I woke up again.
Third time today. Maybe fourth. I'd lost count. My internal clock was garbage now anyway.
The first thing I noticed wasn't the light—it was the warmth.
Stronger. Again. Not uncomfortable, not painful yet, but it had grown—like water rising in a closed jar. Steady. Slow. And unmistakably building toward something.
I inhaled deeply. Baby lungs, tiny body, but the action helped me focus.
The chakra. It was clearer now. Familiar.
I could sense it in more places than before—threading through my chest, wrapping around my ribs, pooling behind my eyes. And that last part... that was new. It was more than before. A constant stream.
The chakra wasn't just growing—it was flowing. Toward my eyes.
Again.
So it's not just a one-off. My body is naturally pulling chakra into my ocular system. Which makes sense, I guess. Otsutsuki chakra + Hyuga genes = overclocked Byakugan.
I let the thought drift.
Then I got to work.
My goal hadn't changed: no more accidental activations. I was going to control this. Manually.
I relaxed and tried to feel the chakra.
Not as a vague sensation. Not as heat.
As flow.
I let my awareness sink. It wasn't elegant—more like fumbling toward a light switch in the dark. But every so often, I felt it. That flicker. That twist of warmth responding to me.
I imagined dipping my hand into a stream.
The chakra resisted.
It was like trying to move water using only spread fingers. I couldn't grasp it. Couldn't redirect it. But I could feel it responding. Just barely.
Sometimes it curled. Sometimes it rippled. Not because I willed it, but because I was close. Like standing beside a sensitive wind chime—too far to play it, but close enough to make it stir.
Frustrating. But promising.
I kept at it.
Over and over again.
I tried not to scrunch my face this time. I breathed slowly, repeatedly, committing everything to the sensation of chakra in motion.
There. A twitch. A bend. A ripple.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours.
At some point, I blinked and realized the light outside had changed. The sun was low now, casting long, golden bars across the floor through the paper screen.
How long was I out? Two hours? Maybe more.
I felt tired, but not drained. Not yet. The chakra was still flowing.
Then—
A spark.
Not literal.
But a shift.
The pressure in my skull hit a threshold, and my vision began to warp.
I knew what was coming.
I braced.
The Byakugan activated.
There was no dramatic sound. No jutsu call. Just sight.
Everything unfolded.
The room exploded outward in clarity. I didn't just see objects—I saw through them. The wooden walls around me peeled open layer by layer, revealing intricate networks of grain, moisture, and age. Tatami mats beneath me shifted from uniform beige to a patchwork of individual, woven fibers—each thread perfectly visible, even the slight imperfections in the weave.
Beyond the walls, reality became translucent.
I could see shapes that weren't visible a moment ago—branches swaying lightly in the breeze, beetles crawling across the outer foundation, a moth fluttering between roof beams. I saw pulsing heat, chakra threads moving through every living thing, flickering like currents of light beneath the surface of reality.
It was overwhelming.
Like my vision had gained a hundred new dimensions.
Fifteen meters.
That was my radius.
Fifteen meters in every direction.
Everything alive lit up like a lantern.
Grass outside. Trees. Insects crawling under the porch. Birds nesting above the eaves. And—
Two human signatures.
One by the window.
One just outside the door.
Their chakra patterns stood out—one broad and grounded, the other sharp and concentrated. A masculine calm in one, a feminine precision in the other. Mhh... likely a male and a female. And judging by their positions—stationary, concealed, with no signs of movement—they weren't just loitering.
They were guards.
Hidden. Still. Watching.
Definitely guards.
I stared at them for a moment—fascinated by how dense their chakra coils were compared to the ambient life around them. Even insects had chakra. Faint, but real.
But then...
The pain.
It returned. Predictable now, but no less intense.
My temples throbbed, like pressure was being released through my skull. My tiny hands curled instinctively.
But I bore it.
This time, I knew it was coming. That made it bearable.
It's the information density, I thought through gritted... gums. Too much for a newborn's nervous system. That's what causes the pain.
I held the sight as long as I could.
Then the chakra drained.
The world folded back to normal. Flat. Dim. Small.
The pain faded slowly.
I sighed. Or maybe whimpered.
I hope this isn't doing long-term damage.
I glanced toward the ceiling—or what I could see of it.
I felt exhausted.
Not like the earlier nap-tired kind. More like chakra-exhaustion tired.
It was a strange kind of fatigue. Deep. Internal. Like every part of me had run a marathon my body wasn't built for.
And I was asleep before the next thought finished forming.
Author's Note:I'm really happy that so many people are reading this — thank you so, so much! I really appreciate it.If you can, please leave me a comment.Tell me what you like, what you don't like, or even share a fun trashy side story! 😉