Love One Another

"Ah!"

Before the older brother could finish speaking, he let out a scream. "Ow, ow, ow! What kind of freakish strength is this?!"

Wuye snorted coldly, tightening his grip on the boy's wrist.

This body was not suited for ninjutsu and could only train in taijutsu. Years of push-ups and handstand walks had made him far stronger than an ordinary teenager.

"Still not letting go?" he said coldly.

"If I let go just because you tell me to, where would my pride be?!"

This boy had earned the title of genin, after all. Not only did he refuse to yield, he hardened his resolve and raised his kunai, stabbing it toward Hyuga Wuye's hand.

Slash!

He thought Hyuga Wuye would dodge, but instead, that hand came straight at him and grabbed the kunai's sharp blade head-on.

Blood streamed down between his fingers as Hyuga Wuye bent his knee and drove it upward.

"Damage level: 1%. Cell division accelerated tenfold."

The sudden surge of physical energy instantly strengthened the chakra extracted within his body as well.

Bang!

The blow struck the boy in the stomach. With a cry of pain, he instinctively released Kushina's long hair and also let go of the kunai.

Before the other boy could react, Hyuga Wuye kicked him to the ground, then pounced on him and sat on his stomach. His left hand pressed against the boy's chest while his right hand reversed the kunai and held it to his face.

"Now I'm planning to carve a few marks into your face too. Any objections?"

His expressionless face and blood-soaked palm frightened both children.

The older brother swallowed, stammering, "Don't... don't..."

The younger brother fled in panic. "So scary! H-help...!"

Hyuga Wuye nearly laughed out loud. "What truly 'deep brotherly affection'!"

The older brother turned deathly pale. "Y-you, let me go..."

"What can you do if I don't?"

Hyuga Wuye returned his words to him exactly as they had been said.

"The g-guard squad won't let you get away with this!" the newly promoted genin said, trying to sound fierce despite his fear.

Hyuga Wuye chuckled. "Tell me, do you think the Uchiha Clan would be interested in dealing with a children's scuffle?"

"W-what exactly do you want?"

The kunai swayed brightly before his eyes. Blood dripped down onto his face, and the genin boy, who had never experienced real bloodshed, was close to tears.

Hyuga Wuye stood up. He had originally wanted to imitate that snake lady and lick the blood off the kunai, but the bloody smell was simply too much for a normal person to endure. In the end, he gave up on the rather intimidating gesture.

"Get up. Kneel and apologize," he said flatly.

Freed from the kunai's threat, the boy finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly climbed to his feet. Still unwilling to accept it, he said, "If my hand hadn't been holding her hair and I'd been able to form hand seals, you couldn't possibly have hit me. I could've easily dodged your attack with the Body Replacement Technique..."

"Hey! Do you dare fight me again?!" he raised his head and challenged.

"Shameless!"

Kushina cursed under her breath and quietly tugged on Wuye's sleeve. "He's five years older than us, and he's already a genin. We... we should just forget it."

The genin boy had sharp ears. The moment he heard that, he raised his head proudly.

Hyuga Wuye curled his lip. "I never intended to accept anyway. If this were a battlefield, he'd already be dead. Would an enemy care that he hadn't used ninjutsu yet and give him another fight?"

The boy, who had just recovered some of his pride, changed expression and opened his mouth to argue.

But he knew in his heart that Hyuga Wuye was right. His mouth closed again, and his face flushed red from holding it in.

"We don't have time to waste on you. Hurry up and apologize," Hyuga Wuye said expressionlessly.

The boy's face was engorged, swelling purple-red as if he were constipated.

"What, are you going to go back on your word?"

Hyuga Wuye raised the kunai he had just taken from him again and held it before the boy's neck.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

The genin boy could no longer endure such humiliation. He decided to cast aside all shame and use ninjutsu.

"Stop!"

Just then, a young figure rushed between them.

One hand grabbed Hyuga Wuye's wrist while the other pushed away the burly genin.

"Wuye, we're all companions from the same village. How can you use a kunai?"

Hearing that voice brimming with righteous positivity, Hyuga Wuye felt helpless. "Nawaki, are you playing champion of justice again?"

As the First Hokage's grandson and someone who aimed to become Hokage, Nawaki possessed the same saintly personality as Naruto.

"Nawaki, this isn't the Ninja Academy. Can't you just stay out of it?" Kushina poked her head out and said.

