Chapter 19

But the ones blocking the way now were, of all people, the Anbu themselves!

"Anbu?!"

Danzo Shimura shot up from his seat, his eyes filled with disbelief. "...I understand."

"You go get bandaged first. I'm going to find the Third."

With that, Danzo Shimura turned and strode straight out.

Lately, he had also sensed that Hiruzen Sarutobi was different from before.

He had simply never been willing to think in that direction.

But now that the Anbu were already helping the Uchiha make a move against their Root, if he did not get to the bottom of this, it really would be too late.

In Homura Mitokado's living room. "Koharu?"

"Coming over this late—is it about the Uchiha?"

Homura Mitokado's tone was faint, and there was not much change on his face. "You already know?"

"Then how can you still sit still?"

Koharu Utatane looked completely baffled.

Back then, the five of them had served as the Second Hokage's guards together, but in the end, only four had taken seats among the upper ranks.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had become Hokage.

Danzo Shimura had taken charge of Root.

Homura Mitokado and she were senior advisers.

As for Kagami Uchiha... he had disappeared long ago.

Only the few of them knew those things in their hearts.

Now that the Uchiha were clearly about to stir up trouble, how could Homura Mitokado have no reaction at all?

"At the end of the day, this matter doesn't have much to do with the Uchiha."

"The key is the matter between the Third and Danzo."

"Could you really not see that?"

Homura Mitokado sighed.

Koharu Utatane was fine in every way, except that she got carried away too easily and relied entirely on instinct for everything. "The Third? Danzo?"

Koharu Utatane felt as if her brain had stopped turning. "Just explain it clearly."

She had originally wanted to think it through herself, but she had almost burned out her CPU, so she simply asked directly. "The Third's dissatisfaction with Danzo has already piled up to the point where he no longer wants to endure it."

"He never made a move before because he couldn't find anyone who could replace Danzo."

"But now it's different—the Uchiha have made their stance clear. They're willing to be a useful blade in the Third's hand."

"Do you think the Third will let this chance slip by?"

"Or rather, do you think Danzo, who stares at the Hokage's seat all day, is easier to use, or the Uchiha?"

Homura Mitokado laid out the twists and turns one by one for Koharu Utatane to hear.

There was no need for them to get involved in this kind of struggle between the higher-ups.

They could just stand to the side and watch the show.

No matter who won in the end, the two of them would not really lose anything. "You..."

"Fine. Next time, tell me earlier so I don't worry for nothing."

Koharu Utatane left that sentence behind, then turned and walked out.

The lights were still on deep into the night. For an elderly woman to stay up this late, Koharu Utatane could not help nagging for quite a while. Homura Mitokado sat across from her and could only smile wryly and shake his head.

The moment dawn broke, the sealing barrier was withdrawn.

Sasuke went to school as usual, too lazy to care about the clan's mess. Right now he was still just a little brat. Running his mouth a bit was fine, but if he really wanted to take action and get involved, it was still far too early. He had no intention of wasting brainpower on things he could not do.

He would stick to the old path. If he went to school, then he would study hard. Working upward every day could not be wrong.

Besides, he still had Neji to win over. Finishing that task came first. "Sasuke!"

Naruto's shout rang out from far away.

Sasuke looked at that goofy guy and muttered inwardly—Is this guy heaven's own son or what? No matter what, I should get a system mission out of him...

The days at school always passed quickly.

In the past, the only ones who trembled in class as if they were having seizures were Sasuke and Naruto. Now it was great—Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, Rock Lee. They had made a whole table.

The school bell rang. "Look, look! Isn't that Hyuga Neji from the upper grades?"

"He's so handsome! That icy face, those one-of-a-kind Byakugan... ah, I can't take it."

"Compared to our class's Sasuke, he's still missing just a tiny bit of flavor, right?"

"Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuga Neji... I'm done for. How am I supposed to choose!"

In the corridor, a group of little girls chattered away.

The person they were staring at was none other than Hyuga Neji.

