Recaps

After Hizashi’s death, Neji refused the Hyuga clan’s Caged Bird Seal by gouging out his own Byakugan and giving them to Hiashi. He left the compound blindfolded, reassured Hinata, and continued on with Hiashi seeking help to save his eyes.

• Hiashi told Neji that Hizashi had died and that the Caged Bird Seal ceremony could no longer be delayed.
• Neji dug out both of his Byakugan and handed them to Hiashi as his answer to the seal.
• Hiashi treated Neji’s wounds, resolved to protect him from clan gossip, and hurried to the Hokage Building with the eyes.
• Neji used Observation Haki to navigate the compound and told Hinata that his eyes were only slightly injured.
• Neji and Hinata made a pinky promise before he left to attend to something.

After digging out his Byakugan, Neji spent a year training and enrolled in the Ninja Academy with Hiashi and Hinata seeing him off. He met Tenten and Rock Lee, and began school determined to keep a low profile until graduation.

• Neji treated his empty eye sockets and reflected on his past, then focused on training Chakra, Nen, and Haki while Hiashi protected and instructed him.
• A year later, Hiashi and Hinata accompanied Neji to the Ninja Academy, where he ignored the rumors about his blindness and his father’s death.
• Neji met Tenten and Rock Lee at the opening ceremony, and the three went together when their teacher called them to gather.
• The homeroom teacher assigned Tenten and Rock Lee to sit with Neji and asked them to look after him, while Neji quietly read using Chakra and prepared to make it through school unnoticed.

Neji regenerated his Byakugan in secret at Hizashi Hyuga’s grave, then asked Hiashi to release his father’s inheritance so he could establish a laboratory and open a hot pot shop. Hiashi reviewed Neji’s proposal, leaving the clan’s possible investment under consideration.

• Neji visited Hizashi Hyuga’s grave on his death anniversary and secretly restored his Byakugan using Chakra, Medical Ninjutsu, and Life Return.
• Neji decided to keep pretending to be blind while he began planning his next steps.
• Neji asked Hiashi to let him use his father’s inheritance to buy a laboratory and a property for a shop.
• Neji presented Hiashi with a hot pot restaurant proposal and invited the clan to invest.

Neji gained Hiashi’s approval to involve the Hyuga Clan in his food and beverage industry proposal, then began training Hinata in Gentle Fist. He left Hinata bruised and embarrassed but determined to continue learning from him.

• Hiashi approved Neji’s proposal, noting that Neji’s share would be small, and promised to protect his interests.
• Hiashi asked Neji to train Hinata and offered to continue teaching Neji Gentle Fist techniques.
• Hinata blamed herself for Neji’s covered eyes, and Neji reassured her that she could rely on him.
• Neji began training Hinata, teaching her to hold back some of her strength and adjust her strikes rather than attack rigidly.
• Neji repeatedly redirected Hinata’s attacks and tapped her pressure points, warning that each successful strike could have killed her.

Neji prepared his private Laboratory while the Hyuga clan finalized his Hot Pot Restaurant investment and ownership. When Hiashi visited with Hinata, Neji reassured her he would not move out before graduating, and she stayed to explore his new home.

• The Hyuga clan agreed that Neji would invest Hizashi's inheritance in the Hot Pot Restaurant for one-tenth of its profits, while Neji kept ownership of its first property and his Laboratory property.
• Neji arranged his personal belongings in the Laboratory and learned from Hiashi that the Hot Pot Restaurant would open in about two days.
• Hinata asked Neji whether he planned to move out, and he told her he would stay in the clan compound until he graduated.
• Neji invited Hinata into the Laboratory, showed her his experiment supplies, and teased her about the bedroom until she blushed.
• Neji offered to celebrate his new home by treating Hinata to Ichiraku Ramen, and she pointed out that he ate a lot too.

Neji treated Naruto to an extra bowl of ramen at Ichiraku, leaving Naruto deeply moved by the kindness. After returning home, Neji refined his Chakra and considered how to obtain Yin Attribute Chakra before the Uchiha Clan was gone.

