Chapter 323: Mature Hinata
Ryosuke knew nothing about what was happening in the outside world.
At this moment, he looked a little surprised. On his face, which was always extremely calm no matter what he faced, a strange expression appeared.
"This… what is this?!"
There was clear surprise in his tone.
After countless collisions between celestial bodies, a trace of warmth had appeared in this strange space and time.
Then that warmth continued to spread under Ryosuke's close gaze.
Until finally, it became hotter than raging lava.
Sun.
Ryosuke stared blankly at the starry universe. Among the countless stars, a deep red ball of light lit up.
On the surface of that ball of light, a sea of fire roared like boiling oil, and sounds like explosions echoed from time to time.
Although this sun was different from the sun in the real world in many details and values, it was at least a celestial body that could provide heat to surrounding planets, so it was not wrong to call it the sun.
By now, this strange space and time had already expanded to more than ten times its original size without anyone noticing.
The universe was desperately expanding, just to continue to exist.
It was an incredible change.
It was completely different from Ryosuke's previous works.
His earlier creations only had form, not substance. The entire space and the planets inside were like non player characters in a role playing game, moving in a mechanical and rigid way.
Even though the "code" behind them was complex enough to handle many situations and look normal on the surface,
In truth, it was only a string of code. There were only two choices.
Yes, and no.
If the answer was yes, it reacted.
If it was no, it kept running, reading the next part of the code until it met a "yes" and reacted again.
There was no self thinking and no ability to grow.
But the world before his eyes was completely different. Something new had been born.
It was no longer a complex string of code or a rigid machine. It was gradually gaining a power similar to artificial intelligence.
It could create new code by itself, and in order to exist, it could extend and add content that matched its own needs.
The sun was what this universe needed at that moment.
In the future, perhaps there would be planets like the Ninja World, and even humans might be born on them.
From that time on, Ryosuke could be considered a true creator.
After all, this universe was now bound to him, and the core frame had been built by him.
No matter how large it became in the future, all its most basic things came from Ryosuke, and he held the highest authority.
"Code?"
Watching everything in front of him, a strange thought appeared in Ryosuke's mind.
The bold idea that surfaced made him calm down and continue to observe.
So much so that he completely forgot about time.
Another three years passed.
Except for occasionally leaving to check on Hinata's condition, Ryosuke never left his small world.
But those three short years in the real world felt like billions of years in this place, which was evolving under accelerated time before his eyes.
Yet even over such a long timeline, he gained nothing.
Before his eyes, the brilliant galaxy had long since disappeared, leaving only darkness.
It was just like three years ago when he first returned to this forgotten space and time to complete his transformation. There was nothing here, only desolate darkness. Even the blazing sun had vanished over that long flow of time.
The creation of the world did not progress as smoothly as he imagined, and the world did not develop as he imagined.
Although a sun existed, this universe was still too small.
Perhaps for that reason, the sun eventually exploded after several large planets crashed into it one after another.
After that, the universe once again returned to desolation.
Is it over?
This question appeared in Ryosuke's mind.
No, not yet.
He could feel that this universe was still trying to stretch and grow. It had not given up its wish to become a more real world, instead of staying trapped in this small isolated space and being forgotten.
But unfortunately, even though he knew this, he did not have time to stay here any longer.
He had already sorted out the bold ideas this place had given him at the beginning. He remained only to see if he could witness the birth of a real world.
But sadly, it seemed he could not see that moment yet.
As for whether this world could become a real world someday, that perhaps depended on luck.
"I hope this place will be full of life the next time I come here."
In the desolate darkness, his slightly regretful words echoed, then slowly faded away in the flow of time.
…
"It turns out my guess was right."
"The progress bar gives me different levels of rewards based on my effort and hard work."
After a long time, Ryosuke gained a more grounded understanding of the progress bar in his mind.
The progress bar was his guess about how effort worked. He had originally confirmed only part of it by testing in different directions.
As for the other part, he had never tested it. He had never tried to see whether the progress bar would still reward him if he did not put in any effort or pay any price.
After all, Ryosuke did not want to waste three years doing nothing just for this test.
This time, he finally had the chance.
During the three years he spent only observing in that different space and time, he did nothing. His body did not improve, his soul did not improve, and his skills did not improve.
Ryosuke was like a man slumped on a sofa watching television. He had watched for three years without eating, drinking, or moving.
In the same way, three years later, the progress bar in his mind had not changed at all.
Sure enough, if you want to gain something, you will lose something without noticing it.
After returning to the Ninja World, Ryosuke looked at the real world before him for the first time in a long while.
To be honest, it was boring to stare at a picture that flowed by as fast as a timeline for such a long time.
Seeing the real world again, he could not help but feel how beautiful reality was.
But…
The appearance of the real world was slowly changing as he drew closer to the rules.
A smile appeared on Ryosuke's face.
He had not come back empty handed.
Before his eyes, in that world wrapped in red threads of fate, new information appeared.
This information had never appeared before.
Rules.
Ryosuke had kept moving between different worlds, using his body to feel the rules of each world, but he could never sense their true shape.
Yet, while carefully observing that universe struggle to exist, he sensed the birth of rules.
The rules were not runes, nor threads of light. They appeared before Ryosuke's eyes and existed everywhere in the world.
