What Are You Hesitating About?

But the resurrection techniques in the Shinobi World were basically all life-for-life, with no universal application.

But the Fission Technique was different...

It had its requirements, but anyone could learn it. And once mastered, it could double the number of Byakugan!

It would be an enormous help to his research into the Tenseigan.

There were around seven hundred Hyuga Branch Family ninja and thirty members of the Hyuga Main Family.

It might have seemed like a lot, but there actually weren't that many Byakugan. The Byakugan required certain conditions to awaken. Perhaps those conditions weren't as strict as the Sharingan's, but one still needed to train and practice constantly to have any chance of awakening it.

On top of that, two Shinobi World Wars had broken out less than ten years apart. Many Branch Family ninja with awakened Byakugan had died, leaving the Hyuga with only around four hundred pairs of Byakugan.

That was different from the Otsutsuki on the moon. They were born with the Byakugan and didn't need to train to awaken it.

So if the number of Branch Family members among the Otsutsuki on the moon had once been about the same as the Hyuga...

Then Hyuga Hane might have only one chance to evolve the Tenseigan!

The number needed for quantity to bring about a qualitative change was hard to control. The number of Byakugan needed to evolve the Tenseigan was unknown, and it was also unknown whether Byakugan from a single person needed only their ocular power to evolve to that stage.

To leave room for a second attempt, increasing their stock of Byakugan was essential!

The safest method might even be to first create the Giant Tenseigan, a proven success, then go straight to the moon and capture Otsutsuki Toneri for research.

After all, that man's Tenseigan had evolved from just one Hyuga Byakugan. It was far too unusual.

As he thought, Hyuga Hane looked at Tsunade. From the beginning of their research until now, had they really only developed the Fission Technique for humans to use?

With Katsuyu the Slug Sage helping with everything she had, there was no way this was all they had to show for it...

And when he looked, he noticed the complicated expression on Tsunade's face, a look in her eyes that might have been pity or sorrow.

"Your ancestors left absolutely no way to undo the Caged Bird."

"That thing is connected to the nerves around your eyes and in your brain, and it uses your own Chakra to restrain you. Unless you sever every neural connection at once and stop the Chakra from flowing, trying to undo it with Medical Ninjutsu will only kill you."

"Your ancestors left you no way out from the very beginning. They gave you only one path—a dead end!"

"But they probably never imagined that, over the centuries, the Shinobi World would develop so many strange techniques and forbidden jutsu that one of them would happen to solve the problem."

If they were willing to accept it, Second Grandpa's Impure World Reincarnation could work, too.

As she let her mind wander, Tsunade suddenly gave a scornful laugh.

"Does it feel hopeless? Are you resentful toward your ancestors and the Caged Bird? Fission isn't something just anyone can learn."

The Second Tsuchikage had classified it as an A-rank jutsu, but no one in Iwagakure had managed to learn it since.

Even with Katsuyu's cells, the medicine she'd made couldn't guarantee a successful outcome...

"No."

Hyuga Hane's calm voice interrupted Tsunade's thoughts. "Thank you for explaining, Lady Tsunade. But the reason you're willing to tell me is essentially because I have the Caged Bird, isn't it? Besides, the Caged Bird really did help me on the battlefield."

Without the Caged Bird, he would have faced the Main Family's treatment on the battlefield all the same. And the Caged Bird had also been the precondition for his deal with Orochimaru.

Every gain came with a loss, and every loss with a gain. Just as he'd told Jiuxin, he didn't hate the Caged Bird. Compared with all its downsides, the jutsu had brought him more benefits in the early stages.

Tsunade paused, then gave him an unhappy look. "Kids these days aren't cute at all."

It was true. Besides the Fourth Hokage's trust in Hane, the most important reason she'd been willing to tell him was the Caged Bird.

After winning her bet with Hiashi, Tsunade had wondered whether the Hyuga Main Family was up to something behind the scenes. She'd just finished developing the Fission Technique and the medicine, and the Hyuga Main Family surely wouldn't want something like that to exist.

As for the Branch Family... She could activate the Caged Bird, so she wasn't worried they could cause trouble.

After all, she was the only one who knew the Fission Technique. She hadn't even taught it to the old man, and the Branch Family ninja had no way to get it from her. Why should she be worried?

"You've ruined the mood. I don't even feel like betting anymore. Just one round, then you can go."

Without waiting for Hane to agree, Tsunade shook the dice. Her hand blurred through the air before she slammed the dice cup down on the table.

"Big or small?"

Hane narrowed his eyes and watched in silence for a moment before softly giving his answer:

"Big!"

Tsunade left with mixed feelings.

She'd kept losing all day. She didn't know whether she should be happy about it.

Nothing bad had happened, so she should be happy, right?

