Hyuga Shinichi returned to his dim room and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He reached up and touched his eyes. As he relaxed, his eyelids began to tremble.
Perhaps it was because he had overworked his eyes; he slept especially deeply and peacefully that night.
Guards still stood watch outside his room, in even greater numbers than before. Some who had been off duty had joined the guard detail as well.
Although the elders had warned everyone to keep their conversation secret, paper could never fully conceal a fire. Hyuga Shinichi's words had ignited the hearts that had once cooled in helpless resignation.
Watching the scene through his window, Hyuga Nimitsu smiled and said, "It seems a wind of change is about to sweep through the entire Hyuga Clan. How long will it take? I can hardly wait. Well, time to sleep. Good night."
In another room, Hyuga Nikku watched the direction of Hyuga Shinichi's room, gazing at his own "Kaleidoscope Moon." His usually stern face held a constant smile.
If it's you... perhaps... you really can...
Early the next morning, after asking the Academy for a day off, Hyuga Shinichi began training. He had simply moved his training ground to an open patch of land above Kage Rock.
As for how he got up there, he had concentrated chakra in his limbs and slowly climbed. Whenever he got too tired to keep going, he would take a short rest on the nearby stairs.
After last night's Byakugan burst, it was as if something inside him had suddenly clicked into place. The problems that had once stumped Hyuga Shinichi were becoming easier to solve. Just now, he had managed to distribute chakra properly to climb the earthen wall.
The three guards the clan had sent to protect Hyuga Shinichi in secret had nearly leaped out to stop him.
Hyuga Shinichi felt the chakra flowing through his body and immediately picked up a branch.
"Wind-Style Sword Art: Wind Flow Coverage!"
Before, he hadn't been able to maintain Windflow Coating for long. Now, he could easily wrap it around the branch and keep it there.
If I had a sword made of Chakra Metal, it'd be even easier—like breathing. He didn't dwell on it and continued training while he still had momentum.
As Hyuga Shinichi trained, the hours passed and afternoon arrived. At midday, he took a break and ate the rice balls and drank the water he had bought on the way there.
The sky turned golden. Sitting atop the First's stone likeness, drenched in sweat, Hyuga Shinichi watched the clouds burn like flames as the sunset bathed Konoha in crimson. His thoughts wandered.
He thought about both the clan and the Byakugan.
Since last night, he hadn't managed to use Byakugan: Pressure even once. What had gone wrong?
He recalled how angry he had been at the time. His chakra had surged along with his emotions, and when it reached a certain point, it had burst out at the same time as his Byakugan activated.
It reminded Hyuga Shinichi of the First and Second Hokage after they had been brought back with Impure World Reincarnation. Their technique, which made their chakra erupt from their bodies, could affect the surrounding environment and even cause a small earthquake.
The principle behind Byakugan: Pressure was probably similar. He just had to concentrate chakra in his eyes, then release it all at once to affect the surrounding environment.
But theory alone wasn't enough. He tried several times in a row, but all he managed was to activate the Byakugan normally.
Could he have been thinking about it the wrong way? Hyuga Shinichi was reminded of an ability from another anime he had watched in his previous life: Conqueror's Haki.
Conqueror's Haki seemed more like spiritual energy, while chakra in the Naruto world was a product of spiritual and physical energy combined.
"I've got a new lead, but it feels like I'm just making the problem more complicated."
How could he make spiritual energy affect the Byakugan and then erupt like Conqueror's Haki? His mind was a mess, and he couldn't figure out where to begin.
Just then, an Anbu Ninja suddenly appeared behind Hyuga Shinichi. The three Hyuga guards stopped hiding and instantly surrounded the newcomer.
The Anbu Ninja didn't panic. He said, "Lady Mito would like to speak with you below. Could you come with me?"
After hearing him out, Hyuga Shinichi looked down from Kage Rock and saw Uzumaki Mito sitting on the rooftop terrace of a tower, smiling kindly up at him.
When she saw that he had spotted her, she waved.
"It's all right. You've worked hard all day."
Hyuga Shinichi first thanked the three Hyuga guards. He had actually spotted them with his Byakugan as soon as he left the clan compound, but even when he called out, they wouldn't come out.
If he went over to find them, they would play hide-and-seek with him. The moment he approached, they'd leap away, always keeping close enough to protect him at a moment's notice.
The three Hyuga guards said nothing. They glanced at the Anbu Ninja, then leaped away. Hyuga Shinichi knew they were still hiding nearby, even without activating his Byakugan.
"Um, could you take me down?"
Hyuga Shinichi looked at the Anbu Ninja. After a full day of training and several attempts at Byakugan: Pressure, his chakra was spent. He had no choice but to ask the ninja to carry him down.
The Anbu Ninja nodded, picked Hyuga Shinichi up, and jumped straight down from Kage Rock.
After bringing Hyuga Shinichi to the tower's rooftop terrace, the Anbu Ninja leaped away and concealed himself.
"Grandma Mito, what a coincidence! You're here too."
"Mm. I came to visit Hashirama. I didn't expect to find you up there. From the way you looked just now, were you thinking about something?"
"Yes, Grandma Mito. I was thinking about the clan."
Hyuga Shinichi really had been thinking about the clan. The main reason he was training so hard was that he was eager to change the clan's current situation.
He had nothing to hide from Uzumaki Mito, so he told her everything that had happened in the clan the day before.
"Oh? You think the Hyuga Clan is too set in its ways and that its clan system is unfair?"
"Mm. No one's fate should be decided from birth. People have many choices in life; they shouldn't be forced to bear the Caged Bird and spend their whole lives protecting others. Besides, they're all members of the same clan, one family. The system also limits the clan's growth."
Uzumaki Mito was surprised that Hyuga Shinichi, born into the Main House, could hold such views. Intrigued, she asked, "Then what do you plan to do?"
"I don't know. All I can think of is becoming stronger—strong enough that no one can threaten my clanmates. I'll protect the Hyuga Clan and the things I cherish. Then the clan won't need a system like that to ensure its survival."
Looking at Hyuga Shinichi's young yet earnest face, Uzumaki Mito saw Senju Hashirama. She remembered how Hashirama had once told her that he wanted to protect everyone in the village. He had worn the very same earnest expression.
In Uzumaki Mito's eyes, Hyuga Shinichi's face seemed to merge with the likeness of the First behind him.
Uzumaki Mito came back to herself and thought for a moment. Then she posed another difficult question to test Hyuga Shinichi.
"Then let me ask you this: can you truly protect everyone? Even if you do become strong enough to protect the things you care about, there'll come a day when you're gone. People will still have to go out on missions. What will you do then?"
"I..."
When Hyuga Shinichi couldn't answer, Uzumaki Mito let the subject drop and stood up. Turning toward Konoha, she narrowed her eyes and asked, "Shinichi, what do you think of the village?"
The evening breeze stirred Uzumaki Mito's withered hair, no longer the vivid red it had been in her youth.
Hyuga Shinichi walked over beside Grandma Mito and tilted his head to look at the old woman who had witnessed Konoha's founding and all the years since. The sunset illuminated the face marked by time.
Before you continue