Byakugan: Pressure!

Early morning, at the place where Shuji and the others often gathered.

Shuji arrived early in the morning. The strange change in his Byakugan had completely robbed him of any desire to keep sleeping.

Curiosity clawed at Shuji's heart like a cat.

The veins at the corners of his eyes bulged, and everything within nearly two kilometers instantly appeared in Shuji's mind.

At first, Shuji's Byakugan could only see within a one-kilometer radius. But with his training in Steel Muscles and Iron Bones, along with his daily physical conditioning, the range he could now see had, rounding up, reached two kilometers.

If he concentrated Nen Energy into his Byakugan, the area it could cover could even reach three kilometers.

That directly doubled the range his Byakugan could originally cover.

However, Shuji rarely used the latter method, because once he concentrated Nen Energy into his Byakugan, his eyes would start shining with golden light.

It would be difficult to explain if ninjas from the same village saw it.

Before long, Shuji locked onto a fish happily swimming through the water.

The next moment, as though by instinct, Shuji released something through his Byakugan that even he himself did not know the nature of.

Perhaps because he had used too much force, a wave of exhaustion immediately swept over him after releasing it.

Did it consume mental energy?

At that moment, Shuji gained a faint realization.

Physical exhaustion felt distinctly different from this.

Looking down, Shuji saw that the fish he had locked onto earlier had already floated to the surface.

Pursing his lips, Shuji stepped forward and picked up the fish.

Dead?

He shook it hard, but there was no response.

Standing on the water, Shuji slowly crouched down. He extended his free hand and, using Superhuman Strength, lightly flicked the fish on the head.

"Smack!"

With a soft sound, Shuji stared thoughtfully at the fish in his hand. Even though faint cracks had appeared in its head, it still showed no reaction.

It was probably dead.

Shuji casually tossed the fish back into the water. He had no habit of eating fish so early in the morning.

The next moment, Shuji once again fixed his gaze on a fish swimming in the water.

This time, Shuji used Nen Energy. As it gathered in his Byakugan, his originally pure white eyes instantly blossomed with a pure golden radiance.

Lowering his head slowly, Shuji deliberately avoided looking at the fish. He merely used the Byakugan's ability to see through things to lock onto it.

"Bang!"

The next moment, as a large amount of mental energy was released, a mist of blood instantly burst from around the fish Shuji had locked onto.

"Whoa~"

An intense wave of exhaustion instantly flooded his mind. Shuji's footing slipped, and he nearly fell straight into the water.

He steadied himself in a fluster, then crouched on the water for quite a while before slowly rising to his feet.

Could this ability actually inflict tangible damage?

It just consumed too much, and required rather high mental energy.

And it could be activated even without making eye contact.

There were no warnings and no movements whatsoever.

If this suddenly struck in a taijutsu clash where one mistake could cost someone their life, who wouldn't be thrown off by it?

But why had his Byakugan undergone such a change?

Could it be because of Nen Energy?

Because of Nen Energy, his Byakugan had been enhanced, allowing him to gain the Pressure once used by Otsutsuki Kaguya.

Then if that was the case, as he became the Mad Tiger Emperor, the Nen Emperor, or even a Guiyuan Nen Master—

Could he also master Otsutsuki Kaguya's Byakugan: Genjutsu, which could see through others' thoughts; Otsutsuki Kinshiki's Byakugan: Etherealization; and Otsutsuki Momoshiki's ability to see through other people's fates?

An irrepressible smile spread across his lips as Shuji slowly touched his eyes.

This is really nice...

"Hyuga Shuji!"

At that moment, Nawaki's somewhat gritted voice rang out. Shuji froze, then looked toward the sound and saw Nawaki standing on the shore together with Hiashi.

"What is it?"

Blinking tiredly, Shuji walked toward the shore as he asked Nawaki.

But to Nawaki, Shuji's appearance only made him even angrier.

This bastard! He must have been secretly training behind our backs, right?!

He must have heard what that old man Sarutobi Hiruzen said last night and gotten anxious that Hiashi and I might catch up to him, right?!

"You actually trained by yourself in secret without calling us!"

Nawaki immediately complained to Shuji.

Huh? What did he mean, secretly training?

Shuji froze. Just as he was about to say something while looking at Nawaki, who seemed furious enough for his hair to stand on end, Hiashi spoke from the side. He had his hands behind his back and looked calm and composed, but his words were dripping with sarcasm.

"Nawaki, that's where you're wrong. How can you say Shuji was secretly training? Does Shuji not even have the right to train whenever he wants?

What you said is wrong. And if I were Shuji, I wouldn't call you when I trained either. Otherwise, if you really caught up to me one day, I'd feel like committing seppuku."

"Hey..."

Shuji opened his mouth at that, but as he looked at Hyuga Hiashi, he could not say a single word for quite some time.

"Everyone came so early today. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

At that moment, Mikoto's voice suddenly rang out.

Nawaki and Hiashi immediately turned toward Mikoto and said almost in unison.

"No, how could we have come earlier than Shuji?"

"Huh? Has Shuji been here for a long time already?"

Mikoto froze and looked toward Hyuga Shuji.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night, so I came out to train for a while."

Shuji nodded as he spoke to Mikoto.

He really had not slept well.

And he really did not want Nawaki and the others to see his training.

Those two things did not conflict.

"Then come have some snacks first."

Mikoto immediately smiled and showed Shuji the large bag of snacks in her hand.

"Then thank you very much."

Shuji nodded and walked toward Mikoto.

Looks like I should prepare some snacks tomorrow too. How could I let Mikoto be the only one always preparing these things?

"Aren't Nawaki and Hiashi coming too?"

Mikoto nodded, then looked toward Nawaki and Hiashi nearby.

There was naturally no problem with bringing snacks just for Shuji, but if this continued for too long, not only might Shuji find it strange, Nawaki and Hiashi would likely notice something was off as well.

And it was not yet time to make it public, so Mikoto had prepared snacks for everyone.

Not just Hiashi and Nawaki—even Hinagiku and Hizashi would get some.