Hyuga Akira looked thoughtful. The central tower was probably the only scenic building here, but whether it would still be standing later was uncertain.
The top of the High Tower had now become Hyuga Akira's territory. He piled the documents on the desk to one side before finding two chairs.
"Have a seat." Hyuga Akira opened the lunch box with interest.
Pan-fried fish, tempura, vegetable dumplings, and rice. There were not many varieties, but the portions were certainly generous.
There were also several pairs of chopsticks inside, and he handed one pair to Nagato.
"I'm curious. Why did you bring me food?" Hyuga Akira asked curiously, picking up a piece of fish with his chopsticks.
Nagato pressed his lips together and said quietly, "Because you're a good person."
"Pfft." Hyuga Akira could not help laughing. "That's a really funny joke."
Anyone in this world might be a good person, but Hyuga Akira had a clear understanding of himself. He could not possibly be a good person.
If those Rain Ninja heard that, they would come after Nagato with their lives on the line.
"You avenged Aunt Shuna. Those Wandering Ninja killed her whole family," Nagato said softly.
That gentle woman would always offer some help whenever she saw wandering children, yet she had been brutally murdered by Wandering Ninja.
"It was purely for my own benefit. I didn't know who I was avenging. They were simply good hunting targets." Hyuga Akira disliked being labeled a good person. If he actually farmed the other person for drops later, he might find it hard to bring himself to do it.
Nagato pursed his lips and said, "I can feel it. You really did avenge Aunt Shuna, even though you didn't know who she was."
Hyuga Akira suddenly stopped picking up food and narrowed his eyes at Nagato.
Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
Had he awakened his kekkei genkai at such a young age?
He thought he understood why Madara Uchiha had chosen Nagato. Nagato was not the only surviving member of the Uzumaki Clan. Who knew how many Uzumaki clansmen remained hidden throughout the shinobi world?
But considering the abundant chakra in Nagato's body, along with his suspected awakening of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura...
Even Madara Uchiha could not have found a more suitable person than Nagato.
"Kid." Hyuga Akira's expression gradually darkened. "My name is Muyu. Whenever you hear my name in the future, it will inevitably be accompanied by a reputation for brutality."
Of course, whatever Muyu did had nothing much to do with him, Hyuga Akira.
Nagato lowered his head without speaking, his thoughts unknown.
Hyuga Akira looked at Nagato before him. He remembered that Nagato's drops included the Rinnegan, Uzumaki bloodline, Summoning Technique: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Crystal of Pain, and Akatsuki Emblem.
Five items.
Other people could drop those things too. He did not necessarily have to get them from Nagato.
A strange idea suddenly arose in his mind.
"Kid, do you want to become my student?"
Chapter 55: Shinobi in Hyuga Akira's Eyes
"Your student?" Nagato stared at Hyuga Akira, utterly bewildered.
How had things turned out this way? He had only wanted to thank Hyuga Akira by bringing over the lunch his mother had made.
He had never considered becoming someone's student.
Besides, the other person did not look very old. Was he already taking students at this age?
Did Shinobi all mature this early?
"That's right. You have tremendous power inside you, but you don't know how to use it. I can help you use that power." Hyuga Akira's tone was somewhat sour.
Ordinary Shinobi needed a chakra extraction technique to obtain chakra, squeezing it out of the cells in their bodies.
But certain exceptionally gifted Shinobi did not need a chakra extraction technique at all. Their bodies naturally gathered chakra. Such people were extremely rare.
Nagato counted as one of those Shinobi. Despite never having undergone Shinobi training, he already possessed jonin-level chakra.
The sight left Hyuga Akira deeply envious.
He did not know how Nagato possessed such an enormous amount of chakra, but what Nagato needed was someone to guide him.
"Become a Shinobi?" Nagato muttered quietly. That option had never been part of his plans for his life.
"Then what exactly are Shinobi?"
They knew Shinobi existed. Most people in this world knew about a group of people with supernatural powers called Shinobi.
But many people had no idea what they actually did.
They only knew that ninja were always killing people, a bunch of murderous maniacs.
"Shinobi, huh." Hyuga Akira tapped his rice bowl with his chopsticks, thought for a moment, and said, "They're a bunch of tools. Tools that constantly warp themselves."
In Hyuga Akira's eyes, the Shinobi of this world defined themselves as tools.
And the people using those tools were the daimyo, nobles, and merchants.
It was clearly people of those three stations who kept fighting for power and profit.
They used tools called Shinobi to constantly seize things from one another.
That also caused the conflicts to expand and gradually intensify.
Just like the coming war, which had nothing to do with Shinobi themselves. They only waged war against one another as tools of the daimyo.
What the war determined was not the standing of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but the relative standing of the Five Great Nations.
Whichever Ninja Village won the war would obtain spoils from the opposing Ninja Village, but those were only a small portion.
The ones who truly obtained the greatest spoils were the nations' daimyo.
