HSU: Ch. 343

Kaguya felt that, as the base camp of those rebellious children, Konoha had quite a few praiseworthy qualities. The people of this world were truly quite talented when it came to food. For just a fleeting moment, she thought, perhaps for the first time, that turning humans into White Zetsu might be a bit of a waste.

And then she saw Hiashi and Hizashi.

"You two are very weak, yet your lives are unexpectedly tenacious. And you appear before me like this? Your courage is not small."

"Kaguya-hime, these two are the heads of the Hyūga clan's main house and branch house, your descendants," Masashi quickly reminded. "Hiashi, this is Kaguya-hime, someone from the Hyūga lineage whom I encountered outside."

He wasn't reminding Kaguya. He was reminding Hiashi and Hizashi. Working together for years, Hiashi and Hizashi immediately picked up the subtext in Masashi's words. Whether she was truly from their lineage or not could be discussed later. Given this level of power, calling it an atavism wouldn't even be an exaggeration.

And it was impossible she was unrelated to the Hyūga. With that aura, and those eyes, if she wasn't connected to the Hyūga, that would be the ridiculous thing. But identity confirmation could wait. Getting beaten was the immediate threat.

A dull mind could never become the Hyūga clan head, nor the branch house chief.

"Kaguya-hime, we were rude. Please forgive us."

They admitted defeat instantly. Not like this was the first time. They had long been used to giving in. This was just repeating the routine. After all, this was one of the Hyūga clan's trademark skills.

"Are such spineless people truly Hamura's descendants?" Kaguya clearly disliked this attitude.

She had never bowed to anyone in her life. Her children were similar, bold enough to defy even their own mother. Hagoromo and Hamura were rebellious, yes, but they were also fierce. If they were told not to pass something on, they insisted on passing it on. Which eventually turned into a nationwide-scale domestic dispute. And Hagoromo's two sons, Asura and Indra, were cut from the same mold, stubborn to the bone, refusing to yield no matter what.

Not to mention the Uchiha she had seen in Masashi's memories. They were also a hardheaded bunch whose fists moved faster than their brains whenever conflict arose.

She did not dislike such personalities.

But the two Hyūga before her were... Such cowardice!

She had tossed out a casual illusion, an extremely light one, and this was the result?

Were they really bearers of Ōtsutsuki blood?

"I'd better just go to your clan's territory. Seeing them, I doubt they're Hamura's children. Perhaps there's been a mistake."

"No mistake. They are genuine descendants of the Ōtsutsuki," Masashi said.

As for the surname "Ōtsutsuki," Hiashi and Hizashi reacted quite differently. Hizashi had no impression of the name at all, and looked to his older brother. Hiashi, on the other hand, stared in shock at Masashi and Kaguya. That the Hyūga originated from a clan called Ōtsutsuki was information known only to each generation's clan leader and the main house elders, a top-secret matter.

This was also why relations between the Hyūga and Kaguya clans had always been good. They knew they were once relatives.

Back then, the Hyūga had even requested the Third Hokage to accept the Kaguya clan into Konoha. At the time, the Kaguya were already being ostracized in the Land of Water, not only by civilians but even by other bloodline clans.

From the Hyūga's perspective, given the political climate in the Land of Water, if Hiruzen had intervened, the Fourth Mizukage might have released them. If the Kaguya had joined Konoha, it would have benefitted both the Hyūga and the village. Hyūga would gain close kin and allies, and Konoha would gain much-needed mid-tier combat power. Of course, after discussing it with his advisers, Hiruzen politely refused the Hyūga's request.

In short, the Hyūga, masters of survival, took great pride in their history and placed immense importance on their bloodline's origins. Although the "Ōtsutsuki" heritage had never strengthened them physically, it remained a source of hope.

The Uchiha gained power through emotion. The Hyūga believed their strength lay hidden in history. Legend said that their ancestors, the Ōtsutsuki, once possessed power that looked down upon all creation. For the Hyūga, "overlook" meant invincible across the entire world.

Thus, the Hyūga clan had always sought ways to improve the purity of their bloodline.

Hiashi had never imagined that in his lifetime he would hear someone outside the Hyūga clan claim, right to his face, that the Hyūga were descendants of the Ōtsutsuki.

Hearing these words from Masashi's mouth at this moment carried implications that were terrifying upon close thought.

"Kaguya-hime?" Hiashi asked nervously, "May I ask your surname?"

But Kaguya completely ignored him.

"Let's go, Masashi. I want to see where you live."

"Understood..." Seeing Kaguya in this mood, Masashi knew this was not a good time to dump responsibility onto the Hyūga.

