It was expected that Kiyo Hyuga and Kurenai Yuhi would set off for the Federation. By calculation, the timing was about right. The name Konoha had already been abolished. Although some nostalgic people were still not used to it, joining the Federation was the general trend, and it meant that true peace had arrived. So even if one missed Konoha, it was useless.
The residence for after the wedding had already been built, five hundred meters behind this house. It had six floors, not very tall; however, the underground held hidden depths. During construction, Hyuga Mirai had handed it over to No. 18 to handle. It was not only secure but also very spacious, more than enough for Hyuga Mirai to carry out many experiments.
The house had been prepared according to the wedding date. Since it was already completed, the wedding date was naturally drawing near.
"Ayaka, what have you all been talking about lately?"
Hyuga Mirai asked calmly while changing his shoes. At the moment, Ayaka Uzumaki, dressed lightly, was clinging to him. With even a slight movement, he could feel the friction.
"Do people in other worlds who practice traditional martial arts have shortcuts like this? It really stirs up the blood and qi."
"That's not it. It's just that Kiyo and Kurenai want to know about Mirai-sama's past, what Mirai-sama secretly did before his teens. Ah~"
Ayaka Uzumaki spoke like a cat with narrowed eyes as she rubbed against him. Calling her cat-like was not only because of her behavior, but also because of her tongue.
After Hyuga Mirai finished changing his shoes, he directly lifted her up. Ayaka was the type who lacked ability but had a strong craving and still wanted to play. She was more proactive than Kurenai and Kiyo, but she could not last as long as Kiyo. As long as Hyuga Mirai took the initiative, her limbs would soon go limp.
"Mirai-sama~"
With a squeeze, Ayaka Uzumaki instantly lost all strength, as if this place were the source of her power. Once seized, even using the Adamantine Sealing Chains became difficult. Last time she could still use the chains for support, but now Ayaka only felt as if she were falling into the clouds, her body burning hot, all the heat gathering in one place.
"What else? Ayaka."
Ayaka Uzumaki's delicate body seemed to be stimulated by waves of electric current. Fine beads of sweat quickly appeared, and with unfocused attention she replied, "Kiyo… wants to know more about what Mirai-sama secretly did outside in the past. Kurenai… Kurenai wants to know who you often interacted with."
That was close. They almost connected all the dots around him.
Hyuga Mirai's heart skipped slightly. Although he was confident he had not done anything inappropriate, who could ever guess a woman's thoughts?
Still, there was no need to overthink those suspicions. Hyuga Mirai felt that with Ayaka inside and No. 18 outside, maintaining balance was easy enough. More importantly, what mattered was the present. Ayaka Uzumaki, though limp all over, was still tightly clutching his clothes, her smooth, pale legs locked firmly around his waist.
Then let it be before the wedding—
Ding dong!
Just as Hyuga Mirai made the decision in his mind, the doorbell suddenly rang.
"Mmm~"
Ayaka Uzumaki snapped back to her senses, then climbed down from Hyuga Mirai. Clarity returned to her eyes as she said, "Mirai-sama… go take care of it first. I'm not in a hurry."
With that, Ayaka Uzumaki turned and ran upstairs. She was going to change clothes quickly; what she was wearing now was not suitable for receiving guests.
Hyuga Mirai felt somewhat helpless. Force worked both ways; what kind of move was retreating alone?
However, since someone had come, he knew it was impossible to continue. He stirred Sage Chakra within himself and walked to the door. After opening it, Hyuga Mirai paused briefly, then said, "Orochimaru, you came this early? I thought you'd only show up on the day itself and leave."
"Don't think of me that way, Mirai-kun. This is, after all, a major event in your life. I can set my research aside for a bit. By the way, Neji-kun applied to return, but I haven't agreed yet."
Orochimaru laughed hoarsely as he entered. Seeing Hyuga Mirai personally pour him tea, he raised an eyebrow slightly. There should indeed be two people in the house; after mastering Sage Mode, Orochimaru's perception should not be wrong.
