I Think He Is a Hero

During the wartime era, the belief instilled in Hyuga branch family ninja from childhood—that "branch family ninja must protect main family ninja"—began to waver.

When relatives, friends, and even young branch family ninja who had only just graduated from the academy died on the battlefield.

There would always be branch family members who wondered: why couldn't the main family make sacrifices?

Why did the main family, who possessed more powerful Byakugan, need the branch family to protect them?

Didn't the Will of Fire call for protecting the young, protecting the village's future?

Why didn't the main family go to war? Weren't they part of the village too?

Hyuga Ling's parents had once considered those questions, and Ling had thought about them as a child too.

But as she grew older, Ling realized that thinking about such things could not help her change her situation at all.

"Originally, in Konoha Hidden Village, important main family ninja would be protected by people from the main family itself."

"But on the battlefield, that meant a greater chance of losing more pure Byakugan."

"So, my parents escorted that main family ninja to join the Konoha-Hidden Mist battlefield. The main family had originally sent him there to serve as a commander."

"But unfortunately, they encountered a Hidden Mist interception unit within the Land of Fire."

"The leader was named Ao. My mother told me that herself."

Yuan listened in silence. By then, he had already finished reading the research scroll on the Caged Bird Curse Mark.

Ao would later become a trusted subordinate of the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, and was known as the Byakugan Killer.

He was one of the few ninja in the ninja world to have transplanted a Byakugan. Until the eve of the Fourth Shinobi World War, he remained listed on Konoha's Gold Wanted List.

"At the time, there were only four people protecting that main family member. Aside from my parents, the other two ninja died in battle."

"While they were evading the interception, the main family ninja was accidentally poisoned. He began to suspect my mother, who had gone out to fetch water."

"That main family ninja had never been on a battlefield. Under extreme anxiety, he actually planned to temporarily send my father away and use the Caged Bird Curse Mark to kill my mother, ensuring that his whereabouts would not be exposed."

"But Father was an elite who had survived the battlefield after all. In his desperation, he could only kill the main family ninja... The Hidden Mist interception unit arrived soon afterward."

"In the ensuing melee, Father risked his life to preserve one Byakugan and had Mother, who had been severely injured, bring it back."

"He said, 'Take this eye back. Just tell the clan that he died. Father wanted Mother to take me and live well.'"

After a long silence, she let out a bitter laugh.

"This is the truth behind the so-called 'Byakugan Hero.' Only later did I learn that Hidden Mist possessed a bloodline limit called the Red Eye, which countered the Byakugan."

Hyuga Ling closed her eyes, steadied her emotions, and drained the cold tea in her cup.

"Yuan-kun, isn't it ridiculous? The 'Byakugan Hero' actually violated..."

"No, Ling. In my eyes, your father was a hero."

Hyuga Ling had personally spoken the secret buried deep in her heart.

She could have accepted it if someone willing to escape this place with her mocked her as a naïve little girl, or even condemned such actions for violating ninja rules.

But she had never expected to hear such an evaluation.

Uchiha Yuan believed Ling's father possessed noble resolve and courage.

He had been willing to risk his life to protect those he loved, and before dying in battle, he had arranged for their future.

Perhaps this was the true face that ninja had always hidden away.

"Yuan-kun, I'm very happy to hear you say that."

"But Father never knew that this was torture for Mother too. Once, I accidentally learned the 'truth' when she spoke in her sleep, and after that, Mother became completely silent."

"She stopped communicating with outsiders. She barely even responded to me."

"She was afraid that if someone heard the truth, the so-called 'Byakugan Hero' would be scorned by the clan."

"And Mother and I—not only would we be unable to remain in the Hyuga Clan, we would even lose everything we have now."

Hyuga Ling lifted her head, her eyes shining.

"But isn't everything we have false? Mother became withdrawn, and she even seemed to age entirely."

"As their daughter, I hate the Hyuga Clan. One day, I will take Mother and leave this place."

"That is the real reason I asked Teacher Orochimaru for a way to undo the Caged Bird."

Ling's thoughts stemmed both from concern for her mother and from her own desire for freedom.

She did not care in the slightest about the unfairness of the system or the clan's internal conflicts.

As the Hyuga Clan's political investment, Orochimaru's student, and the daughter of the "Byakugan Hero."

Ling had always lived a relatively comfortable life within the Hyuga Clan.

But whether it was the spacious estate or the privileged living conditions, everything rested upon a lie that could collapse at any moment.

She truly was Orochimaru's student—always placing survival above all else, always adhering to her own beliefs and pursuits.

Uchiha Yuan never denied the desires of a normal human being, even if those desires did not conform to ninja rules.

But who could say that all so-called ninja rules were right?

Which was more important, comrades or missions? And between family and duty, which should be abandoned first?

The root cause of such cognitive contradictions might have been the ninja system once criticized by the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, or perhaps something even deeper.

Yuan did not intend to investigate these matters further. He had no plans to reform the ninja world.

"No matter what, let's think about how to remove the Caged Bird Curse Mark first!"

"After staying under Teacher Orochimaru, I understand that helpless feeling of having no control over your own body."

After reading Orochimaru's research on the Caged Bird Curse Mark, Uchiha Yuan truly admired the mad scientist.

Through focused research, he had proposed three directions for removing the Curse Mark.

First, the Caged Bird Curse Mark was closely connected to the souls of the Hyuga Clan. Approaching it from the level of the soul was the most direct, and most difficult, method.

Second, the Caged Bird Curse Mark itself was a combination of runic formulas and Chakra. If the sealed Byakugan evolved, there was likewise a possibility of breaking the sealing formula. This was the most dangerous method and the least likely to succeed.

Third, recreate a body through cloning technology and complete reincarnation without relying on the soul. This was the method most likely to succeed.

Yuan believed all three methods were worth putting into practice.

Having mastered the Spiritualisation Technique, he possessed a certain degree of expertise in soul research. The first plan was worth attempting.

As for the Byakugan mutating into the Jōgan, or even evolving into the Tenseigan.

Uchiha Yuan knew one or two methods.

One could fuse a sufficient number of Byakugan into a Tenseigan, or use the Sage Body of Hamura's lunar descendants to nurture a pure Byakugan until it evolved into a Tenseigan.

Given their current conditions, carrying out either of these methods would be quite difficult.

However, during the time ahead, Yuan also intended to begin specialized research on himself.

Within the genes of the dormant Golem, there might be a possibility for Byakugan evolution.

When that time came, he might be able to obtain a Tenseigan that neither the Divine Tree nor Kaguya had ever displayed.

After selectively explaining Orochimaru's experimental plans and ideas to Hyuga Ling, Uchiha Yuan habitually held out his hand.

"Whether it's research into the soul, Byakugan evolution, or a replica of 'Ling,' you can't just freeload, can you?"

An unusual gleam appeared in Hyuga Ling's pure white eyes. Playfully, she pinched Uchiha Yuan's palm.

"There! If Yuan-kun wants to help, then start by getting to know the Hyuga Clan."

What she placed in his hand was a scroll recording the Hyuga Clan's secret Gentle Fist techniques.

But seeing Ling's happy expression, Yuan felt that he might be able to obtain some tissue cells or something from her in the future.

He rather looked forward to the Byakugan's perceptive abilities.