Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 200
🕑 Added 2025-02-19 16:56:35 +0000 UTCMasashi woke up at dawn. He first carefully moved Hikari's hand off his chest. He then got out of bed quietly, pulled the blanket back over her, and left the bedroom.
Last night, the two children were a bit too excited and ended up exhausting both him and Hikari for half the night.
Still, he had to wake up on time every day.
After freshening up, he went to check on his kids' bedroom. Both of them were sleeping soundly.
Satisfied, he headed downstairs to the kitchen and prepared breakfast for his kids, Haku, and Hikari.
He placed their portions in the food warmer and left a note on the dining table before taking his and Haku's share with him as he stepped out.
Just as he reached the house across the street, he saw Haku opening the door.
"Teacher."
"This is not the Academy."
"Masashi-nii..."
"Better. I knew you'd skip breakfast again." Masashi handed over Haku's portion. "Eat it on the way. If you don't keep up with your meals, how will you get stronger? And do you know what's the most important skill for a ninja?"
Haku thought for a moment while accepting the food. "Speed and precision in executing techniques?"
"That's important, yes. But the most crucial skill is adaptability." Masashi watched as understanding slowly dawned in Haku's eyes. "A ninja who can't adapt dies quickly. This starts with something as simple as knowing when to use formal titles and when to drop them. What did you just learn?"
"Ah..." Haku's eyes widened slightly. "That's why you corrected me from 'Teacher' to..."
"Exactly. Different situations, different approaches. Now eat up."
"Oh... Thank you, Masashi-nii!"
"No need for thanks."
As he spoke, Masashi took a sip of his soy milk.
Today's breakfast was sandwiches and soy milk.
After finishing their meal, they walked together to the Ninja Academy. The gatekeeper ninja, seeing them arrive so early, simply opened the gates ahead of schedule.
"Early as always, Masashi-sama," the gatekeeper said with a nod. "Yesterday's night shift was quiet, except for that drunk civilian who tried to climb the wall."
"Morning, Hamada," Masashi chuckled. "At least it keeps you entertained. Better than counting stars all night, right?"
"That's right, hahaha!"
The Academy typically opened around 7:30 AM, and few people ever showed up as early as 6 AM.
There was a time when the Academy was bustling even this early in the morning, but that was long ago.
Once inside the training grounds, Masashi guided Haku through his morning practice.
If other students arrived early, he would also coach them.
However, for now, Haku was the only one.
"How's your reflection piece coming along?" After a while, Masashi suddenly remembered that he had assigned homework.
As his most promising student, it would be awkward if Haku hadn't done it.
"I've already finished it, Teacher," Haku replied. "I put a lot of thought into it and wrote it carefully."
"Good." Masashi nodded in satisfaction.
Honestly, he didn't really care how well they wrote it. He wasn't going to critique them.
As long as they learned from real combat and formed their own insights, that was enough.
There was no absolute right or wrong in this kind of thing.
Otherwise, would his decision to deviate from the Uchiha's traditional path be considered a mistake?
As time passed, the sun rose higher, and voices could be heard at the school gate.
The second student to arrive was Lee.
As he entered, he heard sounds coming from the training grounds.
Curious, he walked in and saw Masashi coaching Haku.
"Good morning, Teacher!" Lee greeted loudly.
"Good morning, Lee," Masashi replied with a smile.
Though he was the second to arrive, anyone could tell that Lee had already trained before coming.
After watching from the sidelines for a moment, he felt his passion for hard work ignite again.
"Teacher," he mustered the courage to ask, "can I join in?"
"No need to ask." Masashi waved him over. "Come on."
Overjoyed, Lee put his bag aside and eagerly joined in.
He began throwing punches and kicks in front of Masashi.
Compared to Haku's morning routine, Lee's training was simple—pure taijutsu drills.
Masashi observed him carefully. "Your form is correct, but see how your weight shifts here?" He demonstrated the subtle difference.
"Yes, Teacher!" Lee's eyes focused intently on the movement.
"That unnecessary tension will drain your stamina faster. Try this instead..." Masashi guided Lee's arm through the proper motion.
Lee's movements were standard, exactly as taught at the Academy—proof that he was a civilian-born ninja with no other source of training.
Although his techniques were correct, his exertion method had flaws.
It wasn't a major issue, but given his intense training regimen, it would put unnecessary strain on his stamina.
For something as advanced as the Eight Gates technique, Guy was the expert.