Still, Orochimaru was only mildly surprised and did not dwell on it. The tea Hyuga Mirai brewed was not particularly good, even worse than before. After taking a sip, Orochimaru did not plan to drink more.
"Neji-kun still has some potential. I already have some ideas about his eyes. And after Kabuto left, Neji has been gradually managing the Sound Village. If he were to leave rashly, I would find it hard to adapt."
"That's for you to decide. But you came so early—was it really just to congratulate me? Coming empty-handed makes it hard for me to believe you, Orochimaru."
Hyuga Mirai said this while carefully checking to confirm that Orochimaru truly had not brought a gift.
In the past, no matter what, he would at least carry a gift box. This time was far too perfunctory.
"That's not important, Mirai-kun." Orochimaru ignored Hyuga Mirai's hint and continued, "I came because I've made an important breakthrough. Hinata."
After Orochimaru finished speaking, Hinata Hyuga gave Hyuga Mirai a slight bow, then stood up and moved to the open area of the living room.
"I've made a major discovery regarding Hinata Hyuga. According to Mount Myoboku's records, before the Rabbit Goddess appeared, there was no concept of chakra. The extraordinary beings of that era all used natural energy. The more proficient one was at using natural energy, the stronger they became, until they could possibly turn into an existence akin to a 'god'."
As Orochimaru spoke of his research, his eyes gleamed as he explained to Hyuga Mirai.
"Natural energy is the fundamental existence that gave birth to life on this planet. When one's control of natural energy is sufficient to touch the planet's foundation, the level of life may further transform with the help of natural energy, becoming what people before the appearance of the Rabbit Goddess called a 'god.' The physical body cannot disappear, but the spirit can endure. In other words, natural energy can help the soul evolve."
After listening, Hyuga Mirai looked at Hinata Hyuga and asked, "So you mean Hinata Hyuga is what you're talking about?"
"That's right. I've always suspected that the Shinigami does not possess chakra. The power of the Reaper Death Seal surpasses other sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan. It can instantly separate the Nine-Tails' yin and yang chakra. In the entire ninja world, only the Reaper Death Seal can do that. And now, through rituals, Hinata Hyuga seems to be able to possess part of the Shinigami's 'authority'."
After saying this, Orochimaru turned his head to Hinata Hyuga and said, "Hinata, please."
"Yes, I understand."
Hinata responded softly and began preparing on her own. Looking at her, Hyuga Mirai could not tell how much she had changed from before, but he felt she was no longer the same gentle, soft-spoken girl she once was.
Hiashi Hyuga had been inquiring about Hinata Hyuga. If Hinata had changed too much, it would be hard for Kiyo to explain things to the Hiashi family, even though Hinata had left of her own accord.
Soon, Hinata Hyuga began to move. It was very peculiar, somewhat like a ritual dance, with special hand movements. What caught Hyuga Mirai's attention most, however, was the natural energy around her.
She did not condense chakra, but instead used natural energy in conjunction with these strange gestures. Before long, she gathered a great amount of natural energy from the surroundings, even affecting the electrical currents in the house.
After sensing the commotion downstairs, Ayaka Uzumaki changed clothes and came down. Seeing the situation in the living room, she guessed what Hyuga Mirai and Orochimaru were doing. She quietly walked over and sat beside Hyuga Mirai.
Although a fair amount of natural energy had gathered, in Hyuga Mirai's eyes it was not particularly impressive, at most equivalent to an S-rank forbidden technique. But in Hinata Hyuga's hands, that natural energy seemed to obey her command.
Orochimaru whispered to Hyuga Mirai, "Mirai-kun, I'm not sure whether Hinata still has the Byakugan bloodline. Some time ago, she was able to achieve x-ray vision and long-distance vision without activating the Byakugan. As for now… we haven't conducted new tests yet."