• Neji and Hinata ate ramen at Ichiraku, where Neji noticed Naruto arriving and praised the food to Hinata.
• Neji paid for Naruto’s meal and left with Hinata, while Uncle Ichiraku gave Naruto the extra bowl Neji had bought him.
• Naruto ate the unexpected ramen through tears and resolved to remember Hinata’s brother’s kindness.
• Neji returned to the Hyuga Estate, reflected on Naruto’s circumstances and Danzo, then began refining Chakra at home.
• Neji considered combining Sharingan Dojutsu Power with his Byakugan and planned to gather materials before the Uchiha Clan disappeared.

Neji celebrated the opening of his hot pot restaurant with Hinata and their classmates, then reflected on the business and his plans for training his Byakugan. The restaurant’s first day went well, and Neji ended the chapter testing his restored sight and considering future research.

• Neji welcomed Rock Lee and Tenten to the restaurant, and explained to Hinata that they had helped him at the Ninja Academy.
• Hinata’s friends, including Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Choji, arrived to support her and Neji.
• Neji led the group inside, where they ate hot pot together and bonded over the meal.
• Neji and Hinata saw their classmates off after they praised the food and promised to return.
• That night, Neji opened his eyes beneath the moonlight, considered training his Byakugan, and thought about using Vinsmoke Lineage Factor technology and finding Orochimaru for future research.

Neji considered how to evolve his Byakugan into a Tenseigan and planned to gain experience by fighting Academy students. At the Ninja Academy, he defeated Rock Lee, gained a level, and invited another challenger to step forward.

• Neji weighed the known methods of creating a Tenseigan and concluded that combining a large number of Byakugan was likely the true path.
• Neji decided to raise his level by challenging students at the Ninja Academy, where he had few other ways to earn experience.
• Rock Lee challenged Neji, and Neji used Observation Haki to find an opening and defeat him with a back suplex.
• Neji gained enough experience to reach level six, then praised Rock Lee and agreed to accept his challenge again the next day.
• Rock Lee enthusiastically began walking laps on his hands, while Neji called for the Uchiha Clan member who had wanted to challenge him.

Neji defeated a red-eyed Uchiha student, then worked on his underground cloning device while planning to create and fuse Byakugan. A year later, at age eight, Neji had reached level sixteen and completed his laboratory as his restaurant business expanded.

• Neji taunted and defeated the red-eyed student with Gentle Fist, earning experience from the fight.
• Neji walked home with Hinata and asked her to invite Kiba, Naruto, and the others to his training ground.
• Neji entered his laboratory, reviewed his surveillance-eye research, and assembled his unfinished cloning device.
• Neji planned to clone Byakugan and test ways to fuse them, considering the Tenseigan and the possibility of taking the Giant Tenseigan from the moon.
• A year later, Neji had reached level sixteen, completed his laboratory, and expanded the Hot Pot Restaurant into multiple Hyuga Estate-controlled branches.

Neji used Physical Clones disguised as Anbu to collect Sharingan during the Uchiha Clan Downfall while Itachi and Obito slaughtered the clan. After encountering Uchiha Izumi, he let her go to warn the clan and continued toward the police force headquarters.

• Neji noticed unusual activity involving Second Pillar and Hiashi, realized the Uchiha massacre was beginning, and prepared his Anbu disguise and Sharingan-preservation supplies.
• Neji sent Physical Clones toward the Uchiha Clan, intending to collect at least ten pairs of Three Tomoe Sharingan without being discovered by Itachi, Obito, or Root.
• Itachi and Obito massacred Uchiha clansmen while Neji's clones followed behind them, removing and storing Sharingan from the bodies.
• At the police force headquarters, Neji's clone encountered Uchiha Izumi, who believed an outside attacker was killing the clan and headed off to warn the Uchiha.
• Neji let Izumi leave and continued toward the police force headquarters, hoping the delay might give her a chance to survive.

Neji rescued Uchiha Izumi after the Masked Man stabbed her and took her Sharingan, then concealed her apparent death and brought her to his laboratory. After Konoha blamed Uchiha Itachi for the clan’s extermination, Neji told Izumi what had happened and revealed that he wanted everything from her.