Giving Hiashi a look that meant "we'll talk later," he resumed his duties as tour guide, only this time, heading toward the Uchiha compound. Hiashi watched their figures disappear into the flow of pedestrians and remained speechless for a long time.

Today's revelations were simply too much. He needed to digest it all.

"Ni-san?" Hizashi didn't get a reply, but to him, that was already the best possible response.

So, turns out their clan didn't originally have the surname Hyūga?

Hizashi suddenly felt that being born into a big clan was exhausting. Even their damn surname was fake.

Shaking his head, he left behind the dazed Hiashi and went home. Not that he lacked brotherly affection, but Hiashi had been like this since childhood. If you didn't let him stand there long enough, he simply wouldn't respond.

Hiashi stood alone in a trance. Hizashi went home to his wife and son. Meanwhile, Masashi brought Kaguya through the commercial district and arrived at the entrance to the Uchiha compound. Due to its unique history, the Uchiha district's design was particularly distinctive within Konoha.

Unlike other clans, who either didn't live separately or, if they did, made efforts to minimize their separateness in the villagers' eyes, the Uchiha simply didn't care.

Their district was designed like a village within a village, effectively a military base.

Everywhere, it proclaimed the presence of the Uchiha. The sturdy walls were painted with the clan's fan emblem, and the hanging banners bore the pattern of the three-tomoe Sharingan. They wanted people eight hundred meters away to know: This is Uchiha territory.

This was something even Masashi could not change.

Displaying individuality was a conviction the Uchiha would never abandon.

The moment Kaguya saw the wall, she felt pleased. Her descendants, rebellious or not, should at least get the vibe right. And this vibe was very right.

Though the walls weren't higher or harder to observe than those around Konoha as a whole, she could clearly see Uchiha ninjas patrolling near them.

Ever since the Second Hokage's era, the Uchiha had lived in a semi-battle-ready state. By now it was habitual. This mindset earned Kaguya's approval.

"You're finally back!" A delighted voice came from ahead. Inoka appeared, running full-speed toward them. "Yosuke got into a fight at school!"

Inoka hadn't even had time to ask why Masashi had brought back a Hyūga girl.

"Hurry and go pick Yosuke up. Sigh, that kid is so stubborn."

"He got into a fight?" Masashi blinked. "How did that happen?"

His son was so well-behaved. How could he get into a fight on his first day of school?

Impossible. Yosuke took after him, extremely quiet.

Back when he was in school, he barely spoke at all, practically transparent.

"Probably started with an argument." Inoka rubbed his temples at the thought. "The real issue is not just the fight. Apparently it happened because Hanabi got into a fight with someone. Several kids from different families joined in. Even the Hokage got involved."

Hmm?

Hanabi was a typical prodigy, run through the process and graduate early. But how did his new-first-year son get involved with her? And even fight on her side?

Masashi was baffled.

"Hanabi?" Kaguya didn't mind Inoka ignoring her, especially after she'd just seen Hiashi and Hizashi earlier.

She liked unruly ones. Those were worth her attention.

Masashi sighed. "Kaguya-hime, I'll take you to the clan head first, then I need to pick up my son."

With Fugaku's steadiness, and Sasuke being Indra's chakra reincarnation, he felt she'd be safe there.

Didn't they handle Madara well too?

Hmm? Had he just discovered the correct way to use the chakra reincarnations of Indra?

No wonder Naruto was so strong in the original timeline. He must have been unconsciously using his identity as Asura's reincarnation very correctly.

"No, I'm more interested in this 'school' you mentioned." After being confined for over a thousand years, Kaguya had no interest in staying indoors. She wanted to move. "I shall go with you. I am curious to see how you educate your child."

---

For the Ninja Academy, students getting into fights was an unavoidable everyday occurrence. A whole village of ninjas might all respect one particular person, but they definitely would not all respect an entire clan.

A clan is a clan, and an individual is an individual. Especially when it's a bunch of brats. Particularly boys.

The "Friendship Punch" was definitely the first taijutsu technique boys learned at school and mastered thoroughly. Whether you had many friends depended on how well you used it.

From this point of view, Yosuke truly took after Masashi.

Everyone knew that Masashi had a wide social circle, and this talent had already shown itself back when he was in the Ninja Academy. Of course, given the environment the Uchiha clan was in back then, the friendships he formed at school were not very stable.

That couldn't be helped.

Everyone had a family. No matter how unique their personality was, they couldn't fully separate themselves from their clan's stance. Only after Fugaku became the Hokage Assistant did those old friendships bloom again, though naturally, they were no longer what they once were.