"That's impressive… wait, Orochimaru, you just said…" Hyuga Mirai suddenly realized something and asked quietly, "You mean Hinata can use long-distance vision and x-ray vision without her veins bulging?"
"That's right. So sometimes even I don't know whether she's using the Byakugan."
Seeing Hyuga Mirai lost in thought, Orochimaru asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Hyuga Mirai let the topic drop, but he planned to prepare sealing barriers at home later, just to feel more at ease.
Meanwhile, Hinata Hyuga's actions were gradually coming to an end. The natural energy slowly gathered into her two palms. In Hyuga Mirai's view, this was already astonishing. If she were to release this natural energy with a Palm Strike now, it would at least destroy all buildings within one or two hundred meters.
However, judging by Hinata Hyuga's actions, she had another use for this energy. She took out a space capsule from her clothes, pressed it, and threw it forward.
With a bang, after the smoke dispersed, a structure resembling an altar appeared. At its center was a small portion of flesh cells contained in a culture dish.
"These are… Hashirama Cells?"
Seeing this, Hyuga Mirai vaguely formed a guess. He became even more attentive, even activating the Byakugan to observe her movements.
After the altar appeared, Hinata Hyuga gathered the natural energy accumulated through the ritual into her palms and bowed slightly toward the altar. After bowing, she brought her hands together.
Once she completed this action, Hyuga Mirai felt spatial fluctuations appear above the altar, and the natural energy in Hinata Hyuga's hands was instantly exhausted.
In less than a second, an indistinct, invisible spatial passage opened above the altar. Even with the Byakugan, Hyuga Mirai could not observe it. Only because he possessed the ability of Yomotsu Hirasaka could he sense that a spatial passage had opened above the altar.
After the passage opened, a familiar spirit emerged from it, one that everyone present could see, including Ayaka Uzumaki, whose face showed surprise.
"How strange. I clearly said goodbye to Tsunade. Why was I called back to the living world again? Ah, Hyuga Mirai, what did you summon me for this time? Did Tsunade quit again?"
Senju Hashirama complained upon seeing Hyuga Mirai. He had only just returned before being called back again. If this continued, the order between the living world and the Pure Land would collapse.
"Don't misunderstand, First Hokage. This time we were testing an ancient ritual. I didn't expect it to actually summon you back."
Hearing Hyuga Mirai's explanation, Senju Hashirama noticed that he was not in an Edo Tensei state, but rather a spirit attached to a special form of energy. It felt extremely familiar—pure natural energy, without chakra?
"What a marvelous ability. To summon me back from the Pure Land using only natural energy… and it's a girl from the Hyuga clan. Truly remarkable."
Senju Hashirama praised Hinata Hyuga, then showed a calm expression and said to Hyuga Mirai, "But I have no more regrets. Under your leadership, the ninja world will surely realize the wish Madara and I once had. Tsunade has also found a new goal and no longer needs to sink into a life of sorrow. Young man, I'll leave Tsunade to you from now on."
"I understand. Tsunade is also a very important companion to me. But First Hokage, why did you suddenly return earlier? I still had many things to ask you."
Hearing this, Senju Hashirama immediately complained indignantly, "Tsunade actually made me help her handle official documents, and even asked me to secretly buy alcohol for her. I absolutely won't do things that damage the Hokage's image, so I found a chance and dispelled the Edo Tensei."
Hyuga Mirai, Orochimaru, and the others fell silent. Still, these were indeed things Tsunade would do.
"Don't worry, First Hokage. I'll help you seek justice."
After saying this, Hyuga Mirai stepped forward and patted Senju Hashirama on the shoulder. This was not meant as comfort, but to understand what kind of state the First Hokage was in as a spirit. Hyuga Mirai also wanted to ask about the Pure Land. From what Senju Hashirama had revealed, anyone who died retained consciousness in the Pure Land.