• The Masked Man bound and stabbed Uchiha Izumi, took her Sharingan, and escaped as Neji arrived.
• Neji found Izumi barely alive, treated her wound, replaced her missing eyes with fake ones, and carried her away after staging signs of her death.
• Konoha announced the Uchiha Clan’s extermination and named Uchiha Itachi a rogue ninja responsible for it.
• Neji returned to his laboratory and found Izumi awake; she questioned him about her rescue and the clan’s fate.
• Neji told Izumi that the Uchiha Clan was gone and that Itachi was responsible, then identified himself and said he needed everything from her.

Neji tested a Chakra-powered vision device on Uchiha Izumi and recruited her to help with his experiments and underground base. Izumi learned that Itachi and a Masked Man had destroyed the Uchiha Clan, and she remained hidden in Neji’s secluded house as he left for the Hyuga Compound.

• Neji fitted Uchiha Izumi with a helmet that used Chakra to transmit images into her mind, then recorded how clearly she could see.
• Izumi asked about Itachi and the Uchiha Clan, and Neji confirmed that Itachi and the Masked Man had destroyed them.
• Neji explained that the vision device was only an initial success and outlined his plans for an artificial eye with advanced abilities.
• Neji told Izumi to study Medical Ninjutsu and Earth Release, help expand the underground area, and assist with experiments, promising she might regain her Sharingan and confront Itachi and the Masked Man.
• Neji instructed Izumi to stay inside and left for the Hyuga Compound, saying he had school the next day.

Neji talked with Tenten about the Uchiha clan’s deaths, then returned to his laboratory and fed the recovering Uchiha Izumi. He asked about her skills and planned to teach her Medical Ninjutsu and two Earth Release techniques for a future project.

• Tenten told Neji she felt sad about the Uchiha clan’s deaths, and Neji agreed while privately regretting losing a useful opponent.
• Tenten said she was learning Medical Ninjutsu to save her companions, and Neji promised to help her if she was injured.
• Tenten told Neji that Rock Lee was training hard despite being mocked, and Neji looked forward to gaining experience from him and Might Guy.
• Neji parted from Hinata and went to his laboratory, where he found Uchiha Izumi reading his medical books.
• Neji gave Uchiha Izumi ramen and dango, learned she specialized in Taijutsu, and offered to teach her Medical Ninjutsu and his Swampification Jutsu and Solidification Jutsu.

After four years of training and preparation, Neji reached graduation and was assigned to a team with Tenten and Rock Lee under Might Guy. The newly formed Team 3 headed to Training Ground 7 to face Guy’s approval test.

• Neji spent four years training Hinata and Rock Lee, teaching Izumi, and developing his abilities while building an underground space.
• At graduation, Might Guy assigned Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee to Team 3 as their instructor.
• Rock Lee introduced himself and declared his goal of defeating Neji, while Tenten described her ambition to become an independent female ninja like Tsunade.
• Neji said he wanted to protect what he valued and change things that should not exist.
• Might Guy told Team 3 they had to earn his approval and ordered them to meet him at Training Ground 7.

Might Guy tested Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten in combat, and their teamwork impressed him enough to make him open one of the Eight Gates. The team passed, though Rock Lee suspected he had been the only one who got beaten up.

• Might Guy told Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten to fight him to prove they were strong enough to remain genin.
• Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee engaged Might Guy while Tenten supported them with a barrage of concealed weapons.
• Might Guy fought off their coordinated attacks and struck Rock Lee hard enough to send him flying.
• Tenten left the battlefield to prepare traps in the forest while Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee kept Might Guy occupied.
• Might Guy opened the Space Gate, sent Neji Hyuga crashing into a tree, then stopped the test and declared all three genin had passed.
• Rock Lee limped over and furrowed his brow as he realized he seemed to be the only one who had taken a beating.

Team 3 celebrated passing Might Guy's assessment, and Tenten happily fed Neji while recalling how she had cared for him since they were young. After the celebration, Neji returned to his underground laboratory to continue his research before his new genin duties began.

