Konoha: Start from untying the caged bird

Page 192

"What exactly did you see?!" Naruto Uzumaki pressed on relentlessly.

Hyuga Yuzuru, looking as if recalling something, guessed and said, "It goes up to the part where Hinata tells you, 'I've always believed that Naruto-kun can become an excellent Hokage.'"

"Then you basically saw everything!!" Naruto Uzumaki looked genuinely angry, and Yuzuru Hyuga smiled and put his hands together, saying, "Sorry, sorry, I was just curious... After all, it would be such a shame if I couldn't see this after all the effort I put into bringing you two together, wouldn't it?"

"I knew it! Those things in the illusion world were definitely something you did on purpose, Yuzuru-nii..." Naruto Uzumaki said angrily, then sighed and straightened his back like a shrew: "But we didn't do anything, you know."

Whether or not I should be with Hinata... I don't know about that kind of future stuff.

It's probably a relationship that's more than friends but less than lovers.

However, given Hyuga Yuzuru's understanding of Naruto, coupled with the fact that it's easy for a woman to pursue a man, and the fact that they are both members of Kakashi's team, their relationship should develop quickly.

congratulations.

Hyuga Yuzuru nodded in satisfaction, believing it to be a good thing for Hinata and Naruto.

Hinata has clearly lost herself and can no longer find her ninja way. Naruto's presence should be able to cheer her up a little.

Naruto also needs someone who can unconditionally like and support him, something that even Hyuga Yuzuru couldn't do.

"Alright, anyway... Yuzuru-nii, I want to master the Nine-Tails' power, please help me!"

Naruto Uzumaki became serious.

Compared to before, perhaps because of his experience in the genjutsu, or perhaps because he suddenly realized that someone liked him, he has thought a lot and grown—the current Naruto Uzumaki does indeed look like a reliable ninja.

Hyuga Yuzuru also stopped smiling. He looked seriously into Naruto's eyes, and after a moment of quiet eye contact, he nodded gently and said, "Okay."

He pulled a sealing scroll from under the table and tossed it to Naruto Uzumaki.

"It contains the basics and extended applications of sealing techniques."

Bearing the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, I believe you should have some talent in sealing techniques. The only difficulty is probably that the Nine-Tails' chakra will interfere with your chakra circulation.

It's alright, I will find a way from the One-Tailed Beast as soon as possible to further improve the sealing technique on your body and reduce the interference of the Nine-Tailed Beast's chakra on you.

After you've gained a basic understanding and learned the basics, I'll go with you to see that big guy inside you.

Also, there's this.

Hinata Yuzuru pulled another necklace from under the table.

Naruto Uzumaki began to wonder just how many good things he had hidden under his desk.

"This is?"

Hyuga Yuzuru calmly said, "A simple chakra suppressor can be used to brutally suppress the Nine-Tails chakra within you. You can take this opportunity to try using some simple sealing techniques."

But remember—do not go to the sealed space or confront that big fox without my permission.

To avoid it spouting nonsense and messing up your mindset.

Naruto Uzumaki nodded as if he understood, while Yuzuru Hyuga gave him a time limit.

"Next month, I will officially take office as the Fifth Hokage. After the Hokage ceremony, I will go to that fox. No matter what method I use, I will make you master the method of using a portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra. I will determine how much you can withstand, whether you can become a perfect Nine-Tails to assist you, or whether you can make the Nine-Tails obediently assist you."

We'll see how you perform then.

Hyuga Yuzuru is not inclined to use violence against Kurama. On one hand, Kurama's strength is enough that he may not be able to subdue it, and there is a possibility of creating enmity. If the proud Kurama were to refuse to submit even at the cost of its life, then there would be no point in fighting back.

On the other hand, he was confident in Naruto's persuasive abilities. Given enough time, he believed that Naruto could easily convince Kurama.

Naruto Uzumaki hummed in agreement, smiling brightly, and said to Yuzuru Hyuga first, "Then I'll congratulate Yuzuru-nii in advance on officially becoming the Fifth Hokage!"

"Thank you~" Hyuga Yuzuru nodded with a smile, and Uzumaki Naruto walked out with the sealing scroll he had given him.

After he walked away, Hyuga Kaoru rested her chin on her fair hand, her almond-shaped eyes gentle as she seemed to be lost in thought, and said softly, "Naruto has grown up too."

"Ah."

Hyuga Yuzuru nodded and smiled with a similar sense of感慨: "The future of Konoha's new generation has grown up. It seems that in a few years, I can start preparing for retirement."

"I don't think they'll be able to compare to Lord Yuzuru in a few years," Hinata Kaoru said, trying to dampen his enthusiasm. Hinata Yuzuru, however, smiled nonchalantly and glanced at her.

"Then, how about not retiring?"

As he spoke, Hyuga Kaoru shook her head repeatedly, saying with an expression that suggested she only felt sorry for her brother, "Konoha can't always rely on Lord Yuzuru..."

Hinata Yuzuru chuckled twice, then got down to business.

"What's the situation with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire?"

