Chapter 65 Father-in-law uses son-in-law as a shield

"Hinata and Naruto have been spending a lot of time together these past few days, and that worries me more."

Hyuga Hiashi frowned, knowing he couldn't persuade the stubborn old men of his clan, so he changed the subject, bringing up his future son-in-law as a shield.

"Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto… The Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?!"

Upon hearing Naruto's name, the old men were indeed startled, their attention immediately diverted.

"Although Uzumaki Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze is dead, and he is not worthy of our Hyuga Clan."

"Hiashi, you must keep a close eye on your daughter. Hinata, as the eldest legitimate daughter of the family head and the eldest miss of the Hyuga Clan, cannot get too close to the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki."

"Actually… if we could win over the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, that wouldn't be a bad option either."

"Heh heh heh, don't even think about it. Not to mention whether Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, the Konoha high-ups, and other prestigious Ninja Clans would agree, just looking at the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside Uzumaki Naruto, he is a veritable ticking time bomb."

"Have you forgotten that night?"

"You're right, no matter which Ninja Clan Uzumaki Naruto 'explodes' in, it would probably leave them severely weakened."

Undoubtedly, the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki was a hot potato that everyone coveted, but no one wanted to touch it casually. In the end, a tacit understanding was reached: the Konoha high-ups and prestigious clans would not interfere too much, focusing mainly on surveillance, with Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Third Hokage, perhaps providing some subtle guidance.

Hyuga Hiashi watched the clan elders discussing heatedly, remaining silent, drinking his tea with a stern expression.

Only when they paused did he interject appropriately.

"Elders, there's no need to worry. I have already instructed the Hyuga Clan disciples attending the Ninja Academy to appropriately warn Uzumaki Naruto."

"Ninja Academy students?"

"Good, good, Hiashi, you've done well. This way, Hiruzen Sarutobi won't say anything either."

"With the Hyuga Clan's aptitude and strength, isn't it easy to discipline a Ninja Academy dead-last?"

The clan elders smiled, exchanged glances, and nodded, seemingly very satisfied with Hyuga Hiashi's arrangements.

"Dong~"

The deer bell in the courtyard once again rang out clearly.

Several Hyuga Clan youths who were attending the Ninja Academy had returned from school. Each of them looked like defeated roosters, crestfallen. They arrived outside the tea room and bowed to Hyuga Hiashi and the clan elders seated on the tatami mats.

Hyuga Hiashi calmly drank his tea, not rushing to ask questions.

However, one clan elder noticed something amiss and frowned, saying, "Did you beat Uzumaki Naruto?"

A Hyuga youth lifted his head, showing his bruised and swollen face to the clan elder, crying out, "We were the ones who got beaten!"

"Please, Elder, do us justice!"

"Please, Clan Head, do us justice!"

"The Hyuga Clan's face cannot be lost!"

The youths, beaten into pig heads, complained indignantly, filled with righteous anger, extremely unwilling to have been defeated by the school's dead-last.

"All of you… all lost?"

The clan elders exchanged glances, somewhat disbelieving.

They at least possessed the Byakugan, which was like having a powerful cheat with no side effects compared to ordinary people. How could they lose even with that? And to lose so miserably!

A Hyuga youth stood up, pointed towards the Ninja Academy, and said angrily, "What's even more outrageous is that after activating our Byakugan, we discovered that the Uzumaki Naruto who defeated us wasn't even his main body, but a Shadow Clone!!"

"A Shadow Clone?!"

The clan elders couldn't sit still. They suddenly stood up and asked loudly, "What did you say? Say it again?"

"Are you sure it was a Shadow Clone, and you were defeated by a Shadow Clone?"

"Absolutely true, we only distinguished it after activating our Byakugan. We wouldn't dare lie to the elders." The youths quickly explained.

"It seems this information won't be false."

"A Shadow Clone, huh? A B-rank Ninjutsu, not something the Ninja Academy's amateur Ninjutsu can compare to."

"The Ninja Academy's previously released results said Naruto was a dead-last. Heh heh heh, who exactly is hiding something, who is deceiving us, playing such a sneaky game."

The clan elder supported his knee with one hand and slowly sat back down on the tatami. Some sneered, some were angry, some were deep in thought.

One clan elder saw that Hyuga Hiashi was not surprised, calmly playing Go by himself, and immediately understood something. He picked up a Go piece, placed it on the board, and asked meaningfully, "Hiashi, it seems you already knew?"

Hyuga Hiashi began to play Go with the clan elder, answering without hesitation, "Yes, it's information brought back by the ANBU protecting Hinata. After all, Naruto has been 'tutoring' Hinata on the rooftop for a while now."

The clan elder's two withered, aged fingers rotated a Go piece, his gaze scanning the board, seemingly pondering the game, and yet also contemplating other matters.

"Hiashi, it seems you intend to invest in the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki."

"Heh heh heh, this move might not be a pretty one."

Hyuga Hiashi sat upright, hands on his knees, and replied with a serious expression, "Elder, you jest. The game isn't over, the outcome is undecided. Who knows if it will be pretty or not?"

"Hmph, I hope so."

The clan elder dropped the Go piece he was holding into the rattan box and stood up to leave.

Before closing the sliding door of the tea room, the clan elder stood at the entrance, his gaze deep as he looked at Hyuga Hiashi, "You've seen the fate of the Uchiha Clan. Don't drag the entire Hyuga Clan into a fiery pit because of your daughter."

As soon as he finished speaking.

With a "bang," the sliding door slammed shut, plunging the bright and spacious tea room into darkness.

Hyuga Hiashi knelt before the Go board, unmoved, only murmuring, "The Hyuga Clan is already heading into a fiery pit. If we don't change, the Main Family and Branch Family will eventually break apart."

"Elder, you're afraid to lose, afraid to play, but I dare!"

Hyuga Hiashi picked up the Go pieces from the rattan box and played against himself in the darkness.

...

The sun rose as usual, and the gentle morning light bathed the earth, painting Konoha Village, located in the heart of the vast forest, with a faint golden hue.

Naruto had one hand in the pocket of his orange jacket and the other holding a carton of milk, enjoying the morning tranquility alone.

It wasn't that Naruto didn't want to change clothes, but his wardrobe was full of black undershirts and orange jackets.

When he went shopping with Hinata on a date before, he had wanted to buy new clothes, but after entering a store, he realized that the rumors about Konoha's lack of fashion sense were not unfounded.

For fashion, one had to look next door.

Actually.

Naruto quite liked wearing a white open-front short robe on top, paired with black pants and a dark blue skirt on the bottom, with a shimenawa belt tied around his waist, but such an outfit undoubtedly had one major problem: it was too Sasuke-like.

After much thought, he decided not to change for now and just stick with his orange tracksuit.

Ninja Academy.

The tiered classroom was already packed with students.

No one was absent today, because everyone was facing the most important exam of their lives—

The Ninja Academy Graduation Exam!