Chapter Summaries

Neji trained his Byakugan and swordsmanship while worrying that the Hyuga clan would soon place the Caged Bird Seal on him. He rescued the lost Hinata from three bullies, but his dutiful words left her sensing a barrier between them.

• Neji practiced Eight Trigrams: Twelve Slashes and considered how to escape the Caged Bird Seal before Hinata's third birthday.
• Neji returned toward the Hyuga compound while villagers praised his reputation as a prodigy.
• Hinata wandered lost outside the compound and was surrounded by three boys who mocked her Byakugan.
• Neji struck the three boys and helped Hinata to her feet.
• Neji told Hinata she should be proud of her clan's Byakugan, and Hinata sensed a sad, solid barrier between them.

Neji learned that the Hyuga Main Family would brand him with the Caged Bird Seal on Hinata’s birthday and decided to let the arriving Kumogakure delegation take him instead. As the delegation toured Konoha, a child collided with Samui and dropped Three-color Dango at her feet.

• Hinata asked Neji to play with her again, and he promised to come whenever she called.
• Hyuga Hiashi learned that Hyuga Gensuke would not change the Main and Branch Family system and accepted that Neji would be branded on Hinata’s birthday.
• Neji recognized the arriving Kumogakure delegation from the future abduction attempt and decided to make himself their target instead of Hinata.
• Samui and her purple-haired companion toured Konoha, where a child ran into her and dropped Three-color Dango.

Neji used his meeting with Samui to reveal his Byakugan abilities and ambitions while probing Kumogakure’s interest in him. Toroi received a detailed map of the Hyuga compound from a resentful Branch Family informant, and Neji finally sensed the kidnappers arriving and was put to sleep.

• Neji clung to Samui after she knocked him down, and she took him to a dango shop, where he explained his early Byakugan awakening and claimed he would become Hokage.
• Samui questioned Neji about the differences between the Main Family and Branch Family Byakugan, but he concealed the Caged Bird Seal’s effects.
• Toroi met a mysterious informant in the Kumogakure delegation’s courtyard and received a detailed map of the Hyuga compound.
• The informant said they were a ghost who had not quite died and wanted to destroy their clan, then explained that the Caged Bird Seal was what distinguished the two families.
• Seven days after contacting Samui, Neji sensed two intruders enter his courtyard, pretended to sleep, and was overcome by the Temple of Nirvana Technique.

Troy stole Hinata from the Hyuga estate to provoke Hiashi into killing him and create a political crisis, while Samui fled with Neji. After Hiashi killed Troy, Neji awoke at the Land of Fire’s northern border and discovered survivors nearby.

• Troy told Samui to take Neji and leave the village while he went to steal Hinata.
• Troy put Hinata to sleep and carried her from the estate, but Hyuga Hiashi confronted him.
• Troy threw Hinata to Hiashi and attacked with shuriken, but Hiashi struck him down with Gentle Fist.
• Hiashi found a hidden transparent shuriken and recognized the dead thief as Troy.
• Neji awoke in a coastal grove among corpses and used his Byakugan to detect two faint chakra signatures.

Neji killed the wounded Anbu squad leader and escaped with Samui to Kumogakure. Konoha faced Kumogakure’s demand to hand over Hyuga Hiashi or risk war, while Hiruzen Sarutobi considered how to respond.

• Neji attacked and killed the Anbu squad leader, then convinced Samui they were on the same side.
• Samui took Neji away on a Sea Turtle toward the Land of Lightning.
• Kumogakure denied abducting Hinata and demanded Hyuga Hiashi’s body, accusing Konoha of killing Toroi.
• Rumors in Konoha blamed the Hyuga clan for risking war, leaving Hyuga Hiashi troubled.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told the meeting that Toroi’s death had left little room to negotiate, while Shimura Danzo urged him to fight Kumogakure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi chose to avoid war with Kumogakure, effectively agreeing to sacrifice Hyuga Hiashi while claiming the village would negotiate. Kakashi questioned the decision and the Will of Fire, then asked to look after Naruto, whom Hiruzen reminded him was first the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi said Konoha could not afford another war and proposed setting aside Hyuga Hiashi's fate while negotiating with Kumogakure.
• Hyuga Hiashi overturned the table and walked out, while Shimura Danzō condemned Hiruzen Sarutobi for betraying a comrade.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Kakashi that sacrificing one person could save thousands, but Kakashi said he could not allow a loved teacher or comrade to be sacrificed.
• Kakashi asked Hiruzen Sarutobi what had become of the Will of Fire, but Hiruzen avoided answering and gave him a month off.
• Kakashi asked to look after Naruto, and Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed while stressing that Naruto was first the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and Minato's son second.

