'Enlightenment' Begins

Early the next morning.

He had returned too late yesterday. After getting back, Hyuga Kazuya had only washed up briefly before going to sleep.

He needed to rest well and prepare for today.

According to an inexplicable feeling, his "enlightenment" would come today.

The feeling was strange, impossible to describe in words.

If he absolutely had to describe it, it felt as though his soul had returned to the womb, allowing him to forget all worries and all bodily instincts. It was so warm, so peaceful.

While in "enlightenment," his mind—or rather, his soul—would retain only the last one or several thoughts from before the enlightenment.

It was incredibly strange.

Hyuga Kazuya had once suspected that this was not enlightenment at all.

But he had too little information to be certain. Besides, what could he do even if it was not?

In a world where the supernatural existed, reverence was always the first rule when facing the unknown.

Putting such thoughts aside, Hyuga Kazuya picked up two scrolls and went to find his Uncle.

It was morning, so at this time, his Uncle would usually be doing his morning exercises in the front courtyard.

Dressed in white, his Uncle stood beneath the warm morning sunlight.

He slowly practiced the Gentle Fist.

At times fast, at times slow, his movements flowed as one, forming a tranquil and harmonious scene.

This was a state that only appeared when one had reached a profound level in the Gentle Fist.

Hyuga Kazuya was not far from reaching that realm himself.

Before long, his Uncle drew his arms back before his chest, slowly exhaled, lowered his arms, and finished his practice, gathering his breath.

"Kazuya, what is it? You've been standing there for quite a while."

"Uncle, I'll be studying these two ninjutsu in the backyard today."

"Mm, alright. I understand. I won't let anyone disturb you today."

His Uncle nodded and agreed to Hyuga Kazuya's request.

"Hurry along. The Sealing Scroll has to be handed in the day after tomorrow. Make good use of these next few days to read and think."

"Mm, don't worry, Uncle. I'm Hyuga's Number One Genius."

"Go on, go on. Stop fooling around, kid."

"Hehe, goodbye, Uncle."

Hyuga Kazuya turned and headed toward the backyard.

Inside the backyard pavilion.

Sitting cross-legged, Hyuga Kazuya took out the scrolls and carefully read them once more.

Hyuga Kazuya knew he did not possess a photographic memory. All he could do was practice until it became second nature.

He took notes as he waited for time to slowly pass.

As that feeling drew very close, Hyuga Kazuya reviewed the subjects he needed to tackle during this enlightenment one last time.

First subject: Wind Style Bow and Arrow.

When he had obtained the Eight Gates and the Lightning Style Training Method, Hyuga Kazuya had considered whether he should prioritize those two taijutsu techniques.

But after considering that taijutsu required steady accumulation over time and could not be mastered overnight, he abandoned the idea.

Second subject: Lightning Style Training Method.

Faced with the question of whether to put the Eight Gates or the Lightning Style Training Method first, Hyuga Kazuya very sensibly chose the Lightning Style Training Method.

After all, in the Naruto manga, the Raikage who practiced the Lightning Style Training Method were almost at their strongest in their normal state.

The Eight Gates were different. The gap between the normal state and the opened-gate state was far too great.

What was more, the Eight Gates could kill him. If he could complete the Lightning Style Training Method, then the Fourth Raikage had lived all the way into the Boruto Era. Who knew how much longer he might live in the future?

Third subject: Eight Gates.

No matter how far his enlightenment could take the Eight Gates, it would not be a loss.

Besides, he still had the Third Hokage as a fallback.

Time passed second by second.

Tick, tick...

"It's here!"

In an instant.

Hyuga Kazuya felt the colors around him fading away. The grass and trees, ever green, changed. The once azure sky changed as well.

Only black and white remained.

What was terrifying was that the black and white were gradually fading as well, slowly disappearing.

Bit by bit, bit by bit.

Until the last trace of light vanished before his eyes.

His hearing, touch, and sight were all disappearing bit by bit.

His entire soul was falling! Falling!

Falling into an endless abyss.

Drip!

