What Are You Hesitating About?

However, the resurrection ninjutsu of the Shinobi World are fundamentally life-for-life exchanges, lacking any universal applicability.

But this Fission Technique is different...

It has a threshold, yet it can be learned by anyone, and if operated correctly, the number of Byakugan can be doubled!

For his research into the Tenseigan, this is an immense help.

There are about seven hundred ninjas in the Branch Family and thirty in the Main Family.

While the number seems high, there aren't actually that many Byakugan, because there are specific conditions for awakening them; perhaps not as harsh as the Sharingan, but they require constant training and cultivation to potentially manifest.

Coupled with two Shinobi World Wars in less than a decade, many Branch Family ninjas who had awakened their eyes have died, leaving the Hyuga with only about four hundred pairs of Byakugan remaining.

This is different from the Otsutsuki on the moon, who possess Byakugan from birth and require no training.

So, if the number of Branch Family members who went to the moon is similar to the Hyuga...

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

The quantity required for a qualitative change is difficult to control, and the number of Byakugan needed to evolve the Tenseigan is unknown. Whether an individual Byakugan can evolve to that stage using only its own ocular power is also unknown.

To ensure there is room for error, increasing the stockpile of Byakugan is a must!

The most stable method would even be to first replicate the successful case of creating a Giant Tenseigan, then go directly to the moon to capture Otsutsuki Toneri for study.

After all, that individual only needed a pair of Hyuga Byakugan to evolve the Tenseigan; he is far too unique.

Thinking this, Hyuga Hane looked at Tsunade. From the start of their research until now, had they only managed to produce a Fission Technique that humans could use?

With the Slug Sage assisting with all its might, it was impossible for the results to be so meager...

As he looked, Hyuga Hane noticed Tsunade's expression was complex, her eyes carrying a glimmer of what might have been pity or sorrow.

"Your ancestors left absolutely no room for breaking the Caged Bird."

"That thing is linked to both your ocular nerves and your brain nerves, and it uses your own Chakra to restrict you. Unless you sever all neural links simultaneously and stop the flow of Chakra, rashly using medical ninjutsu to break it will only result in death."

"Your ancestors never left you a way out from the very beginning; they only left you a dead end!"

"However, they probably never imagined that the Shinobi World would develop for hundreds of years, giving birth to many strange ninjutsu and forbidden arts that happen to be able to solve it."

If one could accept it, the Second Tsuchikage's Impure World Reincarnation would also work.

Musing over these random thoughts, Tsunade suddenly let out a scornful laugh.

"Do you feel despair? Are you resentful toward those ancestors and the Caged Bird? Fission is not something an ordinary person can learn."

The Second Tsuchikage defined it only as an A-rank ninjutsu, yet no one in Iwagakure has managed to learn it since.

Even with her using the cells of the Slug Sage to create that serum, she could not guarantee a success rate...

"No."

Hyuga Hane's calm voice interrupted Tsunade's train of thought. "Thank you for the clarification, Lady Tsunade. But isn't the reason you are willing to tell me this essentially because I bear the Caged Bird? Besides, the Caged Bird has indeed helped me on the battlefield."

Without the Caged Bird, he would have faced the same treatment from the Main Family on the battlefield anyway, and the Caged Bird was also the prerequisite for the deal he established with Orochimaru.

There are gains and losses, and losses and gains; just as he told Jiuxin, he does not hate the Caged Bird. Compared to its various drawbacks, the benefits this technique brought him in the early stages were far greater.

Tsunade paused, looking at him with dissatisfaction. "Kids these days aren't cute at all."

Indeed, the reason she was willing to tell Hyuga Hane, aside from the Fourth Hokage's trust in him, was primarily the Caged Bird.

After winning the bet against Hiashi, Tsunade had actually suspected the Hyuga Main Family of doing something in the shadows, because she had just finished the Fission Technique and the serum at the time, and the Hyuga Main Family certainly wouldn't be happy about such things existing.

As for the Branch Family... since she could trigger the Caged Bird, she wasn't worried about what they might stir up.

After all, only she knew the Fission Technique, not even the Old Man had been given it, so why would she worry about the Branch Family ninjas obtaining it from her?

"With you meddling like this, I've lost interest in gambling. Just one round, then you can go."

Without waiting for Hyuga Hane to agree, Tsunade shook the dice. Her palms turned into blurs in the air before she slammed the dice cup onto the table.

"Big, or small?"

Hyuga Hane narrowed his eyes, watched quietly for a moment, and softly spat out the answer:

"Big!"

Tsunade left with a complex mood.

She had been losing all day, and she didn't even know if she should be happy.

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

Forget it, she wouldn't gamble for a while.