Forget it. She'd stop gambling for a while.

Did anything happening in Konoha have anything to do with her?

If she really had to worry, she thought she should worry about Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and the others on the front lines. The forces Mist Village had deployed in the intelligence reports the Third had shown her were downright terrifying.

How had she never realized that this isolated village across the sea had war potential that rivaled Konoha's? She hoped Orochimaru and the others were all right.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Hane stayed seated in the tavern until the proprietor asked him to leave. Only then did he get up and stroll away.

"Those eyes are so weird. She looks like a monster."

"A Byakugan monster?"

"She looks out of it. She's just sitting there staring at nothing. She must be blind. I saw her at the hospital—her eyes are already blind, so she can't see."

In the park, three children pointed at a young Hyuga girl and whispered about all sorts of mischief they could try.

"I saw her brother before. He's a huge Byakugan monster. Can he not see, either?"

"Probably not."

"Then if we do something to her, her brother won't find out, right? Like sprinkling sand in her eyes?"

"That's kind of mean..."

The boy who'd called it mean had already scooped up a handful of sand from the playground. He eyed the girl eagerly.

"You really want to try it, don't you? A little sand in a blind person's eyes shouldn't matter. They're already blind anyway."

"Didn't our Ninja Academy teacher tell us to learn about the human body's weak points? This is a great chance."

The boy in the lead walked up to the girl. As she came to her senses and looked up at him, he shoved her to the ground.

Huh?

"What are you doing?"

The girl sat on the ground, staring at them in alarm. She was only waiting here for her brother. She hadn't done anything to make them dislike her.

"Can't you see?" The other two looked at their companion, who'd been pretending to know what he was talking about. Annoyed by his expression, they turned away. "Can you see with only the whites of your eyes?"

"I don't know. The teacher doesn't explain that stuff in class. We could investigate. Then we'd have some experience if we ever ran into an enemy."

"Hmph. There's nobody around anyway. Just throw some sand in her eyes and see if she can see."

The boy, annoyed that his friends had questioned his intelligence, looked at the helpless girl on the ground and grinned maliciously.

He slowly brought the hand holding the sand closer to her eyes. Chakra gathered instinctively in the girl's palm, but she quickly stopped.

If she hurt them and caused trouble outside, the Main Family elders would punish her brother...

At the thought, she stared at the hand only inches from her face and closed her eyes in fear.

"Hahaha, what good does closing your eyes do?"

As the boy spoke, he reached for her eyelids to pry them open. Then he suddenly noticed a shadow fall over him, as if the sky had gone dark.

His two companions had already fallen to the ground in fright.

"A J-Jonin..."

The boy turned and saw Hyuga Hane in his Jonin vest, especially those eyes, identical to the girl's. His legs went weak.

Could this be her brother?

By then, his two friends had scrambled to their feet and run home in a panic, leaving him behind.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just... I just..."

He stammered, but couldn't manage to finish a sentence.

Hane only glanced at him before looking toward the young Hyuga girl, who'd opened her eyes and was gazing at him in delight.

"Big Brother Hane!"

Hane nodded, his voice calm. "From now on, stay with your brother. Don't go out alone."

"Okay... Thank you, Big Brother Hane."

The girl looked fearfully at the boy, who had lowered his head in apology.

Maybe she should go out less from now on. Her brother had always told her that their eyes were different from ordinary villagers', and that some children thought they were "monsters."

So it was true...

When the boy saw that Hane wasn't reacting, he cautiously took a step forward. When Hane still didn't move, he ran off into the distance, overjoyed.

But someone appeared in front of him.

Pale eyes, a Forehead Protector, and a face much like the girl's.

Was this her brother?

The boy's face turned deathly pale. Remembering what he'd done, his vision went dark and he fainted on the spot.

Without even looking at the boy, Hyuga Yuki stepped forward and took the girl's hand. He said to Hane earnestly:

"Thank you, Hane-senpai."

Hane ignored his thanks and walked straight past Yuki. A quiet remark fell into the other man's heart.

"How much longer are you going to hesitate? Konoha doesn't welcome us."

The Uchiha were treated like wolves and tigers by the villagers because of their cold demeanor and the Military Police Force. They weren't welcome.

Was the Hyuga Branch Family any better off?

How could the cold, expressionless Hyuga Branch Family get along with the villagers?

And because of the Main Family's methods of punishment in the past, some Hyuga children had grown accustomed to accepting whatever happened to them.

Being bullied... was only natural.

The Hyuga Branch Family hadn't become part of Konoha.

And Konoha hadn't tried to accept them.

So what was he hesitating about?

His empty hand clenched involuntarily. Hyuga Yuki raised his head and watched the setting sun, his expression conflicted.