Purple chakra suddenly burst from the chakra points all over Hyuga Qinglan's body. As it spun at high speed, it formed a hemispherical purple chakra barrier.
It deflected every venomous snake that had shot toward him from all directions, leaving no blind spot across the full three hundred and sixty degrees.
Bang!
With Hyuga Qinglan at its center, the ground abruptly caved in, leaving a crater five meters in radius. The little snakes scattered all around it, writhing briefly before going still.
"Rotation?!"
Orochimaru's pupils narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected the Branch Family boy before him to use the Main Branch's secret technique.
After all, in the Hyuga Clan, Branch Family members weren't allowed to learn the Main Branch's secret techniques. Even Orochimaru had heard as much.
And as a member of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family, without instruction passed down directly, even someone talented wouldn't grasp the technique's essence without sufficient insight.
In the original story, Hyuga Neji had also found inspiration by watching Hyuga Hinata spin.
But that alone would only have surprised Orochimaru a little. It wasn't something to fear.
Two things had truly astonished him.
The chakra used for Rotation was purple.
And... it covered all three hundred and sixty degrees.
"Your Byakugan has no blind spots...?"
Orochimaru stared at the somewhat dazed boy before him and voiced his question.
What surprised him even more was that Hyuga Qinglan was standing frozen in place just like him, as if he hadn't yet recovered from what had just happened.
"I..."
Hyuga Qinglan had just started to speak.
A clear, sweet voice from nearby interrupted them.
"Lord Orochimaru, Captain Qinglan, the dango's here!"
Anko came running over excitedly, a bag of snacks in her left hand and a neatly packaged box of three-colored dango in her right.
She glanced left. Her teacher, Orochimaru, was staring intently at Captain Qinglan.
Then she looked right. There was a crater around Captain Qinglan, with Orochimaru's snakes scattered all over the place.
Anko suddenly understood.
"Lord Orochimaru, I didn't think you'd test Captain Qinglan so soon!" She leaned over to Orochimaru, her eyes sparkling as she pressed him for an answer.
"So? So? Did Captain Qinglan pass?"
"Heh heh heh..."
Orochimaru let out a low laugh, gradually relaxing.
He reached out his right hand and patted Anko on the head. "It seems your former captain has plenty of secrets... Even I'm starting to take an interest."
His gaze shifted to Hyuga Qinglan. "Isn't that right, Lord Qinglan?"
"...Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Hyuga Qinglan brushed the dust from his robe and nodded slightly.
"I didn't expect it myself."
He walked over to Orochimaru and bowed respectfully. "Lord Orochimaru, in that case, I'll take my leave."
"There's still a lot to do at the clan compound. I doubt I'll finish even by three in the morning."
"Anko, I'm heading off."
"Ah..." Anko looked down at the snacks in her hands. "But I bought so many..."
"Kids are still growing, so it's fine to eat a little more." Hyuga Qinglan glanced at Orochimaru, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Isn't that right, Lord Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru didn't answer. He simply watched Hyuga Qinglan's retreating figure.
A moment later, the corners of his mouth curled into an inscrutable smile.
"Rotation."
A purple chakra barrier sprang up, stirring the air and deflecting every kunai flying in from all three hundred and sixty degrees.
"Purple again... and three hundred and sixty degrees again."
Hyuga Qinglan raised his trembling hands, his eyes fixed on the purple chakra still lingering in his palms.
That familiar feeling...
That familiar purple chakra.
Wasn't this the chakra he'd had on the moon in his previous life?!
Had it really come with him when he was reincarnated?!
"Does that mean that, apart from Rotation, I can recreate the other skills I learned in my previous life?"
He murmured to himself.
The Otsutsuki Clan on the moon, even if they weren't pure-blooded Otsutsuki, were direct descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura. Their inheritance and knowledge far surpassed anything the Hyuga Clan on Earth could offer.
He'd learned Rotation, the basic Eight Trigrams Palm, and other skills in his previous life.
But some techniques required Otsutsuki chakra, which was why he hadn't been able to learn them before.
For example, Vacuum Attack, adapted from Kaguya's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.
He'd tried it in this life, but his body hadn't been able to withstand it.
Hyuga Qinglan was thrilled, though he showed nothing on his face.
He looked around to make sure the training ground was empty, then formed an Earth Release hand seal and restored the ground to its original level.
As he walked through Konoha's streets, the evening breeze carried the hubbub of the izakayas and the aroma of grilled skewers. But Hyuga Qinglan's thoughts were elsewhere.
"Only chakra reincarnation can explain this..."
In the original story, Asura and Indra's chakra had continually reincarnated, perpetuating their brothers' feud.
Madara and Hashirama.
Naruto and Sasuke.
But Hyuga Qinglan's situation now... if he had to explain it, it was more like the Karma of the Otsutsuki Clan.
His soul had been compressed into data and implanted in another person's body, remaining there until it had fully thawed.
That was the only way to explain why he'd been reincarnated into the Hyuga Clan with his memories intact.
And he'd waited...
Or rather, he'd taken fifteen years to thaw before discovering the secret within him.
By that reckoning, wasn't he now a kind of Karma himself?
"Besides, the chakra has changed the one-degree blind spot in the Byakugan, restoring its range to a full three hundred and sixty degrees..."
"But the Caged Bird is still there."
Hyuga Qinglan touched his Forehead Protector, feeling for the Caged Bird mark beneath it.
"Still, I can feel the mark weakening..."
A faint smile tugged at Hyuga Qinglan's lips.
The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, combined with the Otsutsuki Clan's chakra...
Wouldn't that give him the Tenseigan?!
But Hyuga Qinglan quickly pushed the thought aside.
Even with his true cheat finally awakened, if the two powers could merge into the Tenseigan, its might and ocular power still wouldn't match the pure Tenseigan Otsutsuki Toneri possessed.
He might not even be able to use the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion.
If he wanted to be truly free of the cage, he would have to become a real Otsutsuki.
Not through chakra reincarnation.
He had to become an Otsutsuki from the very source.
"Brother Qinglan!"
Hyuga Qinglan looked up. A boy dressed in mourning clothes was waving at him from nearby.
Hyuga Tokuma.
One of his fellow guards.
"Tokuma."
Hyuga Qinglan smiled.
This time, they weren't just acquaintances who exchanged nods.
They were practically comrades in hardship, after all. They'd both suffered the Caged Bird together.
"Lady Yumi asked me to find you. She said we should take turns keeping watch over the memorial. She's going to work hard and avenge Elder Tianyun."
Hyuga Tokuma kept his voice low, afraid the people around them might hear. But Hyuga Qinglan could still hear the disdain in it.
"Let's go..."
Hyuga Qinglan didn't mind. He followed Hyuga Tokuma toward the clan compound, his gaze settling on the outline of the Hyuga estate in the distance.
Its lights had just come on, and smoke curled gently from its chimneys.
Work hard?
He silently repeated the words to himself, the smile fading from his lips.
It'll all be for nothing...
Before you continue