The child was still far too sensitive.
Setting down the scroll in her hand, Tsunade's expression grew grave.
"The other four Ninja Villages are getting more and more brazen."
The intelligence showed that shinobi from the Four Great Ninja Villages were constantly drawing closer to the interior of the Land of Fire while carrying out missions.
And their numbers kept growing. These weren't missions at all. They were practically trying to map out routes through the Land of Fire.
She rubbed her temples, her head aching.
Peace wouldn't last much longer, and she wouldn't be able to stay at the hospital all the time.
Hiruzen Sarutobi would inevitably send her to the front lines, and as her subordinates, the three Hyuga boys...
Would be going with her.
Chapter 17: Hyuga Akira, tireless corrupter
Hyuga Akira began a grueling life of working during the day and studying at night.
During this time, his Medical Ninjutsu improved rapidly.
He also formed his first synthesized skill.
[Medical Ninjutsu (lv1) Experience (0/500) Traits (none) Synthesis requirements (lv1 Mystical Palm Technique + lv1 Delicate Illness Extraction Technique + lv1 Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique + lv1 Chakra Scalpel)]
With Medical Ninjutsu synthesized, Hyuga Akira officially became a medical ninja.
In this era when medical ninja were scarce, he could even be called the second-best medical ninja.
He simply lacked experience.
He had plenty of medical cases in his head, enough to make him a decent medical ninja even by the standards of later generations.
Although he still couldn't match Tsunade, no one else in Konoha Hospital could surpass him now.
Mastering the Mystical Palm Technique alone didn't make someone a medical ninja.
Quite a few people had mastered the Mystical Palm Technique, but that was all they knew.
However, all this studying had seriously delayed Hyuga Akira's leveling progress.
And so...
"Nawaki, let's become rogue ninja." Hyuga Akira pushed up his rimless glasses and spoke earnestly.
He said this to the First Hokage's grandson, inside the house the First Hokage had left behind.
"Huh?" Nawaki stared at Hyuga Akira, utterly bewildered.
Wait.
How had things gotten to the point of defecting? And he, a bona fide direct descendant of the First Hokage, was supposed to become a rogue ninja?
(Hiruzen Sarutobi: Why would the crown prince defect?)
Looking at the bewildered Nawaki, Hyuga Akira declared passionately, "First, we escape the village, then we kill bandits. Once we're done with the bandits, we kill wandering ninja. Once we're done with them, we wipe out the Small Ninja Villages. After that, we declare war on the other Four Great Ninja Villages."
"If we can't beat them, we run. If we can, we kill them. Once we've wiped out the Four Great Ninja Villages, we'll return to Konoha and rally everyone. They'll all support us, and we brothers will join forces."
"We'll destroy the five nations, unite the shinobi world, and bring peace to the world. Then we'll be free to go wherever we please."
Once he had ground his way to the maximum level, he would head into space to find the Ōtsutsuki Clan and leave the shinobi world to Nawaki.
"Hahaha!" Imagining that wonderful future, Hyuga Akira laughed aloud.
"Bro, I think my sister would kill us both before we could defect," Nawaki said cautiously.
Knowing his sister, if he really did something like that, she really would put righteousness before family.
"Pathetic." Hyuga Akira looked at Nawaki disdainfully. "It's just Tsunade, and you're this scared? As long as we brothers work together, we could make Tsunade kneel and submit with a wave of our hands."
He urged him on. "Come on, say it with me. Stand on our own, defeat Tsunade."
"Stand on our own, defeat Tsunade," Nawaki muttered quietly.
"Louder!"
"Stand on our own!! Defeat Tsunade!!"
"Crash!!" The door suddenly shattered, and Tsunade appeared in the doorway, veins faintly bulging on her forehead. She gave Nawaki a hostile look. "What did you say?"
Nawaki suddenly began trembling and hurried to explain, "No, it was Bro."
He pointed at Hyuga Akira.
At some point, Hyuga Akira had sat down in front of a pile of scrolls. He looked up from a medical case scroll and gave Nawaki a bewildered look. "Nawaki, what's wrong?"
Nawaki trembled even harder. His arm shook as he pointed at Hyuga Akira, looking from Tsunade to Hyuga Akira, then from Hyuga Akira back to Tsunade.
"That's not what was happening just now."
Hyuga Akira tilted his head and asked in a puzzled voice, "You seemed to be saying something about defeating Lady Tsunade just now. Sorry, I was too focused on reading the medical records to hear you clearly."
"Oh, so you want to defeat me? Perfect. Let's see how strong my dear little brother has gotten." Tsunade cracked her knuckles, staring at Nawaki with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Nawaki took a deep breath.
"Hyuga Akira!!!"
"Nawaki, it's time for your punishment!!"
"Boom!!"
"Lady Tsunade." Hyuga Akira stood obediently beside Tsunade. Looking at the unconscious Nawaki with a huge lump on his head, he shuddered.