• Tenten toasted Might Guy for treating Team 3 to hot pot, and Might Guy praised the students before inspiring Rock Lee to work harder.
• Tenten fed Neji, remembering how she had cared for him as a child, while Neji accepted the food despite feeling embarrassed.
• Might Guy announced that Team 3 would begin taking missions the next morning and told them to gather at eight.
• Rock Lee went off to train, while Neji declined Tenten's request for a lesson because he was close to finishing his research.
• Neji went to his personal laboratory and descended to its hidden third level, built with advanced technology he had learned about while working alongside Vegapunk.

After graduating as a ninja, Neji continued cultivating and awakening cloned Byakugan in his hidden laboratory, hoping to fuse them into a Tenseigan. He kept his purpose secret from Uchiha Izumi and left their future uncertain as he reflected on the threat posed by the Masked Man.

• Neji returned to his laboratory, where Uchiha Izumi welcomed him and congratulated him on graduating.
• Uchiha Izumi reported that she had cultivated ten new pairs of Byakugan, while Neji noted that the nearly thousand pairs he had grown still lacked the quality he needed.
• Neji poured his Chakra into the incubators and awakened another pair of Byakugan, then continued nurturing the others until he was nearly exhausted.
• Uchiha Izumi asked why Neji was doing all this, and Neji said she would understand if he succeeded but should consider it a joke if he failed.
• Neji warned Uchiha Izumi that the future would not be peaceful and asked her to think about the Masked Man who appeared on the night of the Uchiha clan’s downfall.
• After bathing, Neji reflected on his plan to create a Tenseigan and on how Life Return worked with Chakra extraction to strengthen him.

Neji returned to the Hyuga Compound, where Hiashi welcomed him and heard about his new genin team. Hiashi approved of Neji learning Might Guy’s Eight Gates and promised to speak to the Third Hokage, while Neji sensed that Hiashi was preparing to change the clan system.

• Neji left the Laboratory, and Izumi’s Sharingan activated briefly as she felt lonely after he departed.
• Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi waited for Neji at the Hyuga Compound’s gate, and Hanabi demanded that he make it up to them.
• Neji joined Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi in the courtyard and recounted what had happened that day.
• Hiashi praised Might Guy’s strength and told Neji that he could learn the Eight Gates despite its danger.
• Hiashi promised to tell Might Guy his approval and speak to the Third Hokage himself, while Neji suspected that Hiashi intended to change the clan system.

Team 3 met Might Guy for its first mission, which was to catch Lady Daimyo’s cat, Little Tiger. Neji had already picked up the cat, and Guy proposed handstand laps around Konoha as their next exercise before Rock Lee collapsed from staring at its tail.

• Might Guy led Rock Lee through more than a hundred push-ups before Neji and Tenten arrived at the training ground.
• Might Guy announced that Team 3’s first mission was to catch Little Tiger, Lady Daimyo’s runaway cat.
• Neji revealed that Little Tiger was already resting in his arms, and Tenten confirmed that he had found it by the roadside.
• Tenten urged Might Guy to choose another difficult mission, so he assigned the team fifty handstand laps around Konoha.
• Rock Lee became dizzy after staring at Little Tiger’s swaying tail, and Might Guy caught him as he began to collapse.

After completing their first mission, Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee received their reward and trained with Might Guy. Might Guy demonstrated the Eight Gates and said Neji and Rock Lee were ready to learn the dangerous technique, while Tenten needed more training.

• The group handed Little Tiger to Lady Daimyo, and Might Guy submitted the mission report while the others waited at the training ground.
• Might Guy gave the team their mission reward, and Neji and Tenten remarked that their shares were very small, leaving Might Guy and Rock Lee in tears.
• Might Guy offered to train the team in Taijutsu, and Tenten said Neji was teaching her to use ninja tools.
• Might Guy demonstrated the first three of the Eight Gates and explained the risks of opening more.
• Might Guy said Neji and Rock Lee met the standard to learn the Eight Gates, while Tenten needed to train harder first.

Might Guy explained the dangers and stages of the Eight Gates to Neji and Rock Lee, who chose to learn the technique despite its risks. As they began trying to open the Space Gate, Neji unleashed a sudden surge of chakra that was suppressed by a mysterious force.

