In any world, force is the foundation that determines everything. If you lack power, even a bottle of laundry detergent could be used to frame you for a crime.
Especially in this world where order has collapsed even further—let's not forget, Hyūga Hizashi died just three years ago.
Before you grow strong enough on your own, the only way to gain more security is by relying on external forces. And external forces can be divided into two types: equipment and connections.
Equipment requires money, and whether it's in this life or the last, Seiji has always been dirt poor, hardly able to afford anything. So, we can immediately rule that out.
Moreover, the technological development in this world is quite distorted. Everything is clearly geared toward war, yet more powerful weapons like firearms haven't been developed or widely used.
Even though Nagato's Asura Path can fire laser beams, the entire Hyūga clan can't even produce a sniper rifle.
As we all know, Naruto is a world that values bloodlines and connections.
Top-tier resources like the Hokage, Jonin mentors, and so on are like HIV; they can only be transmitted through three means: apprenticeship, maternal inheritance, and family ties.
Before graduating from the Ninja Academy, the two major threats to Seiji are none other than Hyūga Hiashi and Shimura Danzo.
The former can be managed by raising Hinata Hyūga's favorability, but the latter is tricky mainly because Seiji isn't sure whether Danzo's Root organization recruits people from the Hyūga clan.
After all, the Caged Bird seal, for Seiji, still holds more advantages than disadvantages at this stage. That's why he doesn't go around bitterly resenting the world like Neji does, constantly taking jabs at everyone he meets.
Regardless of whether Root recruits Hyūga or not, given Danzo's penchant for stirring up trouble, he's bound to be a problem.
Currently, the only person in the entire Konoha village capable of keeping Danzo in check is the Third Hokage.
In this classroom, the only person with any direct connection to the Third Hokage is Uzumaki Naruto, and raising Naruto's favorability would be a profitable investment.
The adult world isn't just about fighting; it's also about human relationships.
Of course, once I'm fully geared, it won't be about human relationships anymore—it'll be about me refusing to settle for anything less.
After finishing his introduction, Iruka began teaching the first lesson of the day: chakra extraction.
At its core, the Ninja Academy is a place to train forces for violence, and chakra is the foundation of everything, so it's naturally taught early on.
Hyūga Seiji listened attentively for a while, only to realize that Iruka was teaching the same method for chakra extraction that the Hyūga clan had taught him.
It seems the method for extracting chakra is universal across the world—there's no distinction between Hyūga-exclusive techniques and Konoha's standard methods. Hmm... finally, I've found something fair in this world.
The bell rang, and as soon as Iruka stepped out of the classroom, several girls in the class began eyeing Uchiha Sasuke, who was sitting in the front row.
However, before they could make their move, Naruto had already started talking to Sasuke.
"Sasuke, do you remember me?"
Without turning his head, Sasuke replied, "I don't."
Naruto, undeterred by Sasuke's cold response, flashed a bright smile and continued, "That time by the river..."
As soon as Naruto started, Sasuke couldn't help but clench his fists.
That day, if it weren't for his brother being called away by Shisui, he wouldn't have been wandering around aimlessly, looking so pitiful.
And to make things worse, this guy had seen him in that sorry state, remembered it, and now wanted to bring it up again and make him relive the embarrassment!
"Enough, I remember!" Sasuke hurriedly interrupted Naruto.
At that moment, a savior arrived—or at least, that's what Sasuke thought.
"Uchiha Sasuke, hello, I'm Haruno Sakura."
...
"Damn it, Sakura got to him first! I wanted to be the first to introduce myself to Sasuke!"
Ino slumped over her desk, looking disheartened.
"It's not too late to act now," Hinata suggested.
Ino shook her head, then buried her face in her arms and stretched her back. "I'm exhausted from class. I need a break—we're heading to the training grounds this afternoon."
Just then, Sakura said something to Naruto, and he got up, making way for her before heading toward the back of the classroom.
"Um..." He scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile and said, "Seiji Hyūga, thanks for earlier."
Seiji waved him off, then pointed his thumb toward the door. "No problem. By the way, I was just about to grab lunch. Want to join?"
Naruto glanced at the others standing with Seiji and quickly declined, "Uh, I think I'll pass. I didn't bring a lunch."
"Come on, that's not a big deal. None of us brought a lunch either."
"Huh?" Naruto looked confused. "Then how are we going to eat?"
Chōji grinned mysteriously and pointed to the window—or more specifically, to the wall outside the window.
"By going outside, of course. Don't you like Ichiraku Ramen? Wanna grab some now?"
Chōji had a favorable impression of Naruto. In the chubby kid's mind, people who love food must be good people.
Naruto hesitated. At this point, he hadn't yet become one of the "Four Lords of Ditching Class," and still held some fear of the Ninja Academy and Iruka-sensei.
But... the idea of hanging out with friends was really tempting.
It was the first time so many people hadn't called him a demon fox. The old man Hokage was right—Ninja Academy is a good place.
At that moment, Kiba Inuzuka lifted his dog Akamaru above his head and grinned, "Even Akamaru dares. Don't tell me you're scared to try!"
"Woof, woof!"
With Kiba's provocation, Naruto stopped overthinking and shouted, "Who says I won't!"
And so, the five of them rushed out of the classroom, led by Shikamaru, as they headed toward the field behind the academy building.
"I scouted the area this morning on the way to school. The wall behind the training ground is pretty low—it'll be easy to jump over."
"And since there are no classes right now, it's almost impossible for any teachers to be around. Plus, there's a forest just outside the wall, so sneaking back will be a breeze."
Chōji tossed his empty snack wrapper into the trash and gave Shikamaru a thumbs up. "As expected of Shikamaru."
The group arrived at the wall, and with a strong leap, Shikamaru jumped up and steadied himself, then reached down to help Chōji up.
Chōji jumped, grabbing Shikamaru's hand while Seiji and Naruto gave him a push from below.
Feeling the weight in his hands, Naruto gritted his teeth and shouted, "Kiba, help out!"
"On it!"
Kiba tossed Akamaru over the wall, then hurried over to assist, and together, the three of them managed to hoist Chōji, the heaviest of the group, over the wall.
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