Hyūga Hiashi's letter of recommendation carried immense weight.
On the day the recommendation was submitted, despite the presence of so many Konoha executives in the Hokage's office, only Mitokado Homura, perhaps not grasping the situation, chastised Hiashi.
All other high-ranking officials were ambiguous toward Hyūga Shinichi. Even Danzō, who Shinichi's stereotype held as the most likely to cause trouble, silently acquiesced on this matter.
As for the others, once they learned that Shinichi had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, their surprise was quickly replaced by profound delight.
This meant that Konoha would not have to worry about a lack of successors for the foreseeable future—perhaps for the next fifty years! Although Hyūga Shinichi was young, in the ninja world, strength dictated authority, and the Flying Thunder God Technique equaled strength, which equaled authority! This weight far exceeded even the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan bloodline limit!
Hyūga Shinichi became the Village's youngest-ever Special Jōnin. Although different from a true Jōnin, once his letter of appointment was issued, his name once again spread widely within Konoha's ninja community.
However, only Shinichi's fame was spread; the fact that he had mastered the Flying Thunder God at his age was deliberately concealed. The Konoha high command reached a silent consensus to keep the matter secret.
The ninja world never truly lacked geniuses; what it lacked were young prodigies who could rise smoothly.
The world was vast, and Konoha was not the only village "producing" geniuses; the names of talented ninjas from other villages often circulated as well. Therefore, even after becoming a Special Jōnin, Shinichi's life did not change significantly.
The only person who changed was perhaps his father, Hyūga Hiashi.
His son becoming the youngest Special Jōnin in the Village's history made Hiashi even more excited than Shinichi. Whenever he walked down the street, people always complimented Hiashi on raising such a good son.
The continuous stream of "congratulations" made Hiashi giddy. The usually severe and stern man was radiant and smiling constantly during this period. The clan members thought their Clan Head had changed his personality.
While Shinichi's becoming a Special Jōnin brought little personal change, the atmosphere and environment of the Hyūga Clan underwent a massive transformation because of him. Hyūga clansmen, while interacting with friends and comrades in the Village, inevitably heard others mention the prodigy from their clan.
Hearing the praise and admiration of outsiders naturally filled them, as fellow Hyūga, with pride.
While marveling at the genius of the Main Family heir, the Branch Family members' resentment was somewhat soothed.
If the Main Family were weak, Branch Family members would often feel imbalanced about their status, believing it was unjust or even hateful that such a "weak" Main Family could lead them based only on birthright.
However, Shinichi's appearance greatly diluted those feelings in the Branch Family. Having witnessed Shinichi's talent, the Branch Family members could only sigh, "Truly worthy of the Main Family." They felt that being ruled by a powerful person was "only proper," leading to less internal resentment.
Though the fundamental conflict between the Main Family and Branch Family was not completely resolved, Hyūga Hiashi could distinctly feel that the Main Family's prestige had been elevated, his own words carried more weight, and the clan's cohesion had improved and increased. This discovery delighted Hiashi. Even his relationship with his younger brother, Hizashi, became noticeably more harmonious than before.
Hyūga Hizashi and Hyūga Hiashi were twins, and their talents were quite similar; in fact, Hizashi was arguably slightly stronger.
This caused Hizashi to always harbor resentment about his Branch Family status. He felt he was no less capable than his elder brother, and being designated as Branch Family merely because he was born later had become a persistent psychological burden.
However, after Shinichi was born and displayed his talent, this internal conflict in Hizashi gradually dissipated. Seeing Shinichi's astonishing growth rate, Hizashi could only conclude that his father's choice years ago seemed correct. If the Main Family heir were such a genius, he could wholeheartedly assist his nephew.
As for his own son... Under the leadership of such a brilliant cousin, he will surely become an excellent ninja!
Time slowly passed. A week later, a major event occurred in Konoha Village. Following instructions from the high command, the land occupied by Konoha's major ninja clans was re-zoned. The Uchiha Clan, originally located in the central area, was moved to the outskirts of the Village.
The compounds of other clans were also rearranged. Only the Hyūga remained in the dead center of Konoha Village; their compound did not change at all, and in fact, was even slightly expanded due to population growth.
Shinichi did not know what happened at that meeting, but his father told him that while Clan Head Fugaku voiced objections, he was suppressed by the Council Elders. Although the Fourth Hokage attempted to mediate, he could not do more to help the Uchiha in this matter.
Shinichi could guess the reason for this. The core reason for excluding the Uchiha from Konoha's center was the high command's distrust, as well as the consideration that the Uchiha possessed the power to control a Tailed Beast, requiring them to be managed separately.
Even Namikaze Minato could not block the high-ranking group led by the Third Hokage on this issue. This made Shinichi realize that Minato's authority was limited. The Council, Root, the Anbu Commander, the leader of the Jōnin ranks (the Nara deer)—all these high-level figures were allied with the Third Hokage. Minato was essentially isolated.
While Minato was constrained on major policy, he remained the one who made decisions on specific, smaller matters.
Not long after Shinichi's appointment came down, Minato personally selected his teammates. Although Shinichi held the title of Special Jōnin, the Fourth Hokage clearly did not treat him as a "normal" Special Jōnin.
The team's captain was named Shibi Aburame, twenty-seven years old—the most mature age for a ninja. He was a former teammate of Namikaze Minato, highly trusted by him, and was appointed as the captain of Shinichi's squad.
Another member was a Chūnin named Shisui Uchiha. Although listed as a Chūnin, this Uchiha clan member was only ten years old and was already a well-known prodigy in the Uchiha Clan.
As for Shinichi's third teammate, he was named Might Guy, around seventeen or eighteen years old, full of vitality, and had only recently become a Jōnin with limited mission experience.
It was clear that Shinichi's team was not the typical configuration of one Jōnin leading three young Genin. In forming such a team during the period of the Great Ninja War, Minato obviously did not intend to treat Shinichi as an ordinary child. During the Third Great War, a team with this configuration could even play a certain role on the front lines.
When Shinichi learned who his teammates were, his expression froze.
Given that Shisui Uchiha will later awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, and Shibi Aburame and Might Guy will successfully survive until the end of the series...
The question is: Who will be the one to help Shisui Uchiha awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan?
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