---
When the food in the pot was cooked, a rich aroma filled the air. The mongoose on the side twitched its ears and scratched its cheeks frantically, convulsing as if it were going insane.
It could eat all of these foods, but Ye Dou was not so generous.
Every night, it became a battle for food, a unique kind of punishment for the poor creature.
Of course, Ye Dou never considered himself stingy. He never wasted anything—he kept the internal organs of the animals he hunted and left them for the mongoose.
But what was truly exasperating was how picky this mongoose was. It refused to eat raw meat. Every time, it would insist on cooking the organs in the pot first, as if preparing a hot pot meal.
Sometimes stir-fried, sometimes braised, sometimes steamed… If not for its appearance, one would forget it was a mongoose at all.
After finishing his meal, Ye Dou would begin his nightly training. Meanwhile, the mongoose, no longer convulsing from hunger, would straighten up, pull over a stool, and sit upright like a human. It would hold chopsticks in one paw and a soy sauce dish in the other, eating hot pot in a disturbingly civilized manner.
From time to time, it would mutter in disapproval:
"The pig's blood falls apart too easily—failure! The intestines weren't cleaned properly—there's still waste inside—failure!"
It was actually parodying The God of Cookery!
Ye Dou, unfazed, simply closed the door.
---
The Hyuga Clan
On the other side of Konoha, in the Hyuga compound…
After returning home, Hyuga Hanabi was scolded at length by her father, Hiashi. She listened absentmindedly, then retreated to her room, burying her head under the covers.
She wasn't concerned about her father's reprimands or instructions. Her mind was occupied by the boy who had saved her—the boy who, like a lone wolf, had silently escorted her home.
The image of Ye Dou's indifferent face lingered in her mind, leaving a weight on her chest that she couldn't explain.
"Hanabi, what's wrong with you? Even Father noticed you were distracted during dinner..."
A soft voice suddenly spoke beside her.
Hanabi pulled down the blanket slightly, revealing her small face. She knew without looking that it was her twin sister—Hinata Hyuga.
After a brief hesitation, Hanabi confided in her sister about what had happened earlier that evening.
She wanted to get it off her chest, to drive away the strange feeling in her heart…
"Sister, do you think all boys outside are like him?"
After finishing her story, Hanabi turned to look at her sister.
They shared the same pale, pupil-less eyes, a trait of the Hyuga clan. But there were differences too—Hinata had short hair, while Hanabi's was long. Hinata had bangs framing her forehead, while Hanabi's hair was styled in a way that left only a small lock hanging down to her lips, emphasizing her white eyes.
"No…" Hinata blurted out instinctively, then immediately shrank back under the blanket, realizing how flustered she sounded. "The boys I've met… they're not like him."
She remembered Naruto Uzumaki—his wild blond hair, the whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
A boy who was bright, passionate, and full of warmth—someone whose smile was like the sun itself.
Hanabi didn't understand the sudden shift in her sister's mood. She turned her gaze to the ceiling and once again recalled Ye Dou's cold, emotionless parting words:
"I don't need friends."
The Hyuga compound was silent that night, so quiet that Hanabi could hear the distant chirping of insects.
She lay awake in bed, unable to sleep.
---
The Path of Training
At dawn, the crowing of an unfamiliar rooster echoed through Konoha, soon followed by others, signaling the start of a new day.
As the village stirred to life, Ye Dou was no exception. He rose, freshened up, put on his tattered black robe, and stepped outside to begin his daily training regimen.
From morning to night, his schedule remained unchanged. Apart from necessary meals, his entire focus was on chakra refinement.
There were many ways to become a powerful ninja. Konoha had plenty of talented shinobi—Kurenai Yuhi, Neji Hyuga, and Hayate Gekkō were all exceptional in their own right.
They were skilled, intelligent, and had unique techniques that made them valuable to the village.
But true strength? That was an entirely different matter.
Even the elite jōnin of Konoha couldn't compare to the likes of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha—two shinobi a generation younger than them.
Why?
Because, beyond their powerful bloodlines, their chakra reserves were simply on another level.
Understanding Chakra
So, what exactly was chakra?
To put it simply, it was the "mana bar" of the shinobi world—an essential energy source for ninjutsu.
But chakra wasn't just about casting jutsu. Whether it was Fire Release, Water Release, or any other nature transformation, the amount of chakra infused into a technique directly determined its power and range.
Take Wood Release, for example.
Hashirama Senju's legendary Mokuton could shape entire battlefields, while Yamato's Mokuton was… well, landscaping at best.
Hashirama could unleash massive, village-level techniques without breaking a sweat.
Yamato, on the other hand, nearly aged a decade just from using his "two rooms and one living room" jutsu during Konoha's reconstruction after Pain's assault.
The difference was staggering.
That was why chakra was the foundation of power. The stronger the technique, the more chakra it required.
Unless one had been resurrected from the afterlife with infinite reserves, every shinobi had to train relentlessly to increase their chakra pool.
Ye Dou understood this well.
That was why, above all else, his top priority was refining chakra.
The development of his Devil Fruit abilities required little effort—Fujitora's mastery had already paved the way.
Now, as long as his chakra could keep up, he could attempt devastating techniques like:
Gravity Suppression
Gravity Command
Gravity Blade Tiger
Gravity Chaos
Fire Sacrifice
Each one a potentially game-changing ability.
Thus, aside from physical conditioning, his most urgent focus remained chakra refinement.
Had it not been for his body being enhanced by the Devil Fruit, some of these techniques would have drained him dry.
Closing his eyes, he muttered a silent command—immediately, 0.1 times gravity enveloped his entire body.
Ye Dou remained still, assessing the sensation. Compared to the previous week, the pressure barely affected him.
Realizing this, he increased his chakra output—instantly, the gravity around him doubled.
His training had only just begun.
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