Pot Kage's Gift

"Kakashi, when do you think the war will end?"

The green, bowl-cut boy was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, like a giant white mummy. He was doing one-handed handstand push-ups.

His thick eyebrows bobbed up and down as he asked his close friend, who lay weak in bed after overusing his Sharingan.

Hatake Kakashi didn't answer. He simply stared at the snow-white ceiling, his eyes full of exhaustion.

"I think it'll be over soon, since Lord Hokage has gone to the front lines!"

Kai panted heavily, his voice filled with excitement.

"Ever since Lord Third arrived at the front a few days ago, those arrogant Iwagakure guys have been completely suppressed!"

"That's the authority of the 'Professor of Ninjutsu'! That's the kind of youth we have to follow!"

"..."

Hatake Kakashi ran a hand over the long scar across his left eye, feeling the sharp pangs from the eyeball that wasn't his.

Obito... Thank you for your eye.

He murmured silently to himself.

The situation at the front wasn't as simple as Kai made it sound.

Supplies had been burned, equipment had been stolen, and even small squads on secret marches had been ambushed.

Minato-sensei and Lord Jiraiya had privately suspected more than once that there was a spy among the front-line leadership.

But no matter how thoroughly the Anbu investigated, the leak had vanished like a stone sinking beneath the water.

Obito...

If it were you, you'd surely use these eyes to find that spy faster than I could, wouldn't you?

The exhaustion from pushing his Sharingan too far left Kakashi barely able to get up.

He pulled himself from his thoughts, his gaze inadvertently sweeping toward the other side of the ward.

There, another boy sat quietly, thick medical bandages wrapped around his eyes as he stared at the sunlight coming through the window.

Hyuga Qinglan.

He'd heard that a few days ago, this Branch Family prodigy had injured both eyes by "overexerting his ocular power" to protect the Main Branch.

"Kakashi?"

Hyuga Qinglan suddenly spoke, his voice unusually calm.

Although his eyes were covered, he seemed able to pinpoint Kakashi's gaze with precision.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"It's nothing..."

Kakashi looked away, his voice cool, with a hint of curiosity.

"I was just wondering how strong that guy who broke into the Hyuga Clan Compound was..."

"Strong enough to push even the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan to the point of exhaustion."

"Heh... We're about even, aren't we? You're in the same boat."

Hyuga Qinglan smiled faintly, unbothered by the probing.

He casually told the two wounded men, who had just returned from the front lines, the rumors circulating around the village these past few days about how the Third Hokage had "driven off" the mysterious intruder.

"So that's what happened! Lord Hokage fought a fierce battle in the village too?"

Might Guy sprang to his feet, eyes shining, and threw a powerful punch at the air.

"No wonder morale in the village was so high when Lord Third left for the battlefield!"

"Looks like I can't slack off either! Today's goal is a thousand push-ups, a thousand squats, and a thousand laps around Konoha Hospital!"

"This is the youth of rehabilitation training!"

Hyuga Qinglan smiled faintly, seemingly caught up in Might Guy's enthusiasm.

But in that very moment, he suddenly paused.

Danzo wants to see me...

Hyuga Qinglan's body stiffened slightly. Though it lasted only an instant, the subtle change didn't escape Kakashi, who had been watching him closely.

"Where are you going?"

Kakashi asked, watching the boy get out of bed and move around as if nothing were wrong.

"Me?"

Hyuga Qinglan walked to the door, graceful and composed.

"I'm going to get discharged. My Byakugan can't handle intense combat yet, but the rest of me has mostly recovered."

"At a time like this... I'm not interested in lying in bed and passing the days listening to reports from the front."

With that, Hyuga Qinglan opened the door and left. His departing figure looked just like a soldier worried about the news from the front.

"..."

Kakashi stared at the closed door in silence for three seconds.

Then he tore off his monitoring equipment and stood up, to Kai's astonishment.

"Kakashi, where are you going?"

"I'm getting discharged too."

"Wait for me, Kakashi! I'm coming too!"

He walked along the streets of Konoha.

The once-bustling streets were now so quiet they were chilling.

Most of the general stores were shuttered, and the children who used to play everywhere had been locked indoors by their frightened parents.

The clouds of war had completely engulfed this village in the forest.

Hyuga Qinglan walked at an unhurried pace, casually pulling the bandages from his eyes.

He opened his eyes. In the glow of the setting sun, his flawless white Byakugan seemed to shimmer with a profound light like the starry sea.

"The Main Branch's Byakugan really is purer..."

He silently felt the warmth pulsing in his eye sockets.

Just as he remembered, the transformation from a pure Byakugan to a Tenseigan required a process of "awakening."

During his few days in the hospital, he'd felt his Otsutsuki chakra resonating wildly with these pure Byakugan.

Although the awakening wasn't as intense as Otsutsuki Toneri's, it was still enough to bring about a dramatic change in his abilities.

His Tenseigan now was different from the one he had activated before...

Because...

Purple chakra gathered in his eyes.

Then, deep within those flawless white pupils, the white began to recede like the tide.

A crystalline, translucent blue gradually spread across them.

At last, the starry patterns like feathers took shape in rings around his pupils.

"I didn't expect I could switch between them so freely..."

Hyuga Qinglan looked around the secluded, empty training ground, sensing the surge in his ocular power.

As far as he knew, only the Otsutsuki Clan truly stood at the pinnacle, able to control the Rinnegan so perfectly and switch between it and their own bloodline.

Otsutsuki Urashiki, for example.

He could freely switch between the Rinnegan and his own Byakugan.

He didn't know whether the Tenseigan truly originated with the Otsutsuki Clan or with Otsutsuki Hamura.

But in the end, the Tenseigan's power was fully comparable to the Rinnegan's.

To reach the level of a true Otsutsuki, or even surpass them...

He would still need the boost from the "Giant Tenseigan" on the moon.

Hyuga Qinglan looked up at the sky. On the pale moon, nearly washed out by the sunlight, a faint call seemed to resonate with him.

But for now...

Pot Kage's gift was the biggest prize he'd gotten so far.

Hyuga Qinglan's gaze shifted toward Mukai Hyuga, who had just arrived with the Body Flicker Technique.

Danzo, Danzo...

I really don't know what to praise you for.