Chapter Summaries

After being reborn as Neji Hyuga, Hizashi Hyuga’s young son discovered the limits imposed by the Caged Bird and awakened a mysterious Bagua Diagram in his mind. He learned that the diagram needed high-quality energy, while the Hyuga clan prepared to bury his father.

• Neji recalled that Hizashi Hyuga had died in place of Hiashi Hyuga after Hiashi killed a Cloud Shinobi envoy who tried to kidnap Hinata Hyuga.
• Neji awakened his Byakugan, saw through the courtyard walls, and found that he could not penetrate a barrier around the Main House.
• Neji tried to summon a system, then examined the Caged Bird curse mark and feared that it would constrain his future.
• Neji absorbed moonlight and awakened a Primordial Bagua Diagram that projected a star map around his courtyard and suppressed the curse mark slightly.
• A branch-family night patrol ninja found Neji outside, warned him to rest before Hizashi Hyuga’s burial, and cautioned him not to activate the Byakugan casually.
• Neji watched the ninja vanish with the Body Flicker Technique and recognized it as ninjutsu.

Neji answered Hiashi’s questions about the Branch House and learned he would train with Hinata on set days. After leaving, he resolved to grow strong enough to escape the Main House’s control and continued cultivating the new energy he had developed from chakra.

• Hiashi questioned Neji about his duty to protect the Main House and whether he hated it, and Neji replied that he accepted his father’s sacrifice as the clan’s fate.
• Hiashi assigned Neji to train with Hinata every first, third, and fifth day, then discussed Neji with the Second Elder, who ordered that he be taught the Sixty-Four Palms.
• Neji left the estate, privately rejected the idea that he should be sacrificed for the clan, and resolved to gain enough strength to challenge the Main House.
• Neji reflected on how his Macrocosmic Orbit circulation had refined chakra into a warm energy that healed his body and meridians.
• Neji returned to his courtyard and began practicing the Eight Trigrams Palm.

Neji struggled to complete the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms because his small body could not supply enough chakra, and he considered how to improve his Qi cultivation. He resumed training while reflecting on the Gentle Fist’s demands and the Hyuga Clan’s limitations.

• Neji practiced the Eight Trigrams Steps and Gentle Fist, but lost his balance after sixty palms when his chakra ran out.
• Neji reasoned that his limited physical growth and cultivation restricted his chakra, then considered using elixirs before realizing he did not know how to make them.
• Neji ruled out Soldier Pills and the Akimichi Clan’s secret medicines and decided to seek high-grade beast meat and medicinal herbs for dietary supplementation.
• Neji resumed the Eight Trigrams Palm without using chakra, conserving his Qi as he practiced.
• Neji reviewed how the Gentle Fist relied on knowledge of meridians, acupoints, and footwork, and considered why the Hyuga Clan’s training and social structure limited its members’ growth.

Neji visited the Hyuga Main House shrine for instruction and received the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms scroll from the Great Elder. He left resentful of the Main House’s control and stingy treatment, while remembering his father Hizashi’s name in the clan genealogy.

• Neji followed a Main House servant through the shrine’s guarded grounds and saw displays tied to the Branch House, the Caged Bird curse mark, and Hyuga history.
• The Great Elder revealed that the forbidden techniques, including the original Caged Bird curse formula, were sealed beneath the hall.
• Neji recognized the shrine’s grandeur as a carefully made cage and inwardly rejected the Main House’s power over the Branch House.
• The Great Elder gave Neji a scroll of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, a technique Neji had already begun learning from Hizashi.
• Neji left the shrine despising the Main House’s attempt to humiliate him, and saw Hizashi’s name glowing faintly in the genealogy.

Neji guided Hinata through Gentle Fist training, helping her adapt her attacks and avoid a harsher punishment from Hiashi. Hinata admired Neji as he left, while he hurried home to satisfy his intense hunger.

• Neji sparred with Hinata under Hiashi's supervision and quietly coached her through new combinations.
• Hinata applied Neji's guidance and advanced from her usual sequence to a faster Twenty-Four Palms attack.
• Hiashi ended the session and ordered Hinata to train for an extra hour.
• Neji praised Hinata's talent and encouraged her to believe in herself before leaving the training ground.
• Hinata watched Neji go and wished he were Hiashi's child, while Neji rushed home and devoured the meat he had prepared.