Natural energy granted Senju Hashirama the ability to transform from a spirit into a semi-physical form. He could even use this energy to employ abilities from his lifetime—Wood Release ninjutsu, Sage Art Wood Release, and other techniques. Unlike Edo Tensei, Senju Hashirama could also possess Hinata Hyuga with his spirit, allowing her to use a series of his techniques.
It was practically an onmyoji.
After Hinata Hyuga tested possession and related abilities, Senju Hashirama returned to the Pure Land due to insufficient energy.
"Indeed impressive. Using Wood Release with natural energy alone is almost on par with Sage Chakra. It seems ancient onmyoji really did have some tricks."
Hyuga Mirai held two wooden rods. One was formed by Hinata Hyuga using Senju Hashirama's possession, the other he created himself with Sage Chakra. Their hardness was nearly identical. Yet Hyuga Mirai's Sage Chakra should have been the highest quality in the ninja world. Even at his peak, Senju Hashirama could not have matched it in quality.
Moreover, Hyuga Mirai could use Six Paths Senjutsu at any time.
Ancient onmyoji were truly fascinating. Because too many God Trees had been planted, the planet's native natural energy had become extremely scarce. In ancient times, with the methods of those onmyoji, it seemed not impossible to fight Kaguya or Isshiki. Yet in the end, the Otsutsuki prevailed. This made Hyuga Mirai extremely curious about what had happened back then.
The plan to research a time-travel machine could be moved up a bit.
Hyuga Mirai thought to himself. What Orochimaru showed him today was truly interesting and directly piqued his curiosity.
"Orochimaru, I'll think of a way to gather information about ancient onmyoji. Collecting it from the Pure Land isn't very realistic. It would be better to go directly to ancient times and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru's golden slit pupils widened instantly. He understood what Hyuga Mirai meant, but he had not expected him to be capable of such a thing.
"Mirai-kun, if there's any news, please notify me immediately."
"No problem," Hyuga Mirai replied with a smile, then turned to look at Hinata. Even he found it hard to read this girl's current temperament. "Hinata, do you want to go back and see Hiashi Hyuga and Hanabi Hyuga? Or stay here a few days and let Naruto Uzumaki show you around the Federation?"
Hinata Hyuga remained expressionless. She had worn this expression ever since entering. Hearing Hyuga Mirai, she replied without changing her expression, "No need. I want to look around on my own."
Hearing this, Hyuga Mirai glanced at Orochimaru. Seeing no objection, he said to Hinata Hyuga, "Alright. I'll inform the security team so they won't interfere with you."
After that, Orochimaru discussed other research matters with Hyuga Mirai, such as whether Hinata Hyuga's constitution could be replicated. However, Orochimaru had too little data. There was only one Hinata Hyuga, and he could not bear to deepen experiments on someone so close to a finished product, so the research stalled.
Orochimaru had come early this time partly to seek Hyuga Mirai's help, hoping he might find onmyoji spirits from a thousand years ago in the Pure Land. He had not expected Hyuga Mirai to plan to travel through time directly to ancient times for information, which greatly excited him.
He wished Hyuga Mirai would put the wedding aside and immediately research time travel, but he knew that was unrealistic. So he decided to stay in the Federation for now and urge him whenever possible. After all, unlike Tsunade, he did not need to handle massive administrative affairs daily, and the Sound Village was managed by Neji Hyuga.
As night grew late, Orochimaru reluctantly ended the discussion. In his heart, he also felt some regret about Hyuga Mirai's wedding. If Mirai could focus solely on research, he might have already become a god capable of curing anything.
After leaving Hyuga Mirai's home, Hinata Hyuga suddenly spoke to Orochimaru, "Orochimaru-san, if possible, I also want to go see ancient times."
"I see. I understand. When the time comes, I'll help you ask Mirai-kun."
