The Different Chakra

As Riyue watched closely, he noticed something unusual. The chakra of the Hyuga Clan was different from that of other ninja—it didn't belong to any of the five basic nature types. But when Riyue compared his chakra to Mizuki's, he found that theirs weren't quite the same.

Both of their chakra was basic, neutral chakra, and even when he examined it, there seemed to be no difference. Yet Riyue had a feeling that when he looked at Mizuki's chakra, his own contained something extra. He knew his chakra better than anyone; it was high-quality and pure, but there was something more mixed in.

"Could there be something extra in my chakra, making it impure and greatly increasing the amount of chakra the Byakugan consumes?" Riyue wondered as he studied the additional substance in his chakra. It felt like a powerful life force, as though it came from his body's physical energy.

Riyue activated his Byakugan again and watched his chakra flow through his network of pathways. When the chakra reached his Byakugan, some force pulled at the extra substance and stopped it. It seemed as though something green had wrapped around his Byakugan, filtering his chakra. Most of it was wasted, with only a small amount reaching his eyes. If Riyue hadn't been an expert in cardiovascular suturing, he wouldn't have noticed such subtle changes.

Riyue was startled, and his expression darkened.

"Could that green stuff around my Byakugan be... the Caged Bird Seal?!"

"Riyue, Riyue? What's wrong?" Seeing him staring into space, Mizuki asked with concern.

"Ah, it's nothing, Mizuki-sis. I've used up my chakra. Can we practice Gentle Fist tomorrow?" Riyue came back to his senses. He needed to think things through.

"Mm. Let's head back, then."

Riyue pondered, "Is my Caged Bird Seal different somehow? Why is my chakra different from that of the other members of the Hyuga Clan? What's the extra substance in my chakra? Is it related to my bloodline? Is there any way to fix the problem with my Byakugan consuming so much chakra?"

Riyue touched the green mark on his forehead. Unlike the other branch-family members, who liked to hide theirs, he had no intention of wrapping a bandage around his head. He wasn't concussed. He wanted everyone to see the Main Family's vile conduct in placing a Cursed Seal on a four-year-old child.

The Caged Bird Seal was a cursed seal the Hyuga Clan used to seal away the Byakugan. If someone gouged out the Byakugan or its user died, the seal would activate automatically and destroy the eyes, ensuring that even if someone obtained them, they couldn't uncover any secrets. The one who placed the seal could also activate it at will to destroy brain cells. It was how the Hyuga Main Family controlled the branch family.

"My Caged Bird Seal can even affect how much chakra my Byakugan consumes. Looks like mine isn't ordinary."

Riyue vaguely remembered that the elders of the Hyuga Clan had placed the seal on him when he was two. At the time, two-year-old Riyue hadn't yet developed any memories, but the experience of being sealed had left such a deep impression on his body that he could recall a few vague fragments. Could the difference in his Caged Bird Seal be because of what happened back then?

At the time, three Main Family elders had gathered around Riyue. The former Riyue had no idea of the miserable fate awaiting him and had looked around curiously. Then the elders pressed their fingers to his forehead and used chakra needles to carve the seal into his skin. But something went wrong.

"Hm? His body seems to be resisting the Caged Bird!" One elder frowned.

"How could this happen? Is it not taking?" another asked, watching the scene.

"Damn it, it takes hold and then disappears!"

The green mark on Riyue's forehead slowly faded away on its own.

"What's going on?"

"I've never seen anything like this. What should we do?"

"Come on! The three of us together! Hold him down!"

Riyue only remembered that his head had hurt terribly. After that, he couldn't remember anything. "Sigh, in the end, they still managed to place the Caged Bird Seal on me. I guess mine must be stronger than usual. It's like a seal restricting the extra substance in my chakra, filtering out most of it and suppressing my Byakugan. That's why using the Byakugan consumes so much chakra."

Riyue remembered that Sasuke had once used the incredible power of his Mangekyō Sharingan—Susanoo—to forcibly break free of the Cursed Seal Danzo had used to restrain his body. That proved that great power could resist a Cursed Seal, such as the power of the eyes. What was the force that corresponded to that ocular power? The power of the body, just as the Sage Body corresponded to the Sage's eyes. Could his body have a power of its own that could resist the Caged Bird Seal?