• Tenten declined to learn the Eight Gates because she lacked time to train her body, while Neji and Rock Lee agreed to study it.
• Might Guy described the Eight Gates and the fatal risks of opening the Gate of Death, which his father Might Duy had used to defeat four of the Mist Ninja's Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
• Might Guy instructed Neji and Rock Lee to sit and search for the Space Gate, warning Tenten to keep her distance if they lost control.
• Might Guy said either student might open the Space Gate first, noting Rock Lee's training and Neji's strength and familiarity with the meridians.
• Neji's chakra surged with a faint dragon's roar and tiger's howl, then was abruptly suppressed by an unknown force.

Neji successfully opened the First Gate and controlled its power, then revealed that his tattoos could help suppress its violent Chakra. Might Guy rushed off to report the discovery to the Third Hokage, while Tenten continued touching Neji’s exposed tattoos.

• Neji opened the First Gate and found that Nen Flow and his Dragon and Tiger tattoos suppressed much of its violent Chakra.
• Neji demonstrated precise control of his strength, impressing Tenten and Might Guy with a kick that cut into a training post.
• Neji explained that his medical skills let him control Chakra and heal himself, prompting Might Guy to consider combining Medical Ninjutsu with the Eight Gates.
• Neji showed Might Guy and Tenten his tattoos and said they helped control rampaging Chakra and direct it toward healing.
• Might Guy hurried off to report the discovery to the Third Hokage, leaving Rock Lee still struggling to open a Gate.
• Neji asked Tenten if she had touched enough after realizing she was feeling his exposed tattoos.

Rock Lee opened the First Gate but could not close it, so Neji fought him to help him control the surge of power. Meanwhile, Might Guy told the Third Hokage about Neji’s tattoo and Medical Ninjutsu, and the Hokage ordered him to bring Neji in for questioning.

• Rock Lee broke through the First Gate, unleashing a torrent of Chakra that he struggled to control.
• Neji told Rock Lee to stay calm and try to close the gate, but Rock Lee could not close it.
• Neji took a Gentle Fist stance and sparred with Rock Lee while Tenten watched from a safe distance.
• Rock Lee gradually gained control of his strength and charged Neji, who dodged his attacks with small movements.
• Might Guy reported Neji’s tattoo and Medical Ninjutsu to the Third Hokage, who ordered him to bring Neji to the Hokage Office.

Rock Lee lost control after opening the First Gate and was badly injured when Neji ended their spar, though Neji healed him and brought him to Konoha Hospital. Might Guy then took Neji to meet the Third Hokage, while Neji prepared to discuss his tattoo and seek sealing techniques and the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

• Rock Lee gained better control of his strength during his fight with Neji, and Might Guy returned to find Lee unable to close the First Gate.
• Neji opened the First Gate and used Flash Step, Shave, and Gale Combo to knock Lee unconscious before healing his torn muscles and cracked bones.
• Might Guy, Neji, and Tenten took Lee to Konoha Hospital, where Tenten agreed to watch over him.
• Might Guy took Neji to meet the Third Hokage, and Neji planned to explain his tattoo and request access to Sealing Jutsu and the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Neji demonstrated how his Dragon and Tiger tattoos controlled some of the Chakra released by the Eight Gates, prompting the Third Hokage to investigate whether the method could help others. The Hokage learned Neji had used Medical Ninjutsu himself and became interested in Neji’s claim that stimulating certain Chakra acupoints could also heal the body.

• Might Guy brought Neji to the Hokage Office, where the Third Hokage recalled Hizashi and praised Neji’s abilities.
• The Third Hokage asked Neji to demonstrate healing while in the Eight Gates state, and Neji used the Healing Technique.
• Neji revealed his Dragon and Tiger tattoos and explained that they accidentally controlled some Chakra by connecting Chakra acupoints.
• Neji said the tattoos might work for others but would require study and Sealing Jutsu experiments to verify.
• Neji clarified that the tattoos only controlled Chakra and that he had performed the Healing Technique himself.
• Neji told the Third Hokage that stimulating certain Chakra acupoints could activate cells and heal the body, making the Hokage eager to learn more.