Winter turned to spring; the sun rose and the moon set. As the new year of Konoha 52 passed, the "Third Great Ninja War," which had lasted for many years, finally came to an end.
The First Great Ninja War, the Second Great Ninja War, and the Third Great Ninja War. Although it sounded like these wars spanned a very long time, in reality, they had all occurred within just fifty years.
Yes, within just fifty years, there had been three consecutive multinational melees that swept through the entire ninja world. It sounded somewhat darkly humorous, but upon closer thought, it was extremely chilling.
After the New Year, Konoha, which had finally ushered in an era of peace, finally had a chance to recuperate. But for some people, this was the beginning of a new battle.
"Congratulations, Iruka. You finally passed the exam after so many attempts."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Sandaime-sama!"
In the spring of the third year, in the Hokage's office, a young man with a scar on his nose was receiving his certificate of passing the Chunin Exams from the Third Hokage, his eyes filled with excitement and longing.
Two years had passed since reaching an agreement with Kumogakure. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had long lost the vigor of wartime and looked more and more like a kindly old man.
Hehe, Konoha's development over the past two years has really become smoother and smoother. As long as there's a truce, everything will be fine.
After seeing off this batch of new Chunin, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his exclusive Hokage chair and stretched, his expression extremely relaxed.
Although ninjas in peacetime still had to perform various missions ranging from S-rank to D-rank, for Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had experienced two wars, these peacetime missions were practically child's play. He felt very comfortable.
Originally, the Sandaime had planned to train and nurture a successor for two years before resigning. But seeing how easy it was to be Hokage these days, and with no suitable heir in sight, he simply continued.
As for abdication? Impossible. It was impossible to abdicate and still work. He couldn't abdicate in this lifetime. He couldn't write books, so he could only make a living by sitting in this chair. Coming to the office felt like coming home. He felt much better in the office than at home. Everyone in the office was talented and spoke nicely. He liked it very much.
Hum hum hum, la la la. While Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the Hokage's office humming a tune and sipping a drink, in a forest outside Konoha, a petite figure was continuously attacking a thick water tank.
Huff huff... Damn it, it's just "Gentle Fist." Why is it so hard to learn?
At this moment, Hyuga Yuki, now five years old, stood in front of the water tank wearing a training suit, a troubled expression on his face.
After that night, Yuki had begun learning the Hyuga clan's traditional martial art, the "Gentle Fist," under his father Hiashi's guidance. But two years had passed, and he had only barely grasped the basics.
Logically speaking, both Neji and Hinata from the original story successfully learned the "Gentle Fist." With Yuki's intelligence and learning ability far surpassing his peers, there was absolutely no reason he couldn't learn it.
Ha! After resting for a while, Yuki slowly moved his body into a Gentle Fist stance and then slammed his palm against the front of the water tank! A light sound came from the tank.
This special water tank was very thick. Even if one had learned to refine "chakra," it definitely wasn't something a five-year-old child could destroy.
But when Yuki's palm struck the surface of the water tank, the originally calm water inside suddenly began to churn!
This wave rushed rapidly from the side of the tank where it was struck to the other end, then slammed into the inner wall of the opposite side, producing a sound even louder than when Yuki's palm had directly hit the tank earlier!
Yes, the sound caused by the force transmitted through the water flow was actually louder than that caused by the direct impact of the palm. In other words, the transmitted force behind the palm far exceeded the actual collision force.
"Striking the Heart Through the Mountain"—the essence of the so-called "Gentle Fist" could actually be perfectly described by these four words.
A human body struck by the Gentle Fist wouldn't sustain substantial damage on the surface, but would be injured by the hidden force introduced into the body, resulting in damage to internal organs or meridians.
If this were in his original world, developing this kind of "hidden force" that could penetrate human flesh and bone would be very difficult. However, due to the existence of "chakra" in the ninja world, this skill had become much simpler.
Strike the target with the palm, and at the same time, send "Chakra" into the target's body through the palm's meridians, causing unavoidable internal trauma.
Releasing Chakra through the palm's meridians sounded easy, but Yuki was now acutely aware of its difficulty.
He could release Chakra through his palm, but on one hand, his chakra was still too weak, and on the other, the release process wasn't smooth enough, resulting in a significant loss of power during transmission.
Even if such a weak Gentle Fist struck an opponent, it couldn't reliably pose a threat to the target's internal organs. In other words, it was a failure.
"Still practicing? Don't be too eager for quick success. You should rest when it's time to rest."
Just as Yuki was constantly experimenting with his Gentle Fist in front of the water tank, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
Yuki didn't even need to listen to know that the person who had suddenly appeared must be his Byakugan-iceberg-faced father and current Gentle Fist instructor, Hiashi.
"Father, I—"
"Although I don't know what you're so anxious about, for a five-year-old child, your progress is already good enough."Haste, makes waste".' There's no need to push yourself too hard.
Looking at his eldest son practicing so desperately, Hiashi didn't understand what was driving him.
Originally, when he first began training his son two years ago, he had prepared many items that were very demanding for a three-year-old child. But Yuki had shown extraordinary perseverance, breaking through them one by one.
Now, this five-year-old child had perfectly mastered the chakra extraction technique and initially acquired the introductory techniques of the Gentle Fist—a very rare achievement even in the Hyuga clan's history.
If they continued at this pace, perhaps Yuki would be able to practice advanced techniques like "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms" and "Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven" in four or five years. At that time, he would only be about ten years old. That would be remarkable enough even for the Hyuga clan.
Of course, this was only from Hiashi's perspective. For Yuki, it was far from enough—far from enough.
"By the way, Mother is about to give birth."
After receiving another round of instruction from his father, as the father and son were walking back to the Hyuga clan mansion from the forest, Yuki suddenly brought up this topic.
That's right. Hiashi's wife, Hyuga Kō, had been pregnant for ten months and was about to add a new member to the Hyuga family. This meant Yuki would soon have a younger sister.
In the original story, the Hyuga clan's second daughter, Hyuga Hanabi, should be born this year. However, since Yuki had replaced the position of the eldest young lady, if nothing unexpected happened, Kō should be pregnant with the original eldest young lady—Hinata.
"Well, it should be within the next few days. Do you want a younger brother or a younger sister?"
Although Hiashi always appeared cold and uninteresting to outsiders, when facing his proud son and beloved wife, he still showed a warmer side.
"Of course, a younger sister. By the way, if it's a younger sister, what name are you planning to choose?"
Because he already knew the relationship in the upcoming plot, Yuki deliberately asked mischievously.
However, the words that came from Hiashi's mouth took him by surprise.
"This..." Hiashi thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "If we follow our Hyuga clan's naming tradition, if it's a girl, she'll be called Hanabi—Hyuga Hanabi."
What? When he heard these words, Yuki's face froze.