Tsunade had left.
Hyuga Arin let out a deep breath.
With his current strength, he wasn't qualified to participate in a real war yet—but fortunately, there was still some time before large-scale fighting truly erupted.
What he needed was to follow Tsunade to the front lines, then find opportunities to level up quickly.
During the Second Shinobi World War, he had to grind his level as high as possible.
The higher the level, the greater the experience gains.
But before grinding levels—
The corners of his mouth slowly curled up, revealing snow-white teeth.
Konoha Year 37 was the year the Second Shinobi World War officially broke out.
It was also the year of Nawaki's death.
Among named characters, there were only two ninja ever killed by explosive tags.
One was Nawaki.
The other was Hidan—but that guy was merely blown to pieces and still lived.
So in the entire Naruto story, the only named character truly killed by explosive tags was Nawaki.
Of course, unnamed ones weren't counted—those never made it into the story.
For the sake of ensuring his future little brother could still wave flags and shout slogans behind him,
Hyuga Arin naturally had to teach him properly.
Nawaki, who had just woken up, stared at Hyuga Arin in confusion.
Especially when he saw Hyuga Arin's smile, he felt a chill down his spine.
Hyuga Arin directly extended his hand.
"Give me your allowance."
Nawaki instantly became alert.
"Big bro, what are you trying to do?"
That was money he'd saved up with great effort.
Hyuga Arin put on the look of a local tyrant.
"When I tell you to give it, you give it. Don't talk so much."
Mainly because he was really poor and needed to buy some tools.
Nawaki was unwilling, but still handed over his allowance in the end.
After all, Hyuga Arin was the big brother he acknowledged.
Seeing the fifty thousand ryō in his hand, Hyuga Arin nodded in satisfaction.
"Go to the academy today and take three days off. Then follow me.
Before we leave, I'm going to put you through special training."
"Finally, no more reading!!"
Nawaki cheered excitedly and flung his book away.
During this time, whenever Hyuga Arin studied, he dragged Nawaki along without mercy.
Hyuga Arin looked at Nawaki's excited expression.
Laugh while you can.
Tomorrow, you won't be laughing anymore.
…
The next day, before dawn.
Hyuga Arin led them out the door, then hesitated slightly as he looked at the little radish trailing behind Nawaki.
Uzumaki Kushina.
"What's her situation?" Hyuga Arin asked.
Nawaki scratched his head.
"Grandma Mito told me to bring her along to train with you."
Uzumaki Mito, huh?
Hyuga Arin looked at the timid-looking Kushina.
Despite her weak appearance, he knew very well she was the kind who would take revenge after school.
"Then here's the real question."
Hyuga Arin turned expressionlessly toward a blond boy.
"And what's his situation?"
The blond smiled brightly.
"Hello, senior! I'm Namikaze Minato.
I'm Nawaki's little brother—uh, subordinate."
Hyuga Arin eyed Nawaki suspiciously.
"They haven't even finished learning everything at the academy yet, right?"
The way he'd subdued Nawaki was by beating him into submission.
And Nawaki had clearly taken that behavior and expanded on it.
Before Hyuga Arin graduated that year, he already knew Nawaki had established his own "organization."
As far as Hyuga Arin knew, in order to defeat Nawaki and reach the top of the Ninja Academy,
multiple factions had already formed.
At this point, it wasn't a ninja academy anymore—it was a hot-blooded ninja academy.
Seeing Hyuga Arin's suspicious gaze, Nawaki knew he was being doubted and flushed red as he defended himself:
"Big bro, this kid challenged me first!
After he lost, he became my subordinate!"
"Don't look at him like he's small—he's strong. Even in our grade, not many can beat him."
He slung an arm around Minato's shoulders.
"He's the one who'll inherit my position and climb to the top of the academy—
to become the Third Generation!"
The First Generation was Hyuga Arin.
What kind of underworld boss succession ceremony was this?
Hyuga Arin fell into deep thought.
Had he… corrupted the children?
…
Inside the Ninja Academy.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had a headache as he looked at the damage reports in his hand.
"'Inuzuka Faction challenged the Nawaki Faction, destroying classroom property'—
what in the world is all this?"
The grade director beside him said awkwardly:
"Nawaki-sama is now at the top of the academy and has announced that he welcomes all challengers.
The Inuzuka Faction was just one of them."
The academy was now full of factions:
the Inuzuka Faction, the Ino–Shika–Chō Faction, the Uchiha Faction, the Hyuga Faction.
The strongest was the Nawaki Faction.
Second strongest was the Uchiha Faction.
"Should we stop them? At least issue a warning?"
The director was getting a headache too. The main reason all this happened was Nawaki.
That was the First Hokage's grandson—what could he really do?
He knew the real culprit was Hyuga Arin.
But the one who actually caused this fragmented power structure… was Nawaki.
Something about "inheriting Hyuga Arin's will."
It was hard to evaluate.
Could only say—worthy of the First Hokage's bloodline.
"Call Nawaki here," Sarutobi said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"How did this child become like this? The academy is about to split apart."
The director said awkwardly:
"Nawaki-sama… took three days off."
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.
"Call Tsunade to see me!!"
Two ANBU appeared instantly before him.
"Yes!"
They answered in unison, then vanished.
…
Inside the Forest of Death.
Both Hyuga Arin and Nawaki shuddered at the same time.
They exchanged a glance, feeling that some great calamity was approaching.
Hyuga Arin asked solemnly,
"Nawaki, have you caused any trouble recently?"
Nawaki searched his memories.
Recently, he'd only defeated the Inuzuka Faction. After school, he went straight home to study.
Where would he find time to cause trouble?
He shook his head.
"No."
Hyuga Arin frowned and thought for a moment as well.
He'd been behaving lately too—no mistakes.
"Probably just our imagination."
A shared illusion.
Minato looked curiously at the towering trees around them.
He knew the Forest of Death by reputation—it was a restricted area.
Wild beasts and ninja beasts lived here.
Ordinary people entering would face real danger.
They arrived at a secluded spot.
Hyuga Arin said to the three of them:
"From today onward, we'll be spending three days here.
During these three days, I'll give you special training."
"You need to be mentally prepared.
One mistake—and you could die."
As he spoke, killing intent surged from his body, enveloping the three of them.
Their bodies stiffened for a moment.
"I won't die! I'm going to become the first female Hokage in Konoha's history—dattebayo!"
Realizing something, Uzumaki Kushina quickly covered her mouth—
she'd accidentally let her verbal tic slip again.
Hyuga Arin didn't mind. His face was instead filled with cold menace.
"For the next three days, you only need to do one thing."
"Catch me."
"If you catch me even once, you'll receive rewards from me—
food, ninja tools, treatment, and equipment."
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