But Ryosuke could not describe them with words, or compare them to anything.
They simply existed, with no color to define them and no image to represent them.
They were even harder to sense than the so called natural energy he first felt long ago.
"But I finally made it through."
Ryosuke's mood was light.
Compared to learning new secret skills, mastering new techniques, or improving his body and soul,
Now, although his combat power had not changed at all, he somehow felt that he held more.
And that feeling came from a single fact.
He had seen the rules. He had not yet tried to control them or explain them, but he had finally seen them.
This was the right path.
Ryosuke suddenly had this thought, that the way he was about to walk now was the true path to the highest realm.
Even so, he did not feel that his earlier path was a waste.
Without the knowledge and strength he had gained along those "wrong paths", he would never have had the chance or the ability to walk this right one.
"But before that, I still have to go meet that guy."
Ryosuke took a step forward, feeling a rare surge of impatience.
Because he was about to face the man who existed only in his memories.
Saitama.
With a single step, Ryosuke was already home, standing on the beach along the eastern coast of the Land of Rain.
"Hey, hey, hey, since it's a holiday, stop thinking about training."
"Miko, let's catch a shark and ride it!"
"Erica, where are you, Erica?!"
…
It was summer, and the beach in the Land of Rain was very lively.
Just like a young man on vacation and meditating, a beautiful girl in light clothes laughed as she dragged a shark from the deep sea toward the shallows.
The foolish couple could have used sensing techniques to find each other, but instead they shouted each other's names across the waves…
…
The noisy crowd made this small beach feel a bit crowded.
They were all Hyuga people. Some of them were outsiders with no blood connection, but now Hyuga made no difference between insiders and outsiders.
In the ninja world, Hyuga was the clan land of the Hyuga and the origin of this family and will, but it was no longer made up only of people with white eyes and pale skin.
With expansion and cooperation across worlds, Hyuga had long abandoned strict blood barriers and allowed marriage with people from outside the clan.
Even so, the Hyuga bloodline was still very strong. Most children born from a Hyuga and an outsider still showed the traits of Hyuga, such as unopened Byakugan, fair skin, strong physical ability, and so on.
Those who wished to preserve the Byakugan line could still do so. That trait that represented the ancient Hyuga would never disappear.
But now the clan had a treasure even brighter than white eyes.
Ryosuke's gaze fixed on a certain area in the noisy crowd, and he walked forward.
His presence was like a giant beast slowly moving. The busy beach grew quiet step by step.
Even without releasing his aura, Ryosuke's presence was unique among the Hyuga.
One by one, everyone noticed him. They unconsciously stopped laughing, held their breath, straightened up, and watched his movements.
They were silent, nervously staring at the young man who had suddenly appeared.
Most of the people present knew who Ryosuke was. A few did not.
Yet even those few, affected by the mood, also fell silent.
Except for the sounds of children playing, the beach lost its usual noise.
"Why did it suddenly get so quiet?"
A puzzled female voice sounded under a cluster of parasols.
Hinata, wearing sunglasses and resting on a recliner, sat up.
At that moment, Ryosuke happened to walk in front of her.
"Um…"
Hinata stared at his face for a while, then pushed her sunglasses from the bridge of her nose up onto her forehead. "Hey, you're back?"
She spoke casually, then turned to look at the others who were staring this way. "Ignore him and keep having fun."
With that, she lay back down on the recliner.
"You seem very relaxed."
Ryosuke chuckled and sat down on the sand beside her, not caring about the grit.
The others nearby, who had fallen silent, hesitated for a moment, then slowly went back to what they had been doing.
But they were careful to keep away from this area.
"You have to rest sometimes. People need their own lives. You taught me that." Hinata yawned. "Now that the clan model is completely stable, I do not need to worry about many decisions as clan leader. Naturally, I have more time to rest."
"Besides, I also have a mission."
"Mission?"
Ryosuke looked at her lazy posture in confusion. Was her mission to lie here in the sun?
"Taking care of the children."
Hinata scratched her head in annoyance. "Do you see those two brats on the beach? The ones in blue clothes."
"Brats?"
Ryosuke was not used to hearing her call them that, but he still turned and looked into the distance.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly. "I did not expect those two to get married."
"Do not peek at other people's fate."
Hinata said in a teasing tone, "Hoshisai and Souji were very disappointed that you did not come to the wedding."
"After all, they are both in their early forties now, and they retired from the front lines after the end of the world war three years ago."
"Recently, war has started again. There is a world that refuses our Hyuga rule. Their resistance is strong, and most of them are extreme in personality. So the clan decided to use force to suppress them. Even though those two are in charge of logistics, they are still very busy."
"There is no other way. I, the useless clan leader, have to look after the child."
The two children Hinata was talking about were the children of Hoshisai and Souji.
Ninjas usually married late so they would not waste their prime fighting years, but most of the first people who followed Ryosuke had reached the age to marry and have children.
Ryosuke could accept that and was not surprised.
But…
"What is with that tired tone? I feel like... you have changed a lot in the past few years."
Ryosuke suddenly turned and stared at Hinata, who was lying back on the recliner.
What happened? A few years ago she had been so full of energy, yet now there was an odd sense of maturity around her.
Even if we are an old couple, this change is too shocking.