His Heart Fluttered

"Byakugan... what an enviable Kekkei Genkai."

Yun Xi murmured to himself as he watched Hyuga Hiashi out of the corner of his eye.

Hyuga Hiashi was practically a different person from the man Yun Xi had first met.

At first, Hyuga Hiashi had struck Yun Xi as an extremely old-fashioned, serious-looking middle-aged man.

He hadn't seemed to have the imposing presence of an elite Jonin at all.

And yet...

Now, Hyuga Hiashi was completely different.

Yun Xi could see longing in his eyes, along with a unique kind of nervousness.

"Of course."

Hearing Yun Xi's words, Hyuga Hiashi froze. Then a hint of pride surfaced on his face. As the head of a family whose Kekkei Genkai had been passed down for centuries, it was only natural for him to feel a little proud.

But once that look of pride faded, Hyuga Hiashi fixed Yun Xi with a sharp, serious gaze and said, "I asked you to tell me how the Byakugan evolves. I'm not interested in hearing this!"

"Don't be in such a hurry."

Yun Xi smiled, then said casually, "Mister, have you ever seen someone pay before making a deal?"

"You?!"

Hyuga Hiashi understood what Yun Xi meant, but there was no way he could simply trust him, not as the head of the Hyuga Clan.

After cursing Yun Xi for being shameless under his breath, Hyuga Hiashi stopped beating around the bush and said, "I don't want to waste words at a time like this. If you intend to make a deal, you'll have to show some sincerity..."

"That's easy!"

Yun Xi immediately turned and went over to Tenten, then patted her...

"W-what are you doing, Big Brother Yun Xi?"

Tenten was clearly at a loss.

"Give me a kunai," Yun Xi said.

"Oh..."

Though she didn't know why Yun Xi wanted a kunai, Tenten didn't ask. She took a sharp kunai from her ninja tool pouch and handed it to him.

As soon as he took it, Yun Xi crouched down and wrote two characters in the smooth dirt: "the future"...

Then he stood up and gestured for Hyuga Hiashi to take a look.

"The future?!"

A hint of confusion immediately appeared on Hyuga Hiashi's face. He turned to Yun Xi and asked, "I asked you to tell me how the Byakugan evolves. Why did you write those two characters?"

"Exactly. I'm telling you how the Byakugan evolves."

Facing Hyuga Hiashi's bewildered expression, Yun Xi smiled and said, "The Byakugan is a visual Kekkei Genkai unique to the Hyuga Clan. It's generally divided into the Telescopic Eye, the Perspective Eye, and the Insight Eye. These are three distinct forms of the Byakugan. Am I right?"

"This kid really does know..."

As soon as Yun Xi finished speaking, Hyuga Hiashi began quietly weighing his words against the meaning of "the future."

It was true that the Byakugan was a Kekkei Genkai unique to the Hyuga Clan, and these three different types of Byakugan were no secret to the clan.

But Yun Xi was an outsider...

And yet he knew the Byakugan inside and out.

That stirred a hint of anticipation in Hyuga Hiashi, though he didn't let it show. Instead, he said dismissively, "You're right, but anyone could learn that with a little research into the Byakugan!"

"Oh?!"

Seeing Hyuga Hiashi trying to keep his composure, Yun Xi put on an utterly surprised expression and immediately asked, "Then, mister, do you know what other abilities the Byakugan has within the Hyuga Clan?"

"What?!"

Hyuga Hiashi could no longer contain his shock. He immediately pressed Yun Xi, "The Byakugan has other abilities?"

To Hyuga Hiashi, if what Yun Xi said was true, it would be enough to overturn everything the Hyuga Clan knew about itself.

Hyuga Hiashi had led the Hyuga Clan for decades, and he had never heard of the Byakugan having any forms beyond those three!

And now, a young boy was telling him that the Byakugan had more than just those abilities...

In an instant,

Hyuga Hiashi felt as if his entire worldview had been overturned...

"Besides the three traditional abilities, the Byakugan can also let you travel through space, foresee the future, and unleash a powerful aura."

Seeing the confusion on Hyuga Hiashi's face, Yun Xi didn't hold back. He directly listed several of the Byakugan's advanced abilities.

Then he continued, "The Byakugan is absolutely no weaker than the Sharingan. Once it evolves to its peak, it can even become the Yellow Eye and grant its user a unique Space-Time Ninjutsu..."

"Yomotsu Hirasaka."

Yun Xi paused, then named the Space-Time Ninjutsu used by Otsutsuki Urashiki.

"What kind of jutsu is that..."

If Yun Xi's earlier words had only stirred a little anticipation in Hyuga Hiashi, then hearing him name this Space-Time Ninjutsu left him far beyond mere astonishment...

In Yun Xi's description, Hyuga Hiashi saw the possibility of the Hyuga Clan rising to prominence...

Ruling Konoha...

Even ruling the entire Ninja World!

"This guy..."

Yun Xi could see that Hyuga Hiashi had clearly lost himself in thought, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he slowly began explaining the power of Yomotsu Hirasaka.

After all, a fish would only take the bait if it smelled irresistible...

"Yomotsu Hirasaka is a top-tier Space-Time Ninjutsu, even more powerful than the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Fourth Hokage's signature jutsu. Put simply, it uses the power of the Byakugan to open a black portal. The user can travel through space, moving within the same dimension or freely between the real world and other dimensions."

"Such a jutsu really exists?!"

After hearing Yun Xi's explanation, Hyuga Hiashi could already imagine how terrifying this jutsu was...

Traveling between dimensions...

To Hyuga Hiashi, this was no longer a jutsu that a human could perform.

Only a god could do it...

In other words,

As long as he possessed the Byakugan's ultimate form...

He would be a god...

The one true god of the Ninja World!

"Is this guy going crazy because I'm feeding him a bunch of nonsense?"

Watching Hyuga Hiashi alternate between smiling and getting worked up, Yun Xi wondered to himself...

If Yun Xi knew what Hyuga Hiashi was thinking right now, he would definitely tell him:

"You're getting ahead of yourself..."

There were plenty of people who wanted to become gods in the Ninja World.

Pain...

Kabuto...

Uchiha Obito...

Uchiha Madara...

Yun Xi thought about it. All of those guys seemed to have met pretty miserable ends...

Some of them had even been rather pitiful...

"Wouldn't he rather just settle down and be a Genin in Konoha?"