Meeting Uzumaki Mito and Tsunade

"Alright, we're here."

Hyuga Shinichi followed Nawaki to his front door, a classic Japanese-style building with a courtyard. It was enclosed by a wall of grey bricks, and one could hear the rhythmic thump of a bamboo water feature in the garden as it filled and tipped against the stone.

"Grandma, Sis, I'm home!"

On the way, Hyuga Shinichi had heard from Nawaki that he lived with his grandmother and sister. His sister had no missions lately, and since their grandmother wouldn't let her go gamble, she was staying home as well.

Hyuga Shinichi took off his shoes, lined them up in the entryway, and followed Nawaki to the end of the hallway, where he opened a door leading into the living room.

In the living room, a kind-faced elderly woman with red hair sat in the seat of honor, holding a teacup and watching the two enter. Beside her sat a blonde girl whose chest was already beginning to develop, also looking their way. (Tsunade was born in the 13th year of Konoha; it is now the 28th year, so she is only fifteen.)

"Grandma, Sis, this is a friend I met at school today. I brought him over to hang out."

"Hello, Uzumaki Mito-sama, Tsunade-senpai. Please forgive my sudden intrusion. My name is Hyuga Shinichi, and this is a small gift for you."

On the way to Nawaki's house, upon hearing that people would be home, Hyuga Shinichi had thought about buying a gift. Since he didn't have much money, he spotted a dango shop on the roadside. He figured three-color dango would be perfect—not too expensive, yet delicious—so he bought a pack.

He handed the gift over with both hands. Tsunade, sitting nearby, took it and saw the packaging for the three-color dango. Uzumaki Mito, sitting in the seat of honor, saw it as well and spoke up.

"Child, you are too polite. We were just having tea without any sweets to go with it. Thank you. I'll call you Shinichi, is that alright?"

"Not at all, it is I who am intruding on you. It is my great honor to have Uzumaki Mito-sama call me by my name."

"Hahahaha, what a polite little boy. You can just call me Mito Grandma."

Hearing Uzumaki Mito tell him to call her Grandma, Hyuga Shinichi froze for a moment. Once it sank in, he stood at attention, excited.

"Yes! Mito Grandma!"

Upon hearing Hyuga Shinichi's name, Tsunade had been lost in thought, but suddenly, she slapped her palm with her fist and shouted.

"Ah! I remember now! You're that genius from the Hyuga clan that Sarutobi mentioned, the one who awakened the Byakugan before the age of three!"

"No, no, I just awakened my eyes; I'm no genius. Compared to Tsunade-senpai, I still have a lot to learn in many areas."

"Hahahaha, I like the way you talk, kid. Unlike Nawaki, who is just a blockhead and boring. Is it alright if I call you little brother Shinichi? You can just call me Sis."

"Yes! Tsunade Sis."

Nawaki, standing to the side, didn't think much of his sister's comment—he was used to it—but he was speechless at Hyuga Shinichi's current behavior.

The cheeky, mischievous attitude he had shown earlier was completely different from the polite, well-behaved child standing here now.

"Alright, Grandma, Sis, I'm taking Shinichi to go play."

"Mm, go ahead." (x2)

After Hyuga Shinichi and Nawaki left, the two in the living room began to talk. Tsunade ate a piece of three-color dango and asked:

"Grandma, what do you think of little brother Shinichi?"

"I can feel that his respect for you and me is genuine. His respect for me is an honest expression from his heart, unlike the people in the village who appear respectful on the outside but are fearful on the inside. He doesn't seem to be afraid of me, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki."

"Could it be that little brother Shinichi is too young and doesn't know about the jinchuriki?"

"That, I don't know. But it's been a long time since I've had three-color dango; this flavor really brings back memories."

If Hyuga Shinichi, walking away with Nawaki, had heard their conversation, he would have thought to himself that he certainly had to respect them both.

Uzumaki Mito was the wife of Senju Hashirama. To assist Senju Hashirama, she had sealed the Nine-Tails within her own body, becoming a jinchuriki.

