Hyuga Ningyuan had created the Cat Swing only as a side project. His true purpose in opening his eyes was to study the principles behind the Byakugan's x-ray vision and find a way to block it.
Otherwise, living in the Hyuga nest, he would not even be able to cultivate immortality.
So the question was, how could he block the Byakugan?
Hyuga Ningyuan discovered that not all objects could be seen through by the Byakugan. Bones, for one, could obstruct its line of sight.
Muscles could as well, because when the Byakugan observed muscle, it could clearly see gradual changes in the muscle fibers. That proved muscle did block part of its vision, just not much!
The most effective materials should have been various metals. The kitchenware Hyuga Ningyuan had taken from the kitchen, whether iron, copper, or aluminum, all had some effect.
"This image, this texture... why does it look more familiar the longer I stare at it?" Hyuga Ningyuan watched the skeletal frames walking around outside. After pondering it for a long time, he finally slapped his palm. "Isn't this just an x-ray image?"
X-rays, also known as X radiation, were electromagnetic waves with extremely high frequencies, extremely short wavelengths, and immense energy.
X-rays had penetrating power, but human tissues differed in density and thickness. When X-rays passed through different tissues, they were absorbed to different degrees, producing different images after processing.
This was remarkably similar to the world observed through the Byakugan, so much so that Hyuga Ningyuan instinctively wondered whether the Byakugan's vision might be a kind of x-ray.
But x-ray imaging required both a transmitter and a receiver.
So the question was, how did the Byakugan handle both transmission and reception through vision?
"Chakra!" After thinking it over and over, Hyuga Ningyuan concluded that Chakra had to be the reason.
The Byakugan transformed Chakra into something like X-rays and emitted it. These X-rays were extremely similar to actual X-rays, but like the fire released by Fire Release and the water released by Water Release, they were ultimately just products of Chakra.
Thus, natural X-rays reflected when they encountered metal, while Chakra-created X-rays returned on their own.
So the Byakugan was both the transmitter and receiver of X-rays!
Of course, all of that was merely Hyuga Ningyuan's speculation. Whether it was true still required further verification.
So the question was, how could he verify that Byakugan vision was X-rays?
Hyuga Ningyuan thought about it and found the answer: there was no need to verify it, nor could he verify it!
Chakra was not a natural substance, after all. It was a power shaped by the mind.
In fact, with changes in thought and personal will, the Byakugan could see far, far, far more than X-rays ever could!
He could use Byakugan vision like X-rays, but he could not truly define it as X-rays. That would be nothing more than limiting himself.
He should establish a concept broader than X-rays, such as electromagnetic waves!
X-rays were originally a type of electromagnetic wave, so what was wrong with expanding the concept to electromagnetic waves?
And once it reached electromagnetic waves, it could naturally be expanded further—to Electromagnetic Force, one of the four fundamental forces!
That was not an exaggeration at all. After all, the Tenseigan awakened from the Byakugan could control attraction and repulsion. So what was wrong with the lesser Byakugan controlling Electromagnetic Force?
There was absolutely nothing wrong with it!
"Byakugan equals electromagnetic waves, Chakra equals Telekinetic Power. The Hyuga Clan can release Chakra from acupoints throughout their entire bodies, create massive quantities of Chakra in an instant, and even slap away the Ten-Tails' claws!"
The more deeply he learned about the Hyuga, the more terrifying this clan seemed!
Indeed, when he thought about it carefully, Asura and Indra, the sons of the Sage of Six Paths, had split the Sage's bloodline in two. Yet that alone had created the two monstrous clans of the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan.
So the question was, the Hyuga Clan's ancestor was Hamura Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths' brother. Hamura's bloodline had not been split among several brothers—it had all been inherited by the Hyuga Clan!
Did that not mean the Hyuga Clan's bloodline was comparable to the Uchiha plus the Senju?
That was perfectly logical. The Uchiha plus Senju needed to combine to obtain the Rinnegan, while the Hyuga Clan alone could awaken the Tenseigan. Wasn't that one clan equaling two?
So if the Hyuga Clan's bloodline was so absurdly powerful, why were they so low-key in Konoha, only playing support in every major war?
"The Hyuga Clan's wisdom of survival!" After pondering it, Hyuga Ningyuan realized that the Caged Bird was truly a good thing.
It had indeed suppressed the Hyuga Clan's creativity, but it had also genuinely preserved the Hyuga Clan.
If it had not existed to suppress the Hyuga Clan's creativity and desire for development, such an outrageous clan would have long been jointly attacked by every other clan!
Who told you to be so ridiculously powerful? The ninja world did not permit such an overpowered Ninja Clan to exist!
Not to mention, Black Zetsu would never tolerate it!