When Masashi arrived at the Academy, he found he was already one of the later ones. A whole bunch of parents were already there. Because there were too many people, the Academy had no choice but to empty out a large classroom for them to chat in.

No one really thought the fight was a big deal, but since the school had notified them, they had to show up. These parents, who clearly had zero concern about the kids' scuffle, immediately turned the scene into a school reunion. Seeing how familiar everyone looked with one another, anyone who didn't know better would have thought this was a gathering of future in-laws.

He had just stepped through the door when a man squeezed in from the side.

"Masashi!" he boomed. "I heard... Eh? And who's this?"

He had spotted the person who came with Masashi.

"This is Kaguya-hime," Masashi introduced helplessly.

Kaguya's aura did not fit in with the rest of the room at all. After all, she was only used to two situations when it came to crowds. Either everyone worshipped her, or she beat up everyone. This kind of situation where no one was worshipping and no one was fighting was something she wasn't used to, and found boring. But she did have one good trait: she kept her word. She herself had said she wanted to see this, so she would endure it.

"Kaguya-hime..." the man murmured as understanding dawned. "Ah, I get it, she's the one you ran into outside the village."

"Oh? You know about that too?"

"Come on, there are only so many families in the village. And when you talked about it at the gates, so many people heard you. By now? Of course everyone knows."

Masashi found this very reasonable.

Konoha's structure was no longer what it used to be, and so relations between clans were fairly harmonious. With no conflict, people didn't bother keeping secrets very strictly.

"Speaking of which, Matsuyama, they said the kids fought. What exactly happened?"

The man's name was Akimichi Matsuyama. Although he acted very familiar with Masashi, the two were not that close. They had only gotten along well back when they were students at the Academy. As one of Konoha's taijutsu clans, the Akimichi relied on secret techniques and burst strength, and that burst depended on accumulated energy, meaning their children tended to be on the weaker side early on. But back then, Masashi liked hanging out with kids like that, considered it early investment. Even if it didn't pan out, he wouldn't lose anything.

"How should I know?" Matsuyama was also confused. "Honestly, isn't the Academy supposed to teach them how to fight anyway? Why call us in for something like this?"

"Well said." Masashi gave him a thumbs-up. "When you see the Fourth Hokage later, remember to scold him. This proves he's doing a bad job as principal."

"I'll wait until you become the principal before I do that..." Matsuyama laughed awkwardly and escaped before Masashi exploded.

Masashi, of course, didn't explode. He was already numb. Besides, he had more important things to do. Changing Kaguya's way of thinking was extremely difficult, unrelated to her strength.

All he could do was change her view of people.

Why did she create the White Zetsu? Simply because she believed the people of this world were less valuable than the Zetsu. To her, a species that provided no positive benefit was worthless. She was an alien, after all. But people a thousand years later were completely different.

Society always moves forward.

From her behavior, it was clear she wasn't inherently antisocial. It was just that in ancient times, nothing existed that could move her heart or let her feel the refinement of life.

And the Ōtsutsuki clan was a mature civilization.

For some reason, the Academy staff still hadn't shown up yet. Other than reminiscing with his old school buddies about their warm and lively youth, Masashi really had nothing to do. If he had to do something, it was appeasing Kaguya. But she was calmer than he had expected.

As time passed, people gradually stopped chatting and rested in the classroom. Being a "newcomer," Kaguya didn't receive much attention. Instead, she showed some interest in the Ninja Academy.

"I see. So this is where you train ninjas." Sitting in a seat, she listened to Masashi's detailed explanation of how the Academy operated and seemed to approve somewhat. She said, "No wonder there are so many, hm, chakra users now. Do all the ninja villages have such schools?"

"Of course. Every year many graduate from them and become ninjas," Masashi replied.

The Academy was the one institution common to every ninja village.

And as the number of ninjas increased, more and more children entered these schools. By now, across the shinobi world, several thousand people became full ninjas or reservists this way each year. Kaguya compared this and concluded that in this regard, ninjas were far more valuable than White Zetsu. Because ninjas had much higher potential. People like Masashi could even become useful assistants in her wars.

"I am becoming more and more interested in this school," Kaguya said with some enthusiasm. "Go tell the people here that I wish to see how they train their students."

"Well, I'll do my best," Masashi said, realizing Kaguya's interests always came out of nowhere. "Why don't you try becoming a teacher?"

Kaguya looked at him with a half-smile. Masashi understood instantly.

At that moment, the classroom door opened.

"So sorry..." A Ninja Academy instructor hurried inside. "Thank you all for waiting."