Yozuki A and Dodai debated whether Hyuga Hizashi's last words were genuine and how Kumogakure should treat Neji. Yozuki A rejected using Neji as a breeding stud and summoned him for a meeting, while Neji planned to persuade the Raikage that he was worth more.

• Yozuki A and Dodai suspected that Hyuga Hizashi's last words had been fabricated to benefit the Hyuga clan and Konoha.
• Dodai suggested raising Neji as a breeding stud to spread the Byakugan bloodline, but Yozuki A refused and decided to meet the boy first.
• An Anbu shinobi told Samui that the Raikage wanted to see Neji, and she took him to the Raikage Building.
• Samui reassured Neji that Yozuki A would make proper arrangements for him and promised to look after him.
• Neji worried that Kumogakure might use him for his bloodline and planned to present Yozuki A with a grand vision to gain better treatment.

Neji faced the Fourth Raikage and Dodai after defecting to Kumogakure, claiming he could help the village prosper within ten years by awakening the Tenseigan. Yozuki A accepted his gamble and welcomed him into Kumogakure with access to its highest-level resources and secret techniques.

• Neji entered the Raikage's Office and respectfully greeted Yozuki A and Dodai.
• Dodai threatened Neji with being kept as a stud, but Neji remained calm and promised to make Kumogakure great within ten years.
• Neji claimed the Byakugan could evolve into the Tenseigan, a power beyond the Mangekyō Sharingan, and said Hyuga Tenin had awakened it in the past.
• Dodai challenged Neji to provide proof, and Neji admitted he had none but urged Yozuki A to take the risk.
• Yozuki A accepted Neji into Kumogakure and granted him access to the village's training resources and secret techniques without strings attached.

Yozuki A welcomed Neji into Kumogakure with exceptional privileges, convinced he had extraordinary potential, while Neji rejected Hizashi’s final words and vowed to avenge him. Yozuki A then told Dodai how the ancient Hyuga Tenin vanished through a mysterious space-time passage, leaving the truth of Tenin’s fate unresolved.

• Yozuki A granted Neji unrestricted access to Kumogakure’s resources and secret techniques, and Neji accepted his new home.
• Neji tore up Hizashi’s final words and swore to collect the debts Hyuga and Konoha owed his father.
• Yozuki A entrusted Neji to Samui’s care and told Dodai that Neji could reach a power beyond the level of a Kage.
• Yozuki A explained that his clan’s feud with the Hyuga began when Yozuki Yunjian challenged Hyuga Tenin and was decisively defeated.
• Yozuki A recounted how Yozuki Yunjian later followed Hyuga Tenin, saw him disappear through a mysterious space-time passage carrying a gigantic eye, and heard days later that Tenin had died.

Yozuki A accepted Neji’s account of the Tenseigan and brought him into Kumogakure’s leadership, while Neji planned how to grow stronger there. The next morning, Samui began training him with a punishing schedule that left Neji questioning how he would advance.

• Yozuki A connected Neji’s claims about the Tenseigan to the Yozuki clan’s secret history and decided Kumogakure should take a chance on him.
• Dodai warned Yozuki A that Neji might resent Kumogakure for Hizashi Hyuga’s death, but Yozuki A said he would trust Neji even with his life.
• Neji considered Kumogakure’s Lightning Release Chakra Mode and concluded that he would have to develop his Byakugan and seek the Tenseigan.
• Samui woke Neji before dawn and told him that Yozuki A had appointed her as his first teacher.
• Samui ordered Neji to follow an intense daily training schedule, and Neji wondered how basic training alone would make him stronger.

Neji trained under Samui and received the Yozuki clan’s costly medicinal treatment, which helped him awaken Lightning Release Chakra and made him feel that he belonged in Kumogakure. After six months, his Byakugan advanced to Lv2, revealing that its ocular power could grow without limit.

