Naruto: The Primal Hyuga Pierces the Shinobi World

For Jiraiya, that was enough. Forcing Orochimaru to return to the village would only erode the last remaining affection between them.

Only then did Jiraiya finally understand that after Orochimaru defected and ran away, his teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi never had any intention of bringing Orochimaru back to the village.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was well aware that Orochimaru had his own ideas and his own path to follow.

Once someone like Orochimaru makes a decision, the opinions and views of others simply cannot influence or shake his own will.

There was no way to bring my friend back to the village; there was no way to save my disciple's life.

Jiraiya suddenly felt that his life had become a complete failure. Feeling dejected, he immersed himself in a world of pleasure, hoping to numb himself and keep the pain away from him.

As juniors, Kakashi and Might Guy had no right to comment on Jiraiya's decadent lifestyle, and even Shinichi Hyuga couldn't possibly put on an elder's act and advise Jiraiya.

Their team and Jiraiya were not on the same path.

After entering a city in the central part of the Land of Fire, they bid farewell to Jiraiya.

Of course, Kakashi Hatake also reported Jiraiya's situation to Minato Namikaze. Minato naturally understood why Jiraiya was in a bad mood, and all he could do was not disturb him at this time.

Without Jiraiya slowing them down, the group's return journey was much faster.

On the return journey, Shinichi Hyuga did not use the Flying Thunder God Technique to speed up the journey. Instead, he and his companions disguised themselves as passing small merchants and experienced the lives of ordinary people along the way.

Since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, there have been no large-scale conflicts between ninja villages, and the peace of the overall environment has allowed countries to focus their efforts on internal governance.

The Land of Fire withdrew from the Ninja War relatively quickly. After Minato Namikaze took control of Konoha, although there were internal troubles but no external threats, he did not consolidate power very quickly.

Recently, he established his own new ANBU. After the organization was established, Minato also tried to help these ninjas adapt to their ANBU identity as soon as possible.

At the same time, in order to prevent these people from being away from the battlefield for too long, he also took turns dispatching different squads of the Dark Guard to carry out targeted raids on some mountain bandit forces within the Land of Fire.

This can be considered one of Minato's methods of secretly training the Anbu. However, the combat power of the bandits' "organization" is ultimately no match for the regular ninja legions, so the improvement of Minato's Anbu's strength is actually limited.

Judging from the internal structure of Konoha, Danzo's Root should be the most elite group of ANBU ninjas in the entire Konoha.

After that, the Hokage's direct ANBU was led by the third Hokage's eldest son.

Finally, it was Minato's turn to form the secret service team.

Power is a derivative of political influence, and even more so of actual combat power.

As the Hokage, Minato would naturally not allow his direct subordinates to be the third most powerful "violent organization" in the entire Konoha system.

With the matter concerning Akatsuki coming to a close, Minato also planned to appoint the talented and capable Kakashi to an important position in the Anbu.

Shisui, another member of the Uchiha clan, was also highly regarded by Minato.

For an organization to become powerful, a strong leader is absolutely essential. Both Kakashi and Shisui met Minato's expectations for the leader of the Anbu.

Minato had certainly considered giving Shinichi Hyuga a real leadership position in the Anbu, but considering that Shinichi was an extremely opinionated person, he temporarily suppressed his thoughts and wanted to discuss it in detail after everyone returned to the village.

After nearly half a month of trekking, the towering gates of Konoha Village finally came into view before Shinichi Hyuga.

There were many merchants coming and going at the entrance of Konoha Village, and they formed a long queue, waiting for the Konoha ninjas to investigate and examine them.

Shinichi Hyuga and his group were Konoha ninjas. When they crossed the long line to enter Konoha, the gatekeepers Izumo and Kotetsu also glanced at them.

After a brief registration, the group entered the village and headed towards the Hokage Building.

Shinichi didn't use Kakashi and Shisui as a front when it came to submitting the mission. As the squad leader, it was his duty to return to the village and submit the mission.

The process of submitting the mission at the Hokage Building went smoothly. Minato was somewhat surprised that Shinichi and the others returned so quickly. His original intention was actually to let these kids go out and explore more with Jiraiya.

Although he is short-handed, Shinichi and the others are still growing. Letting them travel and see more is far more important than keeping them tied to his side to do missions.

Inside the office, Shinichi looked at the group of teenagers of varying ages standing in front of him, his face full of smiles:

"Shinichi, your team did an excellent job this time."

“Actually, I had already had your files modified before you returned.”

"The matter with Akatsuki... isn't completely over yet. Your team is still responsible for investigating Akatsuki."

"As for this operation in the Land of Rain... I will pay you according to the standards for an S-rank mission, and record it in the mission file."

Minato's few simple words contained an enormous amount of information.

Xiao's mission isn't completely over yet?!

Shinichi Hyuga understood Minato's implication immediately upon hearing this, and he read the reason from Minato's eyes when they made eye contact.

Obito Uchiha... he really didn't die!

Furthermore, Shinichi determined that Minato must have confirmed this through some special means.

After giving the individuals the recognition and compensation they deserved, Minato also gave them a short break.

