As a ninja…
Well, Makoto felt that calling himself a "ninja" now was somewhat inappropriate.
"Ninja" was a professional label—a designation for a group within the shinobi world who wielded power. It inherently carried a certain sense of being tools.
So, in the eyes of many daimyō and nobles, ninja were nothing more than highly useful tools.
That was completely backwards.
Makoto felt that everyone should be seen as chakra users instead.
Unlike bloodline ninja, who could spontaneously awaken all sorts of extraordinary abilities once certain conditions were met, everything Makoto had came from his own exploration.
Fortunately, the entire power system of this world was already laid out before him, so he could figure things out step by step. There was no need to start completely from scratch.
After Minato and the others left, Makoto began to think about his future training path.
At present, he had already pushed Yin and Yang attributes to their limits. From here on, those two attributes would continue to refine and reshape his physique.
So his next direction should be to make up for his weaknesses.
That meant fully exploring the five elemental chakra natures and studying their generation, suppression, and fusion.
Makoto's innate affinities were Wind, Earth, and Water.
His mastery over the nature transformations of these three was the deepest. Fire and Lightning had also reached proficiency, but his control over them was still inferior compared to his three innate elements.
He had already purged the chaotic will from within his chakra. Full ownership of his chakra had returned to himself. Combined with the heightened control granted by his constant Sage Mode, his progress in chakra nature training far surpassed that of ordinary ninja.
At this stage, he had already combined Wind and Water to form Ice Release, and Earth and Water to form a unique Wood Release. Next, he planned to combine the destructive properties of Wind and Earth to create another entirely new bloodline.
He had already gained some insight into this while researching Wood Release.
Once this new bloodline was complete, he would continue training Fire and Lightning nature transformations, and eventually reproduce all known chakra-based fusion kekkei genkai in the shinobi world.
In short, the road ahead was still long.
Fortunately, he had plenty of time.
As for work? Whether he showed up or not, neither of the Hokage from the past two generations cared anymore.
And salary? What salary?
With his current strength and status, if he wanted money, countless people would line up to hand it to him.
As long as Makoto remained in Konoha, he was the village's greatest guarantee of security.
...
Starting from the next day, his only disciple, Tenten, began her arduous path of chakra training.
For now, the focus was still on physical conditioning, taijutsu combat, and chakra control. At least until she enrolled in the academy, Makoto would not teach her any ninjutsu.
It was a time of peace, and unless something unexpected happened, that peace would last for over a decade. There was no need to accelerate her growth and rush her into early graduation. After enrollment, there would be plenty of time to teach her ninjutsu.
His philosophy remained the same as when he trained himself—chakra control was the foundation. Build a solid base, and learning ninjutsu later would naturally yield twice the result with half the effort.
He also did not let Tenten come into contact with natural energy too early. For a four- or five-year-old child, it was simply too soon.
Children lacked self-control. If she got curious and tried sensing natural energy outside the dojo, it would be extremely dangerous.
She might even lose her life.
But another question arose—if a ninja began refining chakra in an environment rich in natural energy from the very beginning, how much of an influence would that have?
That was an excellent subject for observation.
About a week later, once Tenten's chakra refinement stabilized, Makoto tested her affinities—and discovered something very interesting.
This little girl's innate chakra attributes were Wind, Water, and Earth.
Yes—exactly the same as his when he was a child.
That made things interesting.
What were Tenten's chakra attributes in the original timeline?
If he remembered correctly, the answer was none.
Like her teammate Rock Lee, she could refine and use chakra in combat, but she had no elemental attributes. She couldn't learn attribute-based ninjutsu, and her Yin–Yang affinity was unclear.
If she had possessed attributes, Guy—even if he didn't understand them himself—would have found a specialist to teach her. After all, Guy had a close friend who possessed all five chakra natures and was highly proficient in ninjutsu.
So where did Tenten's current attributes come from?
There was no way she was secretly his daughter.
After thinking it through, Makoto arrived at only one possibility.
When he had successfully fused Wood Release before, Tenten had been resting nearby in a fatigued state.
At that time, the small tree he created with Wood Release for the first time had the ability to convert natural energy. The very first strand of white natural energy it produced had been absorbed by Tenten.