Neji learned that only two hundred thousand ryo remained from Hizashi’s estate and worried that it would not cover the expensive food he wanted for cultivation. He decided to switch to beef and consider hunting for meat, while his search for a way to earn money remained unresolved.

• Neji asked Xiao Xi how much money remained, and she explained that Hizashi had left little savings and about two hundred thousand ryo in condolence money.
• Neji learned that he received eighteen thousand ryo each month and asked Xiao Xi to change his daily meat to beef, using household funds if needed.
• Neji considered ways to make money, but rejected business, writing, gambling, and working as unsuitable or impossible.
• Neji decided that if his funds ran out, he might borrow money or hunt in the Forest of Death.
• Neji reflected that his Dantian could not be seen with the Byakugan and that he could only perceive it through inward vision during meditation.

Neji and Xiao Xi explored Konoha, where Neji studied its bustling trade, ninja tools, and village landmarks while seeking chakra-rich meat for his cultivation. Neji bought Thunderhorn Rhino ribs and the meat of a rare marten that had caught the Eight Trigrams Diagram’s attention, then hurried home with it.

• Neji and Xiao Xi walked through Konoha’s prosperous streets, where he examined imported goods, chakra-infused supplies, and the Hokage Tower.
• Neji noticed damage near the still-rebuilding Hokage Rock and reflected on his lack of attachment to Konoha before moving on.
• Neji bought Thunderhorn Rhino ribs from a butcher and arranged for regular deliveries, asking Xiao Xi to oversee them.
• Neji sensed the Eight Trigrams Diagram yearning for a small marten on the butcher’s rack and bought its meat instead of its valuable fur.
• After Neji and Xiao Xi left, the butcher’s boning knife appeared embedded in a wooden wall.

Neji discovered that the Primordial Bagua Diagram consumed the energy he gained from eating sacred marten meat and used it to open the Heavenly Secrets Tower in his consciousness. After receiving the Breath Concealment Art, he learned to hide his presence and began plotting to sneak into several important locations.

• Neji sensed a strange energy in the marten meat and suspected it came from natural energy stored in the animal.
• After Neji ate the meat, the Primordial Bagua Diagram drained the energy produced in his body and projected a message about opening the Profound Mystery Realm.
• Neji entered the Heavenly Secrets Tower, discovered the Heavenly Secrets Spring could derive and combine martial arts, and received a jade slip.
• Neji crushed the jade slip and learned the Breath Concealment Art, which concealed his body, scent, breathing, and chakra from his Byakugan.
• Neji imagined using his new concealment technique to sneak into the Main House Shrine, Uchiha Naka Shrine, and Hokage Tower.

Neji learned that his Breath Concealment Art depended on his Qi and decided to wait before visiting the Main House Shrine. He attended the Branch House competition, where he waited for his match after learning that the first-place winner would face a Main House challenge.

• Neji discovered that Breath Concealment Art failed when his Qi ran out and that using chakra would expose him beneath the Byakugan.
• Xiao Xi told Neji that Branch House children would compete the next day and warned that the Main House bullied each year's winner; Neji learned first prize was one hundred thousand ryo and an annotated Gentle Fist guide.
• Neji continued his intense training and reflected on his plans to survive and take advantage of future chaos in the Ninja World.
• Neji arrived at the competition with Xiao Xi and saw Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga, and the arrogant Main House boys, including Kosuke Hyuga.
• A Branch House elder began the matches, and Neji waited for his turn while Yuji Hyuga and Shin Hyuga started the first bout.

Neji easily won his preliminary match, then faced Kosuke Hyuga, who challenged him to become his sparring partner. After they fought to a standstill, Kosuke unleashed Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms and left Neji gravely injured, threatening to take his right eye.

• Neji defeated his opponent with a single palm strike and was declared the Branch House tournament winner.
• Kosuke Hyuga challenged Neji and demanded that he become his sparring partner, but Neji refused.
• Kosuke attacked Neji over his closeness to Hinata, and the two exchanged Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms without either gaining the upper hand.
• Neji redirected Kosuke’s attacks into the ground with Metal Exchange, Fire Shift, startling the spectators with his strength.
• Kosuke used Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms to pierce Neji’s shoulder, break his ribs, and knock him against the railing.
• Kosuke pinned Neji down and threatened to take his right eye for the Main House.

