How long did I sleep...
Otonashi slowly opened his eyes, his pupils slightly contracting due to the light. His vision went from double vision to blurry, and finally, he clearly saw the ceiling.
He paused, realizing the ceiling before him was extremely unfamiliar. It was a heavy brown wooden ceiling, usually only seen in old-style residences.
"I'm not in the hospital?" Otonashi slowly turned his neck and saw that he was lying on a tatami mat. As far as his eyes could see, it was also a brown floor, clean enough to reflect light.
No doctors, no nurses; this was certainly not the hospital. Otonashi didn't care where he was and quickly performed a preliminary check on his body.
'The feeling of weakness is much better, like drinking Kidney Treasure (Shen Bao) in time after overexertion. Even though my legs are still a bit weak, at least I don't feel like sleeping as soon as I open my eyes.'
'External injuries are almost healed, but the ribs haven't fully reset yet.'
His familiarity with medical ninjutsu allowed him to quickly draw conclusions. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Not only had he saved his life, but he also hadn't suffered any lasting sequelae. You know, every year, several ninjas directly become invalids because they exhausted themselves.
After feeling fortunate, he sighed again with deep regret.
Obito died, and he himself was seriously injured. This was all due to his 'ignorance'—so-called foreknowledge to plan and avoid risks.
But what could he do now? He couldn't just die once to see if he could go back and watch some anime, then die again and come back to continue?
Looking at the ceiling, the expression on his face gradually calmed. He didn't regret his 'ignorance'.
Not only was knowing everything too boring, but more importantly, Otonashi understood human nature too well.
Except for natural-born ambitious people, knowing too much would instinctively lead one to cling to powerful figures, instinctively take shortcuts, instinctively seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, instinctively classify everyone into ranks.
Thus leading to laziness, fragility, despair, and ultimately creating false strength.
He wasn't God, and everyone he interacted with wasn't an NPC. Everyone was a living person!
Swish—
Just then, the paper door slid open, and a serious middle-aged man walked in, happening to see the teenager sitting up.
"Otonashi, you're finally awake."
"Lord Hiashi, why am I in your house?" Otonashi gritted his teeth and struggled to get up. His feet swayed, and he fell onto the floor again, the wound on his ribs hurting so much he groaned.
But he quickly got up again, fell again, got up again...
After repeating this several times, finding some feeling, Otonashi finally stood steady, leaning against the wall. Throughout the process, Hiashi Hyuga watched from the side. Forget about helping him up, he didn't even offer a single word of comfort like 'slow down'. Only when Otonashi stood firm did a faint smile appear on his face.
This kid, indeed, there's nothing left to teach him.
"Shall we go have tea together?" he asked, turning sideways.
"Then I'll trouble you, teacher."
Having tea right after waking up, people who didn't know might think Otonashi was faking illness.
Outside was a Japanese-style courtyard. It was April, and the cherry blossom tree next to the courtyard was shedding pink petals. The two walked into a room that might be the living room. An intellectual woman in a kimono slowly walked over and handed them two cups of tea.
Of course, she was also a beauty who rolled her eyes at you.
"My wife, Hyuga Haruko." Hiashi explained casually.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Hanyu Otonashi." Otonashi quickly bowed, noticing the latter's slightly bulging belly.
The woman smiled: "I often hear Hiashi mention you, saying you are his most outstanding student..."
"Ahem!" The man cleared his throat heavily, as if he hadn't heard the sentence, and ordered seriously, "Haruko, you should go rest."
Damn, I didn't expect you, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, to be a tsundere too.
Otonashi was stunned. Hiashi Hyuga was an extremely serious person in his impression; he never expected him to hide a tsundere attribute.
"Don't mind him. Hiashi is just a guy who says one thing and means another. He clearly cares a lot, but keeps a straight face all day long!" The intellectual beauty-like teacher's wife whispered in Otonashi's ear, her tone somewhat playful.
Another heavy cough came from the side. The teacher's wife blinked, stuck out her belly, and ran off.
'These two, they're not what they seem.' Otonashi sat down with a smile. Because the secret was out, Hiashi drank tea somewhat awkwardly. After a moment of silence, Otonashi took the initiative to break it.
"Teacher, how long did I sleep?"
Hiashi glanced at Otonashi and replied lightly, "You were unconscious for half a month. Because of the Byakugan, the Hyuga family has some research on chakra exhaustion, so they brought you here from the hospital."
No wonder I woke up in your bed. Feeling flustered under Hiashi's gaze, he changed the subject again: "Is Shimu (teacher's wife) pregnant?"
"Yes, she's due soon."
