Time trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, Hyuga Yuto had already spent six days in the village.
During this period, everything was calm. Hyuga Yuto went back and forth between the clan grounds and the secret training ground, diligently and monotonously. Sometimes, he would encounter characters who appeared frequently in the original work. Notably, yesterday, he even happened to see Uchiha Mikoto with a large belly.
— At the end of this year, Uchiha Itachi would be born into the Uchiha clan, bringing the most devastating pain to this glorious clan with a thousand-year legacy.
This made Hyuga Yuto a little anxious. There were still sixteen years before the official plot of "Naruto" began, but with the appearance of the main characters one by one, he always felt that time was running out.
However, no matter how anxious he was, he could only force himself to calm down and continue his training.
On this day, Hyuga Yuto still woke up very early. He packed his clothes and prepared to go to the secret training ground for training. However, as soon as he left the courtyard, he was stopped by two clan guards.
"Hyuga Yuto." The Hyuga clansman who spoke wore a forehead protector, his tone as calm as a robot:
"The Clan Leader asked me to tell you that there will be a dinner party tonight, and you will attend with the Clan Leader and others."
"Dinner party?" Hyuga Yuto's heart skipped a beat:
"Brother, can you elaborate?"
"I have already delivered the message, and I don't know anything else."
"Oh... is the Clan Leader available now? I want to..."
"The Clan Leader is not available." The Hyuga clansman who delivered the message didn't even blink, following the instructions he had been given meticulously:
"Don't go anywhere today, Hyuga Yuto, and don't be rude in the evening."
Hyuga Yuto pondered over these words and cupped his hands, saying:
"Thank you, brother."
The messenger left, and Hyuga Yuto stood alone in the courtyard, his heart pounding.
He had a vague premonition that this was probably the result of what he had said to Hiruzen Sarutobi a few days ago.
...
The day passed quickly, and when it got dark, a carriage stopped at Hyuga Yuto's door. Hyuga Yuto got into the carriage and met up with the Clan Leader and others at the main gate of the clan grounds, leaving the Hyuga clan's controlled area in a grand procession.
Soon, they arrived at their destination.
Hyuga Yuto got out of the carriage and the first thing he saw was a strange pattern formed by three line segments and five small circles.
— This was the family crest of the Sarutobi clan.
This was the Sarutobi clan's territory!
Under the guidance of attendants, the Hyuga entered the Sarutobi main house.
Since Hiruzen Sarutobi's coronation as the Third Hokage, the Sarutobi clan's territory had been expanded several times, especially the main house, which had been transformed into a heavily guarded banquet hall. Hiruzen Sarutobi often met with powerful figures from the ninja village here, so it could barely be considered a family banquet, without the absolute hierarchy of the Hokage Building.
In the main hall, as the head of the family, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the center, with several long tables on his right, all empty.
At the long table on Hiruzen Sarutobi's left sat a dozen people, all with handsome faces and pure black eyes, with pride accumulated over the years between their brows. Even in the presence of the Third Hokage, this arrogance was only slightly restrained.
They were members of the Uchiha clan.
"Hiashi, come, don't stand there." Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled. Hiashi Hyuga bowed, and then the Hyuga family took their seats one after another.
Thus, the Hokage's lineage, the Uchiha, and the Hyuga, the three most powerful forces in Konoha, gathered here.
With all the guests present, the servants brought in plates of delicacies, and the banquet officially began.
Hyuga Yuto took a bite of sashimi and began to observe the people attending the banquet.
On the Hyuga side, besides the Clan Leader, Hyuga Hiashi, his younger brother, Hyuga Hizashi, was also present, along with three elder clan elders and four young men and women, including Hyuga Yuto.
Among them, Hyuga Yuto and another boy with Byakugan were from the Branch Family, while the remaining boy and the only girl were from the Main Family.
— The distinction between the "Main" and "Branch" families of the Hyuga clan was very easy to distinguish. Anyone who did not wear a forehead protector, bandage, or anything else to cover their forehead was from the Main Family. This seemed to be a privilege worth bragging about for them.
The Uchiha clan's configuration was similar, with the Clan Leader, Uchiha Fugaku, his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, a few clan elders, and four young men and women.
As for the host of this dinner party, Hiruzen Sarutobi, there were three people sitting beside him.
One had long white hair, red markings under his eyes, and a tall and burly stature. Although he sat there with a lazy expression, somehow, just looking at his broad shoulders gave one a sense of security, as if he could hold up the sky if it were to fall.
Another had a pale face and golden snake-like pupils. Although handsome, he was intimidating. However, even though he was cold and terrifying, he exuded a strange attraction, dangerous and powerful.
The last one was a woman with long blonde hair, a rare beauty with a diamond-shaped purple mark on her forehead. She sat there boldly, guzzling wine, her aura not inferior to any man.
These three were Hiruzen Sarutobi's proud disciples, the Sannin of Konoha: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade Senju!
During this period, only Orochimaru resided in Konoha and held an important position. Jiraiya traveled the world while writing novels, and Tsunade, due to her "hemophobia," distanced herself from the political center of Konoha and wandered around with the young Shizune, gambling and losing, gambling and losing again.
Presumably, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also put in a lot of effort to gather his three disciples together.
"So many important figures..." Hyuga Yuto thought to himself, chewing slowly. He knew that this dinner party could not be just a simple meal, so he did not dare to eat too much.
The atmosphere was very harmonious amidst the clinking of glasses.
Although Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi were young, they were both mature individuals, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was even more cunning and spoke flawlessly.
After chatting for about half an hour, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally tapped the table lightly and looked at the Uchiha side with a smile:
"Fugaku, the child on your left, is that [Quick Blade] Shota?"
"Exactly." Uchiha Fugaku was very humble:
"This child is my nephew, he loves using swords, and he's used to being lawless outside the village, so he even got a false reputation... Shota?"
"Greetings, Lord Hokage." Uchiha Shota walked out from behind the table and knelt down on one knee.
His voice was loud and clear, with the vitality and pride characteristic of a young man.
"Good boy." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and stroked his beard:
"Hiashi, the one standing behind you must be Hyuga Shinji, right? I heard that he mastered the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven at a young age, a young hero."
Hyuga Shinji stood up and bowed. His forehead was smooth and white, empty.
Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed very happy. He looked at the eight young men and women from the Uchiha and Hyuga clans and laughed loudly:
"When I was young, I followed the Second Hokage. At that time, the world was very chaotic, and the game between me and my classmates was to compete with each other using ninjutsu and taijutsu, and we never got tired of it."
"Today, my three disciples are here, and Fugaku and Hiashi are also here. It must be boring to accompany this old man drinking... How about letting these little ones go down and practice their skills?"