"Is my bloodline special?" Riyue wondered as he went to his parents' room. Nobody had touched it since his father left, and Riyue only came by to clean it from time to time. He looked at the photographs: his parents' wedding portrait, a picture of his mother while she was pregnant, and himself as a baby in swaddling clothes... Of course, his mother had already passed away by then. Looking at the parents he had never met in this life, Riyue felt a pang of sadness and sighed. After all, they had given him his body. Now that he had become Hyuga Nichigetsu, they were his parents.

He looked at the wardrobe. "Uh, the people of the Hyuga Clan really like wearing kimono. I can't wear those. Maybe I can have some Hanfu made when I get the chance. Mother had lots of clothes, too."

"Hm? What's this...?" Riyue noticed a mark on the cuff of his mother's clothing. He recognized it, and it wasn't strange to find it there. But when he connected the mark to his current situation, he realized there was something wrong. It was as famous as the Uchiha Clan's fan-shaped crest: a symbol shaped like a double-headed, five-pointed fork, the crest of the Senju Clan. His mother, Senju Naoko, was an ordinary person from a branch of the Senju Clan, so it was only natural that her clothes were embroidered with the clan crest.

But Riyue knew that the Senju Clan were descendants of Otsutsuki Ashura and possessed the Sage Body. That explained everything: he was of mixed Hyuga and Senju heritage. His chakra had the traits of the Hyuga, but it also carried Senju blood. Only the bloodlines of powerhouses like the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan could make the Hyuga's neutral chakra behave differently. Riyue guessed that the extra substance in his chakra was the Senju Clan's chakra trait: a powerful life force, the hallmark of the Sage Body.

Riyue had a rough idea why his Byakugan consumed so much chakra. The Senju blood in him was naturally resisting the Caged Bird's suppression, so the elders had strengthened the seal to suppress the life force in his Senju blood. His body held the power of the Senju Clan, and when chakra flowed to his Byakugan, the Caged Bird Seal activated to suppress that life force, also suppressing a large amount of his chakra. It was as though the seal filtered it out. That left only a little chakra to maintain his Byakugan, making it consume dozens of times more than normal.

"Senju blood, huh? Maybe I can use the five basic nature transformations after all. Maybe I'll even be able to use the legendary Wood Release! Ha ha! Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!" Heaven once again ignored Riyue's shameless request.

"Sigh, don't get ahead of yourself. I've already tried chakra test paper, and it didn't react at all when I infused it with chakra! That means my chakra hasn't shown any of the five basic nature transformations. It's neutral, at least for now." Riyue mocked himself again.

"Then how do I solve the problem with my Byakugan?"

Riyue tried using his Byakugan again, this time reducing the amount of chakra he sent to it. The Caged Bird still filtered out most of his chakra, which was probably just wasted. If he sent too little chakra, he couldn't activate his Byakugan at all; the seal consumed it completely. After testing and adjusting his control, Riyue managed to keep his Byakugan active longer, eventually extending the time to six minutes. The Caged Bird Seal was like an invisible shackle, locking away his Byakugan's power.

"If I can't keep my Byakugan active for long, then the Hyuga Clan's signature techniques, like Gentle Fist, are pretty much useless. I can't use the five basic nature transformations either. Looks like you're trying to kill me, Heaven!" Riyue complained, pointing at the ceiling.

"But do you think that'll make me give up? If chakra consumption is the problem, then I'll use my eyes for six minutes at a time! I don't need the Byakugan to use Gentle Fist! I can still hit the chakra points with my eyes closed!"

Since he couldn't rely on the Byakugan, Riyue decided to train his memory of the chakra points. He would memorize the position and function of every point until he could hit them all with his eyes closed. Of course, a person's chakra points might vary slightly, so Riyue also planned to use short bursts of the Byakugan to memorize an enemy's chakra-point positions. He would train himself to remember them instantly. Combined with his expert knowledge of chakra points, he would still be able to hit every one.

At the same time, Riyue's Byakugan had a blind spot, so he had to train his senses and reflexes. Like any ordinary ninja, he needed to develop keen senses that could detect enemies nearby and respond quickly and appropriately.

Riyue planned to build a simple contraption in a small room, then train his reflexes and senses by constantly dodging wooden projectiles flying at him from every direction. Even if his Byakugan had a blind spot or could only stay active for a few minutes, he wouldn't let an enemy exploit that weakness to attack him. Once he had a solution in mind, Riyue immediately added it to his daily training schedule.