Two full days of nonstop farming later…
Hyūga Ming had barely scraped together 545 experience points.
Some of it came from Minato and Kushina—both had been farmed all the way down to 1 EXP.
The rest came from wild animals.
He had practically cleared the outer Forest of Death.
No second chakra beast appeared.
Only useless drops—wolf fur, tiger hides, boar meat.
"If I want more," Hyūga Ming muttered, "I'll have to go deeper."
In the end, he gave up and led the three out of the forest.
"We… survived…" Kushina said tearfully.
Her once-cute face was covered in grime, clothes shredded, wounds everywhere.
"We improved a lot," Minato said quietly.
Hyūga Ming nodded.
Minato's growth had been explosive.
EXP drops reset:
104 → 52 → 26 → 13 → 5 → 1.
Kushina improved too—just not as dramatically.
As for Nawaki…
"I want Ichiraku ramen," he said cheerfully.
"You're paying," Kushina declared.
Hyūga Ming added calmly,
"Your allowance is already gone."
Nawaki froze.
A cold wind blew.
Tears streamed down his face.
At Ichiraku Ramen—
"Another bowl!" Nawaki and Kushina shouted in unison.
Minato stared at the towering stack of empty bowls in silence.
"Large chakra reserves usually come with large appetites," Hyūga Ming explained casually.
Senju blood.
Uzumaki blood.
Both were perfect examples.
"Oh…" Minato said, suddenly relieved.
Hyūga Ming checked his panel.
[Name: I'm Hyūga Ming]
[Level: 13]
[Chakra: 130/130]
[Skills: Gentle Fist (Lv5), Substitution (Lv10), Fire Release: Unknown Fire (Lv4), Medical Ninjutsu (Lv1), Bear Grapple (Lv1)…]
[Experience Pool: 1915]
Not enough to level up.
Tomorrow, it was back to missions.
He was top-tier among genin—but still no match for most chūnin.
"Big brother," Nawaki said happily,
"I'll be a ninja next year and follow in your footsteps!"
"Then we'll conquer the entire ninja world!"
…Yeah. He'd definitely corrupted this kid.
Hyūga Ming sighed.
Probably.
Hopefully Tsunade wouldn't kill him for it.
Elsewhere—
BOOM!
Tsunade sent Jiraiya flying with a kick.
"Ow—!" Jiraiya groaned.
Orochimaru watched calmly from a tree.
"Tsunade… why so angry?"
"My idiot弟弟's big brother."
"…Hyūga Ming?"
"That brat's ideas are dangerous," she muttered.
"I'm worried about Nawaki."
"Then separate them?" Jiraiya suggested.
"I won't control Nawaki's life," she said quietly.
"I just want him to live."
She cracked her knuckles.
Jiraiya whimpered.
Orochimaru dropped down.
"The Third wants me to teach Nawaki next year."
"I'll keep an eye on him."
"And make sure," he added softly,
"he doesn't go down the wrong path."
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