Hyuga Satoru glanced at Obito, who looked utterly dead inside, and silently thought, Obito, you can't blame me for this.
Only you could do something stupid without anyone finding it surprising. You were the perfect test subject.
Besides, I was motivating you to study and keeping you from getting obsessed with puppy love. It was for your own good!
After conducting a controlled interference experiment on Obito's thrown shuriken, he discovered that he had some degree of control even over high-speed shuriken.
From now on, ninja tools basically posed no threat to him.
Watching Obito flail around in celebration, Fujino Daikichi scratched at his balding scalp and instantly developed a headache.
"How did the Uchiha Clan produce such a weirdo?"
"Forget it. Next, Hyuga Iroha."
A boy with bandages wrapped around his forehead and pure white eyes stepped out from the crowd and threw his shuriken with both hands.
"Ten points, nine points, ten points..."
"He's amazing. He's only a little worse than Kakashi and the others."
"Well, he is from the Hyuga Clan."
"Why does he have bandages around his forehead?" someone asked quietly.
"Shh! Don't you know? That's the Hyuga Clan's..."
Hyuga Iroha's expression turned cold. He unconsciously clenched his fists and returned to his place.
Fujino Daikichi nodded in satisfaction. Over the past few days, he had noticed that although Hyuga Iroha was not the most talented, he was definitely the hardest-working.
For the Hyuga Branch Family, hard work was their only way out.
"Next, Hyuga Satoru."
Hyuga Satoru stepped forward, picked up several shuriken, and weighed them in his hand a few times.
"Seven points, seven points, seven points... ten points!"
After several consecutive seven-point throws, his final throw barely hit the ten-point mark.
The crowd began whispering among themselves.
"Even though they're both Hyuga, he seems much worse than Iroha! The gap between him and Kakashi's group is even bigger."
"After all, not everyone is a genius."
"And did you notice? His earlier throws all barely missed the eight-point mark. Looks like his luck is bad too!"
Hyuga Satoru's expression remained calm, as though he had not heard the discussions around him.
Hyuga Iroha glanced at Hyuga Satoru, then withdrew his gaze.
Though they were both Hyuga, they had rarely interacted. This level of skill was not worth his attention.
After school, not long after Hyuga Satoru returned home, someone knocked on his door. When he opened it, he found a Branch Family guard outside.
The man wore a ninja forehead protector and handed him a slightly bulging envelope.
"Hyuga Satoru, this is your living allowance for the month."
Hyuga Satoru accepted the envelope. His name and the amount were written on it.
"Alright, thank you."
The guard nodded and vanished from the spot.
This Branch Family guard was specifically assigned to deliver living expenses. Hyuga Satoru only saw him once a month, and they rarely exchanged any extra words.
Hyuga Satoru opened the envelope. Inside were fifteen thin banknotes—1,500 ryo.
He had a slight headache. In a world where even a bowl of ramen cost sixty ryo, making 1,500 ryo last an entire month was indeed rather tight.
As one of Konoha's most famous clans, compared to the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan revered lineage and rules to the extreme. They were orderly—perhaps excessively so.
Every clansman was like a component in some massive machine, silently following his assigned path.
Still, that was not necessarily bad. Other Branch Family members had nearly all their actions controlled by the Main House. As things stood, he had gained a small measure of freedom instead.
Hyuga Satoru was not overly worried about the Caged Bird on his forehead.
Once the Electromagnetic Force became powerful enough to directly break down matter at its source, a mere Cursed Seal would be nothing.
His top priority was finding a way to increase his strength.
The next day.
It was the weekend, so there were no classes.
Hyuga Satoru came to the bank of a river.
The sparkling water reflected his face and the surrounding forest.
The banks of the Naka River.
This was perhaps Konoha's most famous great river.
The love and hatred between the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, even the history of all Konoha, could be traced back to this river.
Today, the river welcomed an unfamiliar young fisherman.
Splash!
Hyuga Satoru rolled up his pant legs and stood in the river. He fixed his gaze on a spot, then reached out sharply.
He grabbed nothing but air, splashing river water all over his face.
The Naka River basin was extremely vast and ran through all of Konoha. Its upper reaches lay within the Uchiha Clan Territory, while the spot where Hyuga Satoru was catching fish was still quite some distance away from it.
So he did not need to worry about any Uchiha coming over to cause trouble.
The reason he had chosen fishing was naturally to improve his standard of living.
Wouldn't it be great to learn from Naruto and catch fish for an extra meal?
He was at a crucial stage of growth. His nutrition had to keep up.
Though he called it fishing, it was not merely fishing.
Two metal spikes the size of chopsticks slowly circled through the air around Hyuga Satoru's body.
He had fashioned them by grinding down thin iron rods.
As soon as he spotted a target, the iron spikes would shoot forward and viciously stab down at the fish.
Moreover, as he moved through the river, fine metal ores gradually began clinging to his exposed calves.
Riverbeds were gathering places for metal ore. Natural metal ores were scoured along by the current before settling in the riverbed.
Konoha was located in the south, with a mild, rainy climate and numerous mountains. Hokage Rock itself had been carved into a massive cliff.
With such unique geography, the Naka River, Konoha's largest river, should have accumulated plenty of metal ore in its riverbed.
If he took certain valuable ores to a ninja tool shop for recycling, he should be able to exchange them for some money.
Using magnetic attraction, Hyuga Satoru continuously panned for metal.
He could eat and earn money at the same time.
And level up, too.
Over the past few days, he had tested it thoroughly enough. The experience required to level up the Electromagnetic Force was something akin to proficiency.
The more difficult the application, the faster he gained experience.
Correspondingly, if he kept exploiting the same application, the returns would steadily decrease. At first, he had controlled a kitchen knife to chop vegetables for experience, but as his proficiency increased, that method yielded less and less experience.
Now, he was multitasking. He simultaneously controlled two metal spikes for fishing while his calves continuously absorbed metal from the riverbed.
The rate at which his experience increased was quite impressive.
Hyuga Satoru spotted a target.
Several small fish had gathered beneath a huge rock a few meters away. If he caught them, he could enjoy a hearty meal.
If he moved any closer, the fish might sense the disturbances in the water and flee.
But he had another method.
Hyuga Satoru held his breath.
Crackle!
An electric current as thick as a thumb erupted from between his toes and spread through the river.
The fish were paralyzed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two metal spikes circling around him shot out instantly.
One of them struck with astonishing precision. It not only pierced through one fish's belly, but also skewered the tails of two nearby fish!
One shot, three kills!!!
Hyuga Satoru contentedly controlled the heavy iron spike as it wobbled back toward him.
At the same time, because of this high-difficulty application of the Electromagnetic Force—
A voice sounded in his mind:
[Electromagnetic Force experience +2]
The LV1 Electromagnetic Force was still far too weak. Apart from basic magnetization and electrical discharge, it was difficult to use it in other ways.
The current it released was also too weak to instantly electrocute fish, so he had to combine it with the iron spikes to catch them.
Still, Hyuga Satoru was already very satisfied.
This was one of the four fundamental forces. Its upper limit spoke for itself.
"Thank you, Faraday! Thank you, Maxwell! Thank you, Tesla! Thank you, middle school physics teacher..."
"Without you, I wouldn't be eating this fish today."
"Amen!"
Before you continue