Both she and Wuye had personally experienced just how troublesome Nawaki, the school's peace ambassador, could be.

"A kunai shouldn't be pointed at companions from the same village." Nawaki's face shone with righteousness.

Hyuga Wuye's eyes shifted. "He's a genin who just graduated. He was the one bullying us, Nawaki. I think you should help me seek justice."

"A genin?" Nawaki turned back in surprise. "You actually defeated a genin?"

"He ambushed me and grabbed my hand! I couldn't use Body Replacement!" The boy's face turned red.

Could a ninja's ambush even be called an ambush? That was called tactics.

After holding it in for a long while, Nawaki gave the genin boy a warm smile. "Try harder next time."

The boy was humiliated and furious.

"Wuye, no matter what, he's learned his lesson. Can't everyone reconcile?" Nawaki looked at Hyuga Wuye expectantly.

Good grief, he was practically Naruto's clone!

No wonder he died so young. If he had lived, what place would there have been for Naruto?

"Nawaki, not everything can be reconciled so easily. This may not have caused much harm, but it was deeply insulting." Wuye quietly squeezed Kushina's wrist and stepped forward to block Nawaki's view. "He wanted Kushina to kneel, so I want him to kneel."

"We're companions from the same village. We should love one another. I believe that as long as everyone thinks that way, we can understand each other. And if people across the land did the same, we could achieve true peace." Nawaki's face shone with sacred conviction.

A true idealist could let go of the hatred of having their parents murdered, the resentment of having their teacher killed, the pain of losing friends... like Naruto in the future.

Nawaki was exactly like him.

Hyuga Wuye plastered on a fake smile. "As expected of the First Hokage's grandson. Nawaki, you'll definitely inherit his will and carry forward the Will of Fire!"

"Of course." Nawaki raised his head. "I'm the man destined to become Hokage!"

A classic line... Hyuga Wuye gave him a thumbs-up without hesitation.

Bang!

"Ah!"

At that moment, a dull impact sounded, followed by the miserable scream of the genin boy.

Nawaki's eyes widened as he looked behind Hyuga Wuye. Kushina had somehow knocked the boy to the ground and was raining punches down on him.

"Taking my hair!"

"Making me kneel!"

"You bastard! You bastard! You bastard!"

"..."

Seeing Kushina's fiery red hair flaring out like flames, Nawaki stood there dumbfounded.

"Kushina, you! Stop!"

Only after a while did he come to his senses and try to rush over to stop her, but Hyuga Wuye grabbed both his wrists.

"Don't be in such a hurry. We haven't finished talking yet!" he said with a cheerful smile.

Tap.

But Nawaki had no time to deal with him. The instant his wrists were caught, he stomped his foot and sprang upward, planting one foot against Hyuga Wuye's chest. Using the recoil, he tore free from Wuye's grasp.

He then flipped down to the ground and darted toward Kushina.

At that moment, Hyuga Wuye swept out with a leg, striking Nawaki's arms crossed before his chest.

Bang.

A severed log was kicked flying by Hyuga Wuye, while Nawaki appeared elsewhere.

Body Replacement Technique!

Now that he had learned it, Wuye could spot the technique's obvious flaws whenever he faced it again. No wonder no one used it later on.

Whether it was the delay from forming hand seals or the limitations on where one could switch, both meant it was countered by taijutsu.

It was a powerful weapon in genin battles, but among jonin, it was practically useless.

Still, Wuye was not even a genin yet, so the Body Replacement Technique remained very useful.

"Stop!"

By then, Nawaki had already appeared before Kushina and forced her back with a punch.

"Alright, alright, no more fighting."

Hyuga Wuye grabbed Kushina's wrist and said magnanimously, "Being so aggressive is wrong. We should love one another."

Nawaki looked at the boy on the ground, beaten into a pig's head, and felt his own headache worsen threefold.

This was loving one another?

Seeing Nawaki's expression shift uncertainly, Hyuga Wuye smiled. "Nawaki, make sure you talk some sense into this genin. We're all part of Konoha. We should love one another, and no holding grudges."

Nawaki: "..."

"Why haven't you come over yet, Nawaki?"

Suddenly, a woman's voice rang out.

Hyuga Wuye instinctively looked up.

At the intersection stood a young woman with one hand on her hip, her pale blond ponytail bouncing behind her.

She was...