Lying low

A week passed in the Konoha Ninja Village, and things suddenly began to liven up. The reason was the appearance of some expensive ninja tools in the village's ninja tools shop. Even the cheapest cost 600,000.

At first, no one bought such expensive ninja tools. Then a jonin bought one and cut through an enemy's weapon in a single strike while out on a mission. That finally made those pricey ninja tools famous.

Konoha's prominent clans had no shortage of money. Once they discovered that the shop's weapons really were effective, they flocked there to buy them.

But the ninja tools shop had already posted a notice: high-grade ninja tools were difficult to make, so only ten would be sold each day, with a limit of one per customer.

The frustrated errand runners from the various clans finally took up lodging near the shop, waiting to rush in and buy the moment it opened each morning. This turned the ninja tools shop into the busiest store in Konoha.

In the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage was also paying close attention to the ninja tools. After all, those high-quality tools could significantly boost Konoha's fighting strength. There was no way he could ignore something like that.

At precisely three in the afternoon, Tianyun Hyuga was sleeping out of boredom at the Ninja Academy, while the Third Hokage was discussing him with an Anbu ninja.

"Black Wind, how is the investigation I assigned you coming along?" the Third Hokage asked.

"Lord Hokage, the ninja tools likely have something to do with Tianyun Hyuga, but I have no solid evidence," the Anbu ninja Black Wind replied.

"Why is it that brat again..." The Third Hokage felt a headache coming on. "So you haven't uncovered anything?"

Black Wind hesitated before saying, "I discovered that Tiesheng's daughter, Tenten, brings ninja tool sealing scrolls to school every day, along with a large sum of money. By the time she returns home in the evening, the money is gone, but she still has the ninja tool sealing scrolls."

"Considering Tianyun Hyuga's love of money, I suspected that the ninja tools were connected to him. I was going to investigate at close range."

"But I discovered that Tianyun Hyuga is extremely vigilant. As soon as I came within a hundred meters of him, he kept looking toward my hiding place. I didn't dare get too close, so I failed to uncover any concrete information about the ninja tools..."

The Third Hokage was rather surprised. "You're saying Tianyun Hyuga could detect you? You're an Anbu jonin, and that brat could spot you?"

After a moment of silence, Black Wind said, "I believe Tianyun Hyuga has already awakened his eyes. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly have detected my presence."

"He's already awakened his eyes at five years old?" the Third Hokage murmured, holding his pipe as his brows began to furrow.

The Third Hokage and Black Wind sat in silence in the Hokage Office for ten minutes. Finally, the Third Hokage lit his pipe and took a deep drag. "Forget it. Stop watching that brat, lest you draw his attention. Go inform Tiesheng that from now on, Konoha will buy all those ninja tools of his for our strategic reserves. Have him give us a discounted price. We can't let those weapons find their way outside the village..."

"As you command..." With that, Black Wind vanished from the Hokage Office.

At the Konoha Ninja Academy's combat training ground, Tianyun Hyuga lay on a shaded rock along the edge, out of the sun. He stared blankly at the white clouds overhead and the children training on the grounds.

It wasn't that Tianyun Hyuga's Elite Class had no lessons that day. His classmates were still practicing kunai throwing and sparring on the training ground. Tianyun Hyuga alone was resting.

The reason was that after Tianyun Hyuga had used his powerful Three Body Technique to toy with Iruka, Iruka could no longer be bothered to supervise him. He had nothing left to teach Tianyun Hyuga.

As for the other students in the Elite Class, seeing even their teacher admit defeat, they naturally didn't dare provoke Tianyun Hyuga. They simply ignored him. The only one who got along reasonably well with him was Tenten.

Of course, Tenten didn't particularly like Tianyun Hyuga either. He was far too mature, making her feel as though they weren't the same age at all, and they simply couldn't play together. The only reason they got along was that she had become the messenger and delivery girl between her father and Tianyun Hyuga.

"Money...!"

Lying on the rock, Tianyun Hyuga gazed at the white clouds overhead until they almost looked like money, prompting a wistful sigh.

Over the past seven days, he still hadn't come up with a good way to earn money. Of course, if he threw caution to the wind, making money with the system would be easy enough, but that would put his life in danger.

Every method Tianyun Hyuga currently had for earning money required him to leave Konoha. If he tried making money within the village, people would notice his every move, and that was far too dangerous for him.

But Tianyun Hyuga knew he couldn't leave Konoha anytime soon. First, the Hyuga Clan wouldn't let him leave. Second, the Third Hokage wouldn't let him leave. Third, Meicun Hyuga wouldn't let him leave. Finally, Tianyun Hyuga himself wasn't ready to go yet. He still needed to build up his strength.

In the end, Tianyun Hyuga decided to bide his time in Konoha for a year. Once he had accumulated enough strength, he would apply for graduation, leave the village, and travel around taking missions to earn money.

During that year, he needed to keep a low profile, gradually deepen the Third Hokage's and Hyuga Hiashi's trust in him, and lower their guard toward him. Then he would truly have become part of Konoha.

When the time came, with the support of the Third Hokage and Hyuga Hiashi, as well as a substantial reserve of strength, he could act more boldly, throw himself into making big money, and rapidly increase his power.

With a plan settled in his mind, Tianyun Hyuga suddenly felt much more relaxed. By spending a year putting down roots in the ninja world, with Konoha, the strongest village in that world, supporting him, he felt he could conquer the Naruto World in less than ten years.

As his mood improved, even his classmates suddenly looked endearing to Tianyun Hyuga. He stood and walked toward them, finally stopping beside Tenten with a smile. "Tenten, want to train with me?"

Tenten's opponent was another girl. When she saw Tianyun Hyuga approach, she quickly stopped fighting so he could talk to Tenten.

She did this because word had already spread among all the children in Konoha that Tenten was Tianyun Hyuga's little girlfriend. On top of that, Tianyun Hyuga had the strength to dominate the entire Ninja Academy, so she naturally didn't dare provoke either of them.

Seeing Tianyun Hyuga sidle up to her again, Tenten rolled her eyes at him. "Who would want to train with a freak like you?"

Then Tenten waved to the girl who had stepped away. "Ayu, come here. Let's keep training. Ignore that guy..."

With Tenten refusing to cooperate, Tianyun Hyuga could only shrug helplessly. He walked over to Iruka, who was supervising the students' training nearby. "Iruka-sensei, want to practice the Three Body Technique with me? I'm in a good mood today, so I can refrain from using the Transformation Technique..."

Iruka waved his hands repeatedly and shook his head. "No, just go play somewhere else! Last time, you transformed into me and ran around half-naked. You made me the laughingstock of the academy. I'm not getting involved with you again."

"Honestly, Iruka-sensei, it was just a little thing. Why take it so seriously?" Tianyun Hyuga sighed over and over.

Iruka glanced at Tianyun Hyuga, who was putting on an adult air, and smiled bitterly. "You might not care, but I do. If you weren't only five, I'd want you to graduate and leave right away. Can you please stop bothering me?"

"Uh..." Tianyun Hyuga felt rather helpless. For once, he was in a good mood and willing to have some fun with his classmates and teacher, yet no one would give him the time of day. Shaking his head, he headed out toward the academy gates.