The Nine-Tails was a collection of hatred. No matter how strong Uzumaki Mito's sealing jutsu was, she would have been influenced by the Nine-Tails to some degree. She endured this for decades, and even after Senju Hashirama passed away, she remained the jinchuriki of Konoha, guarding the village that Senju Hashirama had built.

Tsunade, meanwhile, was a top-tier medical ninja who would go on to save countless lives on the battlefield.

Before reincarnating from the modern world into the ninja world, Hyuga Shinichi had always admired medical personnel who saved lives and healed the wounded. It was because they had ignored their own safety during the pandemic to leave their families and rush to the front lines that so many people were saved.

Following Nawaki into a storage room, Hyuga Shinichi spoke up.

"So, Nawaki, what did you bring me here to see?"

"Heh heh, Shinichi, do you know what I found while rummaging through the storage room earlier?"

Seeing Hyuga Shinichi put on a face that said he didn't want to guess, Nawaki didn't keep him in suspense.

"Ta-da! It's this Sword Technique Training Manual! This is a collection of sword techniques that my grandfather Tobirama gathered for his research! How about that?"

At Nawaki's age, the idea of hanging a sword at one's waist and becoming a samurai or a wandering swordsman was incredibly cool. To be precise, it was a dream every boy had.

Listening to Nawaki's introduction, Hyuga Shinichi's eyes sparkled as he looked at the Sword Technique Training Manual held high by Nawaki. In his past life, he had also dreamed of roaming the world with a sword, until one day, he accidentally smashed the cauliflower in his family's garden with a wooden stick, and his dream was smashed along with his backside.

"Sugoi! Nawaki, are you going to practice sword techniques?"

"Heh heh, that's right! I'm going to become the number one swordsman in Konoha!"

"But aren't you going to be Hokage?"

Nawaki choked for a second, then returned to his passionate self.

"That doesn't conflict! I'll just become a Hokage who uses a sword! What do you think, Shinichi?"

"Mm, it's very cool."

Seeing Hyuga Shinichi resting his chin on his hand, thinking seriously, and then giving an affirmative answer, Nawaki scratched his head and said happily:

"Hahahaha, you think so too, Shinichi?"

Nawaki had no idea what Hyuga Shinichi was thinking about just now; in truth, Hyuga Shinichi was imagining how dashing he would look as Hokage with a sword strapped to his waist.

To protect the village from the countless ninjutsu attacks of his enemies, he would draw his blade and swing it, watching every attack vanish into nothingness, before declaring, "No matter how many ninjutsu you throw at me, I shall shatter them all with a single strike!"

"So, are you going to learn it too, Shinichi? Oh, right, you're from the Hyuga clan, you should be practicing Gentle Fist, right?"

Hyuga Shinichi replied.

"If you're going to become a sword-wielding Hokage, why can't I become a sword-wielding member of the Hyuga clan?"

"Fair point. When the time comes, we'll be Konoha's two greatest swordsmen, protecting the village together—just thinking about it is cool."

Nawaki could clearly see that Hyuga Shinichi was very interested in swordsmanship, and being in high spirits himself, he didn't say anything more; the two sat on the ground, leaning against each other as they pored over the Sword Technique Training Manual.

"Come on, Shinichi, let's give it a try."

"Alright, here I come."

After reading through a portion of the manual, the two picked up wooden swords from the storage room and began to spar.

During this time, Hyuga Shinichi could feel that he actually had quite a talent for swordsmanship.

Coupled with the Insight Eye, one of the abilities of the Byakugan, he possessed a 360-degree field of vision, along with the X-Ray Vision ability, which allowed him to see the opponent's meridians, acupoints, bones, and the flow of chakra, enabling him to observe his opponent's state and make judgments on how to strike. (In the world of Demon Slayer, this would be equivalent to having a reinforced version of the Transparent World.)

However, after a few rounds of sparring, the Byakugan was banned after Nawaki complained that it was cheating. Even without the use of the Byakugan, Hyuga Shinichi could feel the wind-attribute chakra within him becoming very active, which gave him a few more ideas.