After grinding for two straight days,
Hyuga Arin had only just barely scraped together another 545 points of experience.
Part of it had come from Namikaze Minato and Kushina—both of them had been farmed down to just 1 point of experience each.
The rest all came from the wild beasts in the Forest of Death. He had basically cleared out every beast on the outer perimeter.
He still hadn't seen a second ninja beast.
The drops were all useless things—wolf fur, tiger pelts, wild boar meat, and the like.
"If I want to keep farming, I'll have to go deeper."
In the end, Hyuga Arin could only give up and lead Nawaki and the other two out of the Forest of Death.
"We… we made it out alive…" Kushina looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her once-pretty face was covered in dust, her clothes were torn to shreds, and there were plenty of visible wounds.
"We've improved a lot this time," Minato said, scratching his cheek. To him, these three days had been nothing short of a complete rebirth.
Hyuga Arin nodded beside him. Minato's improvement was qualitative—his experience had refreshed multiple times.
First 104 points, then 52, then 26… 13… 5… 1.
Kushina hadn't changed as dramatically. Her strength had definitely improved, but nowhere near Minato's leap.
As for Nawaki—
"I wanna eat Ichiraku Ramen," the idiot Nawaki said, rubbing his belly with a goofy grin.
"Let's go! My treat!"
Hyuga Arin's voice drifted over coolly. "Your allowance has already been spent by me."
Nawaki instantly turned to stone. A cold wind blew past as tears of sorrow streamed down his face.
Nawaki had also improved quite a bit, though not enough for a qualitative change. He was still only worth 1 experience point, but at least he was much more alert now.
At the very least, he probably wouldn't get blown to death by explosive tags anymore.
Hyuga Arin eyed Nawaki suspiciously.
…Probably.
"I'll treat!" Kushina declared, waving her hand grandly. She had plenty of allowance too.
…
Ichiraku Ramen.
"Boss, another bowl!"
Kushina and Nawaki slammed down their empty bowls and shouted in perfect unison.
Minato stared at the pile of stacked bowls beside them, sinking into deep thought.
Hyuga Arin, meanwhile, spoke casually. "Chakra is the fusion of physical and spiritual energy. People with a lot of chakra are usually big eaters."
Nawaki of the Senju clan, and Kushina of the Uzumaki clan—both were textbook examples of chakra monsters.
"So that's how it is…" Minato scratched his cheek. He'd actually been feeling a bit inferior for not being able to eat as much as they did.
Hyuga Arin ignored Minato and looked at his status panel.
[Name: I'm Hyuga Arin]
[Profession: None]
[Level: Lv13 (125/2500)]
[Chakra: 130/130]
[Skills: Gentle Fist (Lv5), Clone Technique (Lv2), Substitution Technique (Lv10), Transformation Technique (Lv2), Eight Trigrams Air Palm (Lv3), Byakugan (Lv3), Fire Release · Unknown Fire (Lv4), Medical NinTechnique (Lv1), Bear Wrestling Hands (Lv1)]
[Experience Pool: 1915]
[Equipment: (Bandit's Left Greave), (Bandit's Right Greave), (Bandit's Right Bracer), (Bandit's War Blade), (Bandit's Armor)]
[Inventory: Kunai (10), Explosive Tags (9), Shuriken (99), Steel Wire (10)…]
He'd originally planned to level up during these few days, but things hadn't gone as hoped.
The Forest of Death did have ninja beasts—but far too few.
Tomorrow, they'd be heading out on missions. Based on Hyuga Arin's assessment of his own strength, he was currently at the very top tier among genin.
But if he ran into a chūnin, he'd still be at a disadvantage.
Even if frontline battles hadn't started yet, running into chūnin or even jōnin on the road was still possible.
Hopefully, he could farm a bit of experience along the way—better yet, run into some bandits and complete the bandit gear set.
"Big Bro, next year I'll become a ninja and follow in your footsteps," Nawaki said contentedly, setting down his bowl with a bright smile.
"Then the two of us will dominate the entire ninja world."
…Had he corrupted this kid?
Hyuga Arin fell into deep thought.
No, impossible. He was such a kind-hearted person.
Hyuga Arin nodded seriously. "When the time comes, we'll wipe out the bandits first, then the small ninja villages, and finally look down upon the Five Great Ninja Villages…"
He glanced around and swallowed the rest of his words.
The ninja world was fundamentally twisted. Ninjas possessed world-shattering power, yet the world itself was controlled by ordinary people.
If those people governed properly, that would be fine.
But instead, these nobles abused their status—bullying the weak, harming their surroundings, and endlessly fighting among themselves.
Development? What development?
They were nothing but tumors of this world.
Hyuga Arin had no respect for them whatsoever.
Kushina and Minato stared at him, dumbfounded. Weren't these ambitions a bit… excessive?
The two of them only wanted to become Hokage.
Were goals really this wild now?
Nawaki, however, was fired up. He raised his fist enthusiastically. "Then the two of us brothers will unify—"
Hyuga Arin swiftly covered Nawaki's mouth. "That's enough. No need to say the rest."
If those words got out, it would be poking at far too many nerves. Even if Nawaki was the First Hokage's grandson, he wouldn't survive the fallout.
Lowering his voice, Hyuga Arin said, "Some things shouldn't be said casually right now. We'll talk about them after we've grown strong."
Nawaki nodded vigorously, flames of ambition blazing in his eyes.
Before meeting Hyuga Arin, his lifelong goal had been nothing more than becoming Hokage.
After meeting Hyuga Arin—
A mere Hokage?
Hyuga Arin stared at Nawaki's eyes, which practically seemed to glow, and sank into deep contemplation.
He seemed to have… maybe… possibly… more or less led Nawaki astray.
Tsunade wouldn't… blame him, right?
…
"Heavenly Kick of Pain!"
With a single kick, Tsunade sent Jiraiya flying.
Jiraiya rolled across the ground twice before barely stopping, clutching his chest and wailing.
Orochimaru, sitting on a nearby tree, asked curiously, "Tsunade, why are you so angry?"
Tsunade let out a breath. "Because of my brother's big brother."
Jiraiya stood up, rubbing his chest, equally curious. "That Hyuga kid—Hyuga Arin?"
Tsunade frowned. "That brat's way of thinking is a little extreme. I'm worried he'll influence Nawaki."
He didn't feel like a Hyuga at all—more like an Uchiha.
So was it the Hyuga who went astray, or the Uchiha who cheated?
"Then just don't let that Hyuga Arin get close to Nawaki," Jiraiya suggested.
Tsunade shook her head. "I don't want to interfere with Nawaki's life. I'm just worried."
She didn't want to dictate her brother's future—she just wanted him to grow up safely.
So naturally, she took it out on Jiraiya instead.
Jiraiya wore a bitter expression as he saw Tsunade raising her leg again.
No—why him? What did he do to deserve this?
"Our teacher plans to have me take Nawaki as a student next year," Orochimaru said as he jumped down from the tree. "I'll keep an eye on things for you."
"I won't let Nawaki walk down the wrong path."
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