Hyūga Tenshu's injuries had healed by seventy percent.
But he had grown less talkative.
During the day, he often went out alone, wandering among the white buildings and seeking out the white-clad Ōtsutsuki clansmen to talk to.
When he returned at night, he always looked unhappy.
One day, Ryuto ran into him in the corridor and asked him a question.
"Find anything out?"
Hyūga Tenshu shook his head.
"They... aren't very willing to talk to me. The Main Family said advancing the Byakugan was a clan secret that couldn't be shared with outsiders. The Branch Family... outright called me an inferior bloodline and told me to get lost."
As he spoke, the veins around his Byakugan throbbed.
Ryuto asked no more.
A few more days passed.
That night, Ryuto was regulating his breathing in his room.
Ki circulated through his body. He could sense how quiet it was outside, with only the chakra fluctuations of a few Ōtsutsuki guards.
Suddenly-
"Clang-clang-clang-"
A bell.
Urgent and heavy, its tolls came one after another, carrying far beneath this purple sky.
Ryuto opened his eyes, pushed the door open, and stepped out.
Hashirama, Madara, Tobirama, and Izuna had also come out into the corridor.
"What happened?" Hashirama asked.
No one knew.
Hyūga Tenshu came out of his room too, his expression grave.
"That bell... something's wrong."
He had barely finished when a white figure came running from the distance.
It was a young man from the Ōtsutsuki Main Family, around twenty, with an anxious expression.
"Everyone, please come to the Council Chamber with me immediately!"
"What happened?" Madara asked.
"There's been... a major upheaval in the clan." The young man panted. "Lord Jing sent me to notify you. Please come at once."
Hashirama and Madara exchanged a glance.
"Let's go."
The six followed