Chapter 208: Do You Want to Know the True Power of the Byakugan?
"Hiss, you're too ruthless. I'm not fighting you next time."
"It would be for the best if you could actually do as you say. But you said the same thing last time and the time before that, yet this time you still couldn't resist coming over for a beating."
On the streets of Konoha, Naruto walked calmly, a constant smile on his face as he complained in a low voice.
Sasuke, walking shoulder-to-shoulder beside him, looked a bit wretched. The bruises on the corners of his mouth and around his eyes made his handsome face somewhat comical.
Towards the gazes from the surrounding villagers, Naruto responded with a friendly nod, but Sasuke paid them no mind.
In comparison, he was more concerned about his three hundred and forty-ninth defeat.
"Naruto, what do you call that ninjutsu you used to nullify my Fire Release?" Sasuke finally couldn't hold back, asking with an unwilling tone.
In the three hundred and forty-ninth challenge just now, he had used "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Loud Singing Technique" four times in one go. Sixteen fire dragons had bombarded Naruto almost simultaneously.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Loud Singing Technique" could spew four fire dragons, attacking the target from four directions—above, below, left, and right—simultaneously, with a 100% hit rate. Besides taking it head-on, there was no way to dodge.
It required a huge amount of chakra to use; Sasuke had only managed to use it four times by relying on Sage Mode.
But just when he thought victory was in his grasp,
Naruto stood motionless, his hands rapidly forming a dazzling array of seals.
And although Sasuke clearly didn't see anything unusual happen, the sixteen fire dragons rushing towards Naruto suddenly disintegrated, lasting only two or three seconds before turning into black smoke and extinguishing in mid-air.
Seeing this scene at the time, the psychological shadow cast on Sasuke was simply immeasurable. His not-so-bright little head directly froze.
According to his initial thoughts, Naruto would have to at least use a Super-Large Wind Release Rasengan to barely block his move.
But in the end, it was dealt with by Naruto so casually.
If not for the mostly depleted and unfluctuating Sage Art chakra in his body, he would have even suspected that he, an Uchiha, had fallen under a genjutsu.
Naruto glanced at him, feigning puzzlement: "Huh, didn't I call out the ninjutsu name before?"
"No! Since when did you like shouting ninjutsu names!"
Sasuke's face instantly flushed red, feeling that Naruto was teasing him again.
This guy Naruto either didn't shout the ninjutsu name, or used the names of other ninjutsu to mislead him. He had fallen for this trick many times already.
"I don't know what this ninjutsu is called either. I guess it's a defensive ninjutsu I came up with when I was bored."
Seeing Sasuke's annoyed look, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle: "Ultimately, it's just using summoning techniques and Wind Release ninjutsu to suck all the air out from around me."
"Although this ninjutsu counters most Fire Release ninjutsu, its duration completely depends on how long I can hold my breath."
Even a Fire Release ninjutsu performed with chakra still needs to consume air to continue burning.
"Tsk, you bastard, playing clever tricks again."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, retorting noncommittally: "Just tell me if it's practical or not."
Hearing this, Sasuke subconsciously nodded, then his face turned red upon realizing.
He immediately changed the subject stiffly: "Is Little Lee about to graduate? Should we get together then?"
Ever since Rock Lee started training in taijutsu with Might Guy, the three of them rarely gathered to practice anymore.
However, they would still often see Little Lee and Might Guy running past on their hands, shouting embarrassing quotes about youth.
"Let's let Little Lee spend more time with his teacher and teammates."
Naruto shook his head: "If he follows the two of us, it will only obscure the light on his own body."
Sasuke also fell silent upon hearing this.
As their strength rapidly improved, the gap between them and their peers also grew larger and larger.
Although their friendship still existed, their communication had become much less.
"Naruto."
As if thinking of something, Sasuke suddenly asked: "Do you think... when we graduate and are assigned to teams, we'll be put in the same group?"
Naruto nodded without hesitation: "We will."
Sasuke, who was originally somewhat lost and dejected, was instantly stunned.
"So certain? Then tell me, who will our other teammate be?"
"Probably Haruno Sakura."
"Haruno Sakura?"
Sasuke asked back with a puzzled face: "The two of us... one Uchiha, one Jinchūriki. Putting a civilian ninja in our squad, aren't they afraid she'll drag us down?"
Although Sasuke's words were a bit direct, Naruto knew he held no ill will.
