Half a Year

After the meeting concluded, a grand banquet was held in accordance with tradition.

The children happily tasted the delicacies personally prepared by Hyuga Shinichi, eating with great relish until their mouths were stained with grease.

The next day, Hyuga Shinichi did not leave, but instead stayed behind to teach these lovely children how to practice the Gentle Fist.

It must be known that in a great clan like the Hyuga Clan, the cultivation of future generations often begins as early as the age of three.

Time flies like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, half a year has passed; it is now the 33rd year of Konoha.

Many things happened during these six months. Just before the New Year, a shocking piece of news spread throughout Konoha: seven-year-old Hyuga Shinichi had been approved by the Third Hokage to be promoted to Special Jonin!

This news was like a bombshell, sparking widespread discussion among the villagers.

People found it simply unbelievable, as most children at that age had not even graduated from the Ninja Academy.

However, when accounts of his deeds were shared by those who had served on missions with Hyuga Shinichi, people began to realize that this young genius was truly extraordinary.

It is said that Hyuga Shinichi was admitted to the Ninja Academy ahead of schedule before the age of three, and within just one year, he displayed astonishing talent and learning ability, graduating from the Ninja Academy at the age of four, which undoubtedly left everyone in awe.

Next, even more staggering was that upon turning five, he easily passed the Chunin exam and was successfully promoted to Chunin.

Now, at seven, he has created another miracle by becoming a Special Jonin.

Some speculate that with Hyuga Shinichi's current strength, he may already possess the level of a Jonin, but due to his lack of seniority, he has not yet received the official title.

If he continues to actively complete missions, it is not impossible for him to become a true Jonin before the age of ten; such an achievement for a child so young is an unprecedented feat, and no such case has ever appeared in Konoha.

As for guiding Namikaze Minato in his training, things continued as usual. During the first few months, Namikaze Minato would study academic subjects at the Ninja Academy in the morning and take leave in the afternoon to train with Hyuga Shinichi.

Now, Namikaze Minato no longer needs to submit requests to his teachers; according to him, this was ordered personally by the Third Hokage, who told the teachers to approve any leave requests from Namikaze Minato directly.

During this period, Namikaze Minato's frequent absences aroused the curiosity and attention of his classmates.

In particular, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio of this generation secretly speculated whether Minato had encountered something, and once they found an opportunity, they quietly followed him to see if they could lend Namikaze Minato a hand.

They were immediately discovered by Hyuga Shinichi, who called them all out.

Hyuga Shinichi explained the truth of the matter to them in detail, and upon learning that Namikaze Minato was training under him, all three breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, Hyuga Shinichi had previously asked Namikaze Minato if such frequent leave would lead to a drift in his relationships with his classmates at school.

But Namikaze Minato always replied that his classmates at school were very kind and that he had several close friends.

However, Hyuga Shinichi had never actually seen these so-called friends, as Namikaze Minato seemed to have no time to play with friends outside of training with him every day.

Nevertheless, seeing the Ino-Shika-Cho trio of this generation show such concern for Minato's situation, the worry in Hyuga Shinichi's heart eased slightly.

Following this, his own leave ended, and he continued to execute missions as part of a team with Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro.

During his leave, Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro had teamed up to complete missions, gradually making a name for themselves in the village.

All of this was closely related to Hyuga Shinichi; the cooperation between the Hyuga Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, and the Aburame Clan made this team highly visible.

As the first squad composed of members from the "Eye," "Nose," and "Ear" families, they naturally became the focus of everyone's attention.

Fortunately, Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro did not live up to expectations; their strength improved rapidly, and even the missions they accepted were completed perfectly.

Such outstanding performance undoubtedly brought more reputation and praise to the entire team, and some even said that if the system were not still immature, Konoha would have another combination comparable to or even surpassing the Ino-Shika-Cho.

The active Ino-Shika-Cho did not belittle the Eye-Nose-Ear Team because of this, and it is said that the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho knew Hyuga Shinichi and the others, also showing a friendly attitude toward the families of the Eye-Nose-Ear Team.

When Hyuga Shinichi was too busy to teach Namikaze Minato, Jiraiya, as his teacher, stepped up and took leave just like Hyuga Shinichi.

From then on, Namikaze Minato began to learn from Jiraiya, and their bond as master and apprentice grew deeper; under Jiraiya's careful guidance, Namikaze Minato's strength also continued to improve.

At the same time, the Eye-Nose-Ear Team's performance in various missions became increasingly brilliant, and their coordination with each other was seamless.

As time passed, the village entrusted this team with important tasks, assigning them responsibility for some reconnaissance and intelligence work.

Relying on their unique skill advantages, if the opponent was not equipped with a sensory ninja, these missions were a piece of cake for the Eye-Nose-Ear Team.

Not only that, but even high-difficulty missions to track down rogue ninjas were completed excellently.

During the tracking process, Inuzuka Gai relied on his keen sense of smell to accurately sniff out the scent left by the targets and infer their trajectory.

When approaching the targets, Hyuga Shinichi would use the Byakugan's unique Telescopic Eye ability to carefully observe their real-time status.

The Sound-Stealing Bug controlled by Aburame Tomohiro would then quickly fly out to collect key intelligence, and once it was confirmed that there were no other companions around the targets, they could immediately launch a capture operation.

In addition to their excellent reconnaissance capabilities, the Eye-Nose-Ear Team's combat power was not to be underestimated.

Aburame Tomohiro would first release the Earth Centipede and Kikaichū to surprise the targets, creating openings for his teammates, as Hyuga Shinichi's Byakugan had a keen insight into the enemy's flaws.

Once a flaw was discovered, he would decisively hand over the main attack to Inuzuka Gai, who was adept at breaking through defenses; a single Gatsuga would instantly break the enemy's line and disrupt their formation.

Immediately following this, the attacks from Hyuga Shinichi and Aburame Tomohiro would follow, giving the enemy no chance to catch their breath.

Such brilliant achievements made the Third Hokage attach more importance and support to the plan of the three families to jointly cultivate the new generation of the Eye-Nose-Ear Team.

This team not only possessed excellent reconnaissance capabilities, but its powerful combat strength was also remarkable, and even its defensive capabilities were quite outstanding.

Imagine, if such an invincible team could be possessed during wartime, it would undoubtedly greatly reduce the cost and loss of obtaining intelligence for our side.