Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Just as the two were about to scare each other away with fierce glares, a pair of chopsticks easily snatched the last piece of roast meat from their chopsticks.

Kirito and Akimichi Tou were immediately dumbfounded, watching helplessly as the last piece of roasted meat fell into Hana's mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm really too hungry..."

Hua Lian blushed and lowered her head when she saw the two looking at her, and said pitifully in a low voice.

She hadn't tasted the last piece of grilled meat in a long time, and she just couldn't resist.

Upon hearing this, both of them subconsciously glanced at the pile of dishes in front of Hua Lian, and both of them showed expressions of shock.

They never expected that the petite Hua Lian could eat so much. Although she didn't eat as much as the two of them, she still ate many times more than the other girls around her.

"So Hua Lian can eat that much. No wonder when I pretended to give Hua Lian food to express my gratitude to Teacher Yama, Teacher Yama's expression was strange. It turns out I didn't give him enough."

Kirito looked at the mountain of saucers in front of Karen and pondered thoughtfully.

Perhaps because Kushina wasn't there, Minato wasn't in high spirits at the celebration. Plus, his popularity was completely overshadowed by Orochimaru, so he ate his food in a sullen manner, only occasionally talking to the two girls around him who were very infatuated with him.

Overall, however, the celebration was quite good, and everyone left with a smile on their face.

It was when Orochimaru was paying the bill that his smile became somewhat stiff.

After Kirito finished his meal and said goodbye to Minato and the others, he leisurely walked away, but he soon noticed a little tail following him.

"What's wrong, Hua Lian? Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Kirito noticed that the little tail was following him and was about to arrive at the Senju clan's territory, but it was taking its time to come out. So he turned around and said to Hyuga Karen, who was secretly hiding behind a telephone pole.

When Karen saw that Kirito had spotted her, she timidly emerged from behind the telephone pole and stammered, "Kirito-kun, I'm sorry, I didn't listen to you and graduated early without permission."

"You don't need to worry about this. I was just suggesting that you don't graduate early. It's not that you absolutely can't graduate early. In fact, with your current strength, you could have graduated long ago. Moreover, your choice this time was excellent. Having Orochimaru as your mentor Jonin will greatly help your future growth in strength. It was a wise choice."

Seeing that Karen was still blaming herself, Kirito immediately comforted her with a serious expression.

Hua Lian didn't listen to his advice and graduated early, but he wasn't unhappy; he just felt a little regretful.

Unfortunately, the opponent lost a period of safe development.

However, upon learning that Karen graduated early because she wanted to receive guidance from Orochimaru, he could only admire her.

Strive for your own destiny and never bow down to fate.

This is what Kirito admires most about Karen. Now, her choice to graduate early in order to gain a chance to be guided by Orochimaru is undoubtedly another fight against her incompatible fate.

She was still unwilling to be imprisoned by the Caged Bird Seal, so she decisively sought to make Orochimaru, a Sannin who was proficient in sealing techniques, her mentor Jonin.

She seized the opportunity through her own abilities.

Although the instructors of Jonin are not strictly speaking the true teachers of Genin, they still have a master-disciple relationship, so they are master and disciple in name only.

Orochimaru is now serving as Hana's mentor Jonin, and the benefits he brings to Hana are obvious.

In addition to receiving excellent teaching resources, Karen will also gain Orochimaru's protection. In the future, if the Hyuga main family wants to target Karen, they will have to consider the feelings of Orochimaru, a third-generation disciple.

Given the Hyuga main family's usual ostrich-like behavior towards outsiders, they will definitely be very wary of Orochimaru, the powerful third-generation disciple. Karen's freedom will definitely increase significantly in the future, and she won't have to worry about being confined to the family all day after her strength improves, becoming a tool for the main family to work hard without complaint.

Of course, Orochimaru's protection of Hana only lasted until he was still a Konoha ninja.

Hopefully, Orochimaru won't become increasingly evil in his pursuit of immortality, ultimately leading him to defect from Konoha.

If Orochimaru defectes, Hana's situation will definitely deteriorate rapidly.

However, judging from the current situation, having Orochimaru become Hana-rei's mentor Jonin is far more beneficial than harmful to Hana-rei.

"Really? You're not angry."

When Karen heard Kirito say that, she stared at him with wide eyes and looked at him expectantly.

"Of course not. I think your choice is great and wise. Keep it up, Karen. You should firmly grasp your own destiny. But now that you've become a member of Orochimaru's team, you'll probably be on the battlefield soon, so be careful."

Kirito nodded in approval, then offered a few words of advice to Karen.

"Orochimaru-sensei is very strong, and I have the Byakugan. As long as I can detect the enemy in advance, there shouldn't be any problems. Thank you for your concern, Kirito-kun."

Hua Lian said happily, a joyful smile on her face.

As expected, Kirito-kun understands me.

That's great.

Chapter 136: The Caged Bird and Kirito's Cursed Seal

"It's best to be careful. Once on the battlefield, you can't rely too much on others. You still have to rely on yourself in critical moments."

Kirito, seeing that Karen was overly confident in Orochimaru's strength, continued to remind him.

If Orochimaru were truly that powerful, Nawaki wouldn't have died in the original storyline.

While Nawaki's death was largely due to his recklessness and weakness, Orochimaru, as the instructor of the Jonin, was wrong to let the rookie Nawaki rush in recklessly. He shouldn't have praised Nawaki's bravery; he should have stopped him immediately.

Therefore, Kirito felt that Orochimaru wasn't that reliable. He was okay at teaching and training, but if you really wanted to rely on him to save people on the battlefield, it was best to be careful.