But when it came to optimizing taijutsu movements, Masashi was confident in his abilities.
He had no concerns about leading his students down the wrong path.
As Lee settled into a proper rhythm, more students started arriving.
Soon, a few more came.
Then another group.
By now, the school was about to officially start, and students were arriving in droves, some accompanied by parents.
Seeing Masashi training Haku and Lee on the field, the parents immediately realized their children had missed a great opportunity.
"Tomorrow we're definitely coming early," one parent whispered to another
From tomorrow onwards, they would be dragging their kids out of bed before sunrise.
By the time Haku and Lee finished their training, it was time for class.
Being early risers accustomed to morning exercise, they felt energized and ready for the day.
As they entered the classroom, students sat down and pulled out their homework—the dreaded 3,000-word reflection paper from last night.
At that moment, these young students learned an important lesson: No matter how powerful or legendary a ninja might be, once they became a teacher, you could never expect mercy when it came to assigning homework.
Under Masashi's arrangements, all of his students had been placed in one class. They laid their assignments neatly on their desks, waiting for him to arrive.
A short while later, Masashi entered.
Seeing how obediently they sat, he thought they seemed too nervous. He decided to start with some good news.
"I'm happy to see everyone here on time," he said. "I won't be collecting your homework. Since you all wrote it seriously, just keep it as your own little secret and process it yourselves."
"???"
Wait... so we don't have to turn it in for grading?
The students thought back to how their parents had forced them to finish it last night and felt a deep sorrow.
Do you even know what we went through last night!?
Seeing their expressions, Masashi felt a sense of satisfaction.
As expected, Academy students were still this adorable.
"Alright, let's start class." He picked up a piece of chalk and turned to the blackboard. "Since this is our first lesson together, we won't cover anything complicated. Let's talk about chakra."
---
As Masashi embarked on his long-awaited career as an Academy instructor, deep within the forests west of Konoha, an ANBU ninja was dashing toward the village.
He was in bad shape—wounded.
Despite his injuries, he didn't slow down after entering the forest.
Suddenly, a wave of chakra instability surged through his body, causing him to lose control and stumble mid-air.
However, as an ANBU, he quickly adjusted his posture and landed safely.
The moment he touched the ground, he pulled a pill from his pouch and swallowed it. Just as he did, several figures appeared around him.
It was a patrol squad from the Police Force.
Leading them was Inoka.
"Identify yourself," Inoka ordered, wasting no words. The ANBU ninja's battered state made it clear that something serious was happening.
The wounded ANBU formed a hand seal. "ANBU operative Usagi, identification code Romeo-Seven-Three-Nine." He pulled out his ANBU tag.
Inoka verified the code quickly, recognizing the authentic chakra signature embedded in the tag. The ANBU operative immediately pulled out a scroll.
"There's a situation in Suna! This intelligence must be delivered to the Hokage immediately!"
Upon hearing this, Inoka immediately realized that trouble was brewing.
He took the intelligence scroll handed to him by the ANBU, checked its contents, and, after confirming its authenticity, rushed straight to the Hokage's office.
Of course, he still made the necessary arrangements—his teammates would stay behind to protect the ANBU ninja.
---
At this moment, inside the Hokage's office, Minato was being caught red-handed by Shikaku for slacking off at work.
In recent years, the culture of slacking off during work hours had spread throughout Konoha, from the top to the bottom.
The result? Important matters were handled reliably, but minor tasks were constantly delayed.
As Minato's old friend and comrade, he had been working tirelessly in the jonin corps for years, proving to be extremely dedicated.
While he may not have possessed the exceptional individual combat strength of his predecessors, his organizational skills were top-notch, allowing him to manage all aspects of work efficiently. As the leader of the jonin corps, he commanded respect.
Today, however, he was here to pull some strings.
There was no other choice.
Shikaku had no political ambitions and actually enjoyed a reasonable amount of workplace slacking, along with drinking with his comrades. However, as a devoted family man—more importantly, a father—he had no option but to pull some strings this time.
At first, he felt a bit embarrassed. But as he walked toward the Hokage's office, he recalled just how much extra work Minato had dumped on him over the years. The more he thought about it, the more justified he felt.
By the time he stepped into the office, he was standing straight and tall—just a step away from pointing at Minato and shouting:
"The moment I'm not here, you slack off on your paperwork!"
Minato was weighing goji berries on a small scale. Seeing his furious old friend, he immediately felt guilty.
