"What's wrong with that?"
Hyuga Arin had his own views on the matter.
"Don't treat those ninjas as people. Every single one of them has innocent blood on their hands to some degree. You just need to see them as prey."
"Assassination, poisoning, threats—use any means necessary as long as it helps you grow stronger."
Hyuga Arin was imparting his philosophy without reservation.
Nagato listened and asked cautiously,
"Teacher… don't you have a bit too much prejudice against ninjas?"
"Do I?" Hyuga Arin rubbed his chin. "I'm a ninja myself. How could I possibly have a big issue with ninjas?"
As a Konoha ninja, he was prepared to kill other ninjas—and equally prepared to be killed himself, just to see whether the resurrection system had any bugs.
Of course, that thought only existed in his head. In reality, he valued his life quite a bit.
Unless absolutely necessary, he had no intention of testing the revival mechanics.
Hearing this, Nagato found himself unable to refute him.
Hyuga Arin placed both hands on Nagato's shoulders, his expression grave.
"Nagato, you must understand this: the moment you become a user of chakra, you must be prepared to kill—and to be killed. If you don't have that resolve, then hide your power forever."
One of Hyuga Arin's core teachings to Nagato was this:
Do not see yourself as a ninja, but as a chakra user.
Ninjas were tools.
Chakra users were those who wielded power.
By denying the identity itself, you would never trap yourself within the same stance as ninjas.
Nagato didn't fully understand the difference between the two, but he could vaguely sense that Hyuga Arin's teachings were… a bit off.
"Then, Teacher," Nagato asked curiously, "does this chakra user identity have anything to do with the Rain Hidden Village?"
"No," Hyuga Arin shook his head.
"Remember this: you are not a ninja. You are fundamentally not on the same side as ninjas. You can cooperate with them, disguise yourself as one of them, but you do not belong to them. No ninja faction truly has anything to do with you. In the future, you can create a force that belongs solely to chakra users."
For example… the Akatsuki. Or the Akatsuki.
Though Yahiko founded it, the one who truly carried it forward was Nagato.
Nagato nodded, half-understanding.
"In short, what path you choose to walk—I'm only giving you advice. The choice is yours to make," Hyuga Arin said solemnly.
What he cared about most wasn't teaching techniques, but guiding Nagato's mindset.
He believed that in Nagato—the one who would one day search for true peace—these ideas would take root like a seed, eventually growing into something great.
That was, of course, assuming Hyuga Arin didn't wipe out the entire shinobi world first.
As someone who loved peace so much, he probably wouldn't go that far… right?
Hyuga Arin silently reinforced his fragile "peace-loving" persona.
"Yes," Nagato nodded seriously.
He had no idea how terrifying a presence his teacher truly was to this world.
After all, to monsters, a fully grown player was nothing short of a nightmare.
"Keep training. How far you can go from here depends entirely on you," Hyuga Arin said.
He knew full well that the identity he had given Nagato would expose him to countless dangers in the future.
But he trusted that a certain old man surnamed Uchiha would ensure Nagato's safe growth.
A few hardships were nothing—as long as he stayed alive, there was hope.
The future was bound to become very interesting.
That day, Hyuga Arin didn't leave. From start to finish, he patiently explained everything to Nagato in detail, making sure he wouldn't stray too far down the wrong path later.
He didn't know whether Jiraiya would still teach Nagato as he did in the original timeline. After all, the butterfly effect he'd caused was already massive.
What the future would look like had become completely unpredictable.
By the time night fell, Nagato had collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Suddenly, he frowned and looked toward the cave entrance.
"Teacher… it feels like someone's coming."
"Hm?" Hyuga Arin glanced over in surprise and immediately activated his Byakugan.
His vision pierced through the cave, through layers of trees, and locked onto several figures rapidly approaching.
"Monsters delivering themselves to my doorstep?"
A delighted smile flashed across Hyuga Arin's face.
"Teacher, is someone really coming?" Nagato asked uncertainly.
Hyuga Arin gave Nagato a meaningful look. Being able to passively sense with the Kagura Mind's Eye already…
After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Go hide inside. Unless I call for you, don't come out."
Seeing the uncontrollable excitement on Hyuga Arin's face, Nagato felt something was very wrong.
If something dangerous was about to happen—why did his teacher look so happy?!
Nagato didn't ask. He simply nodded and hurried deeper into the cave.
As instructed, he was just a weak trainee chakra user, with no real combat power.
Hyuga Arin stepped out of the cave and looked toward the three figures drawing closer.
Soon, his brow furrowed. The excitement on his face was replaced with irritation.
An even more massive chakra presence was approaching from farther away.
Murakami Hana.
Did this guy seriously have nothing better to do?
As for the three people rushing over, he didn't need to think to know who they were—the obese ninja and his group. He hadn't expected the man to come looking for him so soon.
A chūnin dropped far better loot than a genin.
And he'd even brought two freebies along. Even if they were only genin, it was still something.
What annoyed Hyuga Arin was this:
This idiot didn't even know how to be discreet and had drawn Murakami Hana over.
How was he supposed to kill him now and farm drops?
At best, he'd only get some experience points to console himself.
Soon, under the cover of darkness, the three figures burst out of the forest and landed in front of Hyuga Arin.
"We meet again, kid," the obese ninja sneered viciously. His breathing mask was gone, leaving his malice completely exposed.
Hyuga Arin swept his gaze over them—two unfamiliar genin and one chūnin.
Murakami Hana was still moving fast in the distance, but it would take him some time to arrive.
Hyuga Arin's hands rapidly formed the seals for Unknown Fire.
Could he kill the fat one in such a short window?
The obese ninja had no idea what Hyuga Arin was planning. He only sneered.
"No matter how talented you are, a dead genius won't attract anyone's attention."
Whoosh!
Hyuga Arin didn't waste a single word.
With a flick of his hand, the bronze blade appeared, flames igniting along its edge as he charged straight at the obese ninja.
Murakami Hana would arrive in one minute.
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