Picking Someone Up

In the Ninja Tools Shop's warehouse, Tianyun Hyuga began enhancing the ninja tools after Tiesheng left. Enhancing each ordinary tool once cost around ten thousand, so finishing all three thousand would cost roughly forty million.

Tianyun Hyuga had originally had a hundred million on him. He had spent forty million enhancing the premium weapons Tiesheng had brought over, and now another forty million was gone, leaving him with only twenty million. That was far too little money for him.

By the time Tiesheng returned with the soldier pills, an hour and a half had passed. Tianyun Hyuga had already finished enhancing the three thousand or so weapons, but he did not want Tiesheng to know how fast he worked. He told Tiesheng to wait outside and settled down for a good nap in the warehouse.

Tianyun Hyuga slept until he woke naturally. Seeing that it was nearly three in the afternoon, he thought for a moment, then used the Transformation Technique to make himself look a little haggard before opening the warehouse door and stepping out.

Tiesheng was still waiting on the bench outside the warehouse. When he saw Tianyun Hyuga emerge looking so worn out, he hurried over and asked, "How did it go, Tianyun? Should I arrange somewhere for you to rest...?"

Tianyun Hyuga's haggard appearance was only a transformation, so naturally, he had no intention of staying at Tiesheng's Ninja Tools Shop. He said directly, "I still have to go to the school and wait for someone to get out of class. All the ninja tools inside have been enhanced. Sell them off as soon as you can, then send someone to deliver the money to my place..."

"There are still two hours before the Ninja Academy lets out. Why don't you rest first?"

A little worried about Tianyun Hyuga's health, Tiesheng urged him to get some rest. Unfortunately, Tianyun Hyuga did not want to keep up his transformed appearance. He shook his head and said, "All right, go take care of your business..."

After telling Tiesheng to get back to work, Tianyun Hyuga headed straight through the Ninja Tools Shop and set off toward the Ninja Academy.

On the way to the school, Tianyun Hyuga found a deserted spot and returned to his original appearance. Then, feeling very pleased, he headed toward the Ichiraku Ramen Shop to make up for his missed lunch.

The reason for Tianyun Hyuga's satisfaction was that his Transformation Technique had worked quite well. Even Tiesheng, a retired Jonin, had failed to spot anything amiss. That meant his Transformation Technique was growing increasingly refined.

After enjoying a meal at Ichiraku Ramen, Tianyun Hyuga leisurely made his way to the Ninja Academy's entrance and waited alongside the young mothers for the students to come out.

Of course, Tianyun Hyuga did not go crowding around those young mothers. He sat alone on the swing beneath the large tree by the school entrance, gently swaying as he waited for Naruto Uzumaki to finish class.

Tianyun Hyuga was something of a celebrity. He had become a Genin at just six years old, and the Third Hokage had even forced him to graduate. That made the young mothers very interested in him, but his aloof expression kept them from approaching. Otherwise, they would definitely have scooped him up and fussed over him.

For now, they could only watch Tianyun Hyuga on the swing and quietly discuss him with the other parents beside them.

Naturally, Tianyun Hyuga paid no attention to the young mothers' gossip. But as dismissal drew near, he noticed something: none of the Uchiha Clan's parents had come to pick up their children.

Last year, when Tianyun Hyuga was at the Ninja Academy, there had still been seven or eight children from the Uchiha Clan attending, and their parents had often come to drop them off or pick them up. This year, however, not a single parent had come to collect them.

Judging by that, Tianyun Hyuga believed the Uchiha Clan's impending massacre was probably close at hand. He frowned, considering how he could gain something from the incident.

Of course, Tianyun Hyuga would not get involved in the Uchiha Clan's affairs. His current strength was nowhere near enough to deal with those three freaks: Uchiha Itachi, Obito, and Shimura Danzō.

What Tianyun Hyuga wanted was to see whether he could get his hands on a pair of Sharingan. Then, once he had the money, he could enhance them a few times and obtain the ridiculously powerful Rinnegan. He would be absolutely unstoppable.

The more Tianyun Hyuga thought about it, the more excited he became. He began planning how he could snatch a pair of Sharingan from those three powerhouses.

It was a dangerous undertaking that would require careful planning. Tianyun Hyuga's excitement slowly gave way to seriousness.

More than twenty minutes passed, and Tianyun Hyuga was still pondering the problem when he suddenly heard a commotion at the school entrance.

Looking up, he saw that the students of the Konoha Ninja Academy had begun filing out. The parents were greeting their children, which explained the noise. Tianyun Hyuga put aside his thoughts about the Uchiha Clan, rose from the swing, and waited for Naruto Uzumaki to come over.

Three minutes later, Tianyun Hyuga spotted the sturdy little Naruto Uzumaki peering around through the crowd of parents, seemingly searching for something. He called out to him, "Over here, Naruto..."

Hearing Tianyun Hyuga's voice, Naruto Uzumaki immediately spotted him and came bounding over in excitement. "Big bro, I was just about to go look for you at your house."

Tianyun Hyuga smiled. "I happened to have some business out here this afternoon, so I stopped by to pick you up. How did things go at school...?"

"Pretty well! I met a few good friends. Of course, there was also one jerk." Naruto Uzumaki looked distinctly unhappy when he mentioned the jerk.

"What happened? Did that guy give you trouble...?" Tianyun Hyuga asked.

"He's an idiot named Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto Uzumaki said angrily. "He actually looked down on you, big bro, and acted all full of himself. Just looking at him makes me sick. I wanted to beat him up..."

"So, did you...?" Tianyun Hyuga asked, amused.

"Uh... we're classmates. How could I bring myself to hit him...?" Naruto Uzumaki claimed he had not done anything, but his expression was painfully awkward.

From Naruto Uzumaki's reaction alone, Tianyun Hyuga knew he had already thrown punches. He probably just had not managed to beat Sasuke Uchiha. To Naruto Uzumaki, all that talk of friendship between classmates was utter bullshit. With Sasuke Uchiha looking down on him, there was no way he would not fight back.

Shaking his head, Tianyun Hyuga said, "All right, enough about Sasuke Uchiha. Let's go celebrate at Ichiraku Ramen!"

Naruto Uzumaki immediately perked up. "Can we go to a barbecue restaurant? I think the atmosphere there would be better for a celebration..."

Giving Naruto Uzumaki a sidelong glance, Tianyun Hyuga drawled, "Sure, if you're paying. How does that sound?"

"Uh, I still think Ichiraku Ramen would be better for celebrating," Naruto Uzumaki said, instantly changing his tune and declaring that they should go to the ramen shop.

With that, Naruto Uzumaki took the lead and headed toward the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, as though terrified Tianyun Hyuga would make him pay for a barbecue meal.