Neji unleashed his newly developed Wandering Dragon techniques to defeat Kosuke Hyuga after Kosuke nearly blinded him. The elder stopped Neji’s final attack and took Kosuke away, while Neji left for treatment and reflected on how he had adapted his martial arts into a powerful form of Gentle Fist.

• Kosuke ignored the Branch House elder’s order to stop and lunged for Neji’s eyes, but Neji’s chakra burst free and he threw Kosuke off him.
• Neji used Wandering Dragon: Mountain Breaker to send Kosuke flying, then attacked with Mountain Breaker: Double Wave as the crowd watched in shock.
• The elder shattered Neji’s incoming palm force, grabbed the bloodied Kosuke, and left after insulting him.
• Zong Zhi, Hinata, and Xiao Xi gathered around Neji, while Hiashi told him to get treated and visit afterward.
• Neji explained that he had adapted the Wandering Dragon Eight Trigrams Palm with Inner Qi and chakra, and that his first technique drew on the Steel Fist Style.

Neji traded two secret techniques to Hiashi Hyuga for ten million ryo and began spending the money on food to strengthen himself. He planned to watch Kosuke Hyuga through Zong Zhi while preparing to deal with any future threat.

• Neji gave Hiashi Hyuga the Eight Trigrams Soaring Dragon Palm and Zhouyi Eight Trigrams Domain Diagram in exchange for ten million ryo.
• Neji gave Xiao Xi money and instructed her to buy meat for his training, including Purple Ox meat and meat from small marten-like beasts.
• Neji reasoned that the clan could benefit from his techniques while his use of Qi and superior chakra control made the Soaring Dragon Palm far stronger in his hands.
• Neji reflected on his plans to develop powerful armor-piercing attacks and expand the Eight Trigrams Domain with further variations.
• Neji decided to have Zong Zhi watch Kosuke Hyuga and planned to use his Soul-Seizing Needle if Kosuke moved against him again.

After the Branch House tournament, Neji excelled at the Ninja Academy and defeated Uchiha Shinichi in training, but his growth stalled when his Inner Qi stopped developing. He decided to create a chance to reach the Three Great Sage Regions by finding a way to contact the Legendary Sannin.

• Neji impressed his classmates with his knowledge and stood out during academy lessons.
• Neji caught Uchiha Shinichi's shuriken, evaded his fire jutsu, and used chakra-infused leaves to corner him before tending to his sprained wrist.
• Neji declined Zong Zhi's invitation to dinner because he had hit a training bottleneck.
• Neji reflected that his liquidified Inner Qi had stopped growing and that he needed contact with the Three Great Sage Regions to advance.
• Neji kept the Caged Bird curse mark in place while secretly locking it against interference from the Main House.
• Neji resolved to create an opportunity to contact Tsunade, Jiraiya, or Orochimaru.

Neji sneaked into the Main House to investigate Kosuke Hyuga and overheard him and the Elder plotting to send Neji to the border and use a forbidden technique. He escaped detection and activated the Soul-Seizing Needle in Kosuke at dawn, leaving the Main House in chaos.

• Neji learned that a Jonin from the Elder's faction was returning from border patrol and decided to investigate Kosuke Hyuga.
• Neji went to the Main House at night, found Kosuke absent from his residence, and approached the shrine, where the Elder was meeting with him.
• Neji overheard Kosuke discuss using the Modified Caged Bird to erase thoughts and learned that the Elder planned to send Neji to the border with Ryota.
• Kosuke sensed a disturbance, but Neji distracted the patrol with a Night Owl and slipped away from the shrine.
• At dawn, Neji reversed the Qi needle hidden in Kosuke's Governing Vessel, triggering Kosuke's scream and chaos in the Main House.

Neji’s plan left Kosuke Hyuga suffering from an unexplained affliction, forcing the Hyuga Clan to seek Tsunade’s help. The Third Hokage agreed to bring her back for a large fee, while Neji prepared to meet her privately.

• Kosuke Hyuga screamed in agony as the Medical Corps and the Nara and Yamanaka Clans failed to identify what was wrong with him.
• Hiashi Hyuga and the elder asked Hiruzen Sarutobi to bring Tsunade back, and the elder offered Hyuga support at the border in exchange for help.
• The elder promised Tsunade twenty million ryo to come and another thirty million if she cured Kosuke, so Hiruzen sent ANBU to fetch her from the Land of Fire’s capital.
• Hiashi recognized Hiruzen’s political maneuvering, while Neji privately regarded Kosuke’s suffering as part of his plan.
• Neji decided Tsunade would likely visit the casino near the Senju Clan Compound and planned to meet her there.

