Thinking of this, Neji smirked with mockery.
The Main House… the Branch House… so utterly laughable.
Laughable that the Main House forbids the Branch House from doing this or that, and yet their ancestral land was left abandoned.
Perhaps no one could have imagined that Neji's genius would reach such a level — not only mastering the complete Hakkeshō (Eight Trigrams Palm), but even independently comprehending Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven).
Even more unexpected… Neji had found the clan's ancestral land.
"Let me see for myself… the secret of the Hyūga Clan!"
Suppressing his excitement, Neji carefully stepped into the underground entrance and lit a lantern.
The mysterious underground chamber was mostly empty, containing only a massive stone tablet that radiated an ancient, mysterious power.
It seemed that when the Hyūga Clan had relocated, they couldn't take such a huge monument with them. So they sealed it here — and in time, it was simply forgotten.
After all, anything left unused for long is easily lost to memory. The so-called "ancestral teachings" were privileges only the clan head could know, and if a clan head died before passing them on, then what lay here would vanish from collective memory entirely.
"Byakugan!"
Neji decisively poured more dōjutsu power into his eyes.
Fortunately, his ocular strength was not weak. Soon, lines of text appeared carved into the tablet.
The gist was this: The Hyūga Clan carried the bloodline of the Sage, and the Byakugan had the potential to evolve into the eyes of the Sage. Tennin were those who had evolved the Byakugan into the Tenseigan. Only pure Byakugan had the highest chance to evolve. Therefore, to preserve the clan's future and glory, the Caged Bird curse seal was created, leading to the division between Main House and Branch House. The Branch House would protect the Main House, while the Main House, with its pure Byakugan, would strive toward evolution…
Neji let out a laugh, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He pulled off his forehead protector, exposing the Caged Bird mark.
"For the 'future and glory' of the Hyūga, huh? And yet the Main House threw away the ancestral teachings! They hid themselves in the cage of Konoha for the sake of so-called peace. If a person cannot fly freely, what good is a pure Byakugan? How could it possibly evolve into the Tenseigan? And the Branch House, once meant to protect the Main House, has been reduced to nothing but slaves to be used and discarded! Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!"
The truth has a way of driving people mad.
Because reality is always more absurd than you think.
Calming himself, Neji continued reading the tablet… and came across the method to release the Caged Bird.
"So it can be removed! Of course the Main House knows… but they'd never let the Branch House learn it. The moment we knew, we'd revolt. Heh… even more ridiculous."
Neji memorized the method, then sat still for a moment, unsure of what to do next.
Was there truly any need to "save" the rotting Hyūga Clan in Konoha? He wasn't certain. But he was certain of one thing — he wanted his freedom.
Sitting cross-legged, Neji formed the necessary hand seals as described on the tablet, then pressed his palm to his forehead.
A sharp crack rang out — something in his mind had shattered.
His Byakugan… had no more blind spots.
"At last… freedom! But it's not enough. Only when my Byakugan truly evolves will I have real freedom! If I can become a Tennin, changing the Hyūga Clan will be nothing. Perhaps… I can even fulfill Father's wish."
Neji looked into the reflection on his forehead protector — the curse mark was gone.
Yet… something felt off. The underground chamber seemed to hold a unique energy, emanating from the massive stone tablet.
"Byakugan!"
He activated his eyes again — now with a perfect 360-degree field of vision.
Studying the tablet in detail, he finally noticed something strange — shallow palm prints across its surface, oddly familiar.
He took a stance and unleashed Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms).
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With each strike, cracks spread across the stone until it finally exploded with a loud boom.
From within flew out a transparent glass container, landing in Neji's hands. Inside… was a pair of pale blue eyes.
"The eyes of the Tennin who left this tablet…! After his death, they sealed his Tenseigan here!"
Neji could feel the terrifying ocular power radiating from them. His composure crumbled — in his mind's eye, he saw himself soaring freely through the skies.
Yes… if he could absorb the power of this Tenseigan, he too would awaken it.
He… would become a Tennin of the Hyūga Clan!
Meanwhile, in the Natsuki household of Konoha—
Shino, having been warmly hosted by Natsuki and Tenten, was full to bursting, his stomach rounded from winter melon pork rib soup.
Only then did he reveal his purpose:
"Actually, I didn't just come to visit… I also wanted to ask you two about something — how I can become stronger."
"Become stronger?" Tenten tilted her head. "But Shino, don't you have your clan's teachings? Just learn from Uncle Shibi, isn't that enough?"
Shino shook his head. "Not enough. Ever since facing Deidara and Sasori… I realized I was completely useless in that battle. I've thought hard on it, and even asked my father. But I've only become more aware of the Aburame Clan's limits. Our insects are strong — but growing stronger is hard. Against a Kage-level opponent, our chances of victory are slim."
Tenten fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Shino continued, "I know Natsuki always has good ideas. You've given Tenten, Neji, and Sasuke plenty of advice, and they've all grown. So I thought… maybe you could give me a suggestion too."
Natsuki rubbed his chin, thinking. "I don't know much about insects, but I've heard the Aburame Clan's bugs can evolve. Maybe that's a path you can pursue."
"How do I start?" Shino asked quickly.
"Well… let's take Sasori as an example. Your swarm can't get close to him because of his fire — so, pick the insects most resistant to fire and cultivate them until they're immune. If your bugs can't break his puppet's armor, pick the ones with the strongest bite force and train them until they can bite through steel. Keep building on that logic… get it?"
"I get it!" Shino's eyes lit up. "You're right — I should focus on evolving my insects. If my swarm can ignore fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth… even resist some special Kekkei Genkai attacks… and withstand physical strikes while biting through any defense… my swarm will be invincible! As expected of you, Natsuki — excellent advice!"
Natsuki chuckled. "Glad I could help. But raising 'legendary insects' like that won't be easy."
Shino's voice brimmed with confidence. "Once I know the goal, no matter how hard, I'll raise them! Natsuki, you said before that I'm someone you can trust — so I'll earn the strength to be worthy of that trust!"
Yes… Shino was still Shino.
(End of Chapter)
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