Orochimaru glanced sideways at Hinata Hyuga and, seeing her still expressionless, asked curiously, "Hinata, what do you want?"
"Probably the same goal as Orochimaru-san. For now, I want to know more."
As for the future, Hinata Hyuga said no more. But after walking with Orochimaru for a while, she continued, "Orochimaru-san, after Mirai-san's wedding, I want to go see shrine maidens."
"It's said that the shrine maiden lineage is skilled in prophecy, but there are no ancient records passed down. If you want to go, then go."
Orochimaru chuckled softly as he spoke.
He was not worried at all that Hinata Hyuga would choose to return to the Hyuga clan. Although the Hyuga clan had undergone reforms and abolished many old systems like the Caged Bird, in Orochimaru's view, aside from their bloodline, they were still a dull clan.
Hinata Hyuga was different. She would have many possibilities in the future. It was destined that she could not return to that dull clan and become an ordinary ninja.
"Hard to believe Konoha ninja just disappeared like that. It feels like we were Konoha genin just yesterday, and today we've become Federation ninja."
Ino Yamanaka sighed. This time, Team Eight and Team Nine, due to their good performance in the Chunin Exams, were allowed to study at the Federation Administrative Building. The six of them were the only young ones there. The others were all famous Konoha ninja, like Kakashi Hatake and Inoichi Yamanaka.
"The ninja uniforms do look pretty good," Shikamaru Nara said with a troubled face, scratching his head. "It's just that we won't be able to slack off anymore. I've heard the Federation has a lot more work than Konoha, and we're supposed to do this for a few more years. At this rate, when can we ever retire…"
"There's no helping it, Shikamaru. Konoha has practically taken over the entire Land of Fire, and with your talent, you'll definitely be put to good use," Choji Akimichi said, holding lots of food he had bought along the way. Seeing Shikamaru's gaze, he held the food closer. "Want some?"
Shikamaru shook his head. "No, I'm already full."
There were more than four hundred people in the group. The core figures were Kiyo Hyuga and Kurenai Yuhi. Others included members of the Hyuga clan and Kurenai Yuhi's family. From Shikamaru's perspective, however, that jonin Yuhi Shinku did not seem to be in a very good mood.
Their two genin teams benefited from their teachers and were arranged into this group. After arriving, Federation ninja would also guide them in administrative work.
Most importantly, they were there to attend the wedding. Through newspapers, almost the entire ninja world already knew about the marriage of Hyuga Mirai, principal of the Federation School. There were only a few days left, and once they arrived, everything would likely be arranged in haste.
Ino Yamanaka missed Konoha for less than three minutes before finding Sakura Haruno. The two whispered and giggled, laughing and bickering. Without guessing, it was obvious they planned to look for Sasuke Uchiha. They had once been enemies, but now both sides had merged into one country, rekindling their hopes.
In the carriage at the center of the convoy, Kurenai Yuhi saw Kiyo Hyuga's restless appearance and smiled as she asked, "Kiyo, are you nervous?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I've attended countless weddings as the head of the Hyuga clan. This time it's just my own turn. What is there to be nervous about?"
After saying this, Kiyo Hyuga closed her eyes. But in the next moment, she felt Kurenai Yuhi's slightly cool hand touch her face.
"You forgot to turn off your Byakugan. Don't rush, Kiyo. We're almost there."
Kiyo Hyuga hurriedly deactivated her Byakugan and tilted her head slightly. "I'm also responsible for vigilance. In this group, no one's long-distance vision surpasses mine. This is the duty of a clan head ninja."
"Yes, yes~ I hope you can keep it together, hmph~"
Although Kurenai Yuhi spoke in a relaxed tone, recalling that night, her own nervousness was no less than Kiyo Hyuga's. She simply eased it by teasing Kiyo.
When that day came, she would have no reason to stop Hyuga Mirai's next move. Thinking of this, Kurenai Yuhi clenched the cushion beside her slightly.
(End of chapter)
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