Over the past few years, he had significantly reduced his overtime—not because he had become more efficient, but because he had delegated much of his work under the pretense of "authorized delegation."
Guess who had taken on most of that work?
"Hokage-sama…" Shikaku was about to start scolding when he suddenly remembered he wasn't here to complain today. So, he pretended not to notice Minato slacking off and instead flashed a bright, sunny smile.
"You really should take better care of your health."
"Huh?" Minato was dumbfounded.
No complaints today?
Was this… the calm before the storm?
"Oh, right, right, my eyes were feeling a little strained. Just hydrating a bit," Minato quickly replied. Then, remembering that Shikaku also had a child, he cautiously asked, "Shikaku, would you like some too?"
"Much appreciated, Hokage-sama." Shikaku replied, sitting down and reaching out to help.
This made Minato even more uneasy.
He had always followed the style of previous Hokage, maintaining an approachable demeanor and blending in with his close associates.
But today, from the moment Shikaku walked in, he had been addressing him as "Hokage-sama."
There was no one else around, yet he was being ridiculously formal.
Normally, when Shikaku started a conversation like this, it was followed by a barrage of complaints. But today, there was nothing.
Something was definitely up!
"Shikaku…" Minato asked cautiously, "Is there some issue with your work?"
"Hokage-sama," Shikaku hit him with the big guns right away, "Are you saying that if there were no official business, I shouldn't be here?"
"No, no, of course not," Minato quickly waved his hands, afraid of being misunderstood. But he also couldn't just outright admit the truth. It was killing him.
After all, he couldn't exactly say—You usually start complaining by now.
Seeing Minato struggling, Shikaku felt quite satisfied.
But he also knew when to stop, especially since he was here to ask for a favor.
"Actually, I came to ask for something today," Shikaku took a deep breath, suppressing his urge to tease Minato further, and smiled again.
"Oh, oh, just say it!" Minato was relieved.
"It's about my son." Shikaku ignored Minato's smug expression and continued, "You understand—plenty of people must have come to you about this lately."
"I get it, I get it." Minato immediately understood.
Ever since Masashi had started teaching at the Ninja Academy, the phrase he had heard most often was: "I have a child."
Konoha was a village that relied heavily on inherited secret techniques. Unlike bloodline limits, foundational education was crucial.
Having or not having foundational training from a ninja of Kage-level strength made a world of difference.
And Masashi was particularly special—before the age of twenty, he had already achieved the feat of battling a tailed beast.
Every parent understood just how much his private lessons could benefit their child.
No parent wouldn't try to secure a spot for their kid—unless they were stronger than Masashi at the same age.
Unfortunately, in the current Konoha, no such person existed.
The Nara clan wasn't particularly close to the Uchiha clan, and Shikaku himself didn't have any personal connections within the Uchiha clan.
So, his only option was to go through Minato.
"Shikaku, to be honest, I can't guarantee anything," Minato admitted. "But I'll recommend Shikamaru to Masashi." Feeling that wasn't reassuring enough, he added, "I'll push hard for it."
"That's more than enough," Shikaku sighed.
The chances weren't great, and truthfully, he never expected Shikamaru to break away from the Nara clan's traditions.
Masashi would likely choose students based on personal and clan relationships, and he had neither.
But as a parent, he had to try.
"Shikaku, honestly, Masashi's a good guy. You should interact more with him," Minato suggested.
He genuinely hoped Masashi would develop closer ties with the Sarutobi faction, as it would help maintain village stability.
"He isn't just any ordinary ninja. Being too obvious about it wouldn't be good. Let's leave it to the next generation and see where fate takes them." Shikaku smiled.
The Ninja Academy trained not just ninjas, but comrades.
Once they left school, forming bonds wouldn't be so easy.
After a brief exchange, Shikaku stood up to leave.
Suddenly, there was a series of rapid knocks at the office door.
Shikaku opened the door and found Inoka standing there.
"Shikaku-sama."
"You're… Inoka?" Shikaku was surprised. Then, he noticed the intelligence scroll in Inoka's hand.
An ANBU intelligence scroll.
That was unmistakable. It had a special seal—something he knew all too well.
Immediately, he realized—something serious had happened.
"Inoka, go to the Ninja Academy and bring Masashi here."
At the same time, he quickly stepped aside.
Minato also saw the intelligence scroll in Inoka's hand, his expression darkening.
Recently, all ANBU operations had been focused on the Land of Wind.
And there was blood on the intelligence scroll.
