Senju Yuto was a child who, because of his illness, was a little more childish than other kids his age.
If he hadn't grown up without anyone his age to keep him company, Hyuga Hoshishaku wouldn't have found it so easy to coax him into practicing the Natural Energy Body Tempering Technique.
But this kind of training couldn't be mastered overnight.
His spiritual power barely increased once every half month.
Fortunately, the mission countdown had disappeared. Waiting a few more years wasn't a problem.
Now that the Fate Commission was nearly complete, Hoshishaku only had to wait for the mission to be settled.
But he had no intention of letting up.
He hadn't completed the mission by himself.
He estimated that he was responsible for only about sixty percent of it.
After all, he was the one who had noticed Yuto's problem, come up with the inspiration for a treatment, and helped Yuto train.
But Senju Tobirama, the technique's developer, and Senju Hashirama, who had helped him harness natural energy, had played the most crucial roles.
It was already clear that he probably wouldn't get the full S-rank reward, but surely he could at least get a full A-rank ninja card, right?
After more than half a year of practice, the seven-year-old Hoshishaku was disappointed that he might miss out on an S-rank card.
But he didn't regret involving Senju Tobirama and the others in the slightest.
After all, this was a matter of his friend's life.
The first friend he, Hyuga Hoshishaku, had ever accepted.
There was one more important thing.
The requirements for training in the Natural Energy Body Tempering Technique were extremely strict.
Not only was it practically useless for adults,
but children needed several times the average person's physical strength and chakra just to train in it.
Hoshishaku and Yuto had discovered this drawback when they tried sharing the technique on a small scale after both of them had mastered it.
So this technique, created specifically to "treat" Senju Yuto, wasn't added to the ninjutsu library. It wasn't even recorded in the Scroll of Seals, since its applications were so limited.
Only the Senju Clan Grounds and Hyuga Hoshishaku had a copy of the technique.
But only Hoshishaku understood that its potential went far beyond "treating low spiritual power."
It only increased all of one's attributes once every half month, but what if there was no upper limit? What if it was eventually proven to extend one's lifespan, too?
Konoha, Year 7.
Eight months had passed since his last ten-pull.
During that time, Hoshishaku had kept up with his daily missions and finally saved up enough for another ten-pull.
It was a day off.
Ever since he'd made some progress with Sealing Technique, he'd had three days off every week. He no longer had to visit Uzumaki Mito every day to study Sealing Technique.
That morning, he'd exercised as usual, then spent several hours practicing the body-tempering technique. By afternoon, he'd finished his daily mission and finally saved up for a ten-pull.
He'd already washed his face and hands, and was alone in his room, ready to draw.
"System, draw!"
As Hyuga Hoshishaku used ten summon tickets,
the System Panel flashed with light, and one icon after another appeared.
[S-rank ninja Tsunade fragments x5] [C-rank ninja Uchiha Sasuke x1] [Chakra +50] [Spiritual Power +30] [A-rank ninja Kakashi fragments x4] [C-rank ninja Hyuga Hinata x1] [Secret Scroll: Rebirth fragments x1] [Chakra +30] [Vitality +50] [A-rank Kakashi fragments x4]
When the draw was over, Hoshishaku stared at the results, hardly able to believe his eyes.
Two full C-rank ninja cards, eight Kakashi fragments, the five guaranteed Tsunade fragments, and one secret scroll fragment whose use he didn't know.
What kind of outrageous luck was this?
He now had ten Tsunade fragments, bringing his progress toward summoning her full card to ten percent. If he was guaranteed five fragments per ten-pull, he might need another eighteen ten-pulls.
He now had twelve Kakashi fragments, bringing his progress toward summoning his full card to thirty percent. He might get the full card within the next seven ten-pulls.
Of course, what made him happiest right now were the two full C-rank cards: one for Hyuga Hinata, a fellow clan member, and one for Uchiha Sasuke, who had Uchiha blood.
Excited and nervous, he began to wonder how he'd explain the origin of his Sharingan if he got one.
Or what would happen if the Byakugan and Sharingan merged?
His thoughts were in a jumble when the system suddenly displayed a notification.
[Notice: Uchiha Sasuke's bloodline is incompatible with the host. The Byakugan has actively devoured the Sharingan bloodline. Byakugan purity +5%] [Notice: Hyuga Hinata's Byakugan purity exceeds the host's. The Byakugan has fused with hers. Byakugan purity +25%]
"Byakugan purity?"
The system's notification dispelled Hyuga Hoshishaku's worries, but it raised new questions.
What was Byakugan purity?
If Byakugan purity reached 100%, would it become the Jōgan from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations?
Or perhaps the legendary Tenseigan?
Hoshishaku had no idea.
He got up and went to the mirror, carefully examining his eyes.
Maybe it was just his imagination,
but his eyes seemed to have a faint blue tint.
"Maybe it's just the lighting at night?"
He thought that to himself, then quickly turned his attention to his stats and his newly acquired ninjutsu and taijutsu.
[Name: Hyuga Hoshishaku] [Vitality: 360 (+100)] [Spiritual Power: 340 (+200)] [Chakra: 3750 (1300)] [Jutsu: Natural Energy Body Tempering Technique, Gentle Fist, Summoning Technique (Triple Rashomon), Sealing Technique, Ninja Tool Throwing, Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Lightning Style: Chidori] [Special Abilities: Byakugan (second evolution, 30%), Lightning Style Chakra Shape Transformation, Space-Time Talent] [Secret Scroll: Rebirth (Unlocked: 1/10)]
Almost all his attributes had increased by about fifty percent.
He already knew nearly everything Hyuga Hinata knew, so what she contributed was more memories of Gentle Fist training, along with improvements to his attributes and Byakugan purity.
Uchiha Sasuke had contributed quite a bit, too.
Basically, no one in the Hyuga Clan practiced ninjutsu.
As a result, generation after generation, the clan's talent for the five chakra natures had remained low, and even fewer people learned ninjutsu.
From Uchiha Sasuke, he'd directly acquired Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique and Lightning Style: Chidori.
The Great Fireball Technique was no problem. He could learn it even if he wanted to right now.
But Lightning Style: Chidori involved Lightning Style Chakra Shape Transformation, so it was basically impossible for him to master it in a short time.
So this draw had brought him another step closer to getting Kakashi's elite jōnin card and Tsunade's Kage Level medical-taijutsu ninja card.
The two full C-rank cards had also given his own strength a significant boost.
On top of that, over the past six months, Teacher Tobirama had taught him Triple Rashomon in addition to the Natural Energy Body Tempering Technique and Sealing Technique.
Now he felt like he could beat the version of himself from when he'd just become Senju Tobirama's student.
Thinking of how he'd run into Sarutobi Hiruzen several times while wandering around the village lately, and how the guy still gave him a sour look even though he knew his own clan was at fault,
and how his inseparable little buddy Shimura Danzō gave him the same sour look,
Hyuga Hoshishaku suddenly smiled.
He decided that tomorrow, he'd pick those two unlucky brats as the targets for his daily mission's duel.
He could finish the mission and take them down a peg at the same time. What was there not to like?
Oh, and he'd bring Yuto along, too.
Before you continue