Leaving school

In Konoha, Tianyun Hyuga followed Tenten out of the academy.

"Why are you following me? I'm going home," Tenten said, sounding annoyed.

Having long since abandoned any sense of shame in his pursuit of money, Tianyun Hyuga said earnestly, "I want to go with you and meet your parents. That way, when I come over to play in the future, they'll know who I am."

"I..." Tenten felt utterly frustrated. She did not want to bring a boy home, especially one a year younger than her.

When they reached a three-way intersection at the end of the road outside the academy, Tenten said irritably, "Stop following me. I don't want you coming to my house. Hurry up and go home. You're not welcome at mine..."

"Are you abandoning me?" Tianyun Hyuga asked, looking at Tenten earnestly.

"What do you mean, abandoning you?! I only met you today! Stop clinging to me and go home," Tenten said angrily.

"You promised to play with me..." Tianyun Hyuga said, refusing to give up.

"I only promised to play with you. I never said I'd play with you today..." Tenten replied, glaring at him.

"You're being unreasonable..." Tianyun Hyuga said, a little displeased.

"What? You're calling me unreasonable?" Tianyun Hyuga's shamelessness made Tenten laugh in exasperation. She shook her head firmly. "I've decided I don't want to play with you anymore. Go home. I'm going home now..."

With that, Tenten turned left and walked away, no longer paying Tianyun Hyuga any attention.

Kids these days sure aren't easy to fool. Tianyun Hyuga sighed and stopped following Tenten. After looking around, he turned back toward the Ninja Academy. He planned to take a nap there and wait until evening to go home. If he went back this early, Meicun Hyuga would surely beat him senseless.

Back at the Ninja Academy, Tianyun Hyuga found that every student in his class had left. Even Neji Hyuga was nowhere to be found. He picked a spot at random and lay down, planning to get some proper rest while thinking about what to do next.

Tianyun Hyuga had deliberately asserted his dominance as soon as he arrived at the academy that day. His goal was to make the Third Hokage take him more seriously. That way, even if he stepped out of line in Konoha in the future, the Third Hokage would protect him, because his abilities made him worth investing in.

The other factor was the Hyuga Clan. He knew that after what had happened today, even if the Third Hokage suppressed the news, Hyuga Hiashi would still find out. Hiashi would then pay more attention to him in hopes of obtaining his new Gentle Fist training method.

Caught between Hyuga Hiashi and the Third Hokage, he could reap the greatest benefits while ensuring his own safety.

Of course, that depended on Tianyun Hyuga being valuable to Konoha. Only then would the Third Hokage help him. Otherwise, the Third Hokage would never risk offending Hyuga Hiashi on his behalf.

In truth, Tianyun Hyuga had resorted to this strategy out of necessity. He needed to make money, and sooner or later that would draw the attention of the Third Hokage and Hyuga Hiashi. He might as well dangle some bait from the start and make them take him seriously. Then he would not have to be so cautious in the future and could use those connections to make money.

However, if the Third Hokage and Hyuga Hiashi had been ruthless men like Shimura Danzō, Tianyun Hyuga would never have dared use this plan.

His plan would only work on the Third Hokage and Hyuga Hiashi, because they were competent politicians rather than men driven by ambition. They would compromise for the sake of their interests instead of taking desperate risks.

After lying down to rest and think for a while, Tianyun Hyuga felt a little less frustrated about being ditched by Tenten. He began wondering when Hyuga Hiashi and the Third Hokage would approach him to discuss the new Gentle Fist. Then he could make some money off them and improve his strength a little.

Time slowly passed, and before he knew it, lunchtime had arrived. Tianyun Hyuga could have eaten at the academy, but with all his classmates gone, he had no idea where the cafeteria was.

After some thought, Tianyun Hyuga decided to visit Konoha's famous Ichiraku Ramen and see whether its ramen really tasted as good as people said.

The price of the ramen did not concern Tianyun Hyuga. Before he left for school that morning, Meicun Hyuga had given him a huge sum of money to win over the other children.

Now that Tianyun Hyuga had scared all those children away, the money had naturally ended up in his own pocket. He could use it to eat at Ichiraku Ramen.

He acted on the thought at once, leaving the classroom and heading toward the academy gates.

At noon, the students of Konoha Academy had a three-hour break to eat lunch and rest.

At three in the afternoon, Konoha Academy held its outdoor training classes. These generally focused on physical conditioning, the Three Basic Techniques, or some basic taijutsu. The Ninja Academy did not teach any advanced ninjutsu.

Even so, civilian ninja flocked to send their children to the Ninja Academy, because only there could civilian ninja learn ninjutsu and become true ninja.

Being a ninja was no ordinary profession. Even an ordinary genin could potentially earn hundreds of thousands a month if they worked hard enough. Civilians, meanwhile, could work themselves to the bone and still earn no more than fifty thousand a month. That was why so many people wanted to become ninja.

When Tianyun Hyuga left the classroom and reached the Ninja Academy's square, he saw groups of students playing together in twos and threes, creating a peaceful, harmonious scene.

In this cruel, merciless ninja world, Konoha could be considered a paradise. Watching the lively children, Tianyun Hyuga felt that if he had been born in another country or hidden village, making money would have been the least of his worries. Anything he earned would probably have been snatched away the moment he got it.

As Tianyun Hyuga stood in the square reflecting on this, he caught the other children's attention. Two of them even started walking toward him. He immediately turned to leave, since he had no desire to play with a bunch of little kids.

Tianyun Hyuga wanted to leave, but the two children coming after him did not want to let him go. They kept calling out, "Don't go! We just want to ask if you're Tianyun Hyuga, the one who beat the entire Elite Class. Don't walk so fast!"

Tianyun Hyuga paused briefly as he walked. He had never expected news of that morning's incident to have spread throughout Konoha Academy already, and it surprised him. He had thought the Third Hokage might suppress the news, but apparently the Third Hokage had done nothing of the sort.

It seemed he would soon have to deal with Hyuga Hiashi's attention. Tianyun Hyuga found that rather troublesome, since he still did not know whether the Third Hokage would back him all the way.

Even as he thought, Tianyun Hyuga did not delay his departure from Konoha Academy. He had no desire to answer a bunch of little kids' boring questions.