Reaction × Respective Sides

Hyuga Hiashi spoke, asking indifferently, "Nana, I hear you've been chatting quite a bit with the elders in the clan lately?"

"Ah."

Hyuga Nana had not expected the clan head to ask such a question, and for a moment, she felt shy, her fair little face flushing red.

"That's right. That is the case."

Hyuga Hiashi nodded, his expression unchanging as he shifted the topic.

"It is good to talk more with the female clan elders."

"Besides, as Dan-kun's disciple in the future, you will need to seek his guidance on cultivation even more."

Hyuga Nana was stunned at first, but she immediately understood Hyuga Hiashi's meaning. She nodded in agreement, her fair face flushing even deeper in secret.

Indeed, a great clan with a long history still possessed the art of conversation; these two seemingly unrelated sentences contained profound implications.

The meaning was for Hyuga Nana to first secure her position as a disciple of Nara Dan.

Then, she should try her best to climb higher; whether a disciple could become a master's wife depended on how hard she worked, and the clan head was supporting her efforts, so she should just go for it.

Hyuga Hiashi knew very well that a man like Nara Dan would never tolerate his woman being held hostage by a curse seal.

At that point, not only would he be able to win over a one-in-a-million Taijutsu genius, but he could also have the Caged Bird removed from Hyuga Nana.

As the saying goes, once there is a first time, there will be a second; once a breach is made, subsequent developments become much easier.

Hyuga Hiashi looked at the obedient and well-behaved Nana before him, his mind filled with a thousand thoughts.

He remembered when he was young, before he and Hizashi were separated into different branches, their bond was so close, so innocent.

But later, after the Caged Bird was branded onto Hizashi's forehead, the situation changed.

He could no longer speak kindly or treat any branch family member with gentleness; instead, he had to maintain the dignity of the Main Family, and from then on, he and Hizashi walked separate paths.

To this day, the relationship between the brothers remained terrible.

Hyuga Hiashi remembered clearly that after he was chosen as the heir to the Main Family, many girls from the branch family, about the same age as Hyuga Nana, came to serve him.

He had been particularly fond of one of them, played well with her, and treated her with great kindness.

But a few days later, he saw her corpse, and at the same time, he was lectured by the clan elders that as the Main Family, he could not lose his dignity in front of the branch family.

From that point on, he became that perfect Main Family clan head.

I hope you can break your fate, Nana.

The Caged Bird, the Caged Bird...

In truth, am I not the one who is trapped as well?

"He was miles away from you, and you were stunned into unconsciousness just by the pressure of his presence?!"

In a dark basement in Konoha, Danzo's expression was one of disbelief.

"Y-yes, that's right."

The Anbu Jonin also felt it was incredible, even embarrassed; he had been knocked unconscious by the pressure without even seeing the man's face.

But the feeling of having his life and death directly controlled was certainly not fake.

"I saw Nara-jonin's eyes at that moment and felt his gaze."

Danzo remained silent, grabbing the lime from the table in front of him and letting it scatter in the wind.

This lime was the debris from the giant boulder that Nara Dan had shattered with a single palm strike, which Danzo had collected at some point.

In fact, compared to being knocked unconscious from miles away, the fact that he could pulverize a giant boulder into dust was something Danzo found even harder to accept.

Because there were always ways to suddenly knock someone out, whether by setting up genjutsu in advance, using sealing techniques, poisoning, or bribing teammates.

But the power and penetration required to strike a giant boulder into dust in one blow were beyond Danzo's imagination.

If such an attack hit a person, it could be said that it would kill gods if gods stood in the way, and kill Buddhas if Buddhas stood in the way.

It wouldn't matter what kind of equipment you were wearing or how strong your ninjutsu defenses were.

If a boulder several meters high could be pulverized, even refined iron would likely be shattered.

Now that the facts were laid out, Danzo had to face this reality.

Nara Dan's Taijutsu had likely entered a stage he could not comprehend.

Furthermore, he had heard that Nara Dan could now completely conceal his presence, to the point where even his demeanor had become ordinary.

He didn't look like a Taijutsu ninja at all; he looked more like a strategist for the Nara Clan.

"A defense that renders ordinary ninjutsu ineffective, overwhelming explosive power, the ability to hide one's presence, and even stamina that far exceeds that of an average ninja."

"All of these combined..."

Danzo thought to himself; he was well aware of the fact that Nara Dan had killed for a day and a night against the Iwagakure Ninja.

The Iwagakure Ninja called it a counter-encirclement, but in reality, it was a massacre.

The hundred-man tactical squad had no power to resist and was almost completely wiped out.

"He is simply a perfect war machine, whether on the front lines or behind enemy lines."

"A strategic weapon comparable to a Jinchuriki."

"No, he is worth even more."

Danzo's expression grew increasingly grave, the greed in his heart nearly impossible to contain.

"Most Jinchuriki are uncontrollable, but Nara Dan is completely under control."

"To be honest, the large-scale destructive power of a Jinchuriki is often redundant in ninja warfare; it frequently ends up harming one's own side."

"But a ninja like Nara Dan is different; he can focus his efforts solely on the enemy ninja village."

"His mobility is high enough to wage a one-man guerrilla war."

"Such power..."

But immediately, Danzo sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.

"Yet, such power cannot be used by me."

"Now that Nara Dan has grown to this extent, with the Third Great Ninja War approaching and the loss of two major combat assets in White Fang and Tsunade..."

"Sarutobi will definitely deploy him."

"By then, Nara Dan will accumulate a massive amount of prestige and merit."

"He might even have a shot at becoming the Fourth."

"But I am the one who wants to be Hokage."

Suddenly, Danzo turned his thoughts in another direction.

"What if I guarantee his position as the Fifth, and have him support me to become the Fourth?!"

But immediately, Danzo shook his head again.

"His ambition might not even be the Hokage."

"And with the political power of the Ino-Shika-Cho, it wouldn't be difficult for him to take the position himself."

"I still need to be indirect; at the very least, I cannot let him oppose me."

In the Nara Clan compound, within the main courtyard of the clan head.

Listening to the account from Nara Shikaku, the Nara Clan Head wore a very solemn expression.

"Such a technique."

As a Jonin with an exceptionally broad perspective, the Nara Clan Head knew all too well the value of the Immortal-Eating Technique.

"If this were to spread, it could completely shatter the balance of the ninja profession!"

"It could even shatter the balance of the entire Ninja World!"

Nara Shikaku nodded in agreement; with his intelligence, how could he fail to see the terrifying nature of this technique?

It completely ignored the individual differences of every ninja and raised the physical limits of every ninja across the board.

Although in the long run, pure Taijutsu is difficult to elevate to the Kage level, and even reaching the Jonin level is a struggle.

But this does not mean Taijutsu is unimportant; at the level of Genin, Chunin, and even Jonin, Taijutsu remains one of the most important means of engagement.

Even Madara Uchiha had to study the art of the dance, let alone anyone else.

Don't just nurture! Don't just nurture! Recommend votes, give me your recommend votes!