A week flew by in the blink of an eye. The period granted to Hyuga Satoru for studying the Scroll of Seals came to an end that very evening.
Though the time he was given was short, his gains were immense. Thanks to his remarkable memory, Satoru had managed to copy down nearly all of the Scroll of Seals into his mind—turning its secrets into a private treasure of the Hyuga Clan.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll begin teaching you sealing techniques formally," said Kushina confidently. "With your aptitude, you'll pick it up quickly. I think… within half a month, you should be ready to attempt the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Inside the Hokage's office, Namikaze Minato carefully rolled up and put away the Scroll of Seals. Sitting beside Satoru, Uzumaki Kushina beamed with energy and confidence.
During the past week, under Kushina's guidance, Satoru had gradually learned the fundamentals of sealing arts and had even tried activating several pre-drawn seals.
Everything had gone smoothly—an indirect proof of his high natural talent.
But learning fuinjutsu was far from simple. Triggering an existing seal was the easy part. The true difficulty lay in creating them.
And mastering the Flying Thunder God required precisely that foundation. The technique worked by having the user mark a location or object with a seal, then using space-time ninjutsu to instantly teleport to that marked point.
In truth, the technique wasn't as invincible as legends made it sound. Once an enemy understood its principle, they could fortify the locations where those markings were placed in advance.
In high-level combat, the Flying Thunder God didn't necessarily guarantee victory—if anything, its very characteristics could be turned against the user.
Minato himself had once been countered while fighting the A-B Brothers of Kumogakure during the Third Great Ninja War. In his attack against Killer Bee, Minato had managed to press a kunai to Bee's head—but at the same moment, Bee's blade was pressed against his chest.
Had either of them not stopped, the outcome could have gone either way.
And that was Minato—a master who had perfected the technique. For anyone less skilled, the delay in teleportation or the slightest gap in control could prove fatal.
Even so, Hyuga Satoru desperately wanted to learn it. Even if not for offense, it would serve as an escape technique—a means of survival.
After all, the Flying Thunder God was vastly superior to the Reverse Summoning Technique. One depended purely on personal will; the other required communication and coordination with a summon.
On a battlefield where life and death could be decided in an instant, Flying Thunder God would give Satoru multiple extra lives.
"Teacher Kushina, I'll be counting on you from now on."
Standing up from the sofa, Satoru bowed politely. Though he had grown more familiar with Minato and Kushina over the week, he had never dropped his respectful manners.
"Satoru," Kushina asked warmly, "what arrangements has the Hyuga Clan made for you? How much time do you actually have for fuinjutsu training each day?"
She wasn't treating this as a casual favor—Kushina was genuinely invested in teaching him. As one of the last surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan in Konoha, she felt a duty to pass on her people's sealing arts.
She had always liked Satoru's temperament, and seeing his talent made her all the more determined to teach him properly.
Speaking of teaching…
Ever since the tragedy that befell Minato's team during the war, the Fourth Hokage had never taken on another squad of genin. Kushina still missed those days—the laughter, the shared meals, the sense of purpose.
Though she was merely their "teacher's wife," Kushina had also cared for those students in her own way. She used to pack lunches for Kakashi and the others whenever Minato took them out for training.
Now, looking at Satoru before her, a flicker of nostalgia and sorrow crossed her eyes—memories of the two students who had fallen on the battlefield.
"I've already spoken with the clan," Satoru replied with a faint smile. "Kushina-sensei, since you're pregnant, you need plenty of rest. So here's my plan: I'll spend the mornings training my taijutsu, refining chakra, and practicing basic jutsu at home. Then, after two-thirty in the afternoon, I'll come to you for sealing lessons. As for how long we train each day—that's for you to decide."
It had taken a great deal of persuasion for Satoru to win over his father, Hyuga Hiashi, for this arrangement.
Even so, Hiashi wasn't entirely pleased. His original plan had been to invite Kushina to the Hyuga compound to instruct Satoru there.
