"Young Master Fuyuki, this really isn't a good idea. If the Clan Head finds out you've skipped class again, I'm afraid..."
A maid dressed in a kimono, with waist-length black hair and pure-white eyes, spoke with a troubled expression.
"I wouldn't dare skip my father's Taijutsu class, but I've got plenty of nerve when it comes to skipping etiquette lessons!"
Hyuga Fuyuki walked ahead without a care, leading the maid out of the mind-numbingly boring Main Branch compound and onto the street. "We're a ninja clan, so why are we learning aristocratic etiquette? The Clan Head must be bored out of his mind."
As a ninja clan, the Hyuga family didn't get down to business. All they cared about was appearances, prestige, and clan glory.
Just look at the Uchiha on the next street over. Their Three-Tomoe Sharingan had evolved all the way into the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, while the Byakugan hadn't budged an inch. And the Tenseigan, the only thing that could measure up to the Rinnegan, hadn't even been awakened by one of their own!
Fuyuki was pretty disappointed in the Hyuga Clan. Especially after being reincarnated into it and spending five years observing the family, he could sum them up in just four words: content to stagnate!
They'd taken the Gentle Fist Technique as far as it could go, and not a single Hyuga clan member learned ninjutsu. They only trained in the Gentle Fist Technique!
The Byakugan was practically a cheat that let you land critical hits on the head. So what if they didn't learn Lightning Release Ninjutsu and blast the neighboring enemy's head from hundreds of miles away?
What about the Eight Inner Gates? Couldn't the Gentle Fist attack the body's chakra points? Then learn the Eight Gates! Use the Gentle Fist's special chakra to open the eight gates in their own bodies and gain invincibility!
There was so much to criticize about the Hyuga Clan that Fuyuki couldn't even be bothered to list it all.
That was why he hated all the lessons his current-life father had arranged for him.
It wouldn't be hard to train in the clan's Gentle Fist Technique until he became a Jonin. But as someone who'd crossed over with knowledge of the future, he didn't want to find out whether his Rotation could withstand a Tailed Beast Bomb from the Ten-Tails.
After crossing the bustling streets and climbing Kage Rock, Fuyuki led the maid to the Konoha Back Mountain, ready to begin his magic training for the day.
As a transmigrator, Fuyuki had been born with a Book Invisible to Outsiders.
It recorded a great many summoning spells. They came from the Whirling Demon Society, an organization in the Terra Demon World—a name that gave Fuyuki a headache just hearing it.
That was because the organization came from a video game. In the game, a Summoner's awakened class was called Eclipse, but blind players and people who'd skipped compulsory education always misread the word as "Moon Worm."
Fuyuki had played an Eclipse character. Right up until he quit the game, his character's head had been labeled "Moon Worm."
He should've changed to a Battle Mage back then. He could've entered a dungeon, used Lash right away, and sent those Emperor Players to their eternal rest with Circle Dance Stick.
"Elemental Summoning Technique: Lesser Fire Spirit!"
At Fuyuki's whispered incantation, a pillar of flame suddenly sprang up in his palm. When it died down, a ball of fire appeared in his hand, round as could be, with eyes and a mouth like a child's doodles.
The Elemental Summoning Technique was a summoning spell, but it would've been more accurate to call this magic the Elemental Fusion Technique.
That was because the spell's essence was to condense chakra of the same nature, then infuse it with Yang-Style Chakra to give the Elemental Spirit a body, allowing it to truly exist in the real world until its chakra ran out.
This modified summoning spell wasn't difficult, and Fuyuki wasn't training in summoning for its own sake.
What he wanted to master was the Spirit Binding Technique. Lesser Spirits, which were made purely of chakra, had no consciousness or thoughts. They could only stand there dumbly without moving. To make a Low-ranking Elemental Spirit act on its own, he had to use the Spirit Binding Technique alongside it.