Just like Minato became a Jonin instructor, Orochimaru wasn't always acting as a babysitter for Minato, Karen, and Toudou when he went to the battlefield. He had more important tasks to do and many things to consider, so he couldn't protect the three of them at all times.

"I understand, I will remember your words, Kirito-kun."

Hua Lian nodded obediently.

"Hua Lian, how's your Soft Fist technique coming along? Have you mastered the Heaven Return Technique yet?"

Kirito asked.

Hua Lian's face fell when she heard this. Although she hadn't neglected her Gentle Fist and practiced it regularly, her father had no intention of teaching her advanced Gentle Fist techniques. She still only knew the most basic Gentle Fist.

"Teacher Shan has his reasons. Come with me, I'll teach you something good. Study hard and pay attention."

Seeing Karen's expression, Kirito knew she was beyond saving and sighed.

It must be said that Hyuga Neji is indeed a genius. He learned how to revert to the Heavenly Cycle through his own exploration, which is truly remarkable.

However, Hua Lian is only 8 years old now. It would be too much to ask her to comprehend the secret technique of the Gentle Fist, "Returning to Heaven," on her own at this age.

It's normal not to know.

When Karen heard that Kirito was going to teach her something good, her little face immediately lit up with excitement.

To encourage her to study Gentle Fist, her father repeatedly praised Kirito's talent for it, saying it was even better than the two twin geniuses from the main family.

To be honest, she was really curious about the extent of Kirito's Gentle Fist skills.

Judging from what Kirito just said, he seems to have learned how to turn the tide.

But is that even possible?

The Return to Heaven technique is a secret soft fist technique passed down through generations of the main family. It is never taught to outsiders, and even members of the branch family can only obtain the method of cultivation with the consent of the main family.

Kirito isn't a member of the Hyuga clan and doesn't even have the Byakugan. Is it really possible for him to comprehend the Rejuvenation Technique on his own?

Kirito led Karen to an open space in the Senju clan's territory.

He first activated his soul perception and discovered that there was no one else within a radius of 200 meters except for him and Hua Lian.

So, he decisively struck the spot, and a surge of chakra erupted from his body. A large number of sealing techniques were released from his body and landed on the surrounding ground, quickly forming a sealing barrier with a coverage area of ​​only about ten meters.

Hua Lian stared wide-eyed at this scene, her eyes filled with deep envy.

She has consistently studied sealing techniques and possesses the ability to unleash the sealing technique, Double Lamp Array. For someone her age, being able to do this makes her a minor genius in sealing techniques. However, compared to Kirito's quick setup of the sealing barrier, her skill is simply pathetic.

Kirito's sealing techniques have far exceeded her expectations.

"If it were Kirito-kun, would he be able to untie the Caged Bird Seal on me?"

Hua Lian couldn't help but think in that direction.

The reason she worked so hard back then was all to break free of that damned curse mark on her forehead and change her damned predetermined fate.

Now she realizes that she doesn't seem to need to work so hard. With Kirito's help, she could very well break the curse mark on her body. Her heart wavers a little, and her longing for freedom makes her want to beg Kirito to help her break the caged bird.

"Fate should be firmly in our own hands."

But then Kirito suddenly remembered what he had just said to her, which instantly extinguished her idea of ​​relying on Kirito to untie the caged bird.

Kirito is right. You should take control of your own destiny. If you rely on others to untie the caged bird from your body, how can you take control of your own destiny?

Moreover, if she chooses to do that, Kirito will probably look down on her and never pay attention to her again.

If it turned out that way, she would rather the caged bird on her body had never been untied.

I can't let Kirito look down on me. Kirito likes self-reliant and useful people, not a useless woman who only knows how to cry and beg for sympathy.

At this thought, Hua Lian couldn't help but think of Chizuru, the girl who was often by Kirito's side, and her eyes became even more determined.

Uchiha Chizuru.

I, Hinata Karen, will never lose to you!

"Alright, now no one should be able to see what's going on here."

Kirito was unaware of the changes Karen had undergone in such a short time. After quickly completing the sealing barrier, he smiled and said to Karen.

"Kirito-kun, what are you going to teach me? If it's too important, please don't teach me."

When Karen saw that Kirito needed to set up a sealing barrier before he started teaching her, she immediately realized that what Kirito was teaching her must be very important, and said with a worried expression.

She knew that Kirito knew many ninjutsu, but many of these ninjutsu could not be easily passed on to outsiders, as it would cause serious problems if discovered.

It would be bad if Kirito was punished because of her.

"Don't worry, the ninjutsu I teach you are all my own creations. No one else can criticize you or me if they see it."

Kirito replied, giving Karen a reassuring look.

After saying that, under Hua Lian's surprised gaze, a large number of fine chakra threads appeared in the chakra points on his arms. Then these threads quickly combined to form a chakra sleeve, tightly wrapping Kirito's hands.

"Did you see it clearly?"

After Kirito successfully wove the sleeves using chakra threads, he spoke to Karen, who had already activated her Byakugan.

"I can see it more clearly now."

Hua Lian nodded blankly.

Through her Byakugan, she clearly saw Kirito rapidly condense chakra threads in his chakra points with astonishing chakra manipulation skills, and then skillfully weave these chakra threads together to form a chakra sleeve.

Although she didn't know how defensive this chakra sleeve was, judging from the degree of condensation of the chakra threads, its defensive power must be terrifying. It could easily block the cutting of ninja tools, and it might even have other amazing effects.