Dawn was just breaking...
A night passed, but the Kumogakure ninja attack everyone had expected never came. They all breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the battle during the day had intimidated Kumogakure.
If so, perhaps the war would be over soon.
"Lan, did you not get any rest last night?
Why do you look so exhausted?"
Early that morning, Hizashi came to see Hyuga Lan and found him looking listless, as though he still hadn't woken up. He couldn't help asking.
Hyuga Lan really had barely slept the night before. He'd fought a fierce battle against the Kumogakure ninja during the day, then gone to Kumogakure that night and turned the place upside down.
Even with his chakra reserves now far greater than before, he couldn't withstand that kind of exertion. That was why he looked so drained first thing in the morning.
But he couldn't tell anyone that he'd gone to Kumogakure, so he went along with Hizashi's assumption and said he'd spent the night patrolling because he was worried Kumogakure might attack.
Hizashi was pleased by his answer. Lan was so young, yet so thorough. The more Hizashi saw of him, the more he admired him.
With a genius like Hyuga Lan in the branch family, they would be able to establish a foothold in the village in the future.
The two then talked about the previous day's battle. When the conversation turned to the Raikage's attack on Lan, they couldn't help sighing.
In Hizashi's view, if Shisui hadn't helped, Hyuga Lan might already have died at the Raikage's hands.
What Hizashi didn't know was that Lan had already been prepared to use the Tenseigan. He had only held back after realizing Shisui had revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan first.
The Tenseigan was far too consequential. One careless move could bring disaster not just upon him, but upon the entire Ninja World if it drew the attention of the Otsutsuki on the moon.
Talking about Shisui reminded Hizashi of what he'd witnessed the day before.
Whenever he thought of Shisui holding off the dark green giant summoned by the Fourth Raikage, a sense of wariness rose in Hizashi's heart.
As the branch family's leader, he knew the Uchiha Clan, another clan with a Dojutsu bloodline, well enough. He knew the dark green giant's apparition was a Dojutsu called Susanoo.
It was a Dojutsu that only the Mangekyo Sharingan could wield. For Shisui, a genius of the Uchiha, to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan—something that hadn't appeared in the Uchiha Clan for many years—at such a young age was truly terrifying.
As clans with Dojutsu bloodlines, the Hyuga and Uchiha were often mentioned together in Konoha.
The Sharingan with only three tomoe had once been comparable to the Byakugan, neither falling behind the other. But after witnessing the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan firsthand, Hizashi knew the Byakugan could no longer compare.
For Hizashi, who had always been proud of the Byakugan bloodline, that was hard to accept. As far as he knew, only Shisui in the Uchiha Clan had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, but even that was enough to make him feel immense pressure.
It seemed likely that everyone would soon believe the Byakugan was inferior to the Sharingan. The Sharingan could awaken and evolve into the Mangekyo Sharingan, while the Byakugan had no power on par with it.
Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan had been far too astounding the day before. A Dojutsu like Susanoo left Hizashi in despair; he couldn't see any way the Byakugan could stand against it.
Was the Byakugan really inferior to the Sharingan?
Why could the Sharingan, though both were Dojutsu bloodlines, evolve from one tomoe to three tomoe, and even awaken as the Mangekyo Sharingan?
Yet in a thousand years, there had never been any mention of the Byakugan evolving. Was it truly impossible for the Byakugan to evolve?
Looking at Hizashi's troubled expression, Hyuga Lan thought for a moment and guessed what was on his mind.
"Lan, do you think our clan's Byakugan really is inferior to the Sharingan?
The Byakugan seems to have no way to stand against the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Faced with Hizashi's somewhat dazed question, Lan thought for a moment before answering,
"The Mangekyo Sharingan's power is certainly astounding, but that doesn't mean the Byakugan is necessarily inferior to the Sharingan. Besides, Shisui's condition after using the Mangekyo Sharingan yesterday shows that this immense power comes at a cost. There's no need for us to sell ourselves short."
Hyuga Lan's confident answer warmed Hizashi's heart.
"If only our clan's Byakugan could evolve like the Sharingan. But how could that ever happen?
"Heh..."
After saying this, Hizashi scoffed at himself. There had been no word of the Byakugan evolving in over a thousand years. His wishful thinking was nothing more than a fantasy.
Hyuga Lan knew better than anyone whether the Byakugan could evolve, because his own eyes could transform into the Tenseigan.
Although his Tenseigan was more like an abnormal evolution, the abilities it currently possessed far surpassed those of the Sharingan in its Mangekyo form.
He also knew very well that the Byakugan was a visible trait of the Otsutsuki and had several paths of evolution. The Hyuga Clan simply didn't know about them, which was why they had begun to underestimate the Byakugan's potential after the Mangekyo Sharingan appeared.
Although Hyuga Lan knew all this, he would never tell anyone these secrets. He had to prevent his own information from being exposed.
Perhaps one day, when he possessed absolute power that surpassed everyone in the Ninja World and no longer feared his information being exposed, he would reveal some of the Byakugan's secrets to the branch family and help them grow stronger. But that day was still a long way off.
"We owe Shisui a great debt. We must repay him. If you can't, the clan will step in and offer him some compensation."
"There's no need to trouble the clan over this. I have my own plans."
He already knew how he would repay Shisui.
Based on what he remembered, not long after Shisui revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan, Danzo attacked him. Shisui lost one of his Mangekyo Sharingan on the spot, and later, to prevent a war between his clan and the village, he chose to end his own life.
He entrusted his other eye to Itachi, who would look after it. Shisui had been deeply influenced by the Will of Fire and cared greatly for the village.
But he also cared deeply about the people of the Uchiha Clan. That was why, before he died, he entrusted Itachi with carrying on his will and protecting both the village and the clan.
Unfortunately, Shisui probably never imagined that Itachi would ultimately choose to wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan. That certainly wasn't what Shisui had wanted to see.
But since Shisui had saved his life, Lan would warn him to watch out for Danzo's ambush. That would save Shisui's life in return, and settle their debt, wouldn't it?
When Hyuga Lan warned Shisui to be wary of Danzo and the other higher-ups, Shisui thought Lan's words were nothing but alarmism.
How could the village's leaders fear him so much just because he'd awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan that they would move against him?
If he weren't worried that news of his awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan would provoke his clansmen and make the radical faction even more arrogant and dismissive of others, he would have told the Third Hokage and the other village leaders long ago.
Still, the emergence of the Mangekyo Sharingan was a serious matter. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shisui felt he had to explain things properly to Konoha's leaders. Even if it meant revealing information about his Dojutsu, he had to earn their trust...