Hyūga (Please Bookmark, Recommend, and Follow)

The blazing sun hung high in the sky, and cicadas chirped all around.

Within a classical, luxurious Japanese-style courtyard,

A child of about four or five stood properly in the center of the yard, holding a horse stance as he punched the air again and again, each strike producing a dull thud that echoed through the courtyard.

The child's complexion differed from that of ordinary people. It was pallid and lifeless, with a faint bluish tint, yet it seemed somewhat translucent beneath the sunlight. His hair was similarly bluish-white.

What drew even more attention were his pale blue-white pupils. At first glance, they were somewhat frightening, but against his handsome and spirited features, they instead carried an unusual sense of beauty and charm.

Huff—

Heavy breaths escaped through Hyuga Ryosuke's nose, while sweat fell like rain and soaked the ground beneath his feet.

This was the territory of the Hyuga Clan, one of Konoha's great clans, and this place was the residence of the Hyuga Main Family.

As a member of the Branch Family, Ryosuke was able to stand here for two reasons. First, his talent. Second, he had married into the family and become the son-in-law of the Hyuga Family Head—Hyuga Hiashi.

Ryosuke had become Hinata Hyuga's child husband.

"Ryosuke-kun..."

A faint voice rang out in the courtyard as the sliding door was pulled open.

A girl with the same pale blue-white pupils as Hyuga Ryosuke stepped delicately out of the room.

She carefully held a plate of watermelon in her hands and stood nervously on the wooden walkway. She wanted to say something, yet worried that she might disturb him, leaving her hesitant.

Stopping his movements, Hyuga Ryosuke looked warmly at the nervous girl. "Did you... want me to rest for a while?"

"Mm!"

Having her thoughts guessed, the girl nodded gratefully. "Father said you are still young, and your body has not fully developed yet. You cannot train too excessively."

"I know, I know."

Amused by her reminder, Hyuga Ryosuke obediently walked over and sat beneath the eaves to rest with her.

"Thank you..."

Taking the slice of watermelon she offered with both hands, Hyuga Ryosuke thanked her.

This sweet and lovely girl before him was his future wife, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan, Hinata Hyuga.

Yet this young lady did not have the slightest trace of a young lady's temper.

Rather than looking down on him, the child husband who had married into her family, she was remarkably humble. Beneath her beautiful and obedient appearance, her personality seemed somewhat timid and shrinking.

But that... was also within Ryosuke's understanding.

The reason his wife was so timid was that, although she belonged to the Hyuga Clan's Main Family, she lacked talent as a ninja, disappointing her father, Hyuga Hiashi, time and time again.

As for why Ryosuke knew this so clearly, it was because he was a transmigrator.

Beneath this childish exterior, he possessed a mature soul.

Hyuga Ryosuke's soul came from another world, and this Ninja World he now inhabited had, in his previous life, been the setting of a manga.

Yet throughout that manga's entire story, he had never existed.

He was an... outsider. An anomaly.

"Ryosuke-kun..."

Perhaps because Hyuga Ryosuke had looked at her for too long, Hinata Hyuga lightly bit her lower lip and spoke with flustered unease.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that little Hinata is far too cute," Hyuga Ryosuke said apologetically, though he wore a beaming smile without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

"Um..."

The sudden compliment left Hinata somewhat dazed. She carefully replayed those words in her mind, growing even more nervous. "I... I actually..."

After holding it in for a long time, she still failed to voice her modest denial.

This was the first time she had ever been praised by someone her own age. The other children in the village had always mocked her appearance, mocked her... eyes.

"But there is something I've always been curious about."

Sitting beneath the eaves and looking at the little girl's flushed face, Hyuga Ryosuke raised his free hand and gently stroked her hair. "Hinata, do you know what husband means? Do you know what kind of relationship there is between us?"

His tone was gentle, as were his movements.

Feeling that warm palm caressing her head, Hinata answered hazily, "Fa... Father said that I am your wife. That I should listen to you in the future and always stay by your side."

Without realizing it, she shifted a little closer to Ryosuke so that he would not have to stretch his arm so far.

"It seems little Hinata doesn't understand our relationship at all."