• Neji agreed to complete Samui’s training and spent the day running, refining chakra, and using the Byakugan.
• Samui put Neji in a hot medicinal bath and explained that the Yozuki clan remedy could strengthen his body and help him develop Lightning Release Chakra.
• Neji realized Yozuki A was treating him like family, and he asked Samui to intensify his training.
• After six months of training and baths, Neji awakened Lightning Release Chakra and advanced his Byakugan to Lv2.
• Neji read that his Byakugan’s ocular power had no limit and considered whether he could evolve it into the Tenseigan.

After reviewing Neji’s abilities, Yozuki A arranged for him to train in Lightning Release Chakra Mode under Shoichi. Neji used the Byakugan to explain why he could overcome the technique’s usual requirements and began controlling Lightning Release Chakra on his first attempt.

• Samui submitted her assessment of Neji to Yozuki A, who decided to begin his Lightning Release Chakra Mode training.
• Mabui brought Neji to Tianyun Mountain, where he met Shoichi, his instructor.
• Shoichi explained the history and difficulty of Lightning Release Chakra Mode and said it normally required enormous chakra reserves.
• Neji argued that the Byakugan let him see and release chakra through his body’s points, making him suited to the technique.
• Shoichi guided Neji through channeling Lightning Release Chakra, and Neji formed a crackling ball of lightning in his palm on his first try.

Hyuga Neji mastered Lightning Release Chakra Mode and developed the A-rank God Vacuum Attack while training in Kumogakure. Yozuki A witnessed his strength, learned the technique’s name, and realized Neji had awakened the legendary Tenseigan.

• Shoichi told Yozuki A that Neji had mastered Lightning Release Chakra Mode and was already as strong as an ordinary Special Jonin.
• Neji used Lightning Release Chakra Mode to dodge a barrage of kunai and pulverized a Fūma Shuriken with his new God Vacuum Attack.
• Neji checked his training panel and reflected on how God Vacuum Attack combined the power and precision of Steel Fist and Gentle Fist.
• Yozuki A arrived at the training ground and asked Neji about the unfamiliar technique.
• Neji identified God Vacuum Attack as an A-rank Nintaijutsu and confirmed Yozuki A’s suspicion that his eyes were the Tenseigan.

As Neji’s graduation approached, Yozuki A planned to send him on a mission and considered how Kumogakure could secure the Byakugan bloodline. Yozuki Fengmu proposed arranging a match with a Yozuki woman, but Yozuki A said Neji looked down on the clan’s women.

• Neji awakened the Tenseigan while retaining the ability to switch back to his Byakugan.
• Yozuki A told Neji that he would graduate from the Ninja Academy next month and begin his debut as a ninja.
• Yozuki Fengmu questioned whether Neji should be sent into danger at age six and asked who would lead his team.
• Yozuki A said he would recruit Darui into his Kage Guard rather than assign him to Neji’s team.
• Yozuki Fengmu proposed arranging for Neji to pass on the Byakugan bloodline by marrying a suitable woman from the Yozuki clan.
• Yozuki A refused, saying Neji looked down on the women in the Yozuki clan, and Yozuki Fengmu angrily shattered the table.

Yugito began leading Neji as a new team after he received his forehead protector, and the two introduced themselves in an awkward first meeting. After a month of D-Rank missions, they chose a C-Rank escort mission to the Land of Grass.

• Yozuki A gave Neji his forehead protector and sent him to meet his Jonin instructor on the rooftop.
• Yugito met Neji and introduced herself as the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, sharing her abilities, likes, dislikes, and dream.
• Neji described his ambitions to destroy the rotten Hyuga clan, establish a new Hyuga clan in Kumogakure, and help Kumogakure dominate the Shinobi World.
• Yugito asked Neji about his XP, and she tapped him on the head after he began listing his preferences.
• Yugito and Neji spent their first month taking D-Rank missions before choosing a C-Rank escort mission to the Land of Grass.

Neji chose a grain-escort mission to the Land of Grass, eager to leave Kumogakure and see the world beyond the village. After preparing for the trip, he left with Yugito and discovered that the client had brought two unlisted relatives along.

