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Chapter 72: I'm Not Floating
The scorching sun shone through the woods. The noisy chirping of cicadas was extremely irritating in the summer. Spring had passed by unknowingly, and more than a month had passed since Naruto graduated.
Boom!
A huge roar echoed through the woods. In the training ground, Ryosuke struck the air one palm after another, just like he did when he practiced the Gentle Fist. However, although the movements were similar, both the internal force techniques and the force transmitted by his body were much stronger than before. Even without a target in front of him, the sound of his whistling palm wind was extremely loud. The force was strong enough to tear the air and had penetrating power.
Without using chakra, Ryosuke tried to apply the physical skills he had learned with pure physical strength. Naruto's graduation had left Ryosuke feeling a little disappointed. After all, Naruto was the only person in the class he felt was okay. Even Uchiha Sasuke, who might turn evil in the future and grow extremely fast, wasn't in his sights now.
When Hinata took over the social circle and was able to interact with the future heirs of other clans in the village on her own, Ryosuke's purpose for staying in school changed. So, after Naruto graduated, he simply stopped going to school. Given his status, it was easy for him to take leave. Although he said he was taking leave, he was actually staying at home to practice alone.
The goal that Hiashi gave to Ryosuke was that as long as he was defeated, he would no longer restrict Ryosuke's freedom. But because there was nothing worth going out for, he did not challenge Hiashi. Instead, he practiced silently by himself.
"Master Ryosuke..."
Ryosuke, who was still silently practicing the Hyuga clan's secret techniques to master them more quickly, stopped because of a shout. The dark blue lion head gathered in his hand slowly dissipated. He turned around and looked towards the entrance of the training ground. As expected, Hoshicai was holding a scroll and waving at him.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm the blood and chakra that had surged during training, Ryosuke slowly paced towards the door. "What's wrong?" he asked puzzledly.
"There's news from Souji, saying that the daimyo is going to give us some of the benefits according to the original agreement."
Hoshicai did not step into the training ground but quietly stood at the door, waiting for Ryosuke to come over before handing him the scroll in her hand. "The benefit they gave up is a small vassal state of the Fire Nation. They are willing to hand over all the material production and population of this small country to us for jurisdiction. The clan leader said that you fought for this benefit, so you have to decide whether to accept it or not."
"Small country?" Ryosuke took the scroll and spread it out. With his eyes that were already extremely perceptive, he only needed to glance at it a few times before he understood all the contents on the scroll. "They were quite generous this time. It seems that due to the decline of the Uchiha, they were able to take back a lot of the things they had given up."
His eyes were full of interest as he spoke. Since coming to this ninja world, there hadn't been many things that interested Ryosuke. But this time it was different because the name of this small vassal state was the land of Waves.
"It's more like a fishing village," Hoshicai introduced the information she had collected to Ryosuke. "The population of land of Waves is only a few thousand people, and it is located on a very small island. This is a nation without the protection of a ninja village. Because of its geographical location and connection with the Land of Fire, it often establishes diplomatic relations with us and offers many treasures as tribute. In exchange, we will occasionally lend a helping hand if they encounter difficulties."
At this point, she paused, "But I heard that recently, the leader of the LAnd of waves died of a serious illness, and even many ministers died with him. Although there is no information about the specific cause of the disease, if it is an infectious disease, then this country with less than a thousand people will basically be ruined. For us to accept this compensation from the daimyo is a bit... too much of a loss."
Hyuga Hoshicai expressed her views on this matter.
"Maybe it's not the disease," Ryosuke pondered. "Let's send some clansmen to investigate the situation first. Since the daimyo has not given a time limit, we are not in a hurry to make a decision."
According to the original timeline, the land of waves would be peaceful for the next ten years. There should be no situation where a country is destroyed due to an infectious disease. But Ryosuke was not someone who relied heavily on the plot. Besides, the original timeline had basically collapsed due to his changes. It was hard to say whether the land of Waves would change for unknown reasons.
"But... Anyway, I may have to go to the village," Ryosuke felt helpless when he thought about this. Only one month had passed, and he was going to break the goal set by his father? To be honest, he had not taken up the challenge, partly because there was nothing important that required him to leave the village, and partly because he did not want to embarrass his father.
After being together for so many years, Ryosuke still understands Hiashi's character very well. He is a person who cares a lot about face.
"But if I think about it carefully, am I a little too confident..." As he left the training ground and headed towards the main residence, Hoshicai followed behind Ryosuke. But he did not take the initiative to talk to her and ask for more details about the Land of Waves. Instead, he suddenly realized a problem.
It seemed... ever since he knew this goal, he had never felt any pressure or felt that he could not beat his father. Instead, he felt that his father was giving him some slack and deliberately giving him freedom. Realizing this problem, Ryosuke quickly analyzed the strength between the two. But the more he analyzed, the more relieved he felt.
Although because of the second transformation, his various ability indexes had grown by leaps and bounds, and his strength was getting stronger day by day. But... he actually did not have any arrogance. Instead, he immersed himself in boring practice continuously and with great perseverance. As for the reason why he did not feel pressure because of the goal given by his father, it was because in his subconscious mind he no longer regarded him as a goal.
It may sound a bit arrogant to say this, after all, Hyuga Hiashi is the head of the clan and a Jonin at the same time. But precisely because he is the head of the clan, Ryosuke constantly reduces the pressure on him in his heart. The reason is nothing else but that between being a ninja and a politician, Hyuga Hiashi's focus is constantly moving towards the profession of politician.
This is the image painted in Ryosuke's mind after knowing him for so long.
(End of this chapter)
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