The Spirit Binding Technique was somewhat like Pain's Chakra Black Rods. It used Yin-Style Chakra to create a vessel that carried the caster's will, bestowing it upon a mindless summon and bringing it to life.
A beginner-level spell actually involved using Yin-Yang Release. It had nearly scared Fuyuki out of his wits when he first learned that.
Ever since obtaining the Whirling Demon Summoning Book, Fuyuki had been studying its secrets. When he was three, the clan elders taught him how to use chakra, and he finally moved from theoretical research to practical exercises. Now, at five, he'd only just managed to enter the ranks of Summoners.
Five years! A whole five years! No one knew what he'd been through!
At one, he drank milk, slept, and beat up bean-dodging toys!
At two, he crawled all over the streets.
After summoning the Lesser Fire Spirit, Fuyuki closed his eyes and began to gather Yin-Style Chakra. He was determined to master the Spirit Binding Technique as quickly as possible so he could develop his Whirling Demon Summoning Technique to the depths of the Magic Path.
His maid, Hyuga Natsumi, stood nearby. The veins around her eyes bulged as she activated her Byakugan, staying alert for anything unexpected. Her current position was Young Master Fuyuki's personal maid, but by ninja rank, she was a veteran Chunin!
Young Master Hyuga Fuyuki's reputation in the Hyuga Clan wasn't very good, but as the only boy among the twins, he had a far greater chance of inheriting the Main Branch than his older sister, Hinata Hyuga.
The chance to serve as his personal maid wasn't something just any Hyuga clan member could get. It was a sign that the Hyuga Clan recognized Hyuga Natsumi.
Still, Hyuga Natsumi thought the odds of Young Master Fuyuki inheriting the Main Branch were pretty slim. He usually had no interest in the Gentle Fist Technique, the family's treasured art, and spent all his time training in some unknown Summoning Jutsu.
Especially since the young master had once said in front of the Clan Head, "Being strong only matters for a moment; being cool lasts a lifetime. How can the Gentle Fist Technique compare to flashy, colorful ninjutsu?"
At the time, Lord Hyuga Hiashi's face had been as colorful as a rainbow. If the elders hadn't all held back the Clan Head, who was panting with rage, Young Master Fuyuki's legs might have been beaten down to a bargain-bin price.
The twins were a tricky pair: the elder daughter was soft-hearted and too weak to inherit the Main Branch, while the eldest son had an ostentatious personality and plenty of talent, but just didn't like the Gentle Fist Technique.
To this day, the Clan Head still hadn't decided which child to name as his heir. Perhaps it would be his third child, born this year?
In any case, the betting on Hyuga Hanabi among the Hyuga Clan's outer branches was increasing rapidly, and she was poised to catch up with the twins.
"Ding!"
The sound of metal striking rang out, pulling Hyuga Natsumi, who'd been keeping watch while distracted, back to her senses. Through her Byakugan's three-hundred-and-fifty-nine-degree field of vision, she saw a pure-black metal chain growing from Young Master Fuyuki's palm as he sat cross-legged. It slowly reached toward the motionless ball of Fire Release chakra.
Hyuga Natsumi was immediately shocked. She couldn't understand how the young master could use the Uzumaki Clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
But she didn't dare interrupt Young Master Fuyuki. She could only pour chakra into her Byakugan and extend its range. The moment she noticed anything wrong, she would take him and flee the woods back to the village.
Her vigilance wasn't without reason. Two years earlier, the Hyuga Clan had suffered a scandal. The illustrious clan of the Byakugan had actually allowed a thief to sneak in, and the intruder had nearly reached the heart of the Hyuga Clan's compound!
As a result, the Hyuga Clan had tightened security and formed a patrol team to guard the compound.
As for why they didn't keep the Byakugan activated all day and night? Everyone had female relatives, and every household had its share of fights followed by making up in bed. Any Hyuga clan member who kept the Byakugan active would probably be driven out of the compound like a plague carrier—or get beaten with snakeskin sacks by the clan members taking turns the next day.
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