"Hey, aren't you focusing on the wrong thing?"
Yemu Hyuga looked exasperated as he glanced at Qingxue Uchiha and Hinata, who were fighting nearby.
He really couldn't understand why these two women ended up at each other's throats every time.
Everyone said a fight between women was the best kind to watch.
That was what people said, anyway.
But Qingxue and Hinata both seemed to be hitting pretty hard.
It felt as though each was determined to knock the other flat.
"Hinata, you've improved quite a bit."
The corner of Qingxue Uchiha's mouth twitched. Why did this girl aim every attack at her face? Was she jealous that Qingxue was prettier?
"You're not bad yourself~"
Hinata Hyuga took a Gentle Fist stance, a lovely smile gracing her cute face.
Inside, though, she wondered why Qingxue Uchiha kept attacking her chest.
Was she jealous that I'm better developed?
"You little..."
Qingxue Uchiha pressed her lips together. Watching Hinata Hyuga lower her head to look at something, she couldn't stop her eyes from twitching.
They're only a little bigger than mine!
She's provoking me. She's definitely provoking me.
At that thought, Qingxue Uchiha attacked even more decisively.
While Qingxue Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga fought,
Yemu Hyuga was already showing Neji Hyuga his newly developed ninjutsu.
He had to admit, the God of Ninjutsu trait was truly absurd.
With this red trait enhancing him,
Yemu Hyuga came up with all kinds of wild ninjutsu ideas every day.
Whoosh!!
Gusts of wind howled through the air.
A spear-like ninjutsu instantly pierced the trunk of a nearby tree.
Boom!!!
The ninjutsu tore through the trunk, instantly blasting it into fragments that scattered in every direction.
Neji Hyuga blinked at the shattered tree, struggling to process what he'd seen.
He was still practicing on wooden posts, yet Yemu could already blast trees into rubble.
Comparing himself to someone else really could drive a person mad.
What baffled Neji most was that this kid didn't even resent the Main Family. He couldn't understand that, no matter how hard he thought about it.
Finally, Neji Hyuga couldn't hold back any longer. "Yemu, little bro, what ninjutsu is that?"
Yemu Hyuga looked casual. "This? It's simple. You combine wind and water chakra, use rotation and compression as the foundation, and blend wind's destructive properties with water's ability to penetrate to create a chakra spear."
As he finished speaking, Yemu Hyuga formed another rapidly spinning blue-and-white chakra spear in his hand.
???
Neji Hyuga stared at the dangerous creation in Yemu's hand, his face full of questions.
Wait, that thing doesn't look simple at all.
Fine, fine. You're cheating, and you won't even help me out?
What does the bond we've built over all these years even mean to you?
In short, Neji had a lot going on inside his head.
Originally, he had been the sort of person who hid his true feelings.
But after Yemu dealt blow after blow to his confidence, day after day, his personality had gradually begun to change.
"I call it the Spiral Jade Extreme Spear!"
With that, Yemu Hyuga hurled the spear one-handed. A streak of light flashed past, and a nearby tree trunk instantly exploded.
!!!
Even after seeing Yemu Hyuga's new ninjutsu a second time, Neji still felt shaken.
Could someone in this world really combine two different ninjutsu?
Wasn't that talent and chakra control just terrifying?
Most importantly, Yemu was younger than him. Neji didn't even dare imagine how overwhelmingly powerful Yemu would become.
There was no doubt.
Anyone in Yemu's class would be utterly overshadowed by his brilliance.
"Yemu, I... You're definitely impressive, but this ninjutsu doesn't seem like it could keep a close-range opponent in check."
Neji Hyuga hesitated as he spoke.
A ninja attacking at close range would probably have a good chance of evading it, as long as they could clearly see Yemu raise his hand.
The corners of Yemu Hyuga's mouth lifted. "Oh? Want to give it a try, big bro Neji?"
"No, no. If I have to take one of your attacks, you might as well kill me."
Neji quickly shook his head. Trying it would get him killed.
His head wasn't made of iron.
"Actually, I've considered that problem."
As he spoke, chakra rippled in Yemu Hyuga's hand again. He threw another spear, but this time it burst apart in midair, forming a web that shredded the ground beneath it.
???
Neji Hyuga's face was full of questions.
Seriously, man, your ninjutsu can change forms too?
"Easy, easy. It's just simple chakra control to alter the ninjutsu's form, that's all," Yemu Hyuga explained upon seeing Neji's mouth hanging open.
"Simple? Fine. Fine."
Neji Hyuga wanted to punch Yemu in the face a couple of times. This guy really had no decency. He'd always been a freak, but now he wasn't even pretending otherwise.
Time slipped quietly by, and night fell.
Elsewhere in Konoha,
shadows shifted along a rooftop, and a man with flowing long hair and a tiger-patterned mask suddenly appeared.
Beneath his mask, his eye gleamed blood-red as he scanned the surrounding streets.
He looked as though he were sizing up his prey.
Late at night, Konoha's streets were so dark that a person couldn't see their own hand.
Qingxue Uchiha followed behind Yemu Hyuga, deliberately stepping in his footprints as she hummed softly. Only at night did Yemu belong to her alone.
That was why, during their time together, Qingxue Uchiha had grown especially fond of the nights.
But Yemu Hyuga, walking ahead of her, was far from relaxed.
Not enough. Still nowhere near enough!!
If he had to face that dutiful son Uchiha Itachi and Konoha's most devoted simp, Obito Uchiha, at the same time, Yemu Hyuga truly wasn't sure he could protect Qingxue Uchiha.
Right now, never mind two of them.
Even one would be difficult enough to deal with.
The main reason was simple.
Yemu Hyuga hadn't had time to grow.
He was only in his second year at the Ninja Academy. How could he possibly fight a Kage Level opponent?
Even the so-called genius Kakashi had only become a jonin at eleven or twelve, and even then, jonin Kakashi was absolutely no match for either of those two.
There was no getting around it. The Mangekyō Sharingan was too absurd.
It was basically a cheat that boosted raw stats.
Anyone who awakened it would become a formidable powerhouse.
Of course, the same applied to the Tenseigan.
But the Tenseigan was on par with the Rinnegan. As long as its wielder survived, they would inevitably reach the Six Paths level.
The Tenseigan was indeed powerful, but Yemu hadn't awakened it yet. That was the frustrating part.
"Yemu, what would you like to eat tonight?"
Yemu Hyuga had only just lain down on the sofa when he heard the curious question behind him.
Qingxue Uchiha deftly took off her black outerwear, hung it on the coat rack, and headed into the kitchen on her own.
"Anything's fine. Just make something fit for human consumption." Yemu Hyuga pinched his brow, still pondering how to fight Uchiha Itachi and Obito Uchiha at the same time.
His current advantage was that he knew both their abilities.
He could simulate countless battle plans in his head.
But a simulation was only a simulation. Yemu Hyuga had never experienced a real fight to the death.
He suddenly felt a little envious of that dutiful son Itachi, who had been able to enter the battlefield at four.
Without a doubt, anyone who wanted to live life on their own terms in this world first needed strength.
Fugaku clearly understood that, which was why he had let Uchiha Itachi learn how cruel the shinobi world was at just four years old.
Before you continue