Ninja Academy

Fire Country, Konoha Hidden Village

Inside the Hokage's Office, nearly all of Leaf Village's highest-ranking officials had gathered.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi; Shimura Danzō; Utatane Koharu; Mitokado Homura; Torifu Akimichi; Orochimaru; Tsunade; Hyuga Hiashi; Fugaku Uchiha; Hatake Sakumo; and others...

The heads of every major and minor clan in Leaf Village, the heads of every department—aside from a few ANBU members, nearly everyone was present.

Such a gathering had only appeared at the beginning of the Second Shinobi World War. Could war be starting again? And with which country this time? Given the current situation, could it be the Lightning Country?

The heads of several smaller clans who did not know the details were inwardly puzzled.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's seat without speaking. His expression was grave, and his brows were furrowed into ridges.

When the last person arrived in the office, Hiruzen Sarutobi swept his gaze around the room and said in a low voice, "This is the information we just received. Take a look first."

Hiruzen Sarutobi handed the intelligence in his hand to an ANBU member beside him, who passed it around.

For a time, sharp intakes of breath sounded throughout the office.

After a while, when the intelligence returned to Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands, the office fell silent again.

Everyone wanted to know whether the Hokage had summoned so many people today to announce the start of a war.

The Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield!

Over the past few days, those titles had spread throughout the Shinobi World. They had initially been skeptical of the news, but now that the Hokage even had detailed battle reports, the rumors must have been true.

It was truly unbelievable!

He had fought across two locations, over thousands of miles, battled Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin and the Eight-Tails in succession, and in the end, he had merely collapsed from exhaustion!

The Eight-Tails had even been forcibly knocked unconscious by the Third Raikage!

Furthermore, according to Orochimaru's information, when the Third Raikage fought the Eight-Tails, he had endured several of the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Bombs. Although he had ultimately passed out, even a sharp sword had been unable to pierce his flesh!

Those were Tailed Beast Bombs! A single one could level an entire village!

Could that have been a fake Tailed Beast?

How could that be possible!

The Third Raikage's sturdy body was simply terrifying!

The Strongest Shield and the Strongest Spear truly lived up to their names!

Hiruzen Sarutobi took in everyone's expressions before pulling out a second piece of intelligence.

This intelligence had come from Kumogakure's spies. Kumogakure was currently occupied with rebuilding, and their desire for war had greatly diminished. The peace faction had already gained the upper hand. As long as they were not provoked at this time, there was still a strong chance for peace between the two countries.

There were also rumors that the Raikage had decided to send peace envoys in hopes of signing a peace treaty between the two countries.

Soon, everyone finished reading the second report. Most of them seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and smiles appeared on their faces.

In truth, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also been uncertain about whether to go to war. Although the Third Raikage was formidable, he was also confident in his own strength. Proficient in all five chakra natures, he could use over a thousand ninjutsu. He had also honed the five nature transformations, secret techniques, taijutsu, and genjutsu to an exceptional level, while thoroughly studying nearly every technique in Konoha Hidden Village. Still, if war could be avoided and peace restored, Hiruzen Sarutobi was willing to do so. After all, many people had already died in this war!

Of course, although he had already made his decision, he still hoped to gain everyone's support. After all, Leaf Village was not entirely his to command alone.

Since the information had yet to be confirmed, everyone generally agreed with the Hokage's idea of seeking peace. After offering some opinions and suggestions regarding Leaf Village's development, the meeting ended.

Everyone departed one after another. Only three old friends were kept behind by Hiruzen Sarutobi. No one knew what they discussed, but judging by their expressions when they emerged, things seemed to have gone rather well.

After everyone had left, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's seat with a solemn expression.

To be honest, if he truly faced the Third Raikage, he had no confidence in defeating him. At best, they would end in a draw. Even if they fought to the death, the most likely outcome would be mutual destruction. If war could be avoided now, that was good news.

Hyuga Iwa knew nothing of the higher-ups' troubles, nor did he care. Those matters were still far too distant from him. However, he had heard about the Raikage rumors that had recently spread like wildfire.

The Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield!

Since he had not seen it with his own eyes, Hyuga Iwa could not imagine what kind of strength that was. But Tailed Beasts were a good point of reference. A single one was powerful enough to destroy a small country!

Even in Leaf Village, there were almost no people who could claim to defeat one in a one-on-one battle!

As Hyuga Iwa listened to others discussing it, a surge of passion rose in his chest. He suddenly remembered that the Otsutsuki Clan had treated the Ten-Tails like a pet!

When would he ever possess that kind of strength?

An invisible drive spurred Hyuga Iwa on, making his blood boil.

Ah, he truly wanted to know how the Raikage had cultivated such outrageous physical toughness. Hyuga Iwa could not help but feel envious.

But the Eight Gates were not bad either. One day, he would master them!

Hyuga Iwa thought indignantly.

After spending this period of time talking with Might Guy, Hyuga Iwa had pulled out every trick he had and learned about the Eight Gates from him.

He had assumed that Might Duy would teach him as well. However, Hyuga Iwa had not expected him to refuse without hesitation. Worse, the reason for his refusal left Hyuga Iwa with no way to argue: since you are a Hyuga, are you not going to learn your clan's Gentle Fist?

That was the Gentle Fist! The number one taijutsu of Leaf Village, fiercely revered by the Hyuga Clan!

Now, a member of the Hyuga Clan had come to tell him that he wanted to learn the Eight Gates from him. When Might Duy heard this, he truly did not know how to respond.

Others might not know, but how could he not?! The Eight Gates had utterly insane demands on the body! Moreover, the Eight Gates had not yet been fully perfected and still had major flaws!

He did not dare use such a thing to teach someone from a major clan!

What if something went wrong and a group of Byakugan users watched him every day? Just imagining that scene made Might Duy shudder.

Under Hyuga Iwa's relentless pestering, Might Duy finally told him about his concerns. When he learned the reason, Hyuga Iwa did not know whether to laugh or cry!

How could there be such a reason!

Unable to learn the Eight Gates for the time being, Hyuga Iwa did not give up. Every afternoon without fail, he went to Might Guy's home and trained his body alongside him.

Running, push-ups, sit-ups, frog jumps, swimming—Hyuga Iwa came up with every training method he could think of that could be used for now, then began training with them.

In truth, Hyuga Iwa knew even more methods, ones that could train additional parts of the body. But to avoid leaving lasting damage in the future, he put some methods aside for the time being and discarded others altogether.

In Hyuga Iwa's plan, this was still the stage for building a foundation. There was no need to excessively squeeze his body.

Knowing when to stop and maintaining the proper balance were what Hyuga Iwa needed to consider at present.

Moreover, Hyuga Iwa had no shortage of things to train: chakra extraction, control training, Byakugan training, Gentle Fist training—which he truly could not put aside for now—as well as some experiments of his own. Every day was packed full, leaving him almost no free time.

A few days later, Hyuga Iwa received news from clan head Hyuga Hiashi. The clan had decided to send all members of their group who were of school age to Leaf Village's Ninja Academy, including those from the Hyuga Main Family.

Hyuga Iwa was somewhat surprised. The clan had actually agreed to let them study at the Ninja Academy rather than receive an education at the clan school.

Before this, members of the Hyuga Main Family had always received ninja instruction at the clan school.

Hyuga Iwa guessed that perhaps the clan had reached some kind of agreement with the Hokage.

And that was indeed the case. This was an agreement reached between the clan and the Hokage's faction after Danzo's previous attempt to demand people from them. It was the clan's compromise with the Hokage.

The school start date had already been set for the first day of next month. There were only three days left until classes began.