Do Your Ancestors Have Any Ties to the Akimichi Clan?

[After days of relentless improvement through training and physical conditioning, you have gained Favor]

[Energy Crystals*30]

[Basic Taijutsu (Mastery Level)*1]

Hyuga Qingchuan had not expected training to trigger Favor as well. That came as a surprise.

From punishing evil and promoting good by killing that brute, to eliminating evil by killing bounty ninja...

And now, physical training.

Hyuga Qingchuan had vaguely grasped the pattern behind Favor.

However, the sample size was still too small. This might not be the only way to trigger it.

He would need to keep observing.

He took out a pair of goggles, put them on, and sat down in a shady spot at the edge of the training ground.

He crossed his legs, sealed his acupuncture points, and began refining Sage Chakra.

This was another one of his advantages.

Sage Chakra could quickly ease the fatigue from physical training and repair cellular damage.

Otherwise, with his physical condition, even if he did not overtrain, he would not be able to keep up with Guy's intensity.

Before long, eyeshadow appeared beneath his goggles.

Hyuga Qingchuan guided a strand of Sage Chakra through his body.

The exhaustion from training was greatly relieved, but that bit of Sage Chakra was soon depleted, and the eyeshadow faded away.

"Qingchuan!"

A shout came from the distance.

Hyuga Qingchuan removed his goggles and looked toward the voice.

A round ball with two tiny stubby legs seemed to be bouncing toward him from afar.

Only when that "ball" bounced up to him did he see that it was Hyuga Ryosuke.

His gaze swept over the other's round body, and an odd feeling rose in his heart for no apparent reason.

He looked uncertainly at the conspicuous white pupils on that round face and could not help asking,

"Ryosuke, did your ancestors have any ties to the Akimichi Clan?"

Hyuga Qingchuan was rather curious.

"The Akimichi Clan?"

Hyuga Ryosuke looked utterly confused. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing!"

Hyuga Qingchuan shook his head and put away his gossiping instincts.

He stretched deeply, his joints crackling softly, then sprang neatly to his feet.

Hyuga Ryosuke shot him a sidelong glance. "Your stamina does not look like that of someone who just finished training. You slacked off again."

"You wouldn't understand."

Hyuga Qingchuan waved a hand, too lazy to explain. Tilting his head, he said, "Come on. Let's eat at my place."

Since he had run into this fat guy at this hour, there was no way he could avoid getting mooched off for a meal.

"Oh, that would be too embarrassing."

Hyuga Ryosuke rubbed his hands together. His words were polite, but his feet honestly followed along.

"Then forget it."

"I was just being polite. Why are you taking it seriously?"

"..."

The two headed home side by side.

Just then, a green figure swept past them like the wind.

"Qingchuan, let's continue our training of youth tomorrow!"

Before Hyuga Qingchuan could respond, the green figure had already darted far away.

Hyuga Ryosuke raised an eyebrow and turned to Hyuga Qingchuan. "How did you end up hanging around with that hot-blooded dead last?"

"He's not a dead last." Hyuga Qingchuan refuted him.

Hyuga Ryosuke froze, then nodded in agreement. "True. After all, you've repeated two grades and still haven't graduated."

"Compared to you, you're the real dead last."

"Get lost." Hyuga Qingchuan rolled his eyes at him and could not be bothered to argue.

He looked at the green back that was nearly vanishing in the distance and said with some emotion,

"Maybe he'll become the strongest among our generation."

Hyuga Ryosuke's face was full of disbelief. He eyed Hyuga Qingchuan suspiciously.

"That high an opinion of him?"

In his memory, Hyuga Qingchuan might not have had much talent, but he had always looked down on everyone. Not even the class geniuses had ever received a word of praise from him.

It was rare to see him rate someone so highly, especially a universally acknowledged dead last.

This greatly stirred Hyuga Ryosuke's curiosity. He leaned closer and asked in a low voice,

"Do you know something?"

Hyuga Qingchuan shook his head. "Not really. But there are many kinds of geniuses. Being able to keep working hard is one kind too."

He bumped Hyuga Ryosuke with his elbow and lifted his chin toward the road Might Guy had just run down.

"With the amount he trains, could you endure it year after year?"

"Definitely not."

Hyuga Ryosuke shook his head like a rattle drum.

What a joke. If he could endure that, would he have this kind of figure?

"But he's endured it for all these years. An ordinary person's recovery ability can't compare to his."

"When you put it that way... it really is true."

Hyuga Ryosuke rubbed his double chin and reluctantly agreed.

But then he puffed out his chest and proudly displayed his Byakugan. "Still, no matter what, he's a civilian. Bloodline Limits are everything."

Hyuga Qingchuan shook his head at that without explaining further.

Probably no one could have imagined that this hot-blooded dead last everyone talked about

would one day nearly kick the ending into existence.

And he would make the most arrogant of ninja, the Six Paths Sage who possessed Hashirama Cells, the Rinnegan, and the Ten-Tails,

personally admit that his taijutsu was the strongest. That carried far more weight than titles like Strongest Hokage.

"Good afternoon, Qingchuan!" Several crisp, bell-like greetings interrupted his thoughts.

The two turned to look.

A few youthful, pretty girls were walking arm in arm, smiling as they greeted Hyuga Qingchuan.

"Good afternoon, Haruna, Hitono, Risa..."