"…Alright then."
Rin thought it over and finally relented. "But Obito, you have to listen seriously when we go. Don't disturb other people. If you disrupt the class like you do at school and make it hard for everyone to learn, I will get mad, okay?"
"Yesss!"
Obito pumped his fist hard, then hurriedly agreed again and again. "I'll definitely listen properly! Then I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Oh—right. We're leaving at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Don't be late."
"Okay!"
Obito finally skipped off, bouncing away.
Mikami Yuu and Rin exchanged a look and both sighed faintly. Then they nodded goodbye and returned to their own yards.
After he went in, Mikami Yuu greeted his mother, Mikami Aoi, told her a few things that happened today, washed up in a hurry, then flopped onto his bed in a big starfish sprawl.
"Today really was packed."
"Transformation Technique, Clone Technique, Substitution Technique, and Great Fireball… goodnight. Sweet dreams."
[Transformation Technique: Mm. Sleep well, Mikami-chan.]
[Transformation Technique Affection +1]
…
Early the next morning.
The sun was bright.
Kreee—!
A ninja hawk beat its wings across the sky above Konoha and landed at the rooftop railing of the Hokage Building.
An Anbu operative stepped forward, removed the sealed letter from the hawk's leg, sent it to the Intelligence Division to decode the cipher, then delivered the resulting report to the desk in the Hokage's office.
"Good work."
Hiruzen Sarutobi—who still didn't look quite so old yet—nodded and took the document, scanning it at a glance.
"Land of Lightning again… Looks like those Clouds have been getting a little restless lately."
"How are things on Minato's side?"
At Hiruzen's question, the Anbu wearing a dog-faced mask bowed his head immediately. "Reporting to the Third, Minato-sama has already led his team into the Cloud region and made contact with our informant there. If nothing goes wrong, he should retrieve the intel within the next few days."
"Good. Report to me the moment there's news."
Hiruzen gave the order. After the Anbu acknowledged and left, he lit his pipe and took a few deep pulls.
It had been six or seven years since the Second Great Ninja War ended.
For the ninja world—which had only just left the Warring States era less than fifty years ago—this kind of long peace was rare.
And in the last few months, all kinds of subtle signs had made Hiruzen—who had lived from before Konoha was founded and had experienced two Great Ninja Wars—smell something unusual in the air.
"Could it be…"
Was another Great Ninja War about to begin?
Hiruzen exhaled a restless ring of smoke, rubbed his brow, then casually picked up another file—
This one had been sent over from the Ninja Academy this morning: a routine testing report. He'd been too busy to read it yet.
"I wonder how that brat Asuma has been doing lately…"
"Let's see… first place in the grade this time is… Mikami Yuu?"
Hiruzen recognized the name.
Not for any special reason—mainly because this Mikami Yuu kid had an unusually deep understanding of the "Will of Fire." Especially that short essay on last semester's final exam, which praised the Konoha leadership centered on Hiruzen to the skies—Hiruzen had been quite pleased with it.
Mm… only slightly worse than Asuma's essay from two years ago, My Hokage Father.
But precisely because he'd noticed Mikami Yuu before, Hiruzen also knew the boy's imbalance was severe. Even while he consistently held first place in written classes, he usually ranked outside the top ten in practical combat. His overall score tended to hover around fourth or fifth.
In other words…
If Mikami Yuu could raise his combat ranking into the top three, his overall score would be a very steady first place.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to.
There were precedents for that kind of student.
Their post-graduation paths usually leaned toward desk work—like signal decryption in Intelligence, or staying at the Ninja Academy as a teacher. A small number with stronger scientific aptitude would go to Konoha's research institute to assist Orochimaru with experiments.
But this time…
"Deep understanding and skilled use of the Three Basic Jutsu; sharp tactical thinking; spontaneously improved the hand seals for Substitution Technique… suspected talent for space-time ninjutsu?"
Oh?
That's a pretty high evaluation.
Space-time ninjutsu wasn't exactly common.
It was rarer and stronger than the five elemental natures—and even more so than ordinary Yin–Yang Release. In the decades since Konoha's founding, there had really only been two people with outstanding accomplishments in that field: the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and Jiraiya's student, Namikaze Minato.
Minato had risen to jōnin in his teens largely on the back of Flying Thunder God, and now was even starting to carry the nickname "Yellow Flash." If another talent like that appeared, what it would mean was obvious.
Still…
"Substitution Technique and space-time ninjutsu don't work on the same principle. Just being good at the former doesn't mean you can learn Flying Thunder God…
"But since Ooki and Himura both say this, it might be worth making time to meet this child and see whether he truly has the potential to become an excellent ninja."
That was what Hiruzen thought.
…
At the same time,
in the Hyūga clan compound.
Hyūga Kamon splashed water on his face, looked at his slightly worn, troubled expression in the mirror, and finally stepped out of his house. He headed to the nearby home of his older cousin, Hyūga Hizashi.
"Kamon, you're here."
Hizashi—around seventeen or eighteen—was practicing Gentle Fist in the yard. The wooden training dummy opposite him was already covered in dents and scars.
Seeing this, Kamon didn't step forward right away. He waited to the side until Hizashi stopped, then quickly handed him a towel and bowed in greeting.
"Morning, Cousin Hizashi."
"Morning. What is it—training trouble again? Tell me."
Hizashi wiped his sweat and spoke casually.
As branch-family cousins, Hizashi and Kamon were close and often discussed training questions together. Since Hizashi was a few years older and had become a ninja first, he usually played the "teacher" role.
So naturally, he assumed his younger cousin had come again to ask for advice.
And in fact…
"…I do have something troubling me."
Kamon pressed his lips together and asked, "Cousin Hizashi… in what situation would the Byakugan be unable to distinguish an enemy right in front of you who has used the Transformation Technique?"
"…?"
Hizashi froze. "What do you mean?"
~~~
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