This guy, who usually ignored everyone, had actually made an unprecedented trip to the lower grades to wait for someone today. The delusions these fangirls cooked up grew more outrageous than the last. "Brother Neji..."

The moment Hinata stepped out of the classroom, she ran into Neji's gaze fixed on the doorway.

The relationship between the two siblings could not be called good, but Hinata had always admired Neji. Whether it was his talent, or the drive and ability he showed in training.

Every time they sparred in the clan, Neji never held back. He threw all his strongest skills right in her face. To put it plainly, he was forcing her to charge forward.

A Neji like that was someone Hinata admired from the bottom of her heart. "Mm."

"There are a few others. We're waiting together."

Neji had originally intended to pretend he had not seen her, but a voice and a face suddenly flashed through his mind—

[Hinata is my friend too!]

That straightforward tone, that sunny smiling face...

"Brother Neji, you know people from our class?"

Hinata was a little stunned.

She understood Hyuga Neji all too well—this guy had never cared to deal with anyone weaker than himself. Could it be...

"Yo, Neji!"

"Are we training together again today?"

Naruto waved at Neji, smiling quite happily.

Over the past few months, Naruto had, for the first time ever, made several friends. To the lonely him from before, it was something he would not even have dared imagine. So he cherished these bonds especially dearly. "Mm. Where's Sasuke?"

"I had Rock Lee go ahead and take a spot."

"I'm waiting here to go with you guys."

Neji nodded and spoke very practically. "That's a good idea! You upper grades get out before us. By the time we get there after school, it's already packed."

Naruto smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits. "Let's go. Bring Hinata today. Later, the two of you can go home together."

At that moment, Sasuke also walked out and said it casually. "I... I can go too?"

Hinata was a little embarrassed and secretly glanced at Sasuke.

Hinata's face burned fiercely. This boy in front of her could make her heart race with just a casual sentence. "Time to go." Sasuke raised a hand and rubbed her head, then turned and lifted his chin at Neji before striding toward the school gate. "In a while, it'll be real combat with real blades."

"There's no telling if the upper grades might get involved too."

"If you don't hurry up and improve yourselves, you'll embarrass yourselves when the time comes."

Hinata's face flushed red with a whoosh, as if a wisp of white smoke had shot up from the top of her head. "Mm."

"I'll work hard."

She clenched her fists and quickly followed.

Public training ground.

When Neji saw the bruised and battered Rock Lee, his brow furrowed. He rushed over in a few steps and held him up. "I'm sorry. I couldn't keep the spot."

Rock Lee raised his head, not caring at all about the injuries on his body. His eyes were full of guilt.

In his view, a genius like Neji was willing to be friends with him and had even entrusted such an important matter to him, but he had messed it up. "Yo, if it isn't the Hyuga Clan's genius Neji."

"A worthless branch-family brat, and you really think you're the heir?"

"The strongest abandoned young master of the Hyuga? Hahaha..."

Several voices dripping with mockery floated over.

Neji lifted his eyes and saw a group of thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boys, each with contempt and arrogance written all over his face.

His pupils abruptly shrank. "Tch. A bunch of trash."

"Neji, don't you think these people are ridiculously weak?"

"Only useless guys like looking for a sense of existence in other places."

Sasuke's voice was not loud, but it stabbed into everyone's ears like a knife.

The arrogant laughter of those boys instantly jammed in their throats.

Even Neji could not help giving him another look. "Trash?"

"Uchiha Sasuke, right?"

"If you've got the guts, fight me—"

"Bang!"

Before the words had even fallen, Sasuke had already flashed behind him, pressed a hand to his head, and slammed him hard into the ground.

One strike, and the person fainted.

"Fight?"

"This is all you're capable of?"

Sasuke swept his gaze around the remaining people, a sneer hanging from the corner of his mouth. "That was a sneak attack. If you've got the guts—"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

In the span of a few breaths, every remaining person had buried his head in the ground. "Rock Lee, I'll have to trouble you."

"You're injured too, so take them to the medical department on the way."

Sasuke's tone was calm. After he finished speaking, he stepped into the training ground. "Got it!"

