Shuji gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a somewhat helpless glance and said nothing.

Very good. Sarutobi Hiruzen really knew how to teach.

At that moment, Shuji could more or less guess what Sarutobi Hiruzen would say next...

"It's because you aren't working hard enough..."

Looking at Hiashi and Nawaki, who remained silent but had clearly begun to empathize with his words, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke softly.

"Perhaps Shuji truly is more talented than you, and perhaps he learns faster than you. But why don't you work even harder, then?

If I'm not mistaken, the one training next door right now is Shuji's Shadow Clone, isn't it?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen raised a brow as he asked Nawaki and Hiashi.

"Look. Even someone stronger than you uses his Shadow Clone to study while he eats. How do you two manage to eat grilled meat and sukiyaki, then smoke and drink?"

The moment those words came out, Nawaki and Hiashi shot furious looks at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

We didn't smoke! We didn't drink! You bastard!

Completely ignoring their furious glares, Sarutobi Hiruzen stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, then lit another.

Still, the ones Nawaki bought were quite high-end.

Sure enough, Lady Mito spoiled Nawaki far too much.

"Do you feel like Shuji has grown so quickly that you'll never be able to catch up?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen leisurely exhaled a smoke ring, smiling at Nawaki and Hiashi.

"I'm telling you, you can absolutely catch up to him. Because ninja have their limits."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued without waiting for Nawaki and Hiashi to answer.

And it was not a lie. Ninja truly did have limits.

Or rather, people had limits.

Take himself, for example. By the time he was twenty, his strength had already reached its limit.

Unless he possessed the Senju Clan's constitution, there was no way for him to improve any further.

As Sarutobi Hiruzen's words fell, Nawaki and Hiashi's breathing caught.

Ninja... had limits?

"So as long as you work hard, you can absolutely catch up to Shuji. Especially you, Nawaki. Given the Senju Clan's constitution, your upper limit may even be higher than Shuji's."

"R-Really?"

Nawaki pursed his lips and spoke somewhat awkwardly.

But at that moment, his eyes burned with passion.

If he could surpass Shuji... wouldn't that be... absolutely amazing?!