The answer was largely what he had expected, yet Hyuga Ryosuke still felt somewhat helpless. "Then, when you understand our relationship in the future, you must explain it properly to me."

"Okay..."

A faint reply sounded out. She still looked dazed, and it was unclear whether she had truly heard him.

The two sat quietly together.

Once he had finished the watermelon in his hand, Hyuga Ryosuke withdrew his hand beneath Hinata's disappointed gaze. "Hinata, please go and invite Father over. There is something I want to discuss with him."

"Fa... Father?"

At the mention of that person, Hinata hesitated, but she still obediently nodded and stood up.

The father Hyuga Ryosuke referred to was the Hyuga Clan Head, Hyuga Hiashi.

After being reborn into this world, Ryosuke, as a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, should have been branded with the Caged Bird Seal and turned into a tool for protecting the Main Family's bloodline.

However, thanks to his special ability, he had displayed talent and abilities far surpassing those of ordinary Branch Family members after his birth, awakening a Byakugan of exceptionally high purity.

Thus, after his mother died, he had been adopted by Hyuga Hiashi as an orphan.

After Hyuga Hiashi's second daughter was born, his identity changed into Hinata's husband. He became the man of the future clan head and a true member of the Main Family.

After Hinata left, only Hyuga Ryosuke remained in the quiet courtyard.

Rather than getting up to continue training, he circulated the chakra within his body. Several veins suddenly bulged around his pale blue-white pupils.

Activating his Byakugan, he used its perception and X-ray Eye to scan the area around the main residence. Only after confirming that there were no unnecessary watchers did he withdraw his gaze and wait for Hyuga Hiashi's arrival.

"Only about one-third... There has been no change at all since I observed it a week ago. It seems unrelated to the duration or intensity of training..."

Taking advantage of this time, Ryosuke examined the progress in his mind, which resembled an experience bar.

The Progress Bar in his mind was Hyuga Ryosuke's special ability, as well as the reason he could awaken the Byakugan and possess physical capabilities far beyond those of his peers.

It could be called a limiter, or a Gene Lock. That was the name he had given this Progress Bar, because the thing came without instructions and everything had to be explored by himself.

As a reborn person familiar with the plot, Ryosuke knew very well that this Ninja World was far from simple.

Fighting and killing were absolutely everyday occurrences. In a few years, once that blond boy ostracized by the village graduated, this village—which was considered peaceful within the Ninja World—would suffer one devastating crisis after another in addition to all the fighting and killing.

If he remained content with the status quo, there was a high chance that he would not meet a good end.

If he wanted the ability to protect himself when crises arose—or even change those crises—the first thing he had to figure out was how to use this experience bar.

Since discovering the experience bar, Ryosuke had tried many methods.

For example, eating huge amounts of food, taking medicinal baths, and even photosynthesis. Yet it was obvious that this experience bar had nothing to do with the nutrients his body absorbed.

Recently, he had focused on the intensity and duration of his training, but unfortunately, after a week, the experience bar's rate of growth remained no different from before.

In other words, this experience bar was also unrelated to physical strength or the amount of chakra he possessed.

Then... could he only wait quietly for time to pass until it reached one hundred percent on its own?

Ryosuke pondered.

At present, this Progress Bar had only advanced by one-third. Yet during the four years since his rebirth, it had already filled once, reaching one hundred percent.

When it had filled back then, his body seemed to have broken through some kind of limitation, undergoing evolution and change that elevated a certain level of his life.

The thin bloodline of the Branch Family had been enhanced, granting him purity beyond that of the Main Family and awakening a Byakugan unlike that of the Hyuga Clan.

The pale complexion and hair color on his body were enough to prove that the concentration of his bloodline was far beyond what the Hyuga Main Family could detect.

As someone reborn with knowledge of the story, the changes in his body clearly told Ryosuke that he had undergone Ancestral Regression.

The source of this power now came from the Otsutsuki Clan.

As one of Konoha's two great clans, the Hyuga Clan possessed an ocular technique inheritance spanning a thousand years, inherited from the Otsutsuki.

Since it came from that clan, the Byakugan's abilities naturally could not be weak.

At the very least... it was not merely an ordinary ability suited only for taijutsu, perception, and reconnaissance.