Under such circumstances, how could the Hyuga Clan have survived for a thousand years?
No need to look far. The Uzumaki Clan had been powerful, right? They possessed enormous amounts of Chakra, created Sealing Jutsu capable of sealing heaven, earth, and everything else, and even founded their own country.
So where was the Uzumaki Clan now?
Though it possessed the strength to travel a thousand li, it was underfed and lacked strength; its talent could not shine forth, and it could not even be treated like an ordinary horse. How could it possibly travel a thousand li?
The Hyuga Clan was that Thousand-Li Horse whose abilities had never been displayed.
But then there was the problem: a Thousand-Li Horse went to war and died within two months, while an ordinary horse lived in its stable until the end of its natural lifespan.
For an individual, one would absolutely want to be a Thousand-Li Horse. How could a man born between heaven and earth remain in obscurity beneath others for long?
But for a clan, honestly being an ordinary horse and passing down the clan's legacy was the greatest wisdom.
So the Caged Bird was not wrong, and the Main Family was not wrong?
Of course not.
Before Hyuga Ningyuan arrived, this system had certainly not been a problem.
But now that Hyuga Ningyuan was here, it oppressed him!
That made the system a problem!
The Hyuga Clan's wisdom of survival was not wrong, but times had changed. It was time for the Hyuga Clan's rules to change as well.
"Oh, right, what was I supposed to be doing?" Ningyuan snapped back to his senses. He was supposed to be researching a Secrecy Method.
There were quite a few things that could obstruct Byakugan vision. The most effective were metal plates, preferably lead plates.
But Ningyuan had the Point Allocation System, so he had no need to use weights to improve his Taijutsu.
Besides, if he wore a thick iron plate that blocked such a large area of vision, people who had not been paying attention to him before would start noticing him instead.
So he could not use external objects. That left only the second option.
Chakra!
The Byakugan could observe Chakra, which meant Chakra could either absorb Byakugan vision or obstruct it.
Either way, it could block the Byakugan's vision.
Then he simply needed to maintain Chakra around his dantian twenty-four hours a day, naturally obstructing Byakugan vision.
And this would not arouse suspicion, because for any mature ninja, Chakra Extraction had already become instinctive. There was always Chakra around the dantian at all times.
Going a step further, he could cover his entire body in Chakra and form a layer of Chakra Film. That way, cultivating his Cultivation Method would no longer be a problem.
And this would not arouse suspicion either. People with abundant Chakra did this all the time, because Chakra covering the cells could enhance strength and defense.
When Karin Uzumaki observed Sasuke with the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, every cell in Sasuke's body had been brimming with Chakra.
"My Chakra reserves are low, so filling my entire body is probably impossible. But forming a thin film might be worth trying!" No sooner said than done, Hyuga Ningyuan controlled Chakra to spray from acupoints all over his body, then tried to spread it along his skin and cover his whole body.
"My Chakra control is a little too poor!" He would never have known without trying, but the moment he tried, he discovered the problem.
Spraying Chakra from his acupoints was easy, but precisely controlling every strand of Chakra emitted from every acupoint required dividing his attention hundreds of ways!
Scale it down, scale it down!
"I can release Chakra from my left hand and retrieve it with my right, letting it circulate through my whole body. Or I can spray Chakra from my feet and retrieve it through the top of my head."
The latter would also let him cover his feet with Chakra and walk barefoot, greatly training his control over Chakra.
Zhu Yuyan's disciple had done it that way. Come to think of it, how exactly were those two characters pronounced?
Unfortunately, Hyuga Ningyuan was a boy. If a girl went barefoot, people would call her a barefoot elf.
For a man, he could only be the Barefoot Immortal!
There was a Dou King in the Battle Through the Heavens anime who went barefoot. He clearly looked imposing and could even tread through the void, but once those bare feet were added, the whole thing looked awkward.
In short, men were not suited to going barefoot.
"Not a big problem. I'll cover my shoes too. From now on, my goal is to walk without gathering dust and tread on water without wetting my shoes!"
His ultimate goal: leave no trace upon snow!
"Hmm, while Chakra circulates through my body, it can clean away dirt and sweat as well. But then having Chakra exit through my soles and enter through the top of my head would be strange, so I'll reverse it—release it from the top of my head and absorb it through my feet."
That way, the dirt on his body would be pushed to the ground by Chakra. And since Chakra was pure energy, it would not be contaminated by dust, so he would have no psychological resistance to retrieving it.
The entire cultivation process could not only cleanse his body, but also train his Chakra control and Telekinetic Power while protecting the secret of his internal Qi Cultivation.
Because Chakra constantly circulated over his body, it was like having a shield activated at all times, allowing him to defend against sudden attacks.
"Untainted and pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. This skill shall be called [Glazed Robe]!"
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