Gekko Hayate

Before Yuun could marvel at anything, a rod-like object suddenly extended from somewhere and struck Nine-Tails. In the blink of an eye, it stretched hundreds of meters, shoving Nine-Tails out of Konoha. Immediately afterward, a toad nearly the size of a small mountain fell from the sky and pinned Nine-Tails to the ground.

After seeing this, Yuun hesitated for a moment before returning home to sleep. What came next was the Fourth Hokage and his wife sacrificing themselves to save Konoha. Yuun did not consider himself a good person, but he could not help admiring the Fourth Hokage and his wife.

Yuun believed he did not yet have the ability—or the desire—to interfere in such high-level events. Spreading the rumor that Naruto Uzumaki was the Fourth Hokage's son was the only thing he could do, and the only thing he dared to do. As for trying to build a good relationship with Naruto Uzumaki, forget it. Konoha's Root had set its sights on Naruto Uzumaki from the moment he was born. Although the Third Hokage's concealment of Naruto Uzumaki's parentage was rather underhanded, without his protection, Naruto Uzumaki would likely have been trained into someone like Sai.

Yuun was not Sasuke, with Itachi watching over him, nor was he one of those legitimate second-generation heirs like Shikamaru Nara or Choji Akimichi. His father had merely been a cannon-fodder-level Chunin, his mother an ordinary civilian, and he himself was only from the Branch House. If Danzo set his sights on him, he would probably be doomed. Even being Hizashi's disciple would not help. As a member of the Branch House, Hizashi held little status within the Hyuga Clan; even being an Elite Jonin did not change that.

The next day, while the villagers who had lost their homes and loved ones were consumed by grief, even worse news spread through Konoha: the Fourth Hokage had died after sealing Nine-Tails.

The Fourth Hokage's funeral was held as scheduled before the Memorial Stone.

It did not rain that day. Gentle sunlight shone on everyone's faces, pleasantly warm. Yet no one paid attention to it. All their thoughts were fixed on the Memorial Stone.

No one spoke. Only faint, muffled sobs could be heard. With heavy hearts, people lined up to lay flowers before the Memorial Stone and upon the Fourth Hokage's coffin. The coffin was large. Yuun did not know whether that Red-Hot Habanero was inside with the Fourth Hokage. Standing so far away, he had no desire to activate his Byakugan to confirm it. As a child, he was not yet qualified to offer flowers. The Ninja Academy students presented a huge wreath in the school's name to express their mourning.

The Fourth Hokage was dead, but Konoha remained. The village needed someone to lead it. Three days after the Fourth Hokage's death, the Third Hokage announced that he would resume the position until the next Hokage could be found. Most people accepted the decision. Before long, they began emerging from the shadow of losing their homes and loved ones. Just as the village seemed ready to settle down, a rumor of unknown origin and uncertain truth spread throughout Konoha: that child, the child with three whisker marks on his face, was the incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

For a time, public outrage surged. The more moderate voices demanded that Naruto Uzumaki leave Konoha at once, while the extremists directly called for his execution. The middle-aged woman responsible for caring for Naruto Uzumaki fled when she saw things turning bad. Had the Anbu not arrived in time, the young Naruto Uzumaki would likely have been doomed. Realizing the situation was slipping beyond his control, the Third Hokage had no choice but to forbid anyone from discussing matters related to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Anyone who disobeyed would be expelled from Konoha, and he made examples of several extremists. In an era when the war had not yet ended, being cast out of a ninja village was practically a death sentence. Only then were the enraged villagers cowed.

As for the person who had spread the rumor, no one knew how the Third Hokage persuaded him, but he also backed down. Thus, the matter came to an end.

Konoha returned to its former peace, and Yuun's school life continued. Having lost a group of outstanding ninja led by the Fourth Hokage, along with the disappearance of the Jinchuriki, Kumogakure seemed to have reinforced its front-line forces. The village had no choice but to send more personnel to the front. Even several younger Ninja Academy teachers went to war, and no one knew whether they would return alive.

More than half of Yuun's classes now involved actual combat. From the look of things, the academy planned to send students directly to the front lines in an emergency. The students were not much use in direct combat, but they were barely qualified to handle patrol and sentry duties, which could also ease some of the pressure on the front.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario never came to pass. With its formidable foundation, Konoha gradually regained the advantage. The battle line advanced toward the Land of Lightning at an extremely slow pace, and good news, large and small, returned almost every day. Even so, the academy did not relax its training of students. In the new term, it expanded enrollment. For children of outside residents, the requirement that their parents had lived in Konoha for twenty years was lowered to ten. The admission requirements for Konoha natives were even looser: as long as they had no disabilities, they could enroll, even if they failed their physical examinations.

At the same time, the Ninja Academy's graduation period was shortened from six years to three. Two adjacent grades were compressed together, and Yuun's class thus welcomed a group of "new classmates."

Most students looked down on these "new classmates," who had been civilians only days earlier. Whether in taijutsu, ninja tool throwing, chakra training, or basic knowledge, these "new classmates" performed poorly enough to be scorned by the original students. However, Yuun, Itachi, and Hana—the strongest students in their grade—said nothing, so no one took the initiative to provoke the newcomers. At most, they mocked them behind their backs.

In truth, Yuun had no interest in the affairs between these classmates and the "new classmates." So long as they did not provoke him or go too far, he had no intention of getting involved. Who would have thought they would be so sensible? Yuun was naturally happy to be left in peace. As for Itachi and Hana, one was a natural-born little-brother fanatic who cared about little besides his brother; the other feared nothing more than a peaceful world, though she was not bad at heart. She was somewhat disappointed that the old and new students had not fought, but she would not deliberately stir up trouble.

Still, one child among the "new classmates," who coughed all day long, caught Yuun's attention. The child's name was Gekko Hayate. Upon first hearing the name, Yuun had even considered asking whether he had an uncle named Gekko Jiwu. Later, he gave up, deciding it was too boring and absurd.

Other than the addition of many "new classmates," Yuun's daily life had not changed much. The only difference was that Hana rarely sought sparring matches with him anymore. Even the beginner-level Gentle Fist was more than enough to deal with Hana Inuzuka. Yuun did not even need to use Thirty-Two Palms. With acupuncture-point strikes alone, he could subdue Hana Inuzuka within three minutes. That was the all-around improvement brought by entering the Gentle Fist. If Yuun had previously been able to control just over thirty percent of his body, then after entering the Gentle Fist, he could control at least more than fifty percent.

Do not underestimate that twenty-percent gap. Through subtle adjustments in force application and movement, the combat strength gained from that extra twenty percent was worlds apart from before. After thoroughly experiencing it against Hana Inuzuka and Itachi, Yuun estimated that he could now defeat his self from half a year ago without injury in under ten minutes. As for killing him, that was harder to say.

Based on Yuun's estimate, his own growth rate should not have been this fast. He had practically leaped from the level of a relatively strong Genin to that of an Elite Genin. He was not much weaker than Neji Hyuga during the Chunin Ninja Exams. After all, he had not yet been branded with the Caged Bird, and a Byakugan without blind spots or ability restrictions could display far greater power than Neji Hyuga's eyes.

Since it was not simply an increase in strength, it had to be the improvement brought by entering the Gentle Fist. This made Yuun look forward even more to seeing what would happen when he later mastered Sixty-Four Palms or even One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. With a complete Byakugan, he was not someone Neji Hyuga, whose Byakugan was restricted, could compare to.