Neji secretly used Qi to relieve Kosuke Hyuga’s pain while Tsunade examined him, then watched Tsunade visit a casino. After noticing the rigged dice and her mounting losses, Neji joined her table, preparing to intervene.

• Neji monitored Tsunade as she examined Kosuke Hyuga and released the Qi sustaining the Soul-Seizing Needle before she could discover it.
• Kosuke’s pain faded, and Tsunade credited his recovery to a supposed conflict between his nervous system and self-awareness.
• Tsunade accepted the Hyuga clan’s consultation fee and left with Shizune.
• Neji followed Tsunade to a casino, where his Byakugan revealed a sealing array rigging the dice.
• After Tsunade lost most of her chips, Neji exchanged money for chips and sat beside her.

Neji manipulated the casino dice to provoke Tsunade into destroying the cheating gambling house, then revealed he wanted to make a deal by offering to treat her Hemophobia. Tsunade agreed to hear his treatment plan and led him to the Senju Clan Compound.

• Neji used Qi to manipulate the dice, repeatedly making them land on four, five, and six while gamblers bet on Big.
• Tsunade smashed the gambling table, accused the casino of cheating, and demanded her winnings and twenty million ryo.
• Neji revealed his identity to Tsunade and admitted he had also been behind what happened to Kosuke Hyuga.
• Neji offered to cure Tsunade's Hemophobia and explained that he believed her condition was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Shizune recognized Neji's description of Tsunade's symptoms, and Tsunade agreed to take him to the Senju Clan Compound to discuss treatment.

Neji began treating Tsunade’s emotional trauma by guiding her into a memory of Kato Dan’s final battle. As Tsunade watched Dan’s sacrifice, the story left her reliving the loss that had haunted her.

• Tsunade showed Neji and Shizune the deserted Senju compound and explained how the clan had disbanded.
• Neji argued that the Senju legacy endured through its descendants across Konoha, while the Hyuga bloodline and Caged Bird kept its members bound to the clan.
• Neji explained his heart-based treatment and used Inner Qi to relax Tsunade before guiding her into a memory as an observer.
• On the Hidden Grass border, Kato Dan exhausted his chakra using the Spirit Transformation Technique to protect the ninja carrying crucial intelligence.
• Dan and the remaining survivors faced the enemy, and Dan died asking Tsunade to carry his dream forward.

Tsunade woke rested after Neji's treatment and watched him demonstrate his powerful palm techniques. Neji asked to leave Konoha with her, and Tsunade agreed to give him her necklace as he prepared to go.

• Tsunade slept peacefully through the night while Shizune watched over her, and Neji contemplated the Ōtsutsuki Clan and Tenseigan beneath the moon.
• Tsunade awoke without her nightmare, covered Shizune with her robe, and watched Neji unleash three formidable palm techniques.
• Tsunade praised Neji's techniques and asked whether he had created them himself; he confirmed that he had.
• Neji asked Tsunade to take him with her when she left Konoha, explaining that he needed to travel and that her treatment would take at least a year.
• Tsunade gave Neji her necklace, and he felt the Primordial Bagua Diagram respond with excitement.

Neji opened Xiao Xi’s meridians so she could begin cultivating chakra, then used the First Hokage’s Necklace to empower the Heavenly Secrets Spring. There, he learned advanced Hyuga techniques and faced a physical shadow of himself in combat.

• Neji asked Xiao Xi whether she wanted to become a ninja, and she admitted that she had always wanted to stand by his side.
• Neji used his Qi to clear and widen Xiao Xi’s meridians, enabling her to cultivate chakra.
• Xiao Xi thanked Neji tearfully after he told her to try gathering chakra that night.
• Neji entered the Bronze Gate with the First Hokage’s Necklace, which poured energy into the Heavenly Secrets Spring and transformed the area into a lake.
• Neji watched his reflection demonstrate the One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms and a new variation of Rotation, then practiced alongside it.
• The shadow took physical form and attacked Neji, beginning a fierce exchange of blows.