That initial Wood Release—formed from the first fusion of his chakra—was something special. Even compared to the large tree in the dojo courtyard that now served as an energy core, it was more unique.
Perhaps that very first strand of converted natural energy carried a special effect—one that even Makoto himself hadn't understood at the time.
And Tenten had unknowingly swallowed that massive opportunity whole.
It seemed that the immediate recovery of her stamina and mental energy back then had only been the most trivial benefit. The greater effect might have been a permanent optimization and transformation of her physique.
Could this be the terrifying nature of someone with maxed-out luck among the original Twelve?
Running all over the battlefield, casually picking up Sage tools everywhere!
And in this world, her luck buff had become even stronger.
Not only had she taken Makoto as her master, she had also directly absorbed the opportunity that leaked out during his training.
Thinking of this, Makoto couldn't help but glance at his first and foremost disciple.
Someone with maxed-out luck… truly terrifying.
...
Time passed quickly as Makoto trained and observed.
By the end of the year, the once-quiet dojo had gradually become lively.
Aside from his family and teammates, others would also come by in their spare time to train and receive his guidance.
This included the long-standing three-clan alliance, Genma's team, Kakashi, and others.
Even the three members of Hyūga Tokuma's team had begun coming regularly under their clan head's instruction.
Makoto treated everyone equally and held nothing back. But how much they could learn depended entirely on themselves.
Ever since he first discovered the differing characteristics of natural energy, he had vaguely felt that he had stepped into a silent struggle for control over the highest-tier energy in the shinobi world.
Once he realized that his unique Wood Release could convert other types of natural energy back into a near-primordial state, he became even more certain.
Letting more people learn and spreading this system of power would benefit him.
Because natural energy came from the world itself—from all things in nature.
And humans were the most spiritually attuned of all things. Ninja, in turn, were the representatives of humans who wielded extraordinary power.
So allowing more people to practice his senjutsu would create a positive cycle.
At present, those like Minato—who were among the first to come into contact with the dojo's white natural energy—could already absorb a small amount daily and integrate it into their bodies.
Although none of them had entered Sage Mode yet, their bodies and minds were steadily strengthening.
At the very least, Hayate's condition had visibly improved—he no longer coughed frequently while clutching his mouth.
Moreover, everyone's chakra reserves and mastery over ninja skills had improved noticeably.
Seeing these benefits made them even more diligent.
...
December 24th. Year 54 of Konoha was nearing its end, and the New Year was approaching.
That morning, after finishing her training, Tenten said: "Sensei, the village seems really lively today. I saw a lot of people cleaning the streets early this morning. It looks like something important is happening. Want to go take a look?"
"New Year's is coming soon. Maybe everyone's just doing a big cleanup?"
"No, Sensei. It wasn't this lively last year. And people are hanging banners too. They must be welcoming someone important or holding some kind of event."
"Oh? Our Tenten is quite observant. Not bad. Something big really is happening today. Come on, I'll take you to see."
With his current strength, Makoto's perception range had long surpassed what it used to be. Naturally, he already knew what was happening in Konoha.
In essence, the Third Shinobi War had never truly ended.
Konoha and Kumogakure had not signed a peace treaty. They still maintained a military standoff along the border.
But it seemed that those dark-skinned brutes had finally realized that continuing the standoff served no purpose. They had decided to end this fruitless tension before the New Year.
They had already sent advance notice and dispatched a diplomatic delegation, which would arrive in Konoha this morning to negotiate the details of a peace agreement.
What Makoto was wondering now was whether those people would still try to lay their hands on the Hyūga Clan.
Most likely, yes.
The concept of "taking" was practically written into their DNA.
Regardless, after this event, both sides would sign a peace agreement and finally bring the Third Shinobi War to a complete close.
Kirigakure: "…"
"Hey, we're one of the Five Great Ninja Villages too! We haven't signed anything with Konoha either—someone look at us!"
Unfortunately, no one paid attention to their nonsense.
That group had already earned a permanent seat at the table of absurdity, reduced to comic relief, constantly pulling bizarre antics.
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