The first thing Hyuga Hoshishaku did after returning to the clan compound was report what had happened to his father, Hyuga Tianren.
As expected, his father took the discovery very seriously and offered him a reward.
"Give me two more bodyguards. They should be at least Genin, and I want to spar with them every day."
Hoshishaku made his request.
But Hyuga Tianren shook his head and refused. "That's impossible. There are fewer than a hundred ninja in the clan, and almost all of them have important positions. We can't spare anyone to train and spar with you."
Hoshishaku pursed his lips. "Really? Fewer than a hundred? What a pitifully small clan. No wonder there are schemes against the Hyuga in Konoha."
Hyuga Tianren's forehead twitched as he listened.
Seeing that the mood had turned sour, Hoshishaku hurried to his feet and left. But when he reached the door, he looked back and said, lacking conviction:
"If you won't give me people, then give me more money. A hundred thousand ryo isn't enough to feed me. I spent more than ten thousand just walking around town today. If outsiders heard about this, wouldn't they say the Hyuga Clan was miserly and broke?"
This time, Hyuga Tianren couldn't take it anymore. He thrust out an Air Palm and sent Hoshishaku, who was putting on his shoes by the door, flying.
"You have no manners at all! Get out of here!"
Hoshishaku didn't feel hurt after being blasted outside, but the fall was a little embarrassing.
He glanced at Yun Fei, who hurried over to help him up.
With an awkward grin, Hoshishaku pointed toward his father and muttered, "Look, he's mad!"
A bead of cold sweat slid down Hyuga Yunfei's head.
He had no idea what his young master meant.
But that mocking tone was genuinely frightening!
In the end, loyal Yun Fei quietly went inside and fetched Hoshishaku's shoes. The two of them left the clan head's residence in a sorry state.
Next, Hoshishaku went with Yun Fei to the Branch Family compound.
He deliberately stayed outside instead of going in, following behind to listen to what was happening inside.
And sure enough, he heard someone taking a jab at Yun Fei.
The speaker even had the distinctive cracking voice of a teenage boy.
"Well, well, look who's back! It's the Branch Family's genius, Hyuga Yunfei! I heard you changed masters. Is that true or not?"
The moment Hoshishaku heard that, he rushed in excitedly and defeated the boy in the name of a spar, completing that day's duel task!
At last, in his sixth year in this world, he completed all of that day's daily tasks for the first time!
Praise be to Hyuga Neji!
As a future genius of the Hyuga Clan, even just a C-rank Genin card had completely changed his dire situation!
If Neji was born as he should be in the future, Hoshishaku would have to thank him properly!
That evening, after reporting what had happened,
Hoshishaku suddenly received a notification from the system.
[Random Commission Task triggered: Investigate the culprit smearing the Hyuga Clan] [Task Rating: A-rank] [Task Issuer: Hyuga Tianren] [Task Reward: One random A-rank full card]
When he received the commission, Hoshishaku was so excited he didn't sleep all night.
What was an A-rank full card?
If C-rank meant a Genin approaching Chunin level,
and B-rank meant a Chunin approaching Jonin level,
then the Kakashi fragments he had drawn before provided double confirmation that an A-rank card meant a Jonin approaching Kage Level!
So, in his eyes, completing this one task would make him one of the strongest ninja in the Hyuga Clan!
And so, over the following days,
Hyuga Hoshishaku either went to the Main Family's training ground on the appointed days to receive instruction in Gentle Fist from the elders,
or racked his brains to complete the commission and diligently finished his daily tasks. He basically stopped training altogether.
In his opinion, two years of grueling training were nowhere near as effective as the improvement from a C-rank Genin card. So why put himself through all that hardship?
If not for taking some time to teach his cousin Yun Fei the Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation and
So focusing on tasks, saving up for ten-pulls, and completing commissions was what really mattered.
But this A-rank commission was difficult for him.
He had no idea where to begin.
At first, he planned to investigate the little brats.
So he took Hyuga Yunfei along to look into it.
It took them three days to find the children, but they got nothing useful.
When asked who had taught them to say those things,
they said that all the children talked that way.
When Hoshishaku asked them one by one who had first called the Byakugan a monster, every child gave a different answer.
After working at it for half a month, Hoshishaku finally accepted that he couldn't uncover the truth on his own.
Just then, the System Panel suddenly displayed a notification.
[Notice: The A-rank random commission task has been completed by someone else] [Task Completed By: Nara Luyuan] [The system is calculating the evaluation...] [After evaluation, the host only played a major role in pointing the way during this commission and did not participate deeply. Therefore, the commission task is rated B-rank.] [You have received the B-rank commission task reward: One B-rank full card]
After seeing the notifications, Hoshishaku felt a little disappointed, but also relieved.
The disappointment was inevitable.
Who wouldn't want to rise to the top in a single leap and become a powerful figure in the Ninja World?
And once he realized he couldn't complete the commission, dragging it out had become a real burden.
So now that someone else had completed it and he was still receiving a reward, he could finally breathe a little easier.
Thinking that, he claimed the B-rank ninja card reward.
"Who could it be?"
He was filled with anticipation.
[Congratulations! You have obtained: B-rank ninja Ajisai]
"Huh?!"
Hoshishaku was a little surprised. For a moment, he couldn't remember who Ajisai was.
But when a wealth of memories about Summoning Technique, Unsealing Technique, and Sealing Technique suddenly appeared in his mind, he understood.
Wasn't this kunoichi named Ajisai the small-framed, sweet-voiced Animal Path from the Six Paths of Pain, who excelled at Summoning Technique?
The one fans in his previous life had affectionately nicknamed the Loli Path.
"I actually drew her?"
Hoshishaku's lips curled into a smile.
"I really got lucky."
In his eyes, Ajisai could make the most basic Sealing Technique skills—Sealing and Unsealing—look spectacular, even using them as finishing moves. She also had a talent for Summoning Technique.
Her talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu had to be exceptional.
Thinking that, he hurried to open his status panel.
[Name: Hyuga Hoshishaku] [Life Force: 245 (+100)] [Spiritual Power: 220 (+105)] [Chakra: 1230 (+2500)] [Jutsu: Gentle Fist series, Summoning Technique, Basic Sealing Technique (Sealing, Unsealing)] [Special Abilities: Byakugan (Kekkei Genkai), Space-Time Talent] [Secret Scroll: None]
Looking at the Space-Time Talent that had appeared under Special Abilities,
Hoshishaku smiled happily.
This time, he had gained a lot.
Besides an overall improvement to his physical abilities and enough chakra to reach Chunin level, the biggest gain was his promising Space-Time Talent.
If he could learn the Flying Thunder God Technique someday, wouldn't that make him invincible?
"But I'll need to find time to clear my name regarding my Basic Sealing Technique. And I haven't made a contract with any summoned beasts, so my Summoning Technique is still a blank slate for now."
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