Hyuga Fu chuckled, swatting Aokawa on the head.
"Besides, your old man isn't going alone. Uncle Shunpei and Uncle Ryoya should be back by now. With them, it's a walk in the park."
Hara Shunpei and Oizumi Ryoya.
They were Fu's teammates from his active duty days. Forged in blood and fire, their bond was stronger than steel. Even after Fu was crippled and retired, they kept in touch.
Earlier in the month, seeing Fu struggle, they had offered to carry him through a higher-paying C-Rank mission. But a sudden border rotation had delayed them until now.
Aokawa let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
With a full squad, it's different.
Fu still had his skills; he just lacked mobility. If Shunpei and Ryoya acted as the legs—chasing down stragglers and securing the perimeter—Fu could focus on being a stationary turret or command hub.
"Still," Aokawa pressed, "The mission has been pending for a while. The intel might be stale. Be careful, Dad."
"Relax. You haven't even graduated, and you're lecturing me on op-sec?"
"Dad... about the pension cut. Did they give a reason?"
Fu's pension wasn't charity. It was blood money. He lost his leg protecting a Main House member. That sacrifice ended his career.
Cutting it by 50% was an insult.
"The Clan Head visited personally," Fu said, his voice void of emotion. "He said the clan needs funds to upgrade security protocols because of the 'Caged Bird Bounty' scare. Slashing pensions is our way of 'helping the family'."
"Did the Main House cut their expenses?" Aokawa asked sharply.
"He didn't say. But I heard the Clan Head 'led by example' and reduced his own garden maintenance budget."
"Of course." Aokawa's eyes grew cold. Cutting the gardener's budget vs. cutting a cripple's lifeline.
"Be content. Since Hiashi took over, this is the only cut. Under the previous head, it happened every other month."
Fu patted Aokawa's shoulder, a gesture of heavy resignation.
"This is the Hyuga. Main House above, Branch House below. We are servants."
"If you don't want this fate, you have to carve a unique path."
Fu sighed, looking out the window at the distant Main House estate.
"Your father couldn't do it. But maybe you can."
Konoha Training Ground 3.
"YOOOUUUTH!"
Two figures were handstand-running laps around the field. One was a blur of green spandex; the other was a blur of white robes, trailing behind like a dying ghost.
Might Guy. The Blue Beast of Konoha.
In the multiverse of transmigrators, Guy was the ultimate contact. If you wanted strong Taijutsu, you befriended Guy.
A few nights ago, Aokawa had successfully unlocked the "Friendship Route" with a few well-placed compliments about Youth and Hard Work.
Since then, Guy had adopted him as a "Rival for Life."
"Aokawa! I feel my youth boiling! Let's do another 100 laps of Youthful Running!"
"I... can't..."
Aokawa collapsed face-first into the dirt, panting like a dog in a heatwave.
"No... more..."
Guy, who was barely sweating, gave a thumbs up. "This is just the warm-up! If you rest now, your youth will rust!"
"Let it rust..." Aokawa wheezed.
He watched enviously as Guy began doing one-fingered pushups while waiting for him to recover.
The man is a monster.
Physical training was a science of destruction and repair.
Supercompensation. You stress the muscle, damage it slightly, and the body rebuilds it stronger.
The trick was the "slightly."
Too little stress = No growth.
Too much stress = Injury and regression.
Guy's superpower wasn't just his work ethic; it was his body's insane recovery rate. He could destroy himself daily and wake up stronger.
Aokawa didn't have that recovery factor (yet). But he had an advantage Guy didn't.
Innate Full Spirit.
His massive spiritual energy gave him perfect proprioception. He could feel exactly when his muscle fibers were at the breaking point. He knew the precise moment to stop to maximize gains without snapping a tendon.
He was training with surgical precision.
As he lay there, catching his breath, blue text scrolled across his vision.