Hiashi was deeply protective of his son. Kushina, after all, was a jinchuriki—the host of the Nine-Tails. Although nothing unusual had ever happened, who could guarantee it never would?
If lessons were held at the Hyuga estate, there would at least be numerous clan elites nearby to respond instantly in case of emergency.
Anywhere else, they'd be too far away to help in time.
But Satoru had been adamant, and the doting father eventually relented. Still, out of caution, Hiashi decided to assign several secret guards to protect his son at all times.
Satoru didn't hide this from Minato and Kushina.
Upon hearing it, Kushina's cheerful expression dimmed for a moment before she quickly composed herself.
jinchuriki…
That word was still a thorn in her heart. Though Minato had soothed much of her pain, the label never truly left her.
Minato, noticing her silence, gently patted her shoulder in comfort before smiling at Satoru.
"In that case, I should thank Hiashi," he said sincerely. "Having Hyuga shinobi watching over Kushina as well makes me feel more at ease."
He meant it. Even as the Fourth Hokage, his authority was not absolute. His direct control over the ANBU was limited—the commander was still Hiruzen's eldest son, and the unit ultimately answered to the Third Hokage's oversight.
For that reason, the only person Minato could truly assign to protect Kushina was the young Kakashi.
If the Hyuga Clan added their own elite guards into the mix, it would actually make things safer for Kushina, not just for Satoru.
After settling the general training schedule, the sky darkened. Satoru stood, bowed again, and took his leave—meeting his father, Hiashi, who was already waiting downstairs to escort him home.
From his office window, Minato watched the two figures disappear into the twilight. Seeing the clan head personally come to fetch his son deepened Minato's understanding of Satoru's place within the Hyuga.
The clan's regard for their heir was even greater than he had imagined.
"The Hyuga Clan…" he murmured quietly, gaze thoughtful.
Back at the Hyuga estate, Satoru enjoyed a brief but warm dinner with his father—a rare "parent-and-child moment" in their busy lives.
But after the meal, Hiashi summoned him to the clan's training hall.
Satoru assumed it would be an evening training session—only to find that his father had something else prepared.
Waiting for him were three unfamiliar Hyuga shinobi.
"Satoru," Hiashi said solemnly, "from today onward, these three will serve as your personal guards."
"This is Hyuga Keisuke, thirty-two years old. He's highly skilled in Gentle Fist—one of the most capable fighters among the Branch Family."
Hiashi gestured to a broad-shouldered man with a square face. Keisuke dropped to one knee, bowing respectfully. As he raised his head to meet Satoru's eyes, there was appraisal in his gaze—careful, measuring.
"This is Hyuga Mio, twenty-seven years old, a special jonin. She'll attend to you when you're studying with Kushina. Since you'll both be together often, I thought a female guard would be most appropriate."
Mio was slender and dignified, with a cool, distant aura that discouraged unnecessary closeness. After Hiashi's introduction, she too knelt gracefully, expression calm and unreadable.
"And this," Hiashi continued, "is Hyuga Kotaka, twenty-two. His strength is modest, but he's reliable and discreet—he won't talk out of turn."
The last, a thin young man, immediately knelt, though his shoulders trembled slightly.
At first, Satoru thought the man was nervous. He opened his mouth to tease him lightly, to ease the tension—until Kotaka raised his head.
The look in his eyes stopped Satoru cold—there was no fear there, only awe and devotion.
"…."
Whatever words Satoru had planned were swallowed back down. He realized he had misunderstood completely.
"These three will serve as your personal guard," Hiashi said firmly. "Whenever you leave the compound, they'll accompany you. Satoru—treat them well."
Looking at the three kneeling clan members, each with a different expression, Satoru smiled gently. He reached out and helped each of them to their feet in turn.
Then his gaze settled on Keisuke, the strongest among them.
"Father says you're one of the clan's top Gentle Fist masters?" Satoru said with a spark in his eye.
"Perfect… why don't you spar with me?"
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