Does what is happening in Konoha right now have anything to do with her?

If she were truly worried, she felt she should be concerned about Jiraiya and Orochimaru on the front lines. After all, in the intelligence the Third Hokage showed her, the lineup Mist Village had mobilized was simply terrifying.

How had she never noticed before that this isolated island village possessed war potential that didn't lose to Konoha at all... She hoped Orochimaru and the others would be fine.

As for Hyuga Hane, he sat in the izakaya until the owner asked him to leave, at which point he stood up and strolled away.

"What strange eyes, like a monster."

"Byakugan monster?"

"She looks dazed, just sitting there staring at the air. She must be blind; I've seen people like that at the hospital. Her eyes are already dead, she can't see a thing."

In the park, three children pointed at a little girl from the Hyuga Branch Family, even whispering about various malicious ideas.

"I've seen her brother before. He's a big Byakugan monster. Is he blind too?"

"Probably."

"Then if we do something to her, her brother shouldn't know, right? Like throwing some sand in her eyes?"

"That's a bit too much..."

The little boy who called it "too much" had already grabbed a handful of sand from the park's sandbox, looking at the little girl with eager anticipation.

"Aren't you dying to try it? A blind person getting some sand in their eyes shouldn't matter; they're already blind anyway."

"Didn't the Ninja Academy teacher tell us to learn more about human weaknesses? This is a perfect opportunity."

The leader of the boys walked toward the little girl first. As she regained her focus, he shoved her down onto the ground.

Eh?

"What are you doing?"

The little girl sat slumped on the ground, looking at them in panic. She was just waiting for her brother here; she hadn't done anything to provoke them.

"So she can see?" The two boys looked at their companion who had been acting like an expert. Under his annoyed glare, they looked away. "Can you really see with nothing but white eyes?"

"I don't know. The teachers don't teach that in class. We can study it; it'll give us experience for when we face enemies later."

"Hmph, there's no one around anyway. Just throw the sand in her eyes and see if she can still see."

The boy, whose intelligence had been questioned by his companions, felt irritated. He looked at the helpless girl on the ground and flashed a malicious grin.

His hand, filled with sand, inched closer to the girl's eyes. She instinctively gathered Chakra in her palms, but stopped almost immediately.

If she hurt them and caused trouble out here, her brother would be punished by the Main Branch elders...

Thinking of this, she saw the hand inches from her face and squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

"Hahaha, what good does closing them do?"

The boy reached out to pry her eyes open, but suddenly, a shadow loomed over him, as if the sky had gone dark.

His two companions were already so terrified they had collapsed to the ground.

"A... a Jonin..."

Looking back at Hyuga Hane, who wore a Jonin vest—especially those eyes, identical to the girl's—the boy felt his legs go weak.

Could he be the girl's brother?

By now, the boy's two companions had scrambled up and fled toward their homes, leaving him all alone.

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

He stammered for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence.

Hyuga Hane merely glanced at him before turning his gaze to the little Hyuga girl, who had opened her eyes and was looking at him with delight.

"Big Brother Hane!"

Hyuga Hane nodded, his tone calm. "Stay with your brother from now on. Don't stay out alone."

"Mm... thank you, Big Brother Hane."

The girl cast a lingering, fearful glance at the boy who was still bowing in apology.

From now on, she should come out less. She had heard her brother say before that their eyes were different from the average villager's, and some children saw them as "monsters."

She hadn't expected it to be true...

Seeing that Hyuga Hane didn't react, the boy tentatively took a step forward. When he still didn't respond, the boy ran off into the distance, ecstatic.

But another person appeared in his path.

White pupils, a ninja headband, and features similar to the girl's.

Was this her real brother?

The boy's face turned pale. Recalling what he had just done, his vision went black, and he fainted right on the spot.

Also ignoring the boy, Hyuga Yuki stepped forward to take the girl's hand and spoke earnestly to Hane:

"Thank you, Senior Hane."

Hyuga Hane ignored his gratitude and walked straight past Yuki, a whisper falling into his heart.

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

The Uchiha were viewed as wolves and tigers by the villagers due to their coldness and the Military Police Force, and they were not well-liked.

Were the Hyuga Branch Family any better off?

How could the Hyuga Branch Family, with their numb expressions and icy demeanor, ever get along with the villagers?

Because of the harsh disciplinary methods of the Main Branch in the past, some Hyuga children had even developed a submissive, passive nature.

Being bullied... was only to be expected.

The Hyuga Branch Family had never integrated into Konoha.

And Konoha had never made an attempt to accept them.

So, what was he hesitating for?

His empty palm tightened into a fist, and Hyuga Yuki looked up at the setting sun, his expression complex.