Good thing he'd been quick-witted.
He silently offered a prayer for Nawaki.
Losing one person was better than losing two. He hoped Nawaki's spirit in heaven would forgive him.
Amen.
"Hmm?" Tsunade glanced sideways at Hyuga Akira.
Hyuga Akira took full advantage of his young age, making his expression as innocent and obedient as possible.
"Teacher, I've finished reading all these materials. I feel I'm ready for hands-on practice."
Although he had already mastered Medical Ninjutsu, his knowledge was still theoretical. He hadn't actually put it into practice yet.
Tsunade sighed. "If you want hands-on practice now, you'll have to get it on the battlefield."
"The battlefield?" Hyuga Akira looked bewildered. It was Year 36 of Konoha, and the Second Shinobi World War should have started next year.
Why had it suddenly come early?
Could this have been the butterfly effect caused by him?
Tsunade explained gravely, "Relations between the major nations are tense right now. The major Large Ninja Villages are all testing Konoha's stance, and many are openly entering the Land of Fire under the pretext of missions."
"It isn't an actual war, just a few small-scale engagements. To stop the Large Ninja Villages from invading, Konoha is preparing to establish defensive lines, drive all these people out, and guard against the other villages."
She knew Hyuga Akira wasn't a simple Shinobi and had ideas of his own. This sort of thing wasn't difficult for him to understand.
Hyuga Akira frowned. "Guard against them?"
So war wasn't breaking out directly after all. That still left him some room to maneuver.
"Lady Tsunade, will the Hyuga Clan let Hyuga Hiashi go to the battlefield?"
They were a team. If Tsunade headed to the front lines, Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga should be going with her.
"They will. The Hyuga Clan does want to protect Hyuga Hiashi, but they won't go too far. How could a Shinobi stay safe their entire life?"
The Hyuga Clan wouldn't really let its young heir become useless. Those two years were meant to let Hyuga Hiashi fully master the Main Family's secret techniques.
They wouldn't guard him so closely after that.
Probably.
Tsunade wasn't actually very sure herself.
"When do we leave?" Hyuga Akira frowned. He didn't want to be on the same team as Hyuga Hiashi, who still hadn't kicked him out of the team.
"In three days. I'll give you three days off." Tsunade patted Hyuga Akira's shoulder. "But don't worry. We're only establishing defensive lines. It'll mostly involve negotiations, and the fighting won't be too intense."
Konoha's operations were now split into two fronts. One was establishing defensive lines at the front to stop Shinobi from other Ninja Villages from entering the Land of Fire.
The other was expelling foreign Shinobi already inside the Land of Fire. That was the truly dangerous one.
Tsunade had been assigned to establish defensive lines and treat the wounded.
Hyuga Akira nodded and looked at Nawaki, who lay there like a corpse.
Chapter 18: The Ninja Academy influenced by Hyuga Akira
Tsunade left.
Hyuga Akira let out a deep breath.
His current strength was nowhere near enough to take part in a war, but fortunately, there was still plenty of time before intense fighting broke out.
What he needed was to find opportunities to level up quickly after following Tsunade to the front lines.
He had to grind his level up during the Second Shinobi World War. The higher his level, the more experience he would gain.
But before grinding levels...
The corners of his mouth slowly lifted, revealing his white teeth.
Year 37 of Konoha was when the Second Shinobi World War broke out, and also when Nawaki would die.
There were only two named Shinobi killed by Explosive Tags.
One was Nawaki.
The other was Hidan in later years, but his body had only been blown apart by Explosive Tags. He was still alive.
So...
By the end of the entire Naruto storyline, Nawaki was the only one who had been blown to death by Explosive Tags.
Of course, the story hadn't covered the nameless ones.
So that his little follower could still cheer him on from behind in the future...
He naturally had to give him a few lessons.
When Nawaki woke up, he looked at Hyuga Akira in confusion. The sight of Hyuga Akira's smile in particular sent a chill down his back.
Hyuga Akira held out his hand. "Give me your pocket money."
Nawaki immediately grew wary. "Bro, what are you going to do?"
He had worked so hard to save that money.
Hyuga Akira acted like a bully. "I told you to hand it over, so hand it over. Cut the chatter."
Mostly, he was simply too poor and needed to buy some tools.
Reluctantly, Nawaki still took out his pocket money. After all, he had accepted Hyuga Akira as his big brother.
Looking at the fifty thousand ryo in his hand, Hyuga Akira nodded in satisfaction. "Go ask for three days off from school today, then come with me. Before I leave, I'm giving you special training."
"Finally, no more reading!!" Nawaki excitedly tossed his book away.
Hyuga Akira had been studying lately and hadn't let him off the hook either.
Hyuga Akira watched Nawaki's excited expression.
Go on, laugh.
You won't be laughing tomorrow.
At first light the next morning...
Hyuga Akira led the others out the door, then looked with some hesitation at the little kids behind Nawaki.
Before you continue