Prelude to War

"With you here, Sensei, of course I feel at ease."

Hyuga Yuto smiled and wrapped bandages around his arms and hands again.

"Eh? Sensei, where's Shizune?"

"I dumped her at the Ninja Academy." The blonde beauty yawned. "I've been a little busy lately and can't look after her for now. Sending her to school so she can spend time with kids her own age is a good thing."

Hyuga Yuto was a little surprised. "Tsunade-sensei, have you taken up a position in the village again?"

"No, the old man just assigned me some work... Oh, right, this concerns you too." Tsunade paused before continuing.

"Yuto, you've been away from the village for two months. What did you think of the outside world?"

"Life is pretty difficult in most places. The Land of Fire is still peaceful." Hyuga Yuto meant it sincerely. Setting aside personal standpoints, the Hidden Leaf Village truly was a rather peaceful place. The world was ultimately a contest of who sucked less, and there were plenty of places far worse than the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Is it chaotic?"

"Very chaotic, Sensei. Around the Land of Fire, traces of unidentified ninja are appearing more and more often... War is coming, isn't it?"

"Mm." Tsunade nodded. As someone powerful who had lived through the Second Shinobi World War, she was very familiar with times like these. "Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next second. War could break out at any moment—it just depends on who loses patience first... The Hidden Leaf Village's first combat force has already assembled, led by Orochimaru."

"Given the current situation, the village needs a great deal of available fighting power, as well as outstanding elites capable of standing on their own."

"In a few days, the old man will promote several young people to jonin. It will both expand the elite ranks and raise morale—look, the flames of our Hidden Leaf Village never die, and exceptional young talents emerge without end."

"The old man insisted on making me the chief examiner. Tch, he just thinks I'm too idle... Ahem."

"Back to the point. I've seen the list for this jonin promotion. You're on it. Oh, right, Kakashi, White Fang's son, is on it too."

Hyuga Yuto suddenly felt the exhilarating satisfaction of I finally have someone backing me up too.

—His own teacher was the chief examiner for the promotion. How could he lose?

Perhaps guessing what her disciple was thinking, the blonde woman reached out and flicked Hyuga Yuto's forehead protector.

"You're my disciple, but I won't go easy on you because of that. Understand?"

"I understand. Sensei is broad-minded enough to hold within her the great love that embraces the whole village."

"Heh..." Tsunade glanced down at herself, feeling that there was a faintly teasing implication in those words. If Jiraiya had said it, she would have punched him long ago.

But when she looked up, she met the pure, blank-paper eyes of her thirteen-year-old disciple—though in a certain sense, they were indeed whiter than paper. She immediately felt that she had been overthinking things. Yuto was a good, upright child, not some lecher like Jiraiya.

The blonde woman coughed lightly to hide her embarrassment.

"Stop with the glib talk. In short, there's only one thing you need to know: I won't give you special treatment. I'll even make it harder for you to pass, because you're my disciple, a genius from the Hokage's line of teachers and students—you must set an example! But if you fail because of that... Hmph!" Her hand suddenly clenched, producing an explosive crack in the air.

"Understood!" Hyuga Yuto nodded frantically.

"Eh? But Sensei, I remember I haven't accumulated enough mission merit yet. It shouldn't be enough for a jonin promotion..."

"War could break out at any moment. We can't follow the old rules."

"Okay, Sensei... Oh, right, these are for you. I took a trip to the Land of Waterfalls and picked up some gemstones. They're all about the size of a thumbnail, perfect to carry around. Natural gambling stakes..."

Hyuga Yuto finished eating at Tsunade's house and chatted with her for a while longer before leaving the Senju Clan Grounds in the afternoon.

Because of the tense situation outside, the village had already reduced mission assignments and recalled a large number of ninja.

Along the way, Hyuga Yuto ran into quite a few familiar faces: Kakashi Hatake wearing a half-face mask, the energetic Obito Uchiha, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi, who were already close at this time...

He even saw a little kid carrying an even smaller little kid on his back while buying candy on the street.

"Shisui and... Itachi?"

Uchiha Itachi was only a few months old, but those tear troughs were simply too conspicuous. Combined with his age, it was hardly surprising that Hyuga Yuto recognized him.

However, the branch family youth merely glanced at them before continuing on his way.

He could put Itachi and Shisui aside for now. There would be plenty of chances to see them later. They were both still too young, with no value to exploit at all. Even gouging out their eyes directly would be useless.

Hyuga Yuto soon arrived at the Hyuga Clan Grounds.

Unexpectedly, he did not see Hyuga Hiashi. After asking around, he learned that Hyuga Hiashi and the leaders of several other major clans had all been invited to the Hokage Building for a meeting.

—War truly was on the verge of breaking out.

With Hyuga Hiashi absent and Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen presumably too busy to hear his report, Hyuga Yuto had nothing left to do that day.

The sudden free time made him feel somewhat unaccustomed.

"Should I go find Sensei?"

The thought flashed through Hyuga Yuto's mind, but he immediately shook his head. Based on what he knew of Tsunade, she was one hundred percent getting slaughtered at the gambling hall right now.

With nowhere else to go, he could only return to his home in the Hyuga Clan Grounds.

It was still cold and deserted. No one had lived there for two full months, and layers of spiderwebs had formed in the corners again.

Hyuga Yuto sighed, took out his cleaning tools once more, and began a thorough cleaning.

As his body gradually matured and his training in Monster Strength and medical ninjutsu progressed, his coordination had greatly improved. Even cleaning went much faster now. Before night fell, Hyuga Yuto had made the entire large house spotless.

Chakra could be regarded as the "productive force" of the ninja world. It was incredibly efficient; with chakra, anything could be done with half the effort.

After finishing the chores, Hyuga Yuto did not feel hungry. He simply skipped cooking and lay in his room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He did not know how long he had been lying there when the branch family youth suddenly got up and left the house.

Leaving the clan grounds and following that familiar little path, he arrived at his secret training ground.

Hyuga Yuto took a deep breath and suddenly felt much better.

Whenever he had nothing to do, he always felt panic and unease. The Bird in a Cage carved into his forehead seemed like a curse driving him forward without end. Hyuga Yuto could not stop moving. He had never experienced the carefree ease those predecessors who had crossed over spoke of, of stealing half a day of leisure from a fleeting life.

"Born to toil, I guess." Hyuga Yuto mocked himself as he pulled a dummy from a tree hollow and set it up in the woods.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

Hyuga Yuto kept striking, using every technique he had learned.

Only when he was completely exhausted did he finally calm down.