• Neji explained why he had chosen the escort mission, and Yugito praised his reasoning before arranging his exit permit.
• Neji packed supplies for the month-long trip, made dinner while Samui was away, and waited for her before leaving in the morning.
• Neji met Yugito at the village gate, put on goggles to conceal his Byakugan, and showed the guards his exit permit and mission credentials.
• Yugito questioned Takayama Tokugawa about the woman and boy accompanying him, and agreed to their inclusion after he offered an extra 10,000 ryo.
• Yugito began inspecting the convoy and taught Neji to memorize its people to guard against enemies using the Transformation Technique.

Neji studied the Third Raikage’s notes and began trying to combine Lightning Release with Yang Release to develop Black Lightning while the convoy traveled toward the Land of Grass. As the group camped for the night, Yugito warned him about the dangers in the smaller countries ahead and shared a story about the moon.

• Yugito assigned Neji to guard the convoy’s front while her Shadow Clone watched the middle and she covered the rear.
• Neji read the Third Raikage’s training notes and realized Black Lightning involved a trace of Yang Release power.
• Neji began experimenting with fusing Lightning Release and Yang Release, and his attempts steadily increased his insights.
• The convoy camped for the night, and Neji continued practicing Black Lightning beside the campfire.
• Yugito warned Neji that the Land of Iron, the Land of Frost, and the Land of the Waterfall were chaotic, then teased him with a tale that people had created the moon.

Neji mastered Black Lightning and escorted the food convoy through increasingly dangerous lands. In the Land of Frost, he ambushed a group of enemy ninjas attacking a wagon and killed one of them instantly.

• Neji mastered Black Lightning after training alone in the grove, and Yugito congratulated him on his progress.
• The convoy left the Land of Lightning and suffered repeated attacks by bandits while crossing the Land of Iron.
• An Iwagakure rogue ninja agreed to attack the convoy for a client after learning it was escorted by a two-man Kumogakure squad.
• After two peaceful days in the Land of Frost, Neji stopped the convoy and prepared for an ambush.
• Explosive Tags and hundreds of hardened bandits attacked the convoy, while Neji rushed to defend the wagon carrying a young woman and a boy.
• Neji killed one of the disguised Chunin with Black Lightning, shocking the Iwagakure rogue ninja.

Neji and Yugito discovered that the grain convoy’s real escort target was Miyuki and her son, whom Takayama Tokugawa was secretly bringing back to Kusagakure. After the attack, Takayama confessed their relationship and explained why he had hidden their identities.

• Neji used the Iwagakure rogue ninja’s momentum to kill two Genin and struck down a Chunin with God Vacuum Attack.
• The Iwagakure rogue ninja used Earth Flow River to escape, and Neji sent a Lightning Release Clone after him.
• Yugito joined Neji after defeating her opponent, and the convoy’s guards wiped out the remaining bandits.
• Neji and Yugito questioned Takayama Tokugawa after realizing the attackers had targeted Miyuki and the boy rather than the food.
• Miyuki apologized, and Takayama revealed that she was his lover and the boy was his younger son, whom he was secretly escorting back to Kusagakure.

After the caravan survived an attack by rogue ninja, Neji and Yugito continued the escort mission after Takayama Tokugawa agreed to pay an additional fee. Neji uncovered the traitors and revealed that Masaharu Tokugawa had hired the attackers, leaving Takayama facing the cost of the conspiracy.

• Takayama Tokugawa explained that rivals in his family had wanted his youngest son dead, and Yugito offered to end the mission or continue for another two hundred thousand ryo.
• Takayama agreed to the extra fee, and Neji postponed the journey until noon the next day so the exhausted caravan could rest.
• Neji and Takayama caught a caravan member trying to send a message by carrier pigeon, and Neji identified him as a traitor connected to the attack.
• Neji produced the body of another conspirator and asked Takayama whether the man's life was worth another two hundred thousand ryo.
• Earlier, Masaharu Tokugawa waited for the Iwagakure rogue ninja, then was stabbed by the squad leader after the attack failed.
• Neji's Lightning Release Clone killed the Iwagakure rogue ninja with Chidori Blade and cut his throat.