Instantaneous Cultivation

In the middle of the Nameless Forest,

Hyuga Yu coldly watched Ao of the Mist and his group, who had appeared before Hyuga Natsu seven kilometers away, along with Hyuga Genko, standing beside her.

He didn't draw his bow to shoot, nor did he recklessly approach.

Ao had suddenly appeared before Hyuga Natsu, who possessed the Byakugan, by using the same method as Kidomaru: moving around the Branch House Byakugan's one-degree blind spot to approach while staying out of sight.

The location of that one-degree blind spot wasn't difficult to learn. Anyone with even a little knowledge of the Hyuga Clan would know that most Branch House members' blind spots faced directly behind their heads.

The root cause of what had happened was—

As a member of the Main House, Hyuga Genko hadn't used his Byakugan's 360-degree field of vision at all. Even after the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist ambushed them, the chakra in his network was still completely full.

It was an amount of chakra greater than that of an ordinary Jonin. (About 7.1 units of spirit energy, or 1.5 cards.)

This once again proved that Hyuga Genko wasn't a qualified ninja.

He would rather risk being caught in a blind spot than use his own chakra to obtain information critical to his survival, choosing instead to drain the Branch House members' chakra first.

Throughout the entire incident, the only thing he cared about was his own life. Yet the more he cared about staying alive, the more his decisions pushed him toward the edge of a cliff.

Fortunately,

Seeing Hyuga Genko act this way made Hyuga Yu finally cast aside the burden in his heart.

At that moment,

Hyuga Yu stood still and hung his bow on a nearby tree branch. He bit his finger and pressed it against the "Medical" scroll he had taken out.

"Bang!"

Smoke billowed up and swirled away.

A thick notebook, stuffed with densely packed bookmarks, appeared on the "Medical" scroll.

This was an enormous notebook that a Genin of Hyuga Yu's rank shouldn't have been able to possess. It was also the true result of the seven years he had spent studying part-time at Konoha Hospital, ever since enrolling at the age of six.

It listed nearly fifty different Medical Ninjutsu, both great and small.

D-rank Chakra Heal, Dead Fish Revitalization Technique...

C-rank Epidermal Suturing, Bone Correction, Tracheal Intubation...

B-rank Delicate Illness Extraction Technique, Meridian Reconstruction Technique, Tendon Suturing, Organ Replacement...

A-rank Chaotic Body Charge, Chakra Scalpel.

One could say that this notebook contained almost half of Konoha's Medical Ninjutsu.

The notebook's descriptions of the D-, C-, and B-rank Medical Ninjutsu were incredibly detailed. They included not only the principles Hyuga Yu had carefully summarized, how to perform each technique, possible applications, and their healing effects, but also images such as CT scans and branching statistical charts to support his explanations.

These were the fruits of Hyuga Yu secretly copying techniques while using his Byakugan!

That's right.

The Byakugan could copy ninjutsu, too.

Compared with the Sharingan, the Byakugan offered a much clearer view of chakra, the network, and even the inside of the human body. In theory, secretly copying techniques with the Byakugan was entirely feasible.

The key limitation was that the Byakugan lacked the Sharingan's dynamic vision and bullet-time perception.

Ninjas generally released ninjutsu within seconds, including the time needed for Hand Seals. In such a short time, the Byakugan couldn't track and monitor the precise flow of chakra.

But there was one exception—

Medical Ninjutsu.

Medical Ninjutsu prioritized precision over speed. What's more, a single use typically lasted at least five minutes, if not tens of minutes. High-level techniques such as the A-rank Healing and Regeneration Technique required senior members of the Medical Team to take turns performing them, and operations lasting several hours were commonplace.

Under these circumstances, Hyuga Yu—born into the Hyuga Clan, exceptionally skilled at controlling chakra, and having spent seven years studying Medical Ninjutsu—could already be considered something of an expert.

However,

Hyuga Yu had only understood the principles behind most of the Medical Ninjutsu in this notebook. He still couldn't use them.

His chakra reserves remained the limiting factor.

Medical Ninjutsu required a great deal of chakra. Most techniques required at least four units of spirit energy to sustain the demands of an operation.

Back to the point,

This thick notebook contained two A-rank Medical Ninjutsu that Hyuga Yu had specifically copied: [Chaotic Body Charge] and [Chakra Scalpel].

Hyuga Yu flipped to the page describing how to activate the [Chakra Scalpel].

It was one of the three A-rank Medical Ninjutsu that senior members of the Medical Team had to master. It gathered chakra in the hand and shaped it into a blade, allowing the user to cut inside a target without leaving an external wound. The blade could also be extended at will. This Medical Ninjutsu could be used as a weapon, too, but only by someone with some medical knowledge.

To use it, one needed at least four units of spirit energy. To wield it skillfully in battle and achieve the sort of results Yakushi Kabuto did, one needed at least six units.

Hyuga Yu had only two units of spirit energy, and most of his chakra had already been spent in the battle just now.

Fortunately, the kikaichū Aburame Ryūma had given him temporarily provided another source of chakra!

That would allow Hyuga Yu to carry out some of the ideas that until now had existed only in his mind.

At that moment,

Hyuga Yu drew a large amount of chakra from the kikaichū in his abdomen. Following the instructions in the notebook, he released chakra through several acupuncture points in his hand and guided it along his network, gathering it in his palm.

Then,

A translucent, pale-blue blade appeared in his hand.

He had mastered the Chakra Scalpel in a single attempt!

But this was only the beginning!

Mastering a Chakra Scalpel he couldn't use in actual combat wouldn't allow Hyuga Yu to rapidly increase his strength. This technique was merely a prerequisite for the system he was building.

A fierce glint flashed in Hyuga Yu's eyes.

Without hesitation, he raised the hand wrapped in the pale-blue blade and thrust it toward his own forehead!

There were eight gates in the human body, corresponding to the eight points that restricted the body's chakra: the Eight Gates.

They were,

The Gate of Opening, the Gate of Rest, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Pain, the Gate of Closing, the Gate of Joy, the Gate of Shock, and the Gate of Death.

Taijutsu experts who had strengthened their bodies' adaptability through intensive training could open these gates one by one to gain strength beyond human limits. Those who opened all eight could even obtain power dozens of times greater than a Kage's.

Unfortunately, Hyuga Yu wasn't the sort of hardworking genius Might Guy would speak of in the future. His Taijutsu talent was so poor that even Might Duy, the eternal Genin, had shaken his head at it. So even after training under Might Duy for six years—and despite Might Duy teaching him the first three gates of the Eight Inner Gates without holding anything back—Hyuga Yu still couldn't open a single one.

But,

Every technique had a flaw.

And every technique could, in theory, be countered!

Hyuga Yu's face twisted into a grimace. He widened his Byakugan, the blood vessels bulging, and swung his hand!

The first stroke of the Chakra Scalpel—

Hyuga Yu slashed at the [Gate of Opening], located at the core of his brain!

He would cut through the chakra network in his brain that blocked him from opening the Gate of Opening, then use the Byakugan and chakra to perform the B-rank Medical Ninjutsu [Meridian Reconstruction Technique] inside his brain, creating a temporary passageway to connect to the Gate of Opening.

"First of the Eight Inner Gates—the Gate of Opening, open!"