Shinobi carried out the offensives and defenses, and Shinobi died in the war, yet the greatest benefits ultimately went to the daimyo and other nobles who had nothing to do with it.
And this had not happened just once.
The Shinobi class had the ability to determine the course of an entire nation, yet they defined themselves as tools. Because of the nobility's relationships, Shinobi repeatedly engaged in conflicts and even wars.
The crucial point was that these tools had minds of their own.
In this social environment, their thinking began to twist continuously, ultimately producing quite a few mentally ill people.
For example, Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, Nagato Uzumaki, and others.
Setting aside whether their actions were right or wrong, their mental states were definitely not normal.
Why were they all connected to the Uchiha?
They really were the evil Uchiha.
Of course, many others were also mentally unwell. These few were simply the most representative, and they had caused the greatest impact.
"Tools?" Nagato looked at Hyuga Akira in bewilderment.
He was only a child and could not understand the deeper meaning hidden within those words at all.
It was like talking to a brick wall.
"Uh..." Hyuga Akira scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Let's discuss that some other time. So, do you want the power to protect your family?"
He could only try a different way of enticing Nagato.
"Yes." After thinking it over, Nagato agreed. He also really wanted to protect his family.
"Come out with me after we finish eating."
Hyuga Akira wore a smile of unclear meaning.
There was a cave outside the city that Hyuga Akira had discovered while out with Kusen.
Neither of them had paid it much attention at the time.
Now Hyuga Akira had chosen it as the place to teach Nagato.
"Teacher, why did we have to leave the city?" Nagato asked curiously.
"Because it would be inconvenient," Hyuga Akira answered. "When you become a Shinobi, it won't be so you can show off to other people. You must hide your identity. You can only use this power when protecting your family."
Nagato nodded earnestly. He thought the same way.
"From now on, all your training will take place here."
Hyuga Akira began teaching Nagato. He did not have many ninjutsu at his disposal, so he only intended to teach him the Three Body Technique, taijutsu, and the Throwing Technique.
As long as Nagato learned these, he could become a decent genin. If he wanted to continue growing in the future, Jiraiya would presumably be more than willing.
The first day's instruction consisted only of testing Nagato's physical fitness and teaching him the chakra extraction technique.
Nagato did indeed have a great deal of chakra in his body, but that chakra was a consumable supply. Once used up, it would take a long time to replenish.
The chakra extraction technique could allow Nagato to recover quickly.
Only after the day ended did Hyuga Akira take Nagato home, then return to the High Tower alone.
Everything seemed to settle into a kind of calm.
The Wandering Ninja inside the city all behaved themselves, afraid of drawing attention, while Konoha beyond the border showed no signs of activity either.
Every day, Hyuga Akira simply glanced over the intelligence reports before going out to teach Nagato.
There was still no news from Hanzo.
After finishing another day of teaching Nagato, Hyuga Akira returned to the High Tower from outside.
The entire High Tower had fallen silent.
Hyuga Akira rubbed his brow. "What exactly is Hanzo doing?"
Not a single piece of information had arrived even now, and that instead made him somewhat impatient.
Whether you're taking me along or not, at least give me an answer.
Unfortunately, ever since he sent the message back, the other party had not made a peep. Hyuga Akira, who had originally been certain of how things would develop, was no longer so sure.
He walked over to the desk, sat down, and picked up the teapot to pour some tea.
Ripples spread across the blue-green matcha in the cup before it quickly grew still again.
Hyuga Akira sipped the tea, an expression of enjoyment appearing on his face. Drinking hot tea on a rainy day felt very comfortable.
It would have been even better if the tea had not been poisoned.
"Water Release: Water Shuriken!"
By the time he heard the voice, shuriken made of water had already broken through the ceiling and were hurtling toward the top of Hyuga Akira's head.
"Going all in?" Hyuga Akira flipped backward over his chair, which was shattered by the water shuriken.
But the shuriken formed from water did not disappear. Instead, they closely pursued Hyuga Akira.
Whoosh.
The Bronze Battle Blade suddenly appeared in his hand and instantly swept through several water shuriken, slicing them to pieces.
Hyuga Akira raised his eyes toward the people who had appeared in the office.
"Looks like you've made up your minds to kill me?"
Chapter 56: His Subordinates' Deadly Ambush
The flaxen-haired kunoichi stepped forward and said gravely, "Muyu, your existence is already threatening our survival, so you must die."
For genin like them, there was no grand cause of the Ninja Village. They had become ninja more for the sake of staying alive.
And this Muyu, who constantly caused trouble for them, was an extremely unwelcome presence.
What decent superior wanted to kill his own subordinates every day, even if this Muyu was only a temporary one?
During this time, they had worked hard to cooperate and give Hyuga Akira no opportunities to find fault, all to make him lower his guard.
This fellow had also been constantly looking for opportunities to kill them.
"Ah, why bother?" Hyuga Akira sighed. "If you'd held on a little longer, I might not have been here anymore."
Before you continue