Strictly speaking, "instructor" wasn't the right word. He was closer to the school's disciplinarian. Yet standing before a classroom full of parents, even he seemed uncertain.

Of course he did. There were more than a dozen jonin in the room, and not a single parent below chunin rank. After all, the children involved in the fight were all from several major clans. Or more precisely, every single child from those big clans who could have joined the fight, did join the fight. They basically held a "Konoha Ninja Clan Battle Royale" right inside the school.

"The children have calmed down. Please follow me to another room."

"Okabe-san, we all graduated from this school. It's just kids fighting. Do you really need to make such a fuss?" one parent immediately complained.

What that parent said perfectly captured everyone's thoughts.

You could call this place a school, but more bluntly, it was a "combat training club." Holding a parent-teacher meeting over a little fight? Ridiculous.

The Konoha Hospital was located next to the Ninja Academy for a reason. Everyone here had ended up in that hospital at least once during their school years.

Kaguya, meanwhile, stared at the instructor with visible confusion in her eyes.

Only the strong can create strong successors.

Someone this weak, wasn't that just training weaklings?

"There aren't only teachers at the school," Masashi explained immediately when he saw her expression. "There are staff responsible for helping the institution run."

"Too weak," Kaguya said bluntly. "How can someone like that command respect?"

"The highest authority of the Academy is the Hokage. He's, uh, about on my level, more or less."

"Ah. I see." Kaguya found this far more acceptable.

As for the second half of that sentence, she simply pretended she hadn't heard it. Other than her two children long ago, Masashi was clearly the strongest individual she had seen in this world. She hadn't bothered lowering her voice, so her comment was heard clearly by everyone present. Every year many students graduated from the Academy, and while some became jonin, almost none ever openly belittled the school this way. But once everyone saw the unfamiliar woman who spoke, and then saw Masashi standing beside her, they instantly understood.

Ah, the newcomer who arrived today.

And clearly someone not from the shinobi world at all. Even the disciplinarian didn't think she was mocking him.

The only mystery was why Masashi had brought a complete outsider to a parent meeting.

Could the rumor about the new wife be true?

Most people didn't believe that rumor. But Kaguya's behavior today made them wonder. After all, even civilians knew about the Ninja Academy.

"Please follow the teachers by the door," the disciplinarian urged again, seeing the conversation drifting wildly off topic.

The parents all stood up. They had already come this far, so they might as well.

Masashi rose last. Mainly because the doorway was narrow, and he feared that if anyone brushed too close to Kaguya, she might unleash a Shinra Tensei out of annoyance. But just as he reached the doorway, the disciplinarian stopped him.

"Okabe-san, now what?" Masashi asked helplessly.

"It's the Hokage's order," Okabe said, equally helpless. "You can rest assured about Yosuke. He's just like you were. He fights without making noise. I know this type well. From now on, I'll personally oversee his studies to make sure he graduates smoothly."

Masashi's face burned with embarrassment.

A former teacher becoming disciplinarian was very inconvenient when trying to maintain one's image.

"I explained countless times: I only ever fought in self-defense. I never started anything."

Okabe smiled silently.

True, you never started the fights. But you also never avoided them. Was there ever a fight you didn't join?

"The Hokage instructed that when you arrive, you should go straight to him. Oh, and this lady as well. The Hokage already knows about her. He wants to meet her."

Masashi glanced at Kaguya.

"The leader of this village? I also wish to meet him." Kaguya nodded. "Lead the way."

"Please follow me," Okabe said.

Kaguya and Masashi followed him through a different corridor from the other parents and entered the administrative wing of the Academy.

He stopped at a door and knocked.

"Come in."

The voice belonged to Minato.

Okabe opened the door, but Minato was not alone. Hiruzen, sat inside as well. Both wore serious expressions.

Okabe opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly felt his body seize up. Kaguya had extended chakra from herself, forming a massive hand that seized Okabe and pulled him aside. And that was her truly holding back.

If she used even a little more force, this man would be "Okabe paste."

After removing him, Kaguya's figure appeared before the two Hokage, her Byakugan sweeping them from head to toe.

Minato and Hiruzen also immediately turned their focus toward her.

"Masashi, is this your Hokage?" Kaguya asked, her gaze lingering only briefly on Hiruzen and spending more time studying Minato.

This person carried traces of senjutsu chakra.

Masashi appeared instantly beside her, stepping between her and Minato.

"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?"

"Masashi, you're here." Minato looked away from Kaguya and addressed Masashi seriously. "Yes, there is something important. Do you remember the retirement plan you proposed? I discussed it with the Shodaime, Nidaime, and Sandaime. And I've decided, it's time for me to retire."