In peacetime, the management of ninjas in Konoha is actually very loose. As long as ninjas do not leave the village, they can do whatever they want during the time when they are not on missions.

All missions were assigned by the Hokage and the ninjas who assisted him in classifying and selecting missions.

In other words, if no new missions are assigned to them, ninjas can live their lives freely.

The village provides all ninjas with a basic allowance. In addition to this basic allowance, ninjas who perform missions receive extra bonuses. Ninjas who hold other positions or duties within the village also receive corresponding job wages.

This is how all ninja income is structured.

The stipends for genin are not very high, and the tasks they can perform are not very difficult, so these people face considerable pressure to survive.

However, life will be completely different after becoming a Chunin. The basic allowance for Chunin is above average compared to the income of the entire village. Even if they don't go on missions, they won't have to worry about making a living.

As for Jonin, they can live a relatively comfortable life just by receiving their stipends. Ninjas of this level are actually the strategic force of the village, and money is not the most important thing to them.

The ninjas in Shinichi's squad were all young people, and all of them held the rank of Chunin or higher, so they didn't have any pressure in life.

For ninjas of their age, holidays are actually used for training and improving their strength.

The ninjas in the squad are all geniuses. Even Might Guy is an absolute genius in taijutsu. These people in the squad have a subtle competitive spirit towards each other. During the holiday, everyone is immersed in training.

Shinichi Hyuga returned to his clan and reunited with his family against this backdrop.

This time I was away from the village for several months, which was much shorter than the last time I left.

Nothing in the Hyuga family changed despite Shinichi Hyuga's brief departure. The family members continued their peaceful yet fulfilling lives.

The Hyuga clan's position in Konoha was solidified, and because Shinichi had a close relationship with the Hokage's family, and Minato lacked trustworthy confidants, the Hyuga clan was given many positions with real power.

Although Hiashi Hyuga, as the head of the Hyuga clan, was not assigned any important positions by Minato, his influence naturally increased as the branch family ninjas entered the power structure.

Rizu has been very busy lately. The higher the status of a member of the clan, the more cautious he, as the clan leader, needs to be in his actions. He must handle clan affairs fairly so that no one can find fault with him.

The Uchiha clan was in a similar situation to the Hyuga clan, but unlike the Hyuga clan, when Minato wanted to place Uchiha clan members into certain powerful departments, he would face pressure from Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and a group of advisors.

They could tolerate Minato's preferential treatment of the Hyuga, but they could not tolerate Minato's preferential treatment of the Uchiha.

After all, the policy of isolating the Uchiha clan was started by the Second Hokage, and these people were all disciples of the Second Hokage, so they took this "red line" very seriously.

Faced with strong resistance, Minato had no choice but to compromise. Although he still placed some Uchiha clan members in his service, they were usually department members, rather than becoming heads of important departments like the Hyuga clan.

Just like Hyuga Hiashi, who is now the head of Konoha's defense and reconnaissance team, Yamanaka Inoichi, the head of the Yamanaka clan who is deeply tied to the Sarutobi clan, is just Hyuga Hiashi's deputy.

At the same time, Konoha Ninja Academy also gained several more taijutsu instructors from the Hyuga clan.

From the Hokage's direct ANBU to the reconnaissance team, barrier team, interrogation team, Jonin team, Ninja Academy, and almost all other departments and organizations in Konoha, the Hyuga clan members are present.

The title of Konoha's number one elite family undoubtedly belongs to the Hyuga clan.

After dinner.

Hiashi and Shinichi were discussing the Hyuga clan's current power in the village in the study. Hiashi's eyes were full of pride as he talked about it, knowing full well that this was thanks to his genius son.

Originally, the Hyuga clan would have been grateful if they hadn't been reprimanded by the higher-ups, let alone extended their influence into those key departments.

Hearing how deeply the clan was bound to Konoha, Shinichi Hyuga became even more determined to become stronger.

Originally... Konoha's misfortune was Konoha's misfortune.

Now... it's become a situation where we all rise and fall together.

Overall, the rise of the Hyuga clan's power is a good thing, provided that... the leaders of the Hyuga clan do not become corrupt.

If the main family prioritizes its own interests over those of the village, it's not just Konoha that will collapse, but also the Hyuga clan.

The more powerful one is, the more cautious one must be.

Hiashi did this perfectly; he was almost invisible in village decision-making, which prevented the Hyuga clan from becoming the target of everyone's criticism.

Having learned about the current situation of the Hyuga clan, Shinichi also revealed to Hiashi his idea of ​​going on a training trip.

However, just when he thought his father wouldn't object, Hiashi shook his head with a grave expression:

"Shinichi, put the matter of the journey aside for now."

"There are more important things for you to do."

"Well..."

"Shinichi, your birthday is coming up soon, and the clan is planning a big celebration."

"Um...."

"At that time, all the children in the clan who are about your age will participate."

"You... um..."

"If you have a girl you like, um... you could try getting to know her first..."

Hiashi Hyuga spoke haltingly, but Shinichi still managed to glean the key points from his words.