The Fishing Boy of the Naka River Bank

Hyuga Satoru glanced at Obito, who looked utterly devoid of hope, and silently thought, Obito, you can't blame me.

Only you doing something stupid wouldn't surprise anyone—you're the perfect test subject.

Besides, I'm sparking your motivation to learn, keeping you from getting lost in early romance—it's for your own good!

After running a controlled variable experiment interfering with Obito's thrown shuriken, he discovered he could exert some control even over high-speed flying shuriken.

From now on, thrown weapons like that posed basically no threat to him.

Watching Obito flailing around, Fujino Daikichi scratched his bald-patch hairstyle and felt a throbbing headache.

"How did the Uchiha produce such an oddball?"

"Forget it, next up, Hyuga Iroha."

From the crowd, a boy with a bandage on his forehead and pure white eyes stepped forward, throwing shuriken with both hands.

"10 points, 9 points, 10 points..."

"Impressive, just a bit behind Kakashi and the others."

"After all, he's from the Hyuga Clan."

"Why does he have a bandage on his forehead?" someone whispered.

"Shh! Don't you know? That's the Hyuga Clan's..."

Hyuga Iroha's face turned cold, and he subconsciously clenched his fist as he walked back to his spot.

Fujino Daikichi nodded in satisfaction. Through these past few days of observation, he'd found that while Hyuga Iroha might not have the best talent, he was definitely the hardest worker.

For the Hyuga Branch Family, hard work was their only way out.

"Next, Hyuga Satoru."

Hyuga Satoru stepped forward, picked up a few shuriken, and weighed them in his hand.

"7 points, 7 points, 7 points... 10 points!"

After several consecutive 7s, the last one barely hit 10 points.

The crowd murmured quietly.

"Even though they're both from the Hyuga, he seems way worse than Iroha! The gap with Kakashi and them is even bigger."

"After all, not everyone's a genius."

"And did you notice? His first few were almost 8 points—guess his luck's bad too!"

Hyuga Satoru's expression remained flat, as if he hadn't heard the surrounding chatter.

Hyuga Iroha glanced at Hyuga Satoru, then looked away.

Though they were both from the Hyuga Clan, they rarely interacted, and this level wasn't worth his attention.

After school, Hyuga Satoru had just gotten home when someone knocked on the door. Opening it, he found a Branch Family guard.

The guard, wearing a ninja headband, handed him a slightly bulging envelope.

"Hyuga Satoru, this is your living allowance for this month."

Hyuga Satoru took the envelope, which had his name and the amount written on it.

"Alright, thank you."

The guard nodded and vanished on the spot.

This Branch Family guard was specifically assigned to deliver the allowance. Hyuga Satoru only saw him once a month, and there was rarely any extra conversation.

Hyuga Satoru opened the envelope. Inside were fifteen thin bills—1,500 ryo.

He felt a bit troubled. In a world where a single bowl of ramen cost 60 ryo, stretching 1,500 ryo through a month was tight.

As one of Konoha's most famous clans, the Hyuga took their devotion to clan hierarchy and order to the extreme—lawful, even overly lawful, compared to the Uchiha.

Every clan member was like a cog in a massive machine, silently moving along their designated path.

But that was fine. If he were in another Branch Family, his actions would basically be controlled by the Main Family. As it was, he'd gained a sliver of freedom.

As for the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead, Hyuga Satoru wasn't too worried.

Once his Electromagnetic Force grew strong enough to directly decompose matter at its source, a mere curse mark would be no problem.

The urgent task now was to find a way to boost his strength.

The next day.

It was the weekend, no classes.

Hyuga Satoru arrived by a river.

The shimmering water reflected his face and the surrounding forest.

Naka River bank.

This was probably Konoha's most famous river.

The love and hatred between the Uchiha and the Senju, and even the entire history of Konoha Village, could be traced back to this river.

Today, this river welcomed an unfamiliar young fisherman.

Hyuga Satoru stood in the river with his pant legs rolled up, aimed carefully, and lunged with a grab.

He caught nothing but air, and river water splashed all over his face.

The Naka River basin was extremely wide, running through the entire village of Konoha. Its upstream lay within Uchiha territory, but the spot where Hyuga Satoru was now fishing was still a considerable distance from the Uchiha lands.

So he didn't have to worry about any Uchiha coming to cause trouble.

The reason he chose to fish was, naturally, to improve his meals.

Learning to fish like Naruto and adding a little extra to his diet—wasn't that a good plan?

He was right in the critical period of growth, and his nutrition needed to keep up.

But calling it fishing didn't mean it was just fishing.

Around Hyuga Satoru's body, two metal skewers the size of chopsticks slowly orbited through the air.

He had made them by grinding down thin iron rods.

As soon as he spotted a target, the skewers would suddenly shoot up and stab viciously at the fish.

At the same time, as he moved through the river, small metal ores gradually adhered to his exposed calves.

Riverbeds were gathering points for metal ores. In nature, metal ores were washed down by currents and deposited in the riverbed.

Konoha was located in the south, with a warm, rainy climate and many mountains. Hokage Rock itself was carved out of a massive mountain crag.

Given this unique geographical environment, and with the Naka River being Konoha's largest waterway, its riverbed should contain a considerable amount of metal ore.

Certain valuable ores, if taken to a ninja tool shop for recycling, could probably fetch some money.

Hyuga Satoru used magnetic attraction to continuously pan for metals.

Eating and earning money at the same time.

And on top of that, leveling up.

Over the past few days, he had tested things out thoroughly. The experience points needed to upgrade Electromagnetic Force were something like proficiency points.

The more difficult the application, the faster he gained experience.

Correspondingly, if he kept milking the same application, the returns would get lower and lower. At first, he had controlled a kitchen knife to chop vegetables for leveling, but as his proficiency increased, the experience gained from that method dropped off.

Now, he was using his mind in three directions at once: simultaneously controlling two metal skewers for fishing while his calves continuously absorbed metal from the riverbed.

The rate at which his experience points rose was quite impressive.

Hyuga Satoru spotted a target.

A few meters away, several small fish had gathered under a large rock. If he could catch them, he'd have a good meal.

If he got any closer, those fish might sense the water's disturbance and flee.

But he had another method.

Hyuga Satoru held his breath.

Crackle!

A bolt of lightning as thick as a thumb erupted from between his toes, spreading outward through the river water.

The fish were paralyzed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two metal skewers orbiting him shot out instantly.

One of them struck with perfect accuracy, not only piercing through a fish's belly but also stabbing into the tails of two nearby fish!

Triple Shot!!!

Hyuga Satoru, thoroughly satisfied, controlled the heavy skewer and let it wobble back to him.

At the same time, because of this high-difficulty application of Electromagnetic Force, a voice rang out in his mind:

[Electromagnetic Force experience +2]

At LV1, Electromagnetic Force was still far too weak. Aside from basic magnetization and discharge, it was hard to use for much else.

The electric current he could release was also very weak, not enough to instantly stun a fish. He had to pair it with the skewers for fishing.

But Hyuga Satoru was already quite satisfied.

This was one of the Four Fundamental Forces, after all. Its ceiling was sky-high.

"Thank you, Faraday! Thank you, Maxwell! Thank you, Tesla! Thank you, middle school physics teacher..."

"Without you all, I wouldn't be eating this fish today."

"Amen!"