Hyuga Satoru glanced at Obito, who looked like he had lost all will to live, and silently thought, Obito, you can't blame me.
After all, no one would be surprised if you did something stupid. You were the perfect test subject.
Besides, I'm just motivating you to study so you won't get lost in puppy love. It's for your own good!
After conducting controlled interference tests on the shuriken Obito threw, he discovered that he had a certain degree of control even over high-speed flying shuriken.
In the future, ninja tools would basically pose no threat to him.
Watching Obito wave his arms and dance around, Fujino Daikichi scratched his receding hairline and immediately felt a headache coming on.
"How did the Uchiha produce such a weirdo?"
"Forget it. Next, Hyuga Iroha."
From the crowd, a boy with bandages wrapped around his forehead and pure white eyes stepped forward. He threw the shuriken with both hands.
"10 points, 9 points, 10 points..."
"So impressive. He's only a little worse than Kakashi and the others."
"After all, he's from the Hyuga Clan."
"Why is his forehead wrapped in bandages?" someone asked quietly.
"Shh! Don't you know? That's the Hyuga Clan's..."
Hyuga Iroha's expression turned cold. She subconsciously clenched her fists and returned to her place.
Fujino Daikichi nodded in satisfaction. After observing her over the past few days, he had found that while Hyuga Iroha was not the most talented, she was certainly the most diligent.
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.
"7 points, 7 points, 7 points... 10 points!"
After several consecutive 7-point throws, only the last one barely hit the 10-point mark.
The crowd began whispering among themselves.
"They're both from the Hyuga Clan, but 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 first few throws were all just short of 8 points. Looks like his luck is bad too!"
Hyuga Satoru's expression remained calm, as though he had not heard the discussion around him.
After glancing at Hyuga Satoru, Hyuga Iroha withdrew her gaze.
Though they were both Hyuga, they did not interact much normally. This level of skill was not worth her 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 when they met.
Hyuga Satoru opened the envelope. It contained fifteen thin bills—1,500 Ryo.
He had a slight headache. In a world where even a bowl of ramen cost 60 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, the Hyuga Clan revered hierarchy and rules to the extreme. They were orderly—perhaps overly so.
Every clan member was like a component in a massive machine, silently following their own assigned path.
Still, that was not entirely bad. Other Branch Family members generally had their actions controlled by the Main Family, but he had managed to gain a little freedom instead.
Hyuga Satoru was not overly worried about the Caged Bird Seal 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 side of a river.
The shimmering river reflected his face and the surrounding forest.
The Naka River bank.
This was perhaps Konoha's most famous major river.
The love and hatred between the Uchiha and Senju, even the history of all Konoha Village, could be traced back to this river.
Today, this river welcomed an unfamiliar boy fishing.
Hyuga Satoru rolled up his pant legs and stood in the river. After lining up his target, he suddenly grabbed.
He grabbed nothing but air, splashing river water all over his face.
The Naka River stretched across a vast area and ran through all of Konoha. Its upper reaches lay within the Uchiha territory, while the spot where Hyuga Satoru was catching fish was still quite some distance from the Uchiha territory.
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 life.
Why not learn from Naruto and catch fish to add something extra to his meals?
He was at a crucial stage of development. He needed to keep up his nutrition.
But fishing was not merely about fishing.
Two metal spikes the size of chopsticks slowly circled through the air around Hyuga Satoru's body.
He had made them by grinding down thin iron rods.
As soon as he found a target, the iron spikes would shoot out and fiercely stab at the fish.
Besides that, as he moved through the river, tiny metal ores gradually clung to his exposed calves.
Riverbeds were gathering places for metal ores. Metal ores in nature were washed along by the current and deposited on the riverbed.
Konoha lay in the south, where the climate was mild and rainy, with many mountains. Hokage Rock had been carved into a massive mountain cliff.
Given this special geography, the Naka River, as Konoha's largest river, should have accumulated quite a few metal ores in its riverbed.
If he took some valuable ores to the 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 make money at the same time.
And he could grind levels as well.
Over the past few days, he had tested it thoroughly enough. The experience required to level up the Electromagnetic Force was something like proficiency.
The more difficult the application, the faster he gained experience.
Correspondingly, if he kept exploiting the same application, the returns would grow lower and lower. At first, he had used the control of a kitchen knife to chop vegetables for grinding, but as his proficiency rose, this method gave less and less experience.
Now, he was multitasking. Not only was he simultaneously controlling two metal spikes for fishing, his calves were also continuously attracting 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 from him. If he caught them, he could have a hearty meal.
If he continued approaching, those fish might notice the disturbance in the water and flee.
However, he had another method.
Hyuga Satoru held his breath.
Crackle!
An electric current as thick as his thumb burst from between his toes and spread through the river water.
The fish were paralyzed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two metal spikes circling around him instantly shot out.
One of them was incredibly accurate. It not only pierced through one fish's belly, but also struck the tails of two fish beside it!
Triple Shot!!!
Hyuga Satoru contentedly controlled the heavy iron spike as it wobbled back toward him.
At the same time, because of this difficult application of the Electromagnetic Force.
A voice sounded in his mind:
Electromagnetic Force experience +2
The LV1 Electromagnetic Force was still far too weak. Aside from basic magnetization and electric discharge, it was difficult to use it in other ways.
The current it released was also weak. It could not instantly stun fish, so he had to pair it with iron spikes to catch them.
But Hyuga Satoru was already quite satisfied.
This was one of the Four Fundamental Forces. Its upper limit was right there.
"Thank you, Faraday! Thank you, Maxwell! Thank you, Tesla! Thank you, middle school physics teacher..."
"Without you, I wouldn't be able to eat this fish today."
"Amen!"
Before you continue