Chapter 481: Improving the Byakugan
Now, Hinata had Ino to rely on. She spent her days busy with laundry, cooking, and cleaning, and the smile on her face had appeared much more often. However, her personal strength had also declined rapidly.
According to the timeline, Pain would be arriving soon. Yet, Hinata not only didn't know the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, but even the Sixty-Four Palms she once knew had become incredibly sloppy.
This learning progress was far slower than her own in the original timeline.
"S-Sorry... I'm just so clumsy..." Hinata launched three consecutive attacks, and all three were easily deflected by Ino.
The little knowledge Ino had was like an infant's in the eyes of Teacher Six Paths, but to people like Kakashi, it was already quite profound.
Her guidance for Hinata was definitely not just day after day of hard training. It was clear that path wouldn't work for Hinata; no matter how hard she trained, her achievements would be limited.
What was the core of the Hyuga clan? It was still the Byakugan.
If the Byakugan improved, her physical abilities would naturally skyrocket. The Byakugan was the foundation.
It was impossible for Hinata to awaken the Tenseigan right now. She simply didn't have the aptitude, and her body was far from the level of Toneri Ōtsutsuki. Both her software and hardware were subpar. However, it was possible to slightly improve her Byakugan.
A normal Byakugan is level 1. At level 80, it awakens the Tenseigan. A level 79 Byakugan is still a Byakugan, but it is far, far stronger than a level 1 Byakugan.
"Concentrate. I'm warning you beforehand, what comes next is all genjutsu." Ino clapped her hands, using the genjutsu technique of Tayuya's Demonic Flute: Phantom Sound Chains. "Three, two, one, go!" After a simple beat, Hinata fell into the genjutsu.
She found herself on a desolate battlefield. The sky was dark, and the ground was muddy. She walked forward, her feet sinking deep with each step. In the distance, she saw a figure. She hurried over to ask for directions.
As she got closer, she found the back of the figure somewhat familiar. She stopped about three steps away.
"Excuse me, where is...? Sakura-chan?!" The figure collapsed to the ground. It was Sakura's corpse.
"Ino-chan's genjutsu is so powerful... Release!" Hinata clutched her chest. That had given her a scare; she really thought Sakura was dead.
She tried to use her Byakugan to break the genjutsu. An ordinary illusion would naturally not be able to stop the legendary eyes, but Ino had secretly used her Sharingan. Using the Tenseigan level 80 analogy, her current Sharingan was at a level of 40 or 50. Hinata's Byakugan couldn't break her genjutsu at all.
Realizing that this genjutsu was meant to temper her spirit, Hinata could only leave Sakura's body behind and walk forward blindly.
The corpse of Shino Aburame. The corpse of Kiba Inuzuka. Kurenai's corpse.
From the looks of it, many enemies had invaded Konoha. The Konoha ninja had set up layers of defense, but the casualties were still heavy.
The Ninja Academy was littered with bodies. Iruka had been guarding the gate, only to be sliced in half by a sharp wind style.
Even though she knew it was a genjutsu, Hinata's spirit was still affected. She arrived at the Hokage Rock and found Naruto crucified on the Fourth Hokage's stone face, his ever-determined expression now devoid of any smile.
"Naruto-kun..."
Fifteen minutes later, Hinata placed the Hokage hat on Jiraiya's corpse. The genjutsu ended.
Hinata emerged from the illusion looking dejected. Ino sat beside her, waiting for her to recover on her own.
They were ninja who had undergone harsh training since they were young. This level of mental stimulation wasn't actually that severe.
"Ino-chan, has the situation really become this dangerous? Even if everyone unites, we still can't defeat the enemy?" Hinata asked.
"I can only say that the enemies in the future will get stronger and stronger. You need to be prepared for your friends and family to be sacrificed. If you don't want them to be sacrificed, then get stronger. By how much did your ocular power increase?"
Hinata felt it. "It increased a little."
"Then it's working. Continue."
As Ino said "continue," Hinata witnessed a hundred different ways Konoha could be destroyed and a hundred different ways Naruto could die.
At first, she was deeply affected, thinking how tragic Naruto-kun's death was. But after seeing it so many times, she eventually developed a sense of calm acceptance. Naruto died again? Oh, well. I'm used to it.
Through the genjutsu, Hinata's spiritual energy grew steadily. Ino crushed the Byakugan she had taken from Ao and scattered the pure ocular power throughout the illusion.
The Sharingan and Byakugan could ultimately not coexist. Ino had no use for a single Byakugan, so she might as well use it to enhance Hinata's.
Simply absorbing the ocular power would likely cause one eye to become much stronger while the other remained the same. To prevent Hinata from having one big eye and one small eye, it was better to destroy this main family Byakugan for a one-time overall boost.
When Ao chose this Byakugan, it wasn't a random choice. Who knows how much work he did in secret. Using the Tenseigan level 80 analogy again, Hinata's current Byakugan was at most level 10, while this one was at least level 20.
After three days of training, the ocular power in Hinata's Byakugan had increased significantly. It was also time for Ino to go on her mission.
Searching for the Six-Tails jinchuriki with a grand sensory sweep was not the best strategy. Using traditional methods—inquiring, asking around, and utilizing the vast intelligence network—would be much faster.
Ino had the Yamanaka clan's intelligence network as her foundation, but the Six-Tails jinchuriki wasn't necessarily in those gray areas. The local lowlifes were the main source for finding people. Tsunade, who had been shirking her duties for years and was something of a wanderer herself, was made the search team leader. Without much thought, the "four-person" team of Tsunade, Ino, Shizune, and Tonton was reassembled and set off.
"This time, I'm going to gamble to my heart's content!" Tsunade stood at the village gate, raising her fist and cheering excitedly.
Ino and Shizune had expressions that were a mix of a smile and a grimace. As expected, even after becoming an advisor, Tsunade was still the same.
Tonton, on the other hand, was happy to leave Konoha. The village was great in every way, except for the fact that there were too many people!
Many of the villagers looked at him strangely. His three mistresses weren't always by his side, so he was under a lot of pressure.
Now that he was out of the village, the world was his oyster. Even the air outside the village was fresh!
Tsunade's team went to find the Six-Tails jinchuriki, and Hinata returned to her training routine of practicing her fists, meditating, and then practicing her fists again.
As she finished her training for the day and returned to her room to rest, a small snake, the same color as the branches, poked its head out from a treetop far away. It glanced in her direction, then slithered into the bushes. Half an hour later, the small snake arrived by Kabuto Yakushi's side.
The Konoha Sensory Division would detect any unregistered chakra movements. Kabuto was certainly not on that registered list, but Danzō had come up with many ways around it in the past.
Even the most meticulous system has its loopholes, and the Sensory Division itself had backdoors left for the various ninja clans.
Kabuto had entered and exited Konoha many times without triggering the division's jutsu.
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