It seemed as though his soul had touched something, as though it had fallen into a warm ocean.

Hyuga Kazuya awoke from the anomaly just now.

Although everything that had just happened was terrifying, Hyuga Kazuya had not actually felt anything at the time.

Because the very concept of "feeling" had vanished from his body. He had merely been recording what had happened.

Recording the scenes and process that had appeared during enlightenment.

"Let's begin."

He did not spare another thought for anything else. Every minute and every second in this state was incredibly precious.

First question: Wind Style Bow and Arrow.

Direction, power.

No, power was too broad a concept.

It should be firing speed, concealment, and direction.

In ten seconds, Hyuga Kazuya came up with a hundred solutions and considered their corresponding applications, how they could be put into practice, and so on.

But three seconds later, based on his own circumstances—his chakra reserves and chakra control—he eliminated those that required numerous high-end precision instruments, consumed too much chakra, or demanded chakra manipulation at the molecular level.

Only a few methods remained. After spending another second selecting the best among them, he finally chose an archery technique that fired arrows by creating a vacuum state.

Its advantages were speed and silence. Speed brought lethality, while silence provided excellent concealment.

Its flaws were equally obvious: it consumed a great deal of chakra and required arrowheads made from Chakra Metal.

It cost both chakra and money.

Still, compared to the other methods, this technique was already within an acceptable range.

After another six seconds, Hyuga Kazuya had mastered the archery technique he had just named "Vacuum Arrow."

It was only preliminary mastery, but that was enough. He could practice more later; there was no need to waste any more time.

Wind Style Bow and Arrow had taken a total of twenty-one seconds, one of which had been spent organizing his thoughts when enlightenment first began.

Thirty-nine seconds remained.

Second question: Lightning Style Training Method.

He spent five seconds reviewing the ninjutsu stolen from Kumogakure, checking whether there were any traps besides the essential recovery methods or medicines needed for training.

"There actually aren't any? Is Kumogakure too confident, or did they never expect anyone to steal their ninjutsu?"

"Next are the recovery methods, or medicines."

Completing the Lightning Style Training Method could wait, but the bodily damage caused by the Lightning Style Training Method had to be addressed first.

This took longer, since the result he sought this time could, in a sense, extend the human lifespan.

Increasing the number of times cells could divide was precisely the same as extending human lifespan.

Twenty seconds later, the memories in his mind told Hyuga Kazuya the answer.

With countless methods already appearing in his mind, Hyuga Kazuya had to begin choosing again.

This time, unlike with Vacuum Arrow, he did not intend to select only one. He wanted several.

Increasing cell division was equivalent to increasing one's lifespan. The more, the better.

Two seconds later, Hyuga Kazuya successfully found what he wanted. There were only two methods, but they were enough.

The first was a peculiar ninjutsu that absorbed natural energy—or natural life force—to replenish one's own vitality. However, it had a drawback: it could not be used continuously. After all, "someone else's" life force was ultimately not one's own.

If used for too long, no one knew what consequences it might bring.

The second was medicinal treatment—though it could not truly be called treatment, only mitigation. It could effectively alleviate the harm Lightning Style inflicted upon the body.

It was just that these medicines seemed to be available only in the Land of Lightning!

After spending another five seconds, Hyuga Kazuya mastered the technique he had just named the "Longevity Breathing Technique."

"Good. The recovery problem has been solved. Now, I should complete the Lightning Style Training Method!"

With that thought, he acted immediately. Hyuga Kazuya once again relied on his current state of enlightenment to conduct deductions.

Five seconds later, because the Lightning Style Training Method had an exact beginning and only needed its later portions deduced, it did not take much time.

"It's done! The Lightning Style Chakra Mode is complete too!"

In theory, Hyuga Kazuya should have been thrilled at this moment, but in his state of enlightenment, he was extremely rational and displayed no emotion whatsoever.

His face was even expressionless, as though everything had nothing to do with him.

He was merely a cold deduction machine.

The first question had taken twenty-one seconds, the second had taken thirty-two seconds, leaving seven seconds.