They say time flies so fast!

After the Hot Spring Resort opened, Fuyuki's daily life returned to its peaceful routine of going between three places.

The only thing Fuyuki regretted was that Karin hadn't chosen to live in Konoha. She felt she wasn't strong enough to help Uzumaki Yueshi, so she wanted to see more of the world and grow into a capable fighter as quickly as possible, someone who could help him rebuild the Uzumaki Clan!

As for everything else, Karin really did have a massive amount of chakra. Summoning Jonin-level Summoned Beasts was as easy for her as drinking water. She often had High-ranking Dark Spirit help her fight, and every time, she could fully unleash its power by charging it with chakra.

As Karin wandered aimlessly, High-ranking Dark Spirit asked around along the way for Fuyuki about Kekkei Genkai clans and the Secret Technique Clans of the Ninja World. If possible, it would infiltrate these clans and take a look at their secret techniques, making a few copies to bring back to Konoha for Lord Moon Worm to examine.

Naruto and Sasuke went to the Hot Spring Hotel every day to soak in the Yin-Yang Chakra Bath, letting Yin- and Yang-Style Chakra nourish their bodies. Afterward, they'd go looking for Sister Moryo for their daily sparring session, only to get beaten like dogs.

After Fuyuki's guidance, Moryo really had stopped trying to talk Sasuke and Naruto into joining her. She couldn't even be bothered to attack anymore. She just stood there, releasing a terrifying killing intent that left Sasuke and Naruto frozen in place, unable to move a muscle.

One day she'd use killing intent, the next she'd release chakra—she'd try every flashy trick in the book. Sasuke and Naruto had no answer for her. They'd already accepted the truth: that tiger of a woman was an enemy they couldn't beat!

They both strongly suspected that Fuyuki had deliberately hired Moryo to mess with them. Otherwise, after all that sparring, why couldn't they even touch the Moryo girl?

Sasuke had brought up this suspicion once, only to be mercilessly mocked by Fuyuki. "Your brother has the Mangekyō Sharingan. One Amaterasu would burn Moryo to ashes. You can't even beat her, and you still want to fight your brother?"

"Speaking of which, weren't you going to revive the Uchiha? It's about time you got started. Ever thought about taking a few wives and having a whole squad of ninja kids before you go looking for your brother? Aren't you afraid he'll stomp you to death?"

Sasuke flushed red. "That's not how I want to revive the Uchiha. I want to become the strongest and make the Uchiha rule the Ninja World, so everyone knows the Uchiha name!"

"If you die, the Uchiha die out. Do you think that guy's going to build a harem and revive the Uchiha?"

Sasuke sank into thought, completely forgetting why he'd come to question Fuyuki in the first place.

There was no need to wonder. Fuyuki really was messing with them!

What was Moryo, after all? A demon from another world!

Though she wasn't at full strength, Moryo's individual power was no weaker than that of a Kage-level fighter. The Third Hokage wouldn't stand a chance against her unless he was willing to trade his life for hers.

Those two idiots thought they could beat a Kage-level fighter? Keep dreaming!

Even Fuyuki, while eating candy, had needed two hundred units of chakra, the Mangekyō Sharingan, and the Spirit Binding Chain—which countered Summoned Beasts—to overwhelm Moryo and turn the Black Dragon into a squealing mess.

Life went on quietly. Fuyuki hadn't attended a Hyuga Clan training session in a long, long time, and he often stayed at the Hot Spring Hotel. But the Hyuga Clan elders didn't object, and even the Clan Head had nothing to say.

Fuyuki developed three Gentle Fist techniques, silencing the Hyuga elders' endless nagging.

The first was a finishing move called Eight Trigrams Collapse Strike, which could transform Gentle Fist chakra into a key and help an enemy unlock the Eight Gates.

The second was an advanced Gentle Fist technique called Twin Lion Fists. It changed the shape of Gentle Fist chakra around the hands, increasing its range and area of impact. That way, the Gentle Fist could destroy the enemy's meridians while attacking their internal organs.

The third was even more impressive: Vacuum Attack. It was still only theoretical, but according to Fuyuki, it was a perfectly viable ultimate-level Taijutsu technique. The chakra it required, however, was so terrifying that no one in the Hyuga Clan could learn it for now.

With three secret techniques to keep them quiet, the Hyuga elders treated Fuyuki like the Second Hokage—a shinobi who wasn't much good at fighting, but was the best at developing techniques, a researcher who studied forbidden techniques, except for Ocean Style.

After winning over the Clan Head with the Ancestor, Fuyuki had now won over the Hyuga elders with his talent for copying and rewriting techniques.

Fuyuki could now proudly say, "I'm not just the Ancestors' favorite anymore. Now even the old fossils in the family have fallen for me!"

These three secret techniques raised the clan's overall strength by an entire level.

What the Hyuga elders found most regrettable was that Fuyuki's Vacuum Attack was incredibly powerful, but its strength came with the awkward drawback that no one could use it. No one in the Hyuga Clan could pull it off—not even the Clan Head.

Only a Jonin who opened the Fourth Gate with all their strength could unleash a single Vacuum Attack.

This had been calculated: once a shinobi opened the Fifth Gate, they couldn't control their chakra precisely enough. In theory, a Hyuga shinobi could use Vacuum Attack with the Fourth Gate open.

Vacuum Attack could be simplified, but Fuyuki hadn't done so, because there'd be no point.

Simplifying it required Senjutsu, but learning Senjutsu carried the risk of dropping dead on the spot.

Fuyuki didn't want the Hyuga shinobi lining up to die.

"Congratulations, everyone! You've passed the Ninja Academy exams and officially become Genin!"

Iruka stood on the stage, looking deeply moved. For the first time, he'd seen all his students sitting together in the classroom so neatly. The last time he'd seen them like this was during registration at the start of the school year.

"We'll begin assigning teams now. Your Jonin instructors will come to the classroom shortly and take you out."

Sakura brought her hands together and prayed fervently, her face blank. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke!"

The cooler Sasuke was, the stronger I get!

Ino clasped her hands and prayed for a miracle. "Please, let me get one of these three: Sasuke, Fuyuki, or Naruto! Don't stick me with the lazy bum and the fatty!"

Shikamaru yawned. "Give it up! Your prayers won't come true. We're a team of three, just like our ancestors."

"Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, you're one team!"

Ino: "Eugh!"

"Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, you're one team!"

Sakura jumped up in excitement and shot Sasuke-kun a sultry look she'd learned from Fuyuki.

Sasuke shivered and stared straight ahead at Iruka-sensei, his expression righteous.

"Hinata, Kiba, and Shino, you're one team."

"Fuyuki?" Hinata looked disappointed. She'd thought she'd be on a team with Fuyuki, and didn't understand why she had to be with the other students. It wasn't that she disliked the classmates she'd grown up with. She was just very disappointed.

"That's all the teams. Fuyuki has other arrangements. The rest of you, wait here for your instructors. They're all experienced Jonin, so be polite!" After giving them his instructions, Iruka left with a look of deep emotion.

This was the strangest graduating class yet, but at last, they'd graduated!

There were fifty students in the class, and nine of them were often missing. Could there have been a rowdier class?

"Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, come with me," Sanqianwubaiwan called.

"Yeah!"

"Hinata Hyuga, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, come with me," Yuhi Kurenai called from the doorway.