Chapter 40: One Month Later
Another fifteen days passed.
In this half month, Ryuzen's life seemed to return to the days before he met Hinata. Every moment was consumed by daily tasks, sword meditation, and spiritual enlightenment in Mihawk's world.
Nearly three months had passed since that first B-rank mission in the Land of Waves. Combined with the three Rain genin he had killed in the Forest of Death, the Sound spy Akamatsu, and the experience from Zabuza, his inheritance template had unlocked to 52.2%.
Without realizing it, Ryuzen had comprehended more than half of Mihawk's swordsmanship life.
The power of "Hawk-Eyes" in the spiritual world was already terrifying. Each battle he witnessed pushed his understanding further. Each technique he absorbed refined his own style.
But it still wasn't the realm of a true great swordsman.
Because from Mihawk's perspective—even at this level—Ryuzen hadn't experienced that moment when the Breath of All Things expanded to cover most of Konoha. That transcendent perception remained just beyond his reach.
Ryuzen wasn't impatient. Breaking through bottlenecks took time. He still had five years until the Fourth Shinobi World War would begin. Even if he did nothing but complete daily tasks, the inheritance would unlock to more than eighty percent by then. At eighty percent, Mihawk's power would surely reach great swordsman level.
And once he personally realized that realm again—the way he had for that single transcendent moment during the spiritual duel between Mihawk and Shanks—Ryuzen believed he could expand his own Breath of All Things to match.
Then he would be a great swordsman.
But that was future thinking. The present demanded attention.
Without Hinata's company, Ryuzen devoted all his waking hours to training. But daily tasks, sword meditation, and spiritual enlightenment didn't consume every moment. He found himself with extra time—time he usually spent with her, cooking, talking, simply existing in the same space.
He used that time to address his discovered weakness.
After witnessing Rock Lee's Eight Gates against Gaara, Ryuzen had identified his flaw: speed.
Swordsmen didn't possess the natural physical endurance of taijutsu specialists. Ryuzen had no special bloodline to enhance his body. Though Armament Haki improved his defense and striking power, it couldn't make his body react faster than its natural limits.
If an opponent's speed and power exceeded his body's ability to respond, they could effectively neutralize his swordsmanship—the same way he had neutralized Kurenai's genjutsu and Zabuza's techniques. He had never experienced it from the other side, but Ryuzen knew exactly how suffocating that feeling must have been for them.
Taijutsu masters were rare in the ninja world. The strongest of the current generation—the Fourth Raikage, Might Guy, and Tsunade—included two from Konoha whom he might never need to fight in this lifetime.
But Ryuzen had found his weakness. He would not leave it unaddressed, waiting for some future enemy to exploit it.
So throughout this month, he trained with weights every single day.
He climbed trees wearing heavy leg weights. He walked on water with weights attached. He practiced the Body Flicker Technique while burdened by extra mass. Once he accustomed himself to the weight on both legs, he began bearing weight unevenly—one leg heavy, one leg light.
The imbalance made everything harder. Climbing trees required precise chakra control; with uneven weight distribution, a moment's distraction meant falling. Walking on water became a constant battle against tipping. Using the Body Flicker with unbalanced weights nearly sent him crashing into trees multiple times.
But that was exactly the point.
Once his body adapted to moving naturally despite the imbalance, his responsiveness would improve dramatically. The Body Flicker would become more instinctive, more fluid. He was training his subconscious—teaching his body to react without waiting for conscious thought.
With Ryuzen's rare dedication to hard training, the one-month deadline passed quickly.
A single month couldn't make someone vastly stronger. Even Ryuzen had only improved his Body Flicker speed and his body's baseline responsiveness.
Only the reincarnates of Asura and Indra—Naruto and Sasuke—could achieve dramatic power increases in such short periods. For everyone else, growth came slowly, through accumulated effort.
Today, Konoha's atmosphere buzzed with excitement like a festival.
Spectators who had come to watch the matches gathered early at the examination venue. Merchants sold snacks and souvenirs. Children ran through the crowds playing ninja. The stands surrounding the main arena filled steadily with civilians, nobility, and visiting dignitaries from other lands.
In the daytime sky, fireworks exploded against thin clouds, their colorful smoke announcing the official start of the Chunin Examination's final round.
That morning, Ryuzen and Hinata finally reunited after a month apart.
The moment Hinata saw him waiting at their usual meeting spot, her shyness melted away. She crossed the distance between them and threw herself into his arms, burying her face against his chest. Her body shook slightly—not with tears, but with the sheer relief of being near him again.
