Planning the Road Ahead

Deep in the desert of the Land of Wind.

Hyuuga Nen stood before the abandoned city. Looking at the ruined remains, he said, "I finally found it." Then he headed inside.

Hyuuga Nen walked halfway around the ruins and found the entrance. He went in and followed the stairs down into the depths, where he found his target.

Crouching down, Hyuuga Nen studied the Sealing Formula before him. The seal, composed of circles and diamonds, looked extremely complex, and a strange kunai had been embedded in its center.

"This is the Flying Thunder God Kunai of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Looks like I found the right place." Hyuuga Nen then activated his Byakugan and examined the Sealing Formula closely.

"Most of this Sealing Formula is made up of Konoha's—no, the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques. There's also a part I've never seen before. Could it be a sealing method inherent to the Dragon Vein?" Hyuuga Nen murmured to himself.

Hyuuga Nen didn't dwell on it. He took out a scroll, made a copy of the Sealing Formula, and left the abandoned ruins. He planned to find somewhere else to study it before considering how to unseal the Dragon Vein.

Not long after Hyuuga Nen left, a man who was half black and half white, and resembled a pitcher plant, emerged from the wall. He went up to the Sealing Formula and examined it closely.

"Someone really did come here. It was probably that Hyuuga Nen. I'll notify Pain." The pitcher-plant man—Zetsu—spoke from inside the plant. He raised his hand and looked at the ring on his finger.

A dozen or so miles from Rōran, Hyuuga Nen found a small cave. He checked that there was no danger, then went straight inside.

He unrolled the copied scroll and began studying it closely.

In fact, unsealing the Dragon Vein wasn't that difficult.

Hyuuga Nen remembered that the Dragon Vein had gone berserk at the very end. The Fourth Hokage had only managed to put up the seal in a hurry. So if he damaged part of the Sealing Formula, the rampaging Dragon Vein would naturally break free.

However, Hyuuga Nen knew that without Queen of Roran's bloodline, he wouldn't be able to control the Dragon Vein. And if it went berserk, it might attract the attention of the Land of Wind's shinobi.

After thinking it over, Hyuuga Nen decided against such a crude approach and continued studying the Sealing Formula.

Although Hyuuga Nen wanted the Dragon Vein's power, he had no good way to obtain it for now. Queen of Roran could control the Dragon Vein to a certain extent, but Hyuuga Nen didn't have that ability. All he could do was suppress it with a Sealing Formula.

Back at the Rōran Ruins, the Dragon Vein had been sealed, but Hyuuga Nen could still see the vast amount of chakra through the seal. In terms of quantity, it was in no way inferior to a Tailed Beast's chakra.

"But with the amount of chakra I have now, I'm nowhere near becoming something like a Jinchuriki."

Hyuuga Nen currently had several times as much chakra as Kakashi, but that still wasn't enough to meet the requirements for becoming a Jinchuriki.

Although Hyuuga Nen was highly gifted, he had only a little more chakra than an average member of the Hyuga Clan. Most of the chakra he had now came from training in the Cell Activation Forbidden Technique.

"If I keep training in the Cell Activation Forbidden Technique, my chakra will increase further. But will I reach the level needed to become a Jinchuriki? I can't be sure. Even if I do, it'll take a long time."

"Or should I take only a portion of the Dragon Vein's power? I remember Mukade doing the same thing. He channeled the Dragon Vein's power through a conduit and into his puppets, which means the Dragon Vein's power can be divided."

After thinking it over, Hyuuga Nen decided to take only a portion of the Dragon Vein's power. Even so, it would greatly increase his strength.

As he considered how to grow stronger, Hyuuga Nen began to map out the path ahead.

Hyuuga Nen's main means of fighting were still Taijutsu, with Gentle Fist making up a large part of it. He also used elemental techniques for support, but it was difficult to find an opportunity to use them in battle. Using too many elemental techniques also put a great deal of strain on his chakra pathways.

Hyuuga Nen was already very strong. He felt that no one below Kage Level could beat him one-on-one. At his current strength, he was already on the threshold of Kage Level.

Although Hyuuga Nen had defeated Kakuzu last time, he wasn't certain he could win if they fought again.

Unfortunately, without relying on other means, it would be difficult for Hyuuga Nen to grow stronger in the short term.

As he thought, Hyuuga Nen picked up a stone and began drawing in the sand.

"I'm still not an adult. My strength should increase as I grow older, but probably not by much."

"Also, the Cell Activation Forbidden Technique has a major effect on my strength, but it takes a long time. All I can do for now is wait."

In the short term, Hyuuga Nen decided to obtain the Dragon Vein's power first. He might not get much chakra from it, but he would still have several times as much as he did now.

By then, Hyuuga Nen would be able to use the Dragon Vein's power to perform ninjutsu instead of relying on his own chakra.

That would let him avoid the side effects of using elemental techniques. Hyuuga Nen also decided to develop the one type of chakra nature he lacked—Lightning Release Chakra—to make his abilities more versatile.

For the medium and long term, Hyuuga Nen planned to explore his bloodline more deeply and study Yin-Yang Release in greater depth.

After all, Hyuuga Nen's Gentle Fist chakra was far stronger than that of an ordinary member of the Hyuga Clan. He hoped to discover the essence of Gentle Fist chakra. If he could achieve that, his strength would surely increase greatly.

"But how can I make my Byakugan's Dojutsu Power stronger?" Hyuuga Nen asked himself.

His knowledge of the Byakugan's Dojutsu Power was almost nonexistent. He felt that the Hyuga Clan probably couldn't help him much with this, either.

"Should I turn my attention to the Uchiha Clan?" Hyuuga Nen thought of how the Uchiha Clan used their Dojutsu Power far better than the Hyuga Clan.

"I'll have to plan this carefully." In the end, Hyuuga Nen decided to start with the Uchiha Clan.

As for his later goals, he wanted to master Senjutsu and awaken the Tenseigan. As for Senjutsu, he would see whether he could find information about the Three Great Sage Regions. If he could enter one of them, Hyuuga Nen would try to learn Senjutsu. But that would require a great deal of chakra, and he might not have enough yet.

As for the Tenseigan, Hyuuga Nen had no idea how to awaken it. He hadn't watched the entire movie, only a few clips. He didn't know how to awaken the Tenseigan, let alone where the passage between the moon and the Shinobi World was.

"I'll take it one step at a time. First I'll achieve my short- and medium-term goals, then I'll think about Senjutsu and the Tenseigan."

Hyuuga Nen tossed the stone away, erased the marks in the sand, and continued studying the Dragon Vein's Sealing Formula.