"According to intelligence from the Root, the other side is now indulging in daily revelry and banquets, and has handed over all national affairs to their subordinates."

As Hyuga Kaoru said this, his eyes turned cold, and he said sharply, "But judging from my years of observation of him, this person seems gentle and weak, but in fact he is very shrewd. Lord Yuzuru, we must be careful. He is just showing weakness."

"It doesn't matter, as long as he agrees to our conditions and cooperates." Hinata Yuzuru didn't care at all.

In this ninja world, strength reigns supreme. No matter how deep your scheming or how good your plot, it can't withstand a single move like Planetary Devastation or Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Regardless of what the Daimyo of the Land of Fire is thinking, the rise of Konoha is unstoppable. He has already dragged Konoha onto a track of rapid development. Even if he were to step down immediately, Konoha would not be able to stop. It can only be propelled by inertia and continue down this path to the end.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire is willing to cooperate, just like in the future of Japan. Giving him a nominal title and keeping a mascot wouldn't be a bad idea.

However, Hyuga Yuzuru believed that the position of daimyo should end with him.

He did not want any other Daimyo of the Land of Fire to appear in the future.

When he's in his seventies or eighties, we'll make a 'Last Emperor' movie for him, and then he can be laid to rest in glory, and that'll be the end of it.

Let's not wait until decades later when someone is eyeing your name's title and making things unpleasant for others inside the company.

If you're going to do something, do it thoroughly.

Hinata Yuzuru pondered for a long time before tapping the table and calmly saying, "This time, it will still be you, me, and Izumi who set off, but we need to allow at least five days for the trip."

He stood up, looked at the map of the Land of Fire on the wall, stretched out his hand, pointed to several important towns, drew a few circles around them, and then stared at the Konoha area for a long time before adding a few more circles.

"Konoha will grow even bigger."

Hyuga Yuzuru said decisively, "One Konoha village and one or two newly built Konoha towns are not enough to meet the needs of Konoha's rapid development."

The villagers attracted from within the Land of Fire also do not have the problem of adapting to the new environment. We should act boldly and take advantage of the fact that other ninja villages are busy with reforms to seize territory and stabilize the market.

Only with a stronger base can we gain an advantage in future competition.

Hyuga Yuzuru paused for a moment on the map with his finger: "Tell me, if I wanted the Land of Fire to give Konoha a few towns... would he agree?"

Hinata Kaoru was not at all surprised by his ambition; upon hearing this, she simply chuckled twice.

"If you disagree... what will Yuzuru-sama do then?"

Hinata Kaoru looked at his face curiously.

She didn't care about the village, the Land of Fire, or the so-called Daimyo or Hokage; to her, they were all meaningless.

Hinata Kaoru only cares about what Hinata Yuzuru wants to do.

Hinata Yuzuru clasped his hands in front of him, staring at the map without saying a word for a long time. After a while, he turned his head and saw Hinata Kaoru. The two looked at each other without saying anything, but they understood each other perfectly and showed a faint smile.

beat!

Starting today, daily updates will be adjusted to 6 PM.

As the title~

I will update every day at 6 PM from now on.

Today's update is also scheduled for 6 PM.

Chapter 142 Arrival in Daming Prefecture

The time when Hyuga Yuzuru went to the Land of Fire was unknown to ordinary people.

For safety reasons, the Hokage's whereabouts are always known only to a few people. This time, Hyuga Yuzuru even refused the cooperation of the Anbu and Root, and only took Hyuga Kaoru and Uchiha Izumi with him.

This naturally also reflects Hyuga Yuzuru's own considerations—with the Flying Thunder God Technique and Future Vision, given Hyuga Yuzuru's abilities, even if there might be enemies in the current ninja world that he cannot easily defeat, there is absolutely no one who can survive.

With only two people, he can use the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape with his own people at any time. However, it would be inconvenient to take more people with him.

On the other hand, Hinata Yuzuru also has some of his own ulterior motives.

For example...

Take the opportunity to steal a short vacation.

Of course, this vacation was only in comparison to the workload in Konoha. Hyuga Yuzuru deliberately planned to leave a few days earlier, partly to give his people a few days of rest, and partly to conduct on-site investigations of the situation in the Land of Fire.

As for the real purpose, the conversation with the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, it won't take much time.

The conversation should be over in two days at most.

The departure time was the morning of July 12th. Although Konoha is now fully open, due to safety concerns, entry and exit times are still restricted to between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Hyuga Yuzuru naturally didn't need to wait for Konoha to open, so he set off an hour early to avoid the crowds and travel light.

Hyuga Kaoru is much weaker than Uchiha Izumi, but she is by no means powerless. Although she has neglected her training in recent years, her overall strength, relying solely on the Hyuga clan's secret techniques and Byakugan, is comparable to that of an average Jonin. In addition, she has mastered a large amount of theoretical knowledge and secret techniques, so her strength should not be underestimated.

The three Jonin who started at the beginning naturally moved incredibly fast compared to ordinary people, but Hyuga Yuzuru did not choose to walk too fast, nor did he choose to take shortcuts. Instead, he chose to move on the road using his transformation technique.