Although Rock Lee was wounded, they were all superficial injuries and did not affect his movement.

Without another word, he turned and ran toward the medical department.

Taijutsu ninja were long used to dealing with the medical department.

A dozen or so minutes later, several medical ninja rushed over and carried away the people on the ground.

Someone wanted to open his mouth and question them, but once he saw the identities of the people in the training ground, he immediately swallowed his words.

Nine-Tails jinchuriki—Naruto Uzumaki.

Heir of the Hyuga Main House—Hyuga Hinata.

The Hyuga Clan's strongest youth—Hyuga Neji.

Second son of the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha genius—Uchiha Sasuke.

This lineup was not something a mere medical ninja like him could manage.

When the first stage of training ended, Neji spoke awkwardly. "Sasuke, thanks."

"Thanks."

"If I were the one being humiliated like that, you'd step in too, right?"

"We're brothers, after all!"

Sasuke raised his fist, smiling especially brightly. "Thump!"

"Mm."

Neji had never been the type to show much emotion outwardly.

He clenched his fist, bumped fists with Sasuke, and nodded hard. "All right, next up is our own special training."

Sasuke did not keep dragging on the matter from earlier and casually changed the subject.

The bonds between comrades, once they had taken root in the heart, did not need to be chanted over and over. "Uh... then Hinata..."

Neji glanced at Hinata, his expression a little troubled.

In his eyes, this girl was basically dead weight.

Talent—ordinary!

Physique—nothing special!

Skill—completely insufficient!

If they directly pulled her into training of this level, then he was afraid...

He was genuinely worried about her.

But in the eyes of someone desperate to save face, this was absolutely "looking down on someone"!

Hinata saw what Neji was worried about, and warmth rose in her heart. "I... should be able to try, right?"

"If I can't hold on, I'll say so."

Hinata timidly edged over, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum. "You really plan to try?"

"It hurts a lot!"

"And your stomach will growl like crazy!"

Naruto cut in.

To be honest, based on Naruto's own experience, those two things were the most fatal.

If it had been the old him, even if he had such a training method, he would not have dared touch it.

Why? Because even if he got hungry, there had been nothing to fill his stomach with...

"Mm, I want to try."

Hinata stepped forward, her gaze very determined. "Don't worry."

"How strong Hinata is, you probably can't even imagine."

After Sasuke finished speaking, the chakra throughout his body began to surge.

Immediately after, three thin beams of white light shot straight toward the three of them.

As soon as the familiar sensation came over them, Neji and Naruto immediately sat cross-legged and focused on feeling the changes inside their bodies.

At the same time, he began to mobilize his chakra.

Hinata froze where she stood.

That tingling, itchy sensation burrowed into her body, somehow making her feel rather comfortable. "Mmph..."

Hinata could not hold it in and let out a soft hum.

She hurriedly covered her mouth, a blush spreading over her cheeks. "Hinata, if you can endure it, I can send a few more white worms into your body."

"This thing can temper your cells. It'll help with your taijutsu training and raising your chakra."

"But this is your first time, so we have to see how much you can take."

Sasuke explained casually. "Mm, I'm still fine. Give... give them to me..."

Hinata gritted her teeth and reached out her small hand, her little face full of seriousness. "All right, here I come."

"It'll hurt a little at first. Bear with it, and once you get used to it, it'll feel very comfortable."

After Sasuke finished speaking, his chakra surged out again.

Two white worms burrowed into Hinata's body.

The violent impact made Hinata's whole body tremble.

The chakra in her meridians began to run wild.

Fortunately, Hinata's body had always been tougher than most, and with her meals keeping up during this period, her constitution had improved quite a bit too.

Before long, she slowly adapted to Sasuke's power.

After finishing all this, Sasuke turned his head and looked outside the training field. "Are they here?"

Bang!

Sasuke raised a finger, and a Shadow Clone instantly burst apart.

"Keep watch over them. I'll handle things over there myself."

With that, Sasuke turned and strode out of the training field.