Uchiha's Ocular Techniques

Genin faced little danger in peacetime. At least, that was true for Team 3 under Might Guy.

Every morning, they completed a D-rank mission. In the afternoons, Might Guy decided whether they would take another mission or train.

When it came to training, he focused on Rock Lee's Taijutsu. There was much less he could do for Neji and Tenten.

All he could do was spar with Neji now and then and put Tenten through some physical conditioning.

As the days passed, Neji noticed a clear change. Most strikingly, his Byakugan's Eye Power had surged, and his Chakra had grown along with it.

The increase in Eye Power and Chakra had brought a corresponding surge in Neji's strength.

"Twenty kilometers!" After testing it, Neji was more than satisfied.

That did not mean he had a full 360-degree field of vision spanning twenty kilometers. It was the distance he could see in a straight line in one direction.

This was how much his Byakugan had changed in the three months since he had received the Cloned Limb.

He could now see several times farther than he had before the transplant.

The Tenseigan... how much longer? Neji wondered silently at the Training Ground.

As a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Otsutsuki Toneri had made his eyes evolve directly into the Tenseigan after receiving the Byakugan.

Neji's bloodline could not compare to Otsutsuki Toneri's. He felt his eyes would need quite some time to transform gradually.

This feels incredible! Neji smiled, his joy beyond words.

Maybe as my Eye Power grows, I can turn some of my ideas for the Gentle Fist into reality.

Neji had already worked out a more advanced form of the Gentle Fist in his mind. For now, though, his Byakugan's Eye Power and his own Chakra were not enough to make it happen.

Kaguya Otsutsuki was an excellent example of how far the Gentle Fist could go. Neji only needed to follow her lead.

"So you are here." Just as Neji was savoring his progress, a familiar voice rang out.

"What brings you here?" Neji asked curiously.

When Neji had tested his Byakugan a moment ago, he had seen Sasuke watching other people train with his Sharingan two Training Grounds away.

There had been a whole Training Ground between them.

"Hmph!" Sasuke snorted. "Weren't you the one who told me to visit the village's Training Grounds more often and learn while I was there?"

"Heh. If you're rounding things off, wasn't that your idea?" Neji was not taking the blame.

"That doesn't matter. You've noticed the change in your eyes, haven't you?" Sasuke got to the point.

"You have?" Neji asked.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan. "It still has Two-Tomoe, but its Eye Power has grown a lot. My Insight and Copying Ability have improved accordingly. My Chakra has increased by about the same degree, too."

Sasuke looked pleased with the change. His strength had grown rapidly lately.

"What about you? How does it feel?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course I've noticed. It's much the same for me." Neji nodded.

Seeing no one around, Sasuke asked curiously, "Then do you know how long it'll take to reach that Tenseigan you mentioned?"

Neji shook his head. "Not yet. My Byakugan's Eye Power is still growing. I might not know until it reaches a point where it can't grow any further."

Sasuke nodded, then brought up something else. "Yesterday, I went to see the Stone Tablet passed down through the Uchiha Clan."

"What did it say?" Neji knew only the broad outline of its contents.

What he knew was a condensed account, not the tablet's exact text.

"Much like the Hyuga Clan's Stone Tablet, the part I could read only covered the Uchiha Clan's origins and history. There was still a large portion I couldn't see," Sasuke answered.

After seeing the Stone Tablet in the Shrine's Basement the night before, Sasuke had come to believe everything Neji had told him.

"Speaking of which, your Eye Power seems to far surpass mine. At least, that's what our ability to read the tablets suggests." Sasuke looked puzzled.

"Can other members of the Hyuga Clan read the later parts about the Rinnegan and Tenseigan?" he asked.

Neji shook his head. "You've got the wrong idea. The Hyuga Stone Tablet works the same way as the Uchiha Clan's: the stronger your Eye Power, the more you can read. I'm the only one who can see the later parts."

“Doesn't that mean your Eye Power rivals the Mangekyō Sharingan?” Sasuke stared at him in surprise.

“Heh. My Eye Power may be strong, but all it lets me do is see farther. That's nowhere near as useful as the Mangekyō Sharingan,” Neji said.

"You know about the Mangekyō Sharingan, too?" Sasuke was starting to think Neji knew far too much.

“I'm not an ordinary member of the Hyuga Clan. My father is the younger brother of the current Clan Head. Isn't it natural that I'd know a little more?” Neji made it up on the spot.

Seeing how eager Sasuke was, Neji said, “Since you want to know so badly, I'll tell you. Legend says that when a member of the Uchiha Clan awakens the Mangekyō Sharingan, they gain two special Dōjutsu.”

“Special Dōjutsu?” Sasuke frowned. “Do you know what they are?”

Neji snorted. "As if I would. Only the person who awakens those eyes knows. It's like a lottery—you could get anything."

Sasuke's expression darkened. “So when I face Uchiha Itachi, I'll have to watch out for his two Dōjutsu every moment?”

"What do you think?" Neji asked.

Sasuke had never resented the Uchiha Clan as much as he did today. The ability to copy all kinds of jutsu was already absurdly powerful. He did not dare imagine how many Uchiha Itachi had copied over the years. Worse, Uchiha Itachi possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan and its two mysterious Dōjutsu.

“That's not all. Legend says that awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan also grants a member of the Uchiha Clan its true power—Susanoo!” Neji said, dealing another blow as Sasuke's face fell.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked grimly. His instincts told him it would be no easy thing to face.

“A powerful Dōjutsu said to possess absolute defense and the destructive power of a god!” Neji said.

Sasuke fell silent for a long time, his face dark. Neji could not tell what he was thinking.

“If I complete that S-rank Wind Release technique you mentioned, could it break through Susanoo?” Sasuke asked.

Neji thought it over carefully. “I doubt it. According to the Hyuga Clan's records, Susanoo is extremely hard to deal with. An ordinary Rasenshuriken could probably handle an early form, but it wouldn't be enough against the later forms.”

"Susanoo has different forms!?" Sasuke lost his composure. His face was as black as a pot.

“Yeah.” Neji was delighted by Sasuke's grim expression. “As its user's Eye Power grows, Susanoo changes form. At first, it's just a skeletal rib cage. Then it gradually grows flesh and armor and wields Chakra weapons tens, even hundreds, of meters long.”

Seeing Neji's smile, Sasuke grew suspicious. “You're not lying to me, are you? If its Chakra weapons can be hundreds of meters long, Susanoo itself must be over a hundred meters tall. That's bigger than a small mountain.”