Konoha Today

Hyuga Shinichi finished washing up and returned to his room. He lay on his bed without turning on the lights, staring at the dim ceiling as his mind raced with many thoughts.

Closing his eyes, the gentle smile Hyuga Nikku had worn at the end remained etched in Hyuga Shinichi's mind, impossible to shake. That smile held helplessness and compromise, as well as an acknowledgment of him as a member of the main house. It was a long time before Hyuga Shinichi finally drifted off to sleep.

In Hyuga Nikku's room, the atmosphere was much the same. When he had seen Hyuga Shinichi display his talent for fist techniques, he had caught a glimpse of his younger self—the one who had once used Gentle Fist to make many of his peers in the main house hang their heads in shame, only to be punished by the Caged Bird seal in the end.

Usually, Hyuga Nikku showed no kindness toward the high-ranking members of the clan or the useless, pampered members of the main house. Yet, he continued to silently fulfill his duty of protecting the head of the main house, his older brother Hyuga Nimitsu. He felt no resentment toward this, as he believed his brother's abilities were superior to his own.

If he were tasked with managing the clan's affairs, Hyuga Nikku knew he could not do it as well as Hyuga Nimitsu.

What Hyuga Nikku did not know, however, was that Hyuga Nimitsu also felt his own talent was not as great as his brother's; in terms of Gentle Fist and the Byakugan, he was not his brother's equal at all.

Having walked this path for so many years, Hyuga Nikku had long since grown accustomed to his status as a branch house member. The reason for his dissatisfaction was no longer just the fact that he was a branch member branded with the Caged Bird seal.

It was that even when talented youngsters appeared in the branch house, they would eventually end up just like he had: branded with the Caged Bird, their lives stripped away, destined to spend their entire existence protecting the main house.

Just like yesterday, an early-rising Hyuga Shinichi arrived at the training ground, intending to continue the same training as the day before.

He saw a group of clansmen on the field imitating the movements of the two elders, while several lower-ranking clan officials patrolled the crowd, occasionally correcting the clansmen's forms and explaining key points.

Hyuga Shinichi realized they were all practicing Tai Chi. He did not step forward to disturb them, instead nodding a good morning to an elder who caught his eye, and walked alone to the lakeside to begin his day's training.

After finishing his morning training, Hyuga Shinichi went to the village's commercial district to wander around. On the way, he ran into Inuzuka Gai and Aburame Tomohiro buying supplies. The two only greeted him briefly before claiming they had business to attend to and scurrying off.

Hyuga Shinichi's hand, which had been raised in mid-air, slowly dropped back down.

Sigh, what are those two being so sneaky about?

Come to think of it, Nawaki had come to find me yesterday. I hadn't known about it while I was in the meeting room, and it wasn't until later that a guard found me to pass on the message that Nawaki wanted me to come to his house at noon today.

That guy Nawaki didn't even say what he wanted; he's being all mysterious too. Right, I broke the wooden sword I borrowed from him, I should buy something to compensate him.

He arrived in front of a weapon shop that looked decent. Since Nawaki had recently started practicing shuriken throwing, he decided to buy him a larger ninja tool pouch as an apology.

After browsing the shop, he didn't find what he was looking for, but he did find a decent ninja tool pouch. He paid for it, left the shop, and seeing that it was still early before noon, he continued to wander around the village.

The facilities in Konoha at this time were not as complete as they would be in the sixty-fourth year of Konoha, as seen in the anime. It was currently the twenty-eighth year of Konoha, with thirty-six years still to go.

By the time of Naruto, they already had refrigerators and televisions, but Hyuga Shinichi hadn't even seen an electrical appliance yet. It was as backward as the remote countryside village he had lived in during his childhood in his previous life.

He remembered that when he watched the manga in his past life, by the time the Second Shinobi World War began in the thirty-sixth year of Konoha, Amegakure already had utility poles, and the architecture had become somewhat industrialized, with pipes discharging sewage into the sea. That meant electrical appliances were still about eight years away.

Smartphones wouldn't begin to take shape until the Boruto era, which was before the eighty-third year of Konoha.

That was still about fifty-five years away. Even if he wanted to play with a smartphone, the current level of technology wouldn't allow it.

By the time that era arrived, he would be an old man in his sixties—what would he need a phone for? To record videos of himself dancing in the square with other old folks and post them online to document his golden years?

Sigh, there are still the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars to fight before then. I don't even know if I'll survive until that time.

Konoha participated in both the Second and Third Wars, and each time they fought against several nations. The front lines were stretched thin, and many people died. When the Third War finally ended, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, took responsibility and resigned from his position.

His already blurry memories from his past life shifted to the face of that guy Nawaki whenever he thought about how many people died.

If I recall correctly, Nawaki dies in the Second Shinobi World War, blown up by a trap. I'll have to keep an eye on him when the time comes. This idiot is really a handful.

Of course, there were also Gai and Tomohiro. He hadn't seen them in the manga or anime in his past life; perhaps they never appeared, or perhaps they died on the battlefield.

Although he had been reincarnated into Naruto, after two years in this world, he could feel that the people around him were real, living beings, not just virtual characters from a comic book.

He smiled, stopped overthinking, and continued his stroll.

He wandered in front of the Hokage office building and saw many ninjas forming teams to accept missions. He thought that teaming up with Gai and Tomohiro later on wouldn't be a bad idea. Their respective reconnaissance abilities were perfect; as long as they had the advantage of information, the probability of completing missions would increase significantly, as would their chances of survival on the battlefield.

If he remembered correctly, Nawaki would eventually become a disciple of Orochimaru, one of the future "Legendary Sannin" of Konoha, so he naturally wouldn't have time to join their team.

Speaking of the Sannin, he had only met Tsunade so far; he hadn't seen the other two.

The current Orochimaru wasn't as cold and sinister as he would become later, though he did bury himself in his laboratory every time he returned from a mission.

They were likely just ordinary research projects. After all, the village hadn't started researching Wood Style yet, and he hadn't experienced the deaths of those close to him, which would lead him to realize the fragility of life and drive him to conduct those inhumane experiments.

But that was the nature of science; even without those experiences, Orochimaru would eventually come into contact with those taboos. If an era wants to progress, it cannot avoid the exploration of science.

If Jiraiya wasn't on a mission, he was probably off somewhere gathering "material," which was why he was nowhere to be seen. If you asked what kind of material, it was obviously the inspiration for the Icha Icha Paradise series that even the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi, would love to read in the future.

If you asked how he knew, it was because he could already hear many ninjas discussing missions to find and capture a bathhouse peeper, whose description matched a man with white hair.

Jiraiya probably hadn't started writing Icha Icha Paradise yet; he remembered it wasn't published until Jiraiya was in his forties.

Jiraiya had already met the Great Toad Sage and learned of the prophecy. Knowing he would write books in the future, he was probably already conceptualizing how to write his novels... maybe.

Alright, let's not make excuses for Jiraiya.

The current Jiraiya was only fifteen. He was likely just a pervert who enjoyed peeping, much like his teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen. However, Sarutobi Hiruzen's methods were far more sophisticated; he could use the Telescope Technique through his crystal ball to observe the entire village.

Toward the end of the Second Shinobi World War, when he encountered Nagato and the others, he wanted to make up for the mistakes caused by the war, so he took in these war orphans until they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Seeing Nagato's Rinnegan, he mistakenly believed he was the Child of Prophecy mentioned by the Great Toad Sage. He took them all as disciples and, inspired by Nagato, created The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, which eventually led to the later Icha Icha Paradise.