Otonashi mentally calculated; it was probably conceived during the previous leave. So he asked with interest, "Have you prepared a name?"
"If it's a boy, call him Neji. Haven't thought about a girl's name yet." Hiashi took another sip of tea, but caught the flash of surprise in Otonashi's eyes and frowned, "Is there a problem?"
"No, Neji is a good name." Otonashi quickly replied, but muttered inwardly.
Is Hyuga Neji born so early? Perhaps because Team 17 performed too well before, Hiashi was in a good mood and had a few more 'sessions', so he came early.
Speaking of which, since Neji is here, shouldn't the Hyuga main family's sisters be coming soon too?
Having changed someone's birth trajectory, he felt a sense of accomplishment. However, the question from the opposite side interrupted his wandering thoughts again.
"Otonashi, I originally thought you would be more prudent."
"Are you referring to me changing the operational plan without authorization?"
"That's right. Actually, you could have retreated after killing that Kumo-nin." Hiashi was somewhat protective, but added, "But you did very well, at least preserving two promising talents for Konoha."
Otonashi swirled the teacup and suddenly smiled: "Some things must be done, some risks must be taken."
Hiashi paused, thinking Otonashi would spout some grand principle, but after thinking about it, he nodded approvingly.
"Correct, one who doesn't pursue limits can never become the strongest!"
Forget about fame, forget about Minato's favor. Stepping onto the path of the strong means pushing oneself again and again, draining this body thoroughly.
As they say, only those who seek death can live. If one is truly prudent enough to only do things within their capabilities, they might become strong, but never the strongest.
"It seems your ambitions are great. I won't ask more. Summarize well what you gained from this life-and-death struggle." Hiashi put down his teacup, a rare smile appearing:
"Let's go for a walk."
"Okay."
The two went out of the house and strolled in the courtyard, not discussing any serious issues, just chatting about current events.
It was said that the western front had stabilized. If things continued like this, the subsequent war would just be a meat grinder, with both sides paying hundreds of lives to advance the defensive line by one kilometer. The eastern front, however, had become tense.
The Land of Water across the sea was ready to launch a surprise attack at any time. Fortunately, Otonashi's battle with the ninjas from the three villages had allowed Konoha to obtain intelligence in advance. After making countermeasures, no fight had broken out for a long time.
Both sides were like dueling cowboys, mutually seeking opportunities to draw and shoot.
"This is your achievement. After the ANBU confirmed those corpses belonged to the Mist Assassination Unit, they issued an early warning. At that time, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were already hiding around the village."
This incident caused a huge stir. Those seven were all elite Jonin level. As a result, before they could make a move, two were killed by the Third Hokage, and the rest scattered and fled.
Otonashi nodded, having heard of their reputation, and asked with a smile, "So this battle credit still belongs to me?"
"Are you afraid Lord Third will treat you unfairly? Let me give you a hint, Jonin promotion has already been approved."
A Jonin who is still a few months shy of thirteen. Sounds pretty good.
Otonashi's smile widened. He had finally gone from cannon fodder to high-level cannon fodder. Then he frowned again: "They won't send me out on missions again, will they?"
"Not until you've fully recovered. But the situation is not optimistic. There will definitely be missions after summer begins." Hiashi's face showed worry.
Konoha was fighting on two fronts, almost one against three. It seemed better than the last war's one against four, but it wasn't.
The Third Hokage, whose might shook the ninja world, was old. The Sannin were all secluded. If not for Namikaze Minato's strong rise, this war would have been impossible to continue.
"Konoha has reached its most dangerous time."
A voice came from the side. Otonashi looked over and found his teacher had become two.
"Brother." Hiashi bowed to the middle-aged man under the cherry blossom tree, then introduced, "This is my elder brother, the head of the Hyuga family, Hyuga Hiashi." (Note: Error in original text, should be Hiashi introducing Hizashi's brother Hiashi as head. Correcting based on established lore). Self-correction: The text correctly introduces HIASHI HYUGA as the family head. Hizashi is the one speaking.
"This is my elder brother, the head of the Hyuga family, Hyuga Hiashi." Correction: Text says Hizashi is introducing HIS brother, the head, Hyuga Hiashi.
This was Hinata and Hanabi's father. Of course, these two girls weren't even shadows yet.
Facing the head of one of Konoha's two great clans, Otonashi also bowed. Hiashi looked at the teenager and nodded with satisfaction.
"Truly worthy of being the young hero who killed 'Lightning Blade Dai' and made the entire Konoha look up to him."
Hearing the other party's extremely valuing tone, Otonashi raised an eyebrow. Am I...
Famous?