Their purpose, of course, was to see for themselves the current situation in the Land of Fire.

As Konoha's commerce flourished, the most direct manifestation of this was the increasing number and quality of roads built around the village.

In this world where ninjutsu is superhuman, building roads is not a difficult task for ninjas. While proper cement or asphalt roads may be hard to lay, leveling the land and creating multiple pathways is not a difficult task at all.

The three of them disguised themselves as ordinary Konoha ninjas as they traveled. Their most immediate impression was the sheer number of caravans coming and going.

Furthermore, along the main road, at regular intervals, there are teahouses, restaurants, and inns privately run by commoners of the Land of Fire for use by passing caravans.

This made Hyuga Yuzuru wonder if the business could be handed over to Konoha themselves—that way, the entire trade route could be effectively monitored.

The three of them traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping wherever they could find a village or town, and continued like this until 8 p.m. when they finally arrived at Shangyan, the first major city in the Land of Fire they had planned to reach.

As the largest city in the Land of Fire closest to Konoha, Shangyan is relatively the most affected by Konoha.

Because Konoha Village is nearby, the city of Shangyan is still primarily commercial, serving as an important transit point for Konoha's foreign trade. Today, walking through the streets, one can see Konoha's influence on Shangyan in every detail.

For example, the main road was paved with Konoha's unique cement material, but unlike Konoha, it did not have traffic lights or intersections pre-installed; it was simply paved for easy movement.

The pedestrians on the street were dressed in the style of Konoha, and all kinds of goods sold in the shops were produced in Konoha. Even many of the branches that came from Konoha made Hyuga Yuzuru and Hyuga Kaoru look at them with surprise.

Uchiha Izumi was in a better position—she had been working in the Anbu and frequently left the village, so she was used to it. Hyuga Kaoru, on the other hand, had almost no opportunity to leave the village. This was, in a sense, her first time leaving Konoha to see what the outside world was like, and she couldn't hide her excitement.

Hyuga Yuzuru served as acting Hokage for several years and never had the chance to leave the village again. This time, leaving Konoha and arriving in a new city, compared to what he had seen when he was a child and a member of the Anbu, all these changes filled him with a faint sense of pride and satisfaction.

These are all the changes he has brought to the world.

The thought of mass-produced cars and motorcycles, and the widespread adoption of electronic devices, made Hinata Yuzuru's lips curl into a smile.

almost.

Soon.

Instead of traveling through the night, the three found an inn and booked three rooms. They then spent the evening strolling around the city of Shangyan. While it wasn't as bustling as Konoha at night, Hyuga Yuzuru's main purpose was to observe the details of people's lives and local customs.

After resting for a night, they continued their journey the next day, this time at a slightly faster pace. Their speed was comparable to that of a slower train, reaching tens of kilometers per hour. They stopped briefly in two cities, and after resting for a while in a small town that evening, they headed straight for the capital of the Land of Fire.

In fact, it would only take a day to travel from Konoha to the capital of the Land of Fire, but Hyuga Yuzuru made a detour around the area—mainly to take a good look at the towns surrounding Konoha and observe them firsthand.

They are searching for a suitable direction for Konoha's future expansion.

The capital of the Land of Fire is Kyoto, located in the very center of the Land of Fire. It is only about 300 kilometers away from Konoha as the crow flies. When Hyuga Yuzuru arrived in Kyoto, he did not rush to the Daimyo's residence, but instead took a good look around Kyoto first.

It must be said that Kyoto truly lives up to its name; in terms of prosperity, it is in no way inferior to Konoha.

The various ancient and grand architectural complexes, the bustling crowds, and the merchants coming and going, apart from being slightly lacking in modernization, still look extremely prosperous.

Hyuga Yuzuru wandered around for a while, even having a meal at a very famous restaurant in Kyoto, before finally arriving at Daimyofu in the afternoon.

After reverting to his original form, Hyuga Yuzuru, wearing a Hokage hat and a divine robe, became exceptionally conspicuous. Behind him, Izumi wore an Anbu mask, and Hyuga Kaoru wore a black secretary uniform with the Konoha insignia. The three were clearly distinguishable, and without even needing to explain their purpose, the guards standing at the gate of the Daimyo's residence immediately rushed in to report.

Before long, a hearty, almost exaggerated laugh came from inside.

"Fifth Hokage, you've finally arrived."

The lord greeted them with a kind and benevolent smile, followed by several people dressed in fine clothes, whose high status could be discerned at a glance.

Further back were some guards dressed as samurai. Hyuga Yuzuru's blue eyes swept over them, and their strength was not a threat. The strongest one only had the chakra reaction level of a Jonin, which showed the decline of the samurai community.

Samurai and ninja are not the same group; in fact, there are many conflicts between the two.

Hinata Yuzuru thoughtfully withdrew his gaze, looked at the daimyo in front of him, lifted the veil in front of his hat, and showed a proper and reserved smile: "I have long admired your name. It is an honor to meet you today. You are indeed as elegant as the rumors say."

"Fifth Generation Headmaster, you flatter me. Come, please, let's go inside and talk!"