Chapter 5: Are Byakugan and Sharingan Really That Different?
"Tsunade-sama, how could I possibly know what Orochimaru-sama is thinking?"
Hyuga Fuji replied helplessly, "Maybe he simply wants to protect his comrades. After all, he was the commander of the Mist Battlefield."
"Protect his comrades? Orochimaru?"
For some reason, Tsunade felt like laughing, but the laugh never came.
If not for the Second and Third Shinobi Wars, Orochimaru might have become Hokage, right?
A remarkable Hokage who truly valued his comrades.
But now, Tsunade couldn't understand Orochimaru anymore.
War…
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, her enthusiasm gone. "You can go."
Whatever Orochimaru was planning, what did it have to do with her?
Let the old man worry about it himself.
She was just a weak kunoichi, plagued by hemophobia. The chaos in Konoha had nothing to do with her!
"Even Tsunade was called back to help. Looks like we can look forward to some results," Hyuga Fuji thought aloud as he turned back toward the laboratory, deep in thought.
Being reborn as a Hyuga branch member, the biggest problem was, of course, the Caged Bird seal. But the Caged Bird couldn't actually kill him.
During his first deal with Orochimaru, Fuji had exchanged the secrets of the Senju and Uchiha clans for guidance and the Reincarnation Soul Technique!
As a soul not originally from the shinobi world, did the body he inhabited truly belong to him?
The results of Edo Tensei confirmed it didn't. And ever since mastering the Reincarnation Soul Technique, he had his suspicions.
Using the technique, he had sensed the existence of the Pure Land and could even go there directly.
But his instincts told him that once he entered the Pure Land, returning would be almost impossible. So he hadn't tried.
This also meant that his presence in the shinobi world made his life and death independent of his body; instead, it hinged on the survival of his soul. His body was merely a vessel.
The Caged Bird couldn't kill his soul, so its threat was limited.
Still, achieving his current strength hadn't been easy. Hyuga Fuji wasn't the type to abandon everything and start over. Since he had acted, he naturally intended to secure results.
His gaze shifted to a kunoichi heading toward the laboratory.
Hyuga Miyuki.
—The branch member who had called the Caged Bird seal ugly that day.
Byakugan research had made some progress. It was time to let her test it out and add fuel to the current situation.
---
"Tsunade-sama, how is the progress on the Caged Bird research?"
Inside the laboratory, Hyuga Miyuki's delicate face betrayed her obvious nervousness.
"Significant progress," Tsunade replied, glancing briefly at Miyuki's pretty features with a calm tone. "In just a month, your branch family will be marked with a brand-new Caged Bird seal."
Miyuki's expression froze.
"…I see."
As expected, nothing would change.
Back at home, Miyuki collapsed onto her bed, utterly exhausted, her mind in turmoil.
Was this really how it would end? Would she, like her parents, dedicate everything to the Main Family?
She clenched her fists as memories surfaced—her parents, forced onto the battlefield because of a Main Family ninja's whim, ultimately killed in action.
If not for the Main Family needing protection on the front lines, they wouldn't have been sent to the battlefield.
If not for the Main Family, they wouldn't have fallen into the Mist's ambush...
Dedicating herself to the Main Family?
"No! Never!"
Miyuki sprang from her bed and approached her desk.
She raised two fingers and placed them before her eyes.
"Release!"
A small barrier unraveled, and a drawer opened in response.
Inside lay a scroll. Staring at it, her raised hand faltered mid-air.
She gritted her teeth. "Whatever their intentions, I need power right now!"
Having convinced herself, she grabbed the scroll and began studying it carefully.
This scroll had appeared in her room not long ago.
She didn't know who had placed it there or whether it was a trap.
But as a branch family member, even with parents who were jonin, she had no right to access advanced Gentle Fist techniques.
If she wanted the strength to resist, she had no choice but to seize it.
The first section of the scroll detailed various Gentle Fist techniques, including the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
But Miyuki quickly skipped ahead to the final section.
---
"Byakugan and Sharingan are both dojutsu-based Kekkei Genkai. While the Sharingan's awakening and evolution are tied to Yin Release chakra, what about the Byakugan?"
"There are indeed differences in Byakugan ocular power among Hyuga clan members, as seen in their varying perception ranges."
"Research has shown that this difference is also linked to Yin Release chakra. However, the gap is typically small. The average maximum range of Byakugan perception is around one kilometer, and Yin Release chakra can only add a few meters to that."
"Unlike the Sharingan, the Byakugan is exceptionally stable as a Kekkei Genkai. Attempts to enhance it through increased Yin Release chakra alone are futile."
"However, because of its stability, the Byakugan has an astonishingly low rejection rate—it can be transplanted into anyone. Its ocular power is similarly stable, allowing any Byakugan to perfectly absorb the ocular power of another."
"So, what would happen if a single pair of Byakugan absorbed the ocular power of every Byakugan in the Hyuga clan?"
"The Sharingan evolves dramatically, even reaching the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan, the power that made a certain Shinobi World Asura invincible."
"As one of the Three Great Dojutsu, is the Byakugan truly inferior to the Sharingan?"
---
The scroll ended with what seemed like experimental notes. She, Hyuga Miyuki, was clearly being offered as the next test subject.
But she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
Whoever had left this scroll had given her two choices.
The first: follow the prescribed path of Gentle Fist training and eventually become a jonin in the Hyuga clan.
The second: continue the research and the experiments.
The first path would allow her to live well within the Hyuga clan, but she would remain a glorified "slave," unable to avenge her parents!
Since their deaths, she had kept her hatred buried deep, never letting it show.
Because she lacked the power for vengeance.
Whether it was the Main Family members responsible for her parents' deaths—who might still be alive—or the Mist jonin who had killed them, she, a mere chunin, lacked the strength to fight back.
Let alone the power to strike at the Hyuga Main Family, the root of all her suffering...
Hyuga Miyuki stared intently at the line, "Is the Byakugan truly inferior to the Sharingan?" Her heart whispered softly:
I'll be the one to find out!
---
Elsewhere, Hyuga Fuji activated his Byakugan, a faint smile playing on his lips.
It was about to begin.
(End of Chapter)
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