A month wasn't truly that long. But for two people who had spent six years almost inseparable, it had felt like an eternity.
Before they could leave for the venue, Ryuzen pulled her inside and bullied her for a long time—teasing, touching, reclaiming every inch of her presence. To his surprise and delight, Hinata responded with unusual enthusiasm. She met his advances instead of shyly accepting them. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair.
By the time they finished, her lips were slightly swollen, the soft pink darkened from attention.
When they finally dressed and prepared to leave, Ryuzen noticed something different. Perhaps it was his imagination, or perhaps the month of separation had sharpened his observation, but Hinata seemed... grown. The gentle curves of her collarbone were no longer subtle. Beneath her clothing, she had gained considerable shape where before there had been only hints.
He recalled the Hinata of three years future—the astonishing figure she would develop, the woman she would become. The signs were appearing earlier than he remembered.
She really is growing up.
They left the apartment hand in hand, red and white scarves matching as always.
By the time Ryuzen and Hinata arrived at the main arena, nine of the eleven candidates who had passed the elimination round had already gathered. Only Uchiha Sasuke and Dosu were absent.
Naruto was present—unlike in the original timeline, where he had nearly been late. He stood with Shikamaru and Shino, chatting about something that made him wave his arms excitedly.
When Ryuzen's figure appeared, Gaara immediately fixed him with a stare full of murderous intent. The red-haired jinchūriki hadn't forgotten their encounter in the Forest of Death. He hadn't forgotten being struck—the first time anyone had ever touched him in battle. He hadn't forgotten bleeding.
Across the candidate area, Neji Hyūga's gaze carried equal hostility, though for different reasons. Ryuzen had humiliated him in the corridor before the first exam. Ryuzen stood beside Hinata—the failure of the main house—as though she deserved such attention. And now Ryuzen was his opponent in the first match.
Ryuzen ignored both stares as though they didn't exist. He took his place in the line with Hinata beside him, their shoulders almost touching.
They didn't know that their figures standing together had drawn the attention of two people in the audience.
In the VIP section reserved for clan heads and nobility, Hiashi Hyūga sat with his youngest daughter, Hinata Hanabi.
"Father," Hanabi asked with curious eyes, "why did sister come here with that person? Didn't she leave very early this morning? Why is she only arriving now?"
Hiashi didn't answer immediately. He watched the silver-haired boy below with a slight frown, his pale Byakugan eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly.
In his mind, years of servant reports surfaced unbidden. Hinata seemed to go out frequently. Even on holidays, she was rarely at the compound. Hiashi had focused all his attention on Hanabi—the true heir, the talented one, the daughter worth cultivating. He hadn't paid much attention to his eldest's absences. As long as she wasn't outside disgracing the Hyūga name, he hadn't cared.
Now...
Now things didn't seem so simple.
Hiashi remained silent, studying the boy who stood so close to his daughter. The way they stood together spoke of years of familiarity. The matching scarves spoke of something deeper.
He would need to investigate.
Below, Ryuzen remained unaware of the Hyūga clan leader's attention. The exam start time approached rapidly.
The appointed hour arrived. Still, Uchiha Sasuke had not appeared.
The proctor for the third exam stepped forward. Shiranui Genma—one of the former guardians of the Fourth Hokage, recognizable by the senbon needle perpetually clenched between his teeth—removed a folded paper from his trousers pocket. He scanned the nine candidates before him with a casual glance.
"Time's up," he announced around the senbon. "Let me repeat the rules for this round. Due to special circumstances, the match order has changed slightly. Hyūga Hinata, who originally received a bye, will replace Dosu in the fifth match. The new pairing is: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyūga Hinata."
Hinata stiffened beside Ryuzen.
Naruto blinked in confusion, then grinned. "Alright! I get to fight Hinata! This'll be fun!"
Ryuzen's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
Dosu replaced. Hinata fighting instead of receiving a bye. The order changing.
He didn't believe in coincidence.
Someone was manipulating the matches—just as someone had manipulated the preliminaries to give him Neji instead of the expected opponent.
The question was: who?
And more importantly—why?
✨Enjoying the story? You can support me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/MizuSan
✨ Patreon members get early chapter access, bonus content! 🥰
🎉 Plus, I'll release 1 extra chapter for every 5 reviews!💎 Or grab 1 bonus chapter for every 50 Power Stones you send my way! 🥳
🌊 Let's reach 20 Patreon members to unlock 5 extra chapters together