"Although Haruno Sakura's practical combat scores are indeed average, her theory scores are about the same as yours. And besides her, there's no one more suitable."
Naruto paused here, and Sasuke also became thoughtful.
"That's true. The Ino-Shika-Chō trio, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyūga Hinata, and what's-his-name... these people from Konoha's clans will definitely follow the Hokage's faction."
"This way, they can both win over the major families and ensure the status and continuation of the Hokage's faction."
With that, Sasuke looked up.
But meeting those surprised azure blue eyes, a black line appeared on Sasuke's forehead.
"Hey hey hey, what's with that look! I'm not an idiot!"
Naruto let out a laugh, saying playfully: "I heard you've been getting along well with Haruno Sakura recently. Why don't you take care of her a bit?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's a normal friendship, okay!"
Sasuke's old face turned red, then he stuck his neck out: "Then what about you and Ino? Aren't you and Ino also on very good terms?"
Seeing he was ready for mutual destruction, Naruto tactfully stopped discussing this topic.
But after a moment of silence, Sasuke couldn't hold it in anymore, looking at Naruto hesitantly.
"Naruto, what do you want to do in the future?"
Now, with the help of Naruto and Teacher Jiraiya, he already possessed considerable strength.
To say he could match a "Kage" would be a bit arrogant.
But in Sage Mode, he was confident he could defeat an ordinary Jōnin.
Sasuke had already decided that after a period of time, once he had learned the perfect Sage Mode, he would go and investigate the truth of the night of the massacre.
Just as Naruto had once said,
if there was a mastermind behind Uchiha Itachi, then he would kill him along with the mastermind to avenge the spirits of the Uchiha.
However, Teacher Jiraiya had also said that one cannot live for revenge.
He needed a grand ideal that could fill the emptiness in his heart after he got his revenge.
But what to do after revenge... Sasuke still hadn't thought it through.
So, he was very curious about Naruto's plans for the future.
"What to do in the future..."
Hearing Sasuke's question, a strange light flashed in Naruto's eyes.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had once asked him the same question.
At that time, the young Naruto's answer was that he wanted to "be himself."
And after many years, as he understood more and more principles, as his understanding of the world became clearer, the doubts in his heart also grew more numerous.
Only after accepting Kurama's power and facing the darkness in his own heart,
did Naruto completely understand his own heart and accept the darkness hidden within.
"Me... I still want to be myself."
The corner of Sasuke's eye twitched: "What kind of answer is that? What does 'be myself' mean?"
Naruto came back to his senses and couldn't help but chuckle: "To be myself is to do what I like to do, to do what I should do, seeking only to have no regrets in my own heart."
Sasuke frowned deeply, and after a moment, said: "I still don't understand what you mean. But as your rival, I won't fall behind."
"As for me, after I graduate, I'll go out and see the world. Perhaps then I can find the future I want."
These past few years, to become stronger, for revenge, he hadn't relaxed for a single moment.
Perhaps it was time to go see the outside world.
"Is that so? Then I look forward to it."
A strange light flashed in Naruto's eyes as he chuckled lightly: "When there's a chance in the future, I'll give you a gift."
"What gift?"
"The same eyes as Uchiha Itachi."
Hearing that man's name, Sasuke's steps instantly paused.
He turned to look at Naruto, his expression grave: "Are you serious?"
From the time he awakened his Sharingan until now, four years had passed, but his pupil power had not broken through, and the improvement was very limited.
Before taking Jiraiya as his master, Sasuke, in his eagerness to catch up to Naruto and get revenge, had also tried to delve into the power of the Sharingan.
But in the end, it was all useless effort.
Only after learning Sage Mode and having his temperament and strength improve did Sasuke gradually forget about the Sharingan.
"The Sharingan is the eye that reflects the heart."
Naruto lowered his voice: "In the process of losing love, the emotions of Uchiha clansmen become intense and boiling, thereby stimulating the brain to secrete powerful Yin Release chakra, which in turn stimulates the opening and evolution of the Sharingan."
From one-tomoe Sharingan, to two-tomoe, three-tomoe, and Mangekyō Sharingan, it was all like this.
Without stimulation, the evolution of the Sharingan requires a long period of training and accumulation.
And the upper limit of the Sharingan's opening, what level it can reach, is related to the Uchiha clansman's own quality.
"...Losing love?"
Sasuke's tone was grim: "I see. So that's how it is. What a cruel way to become stronger."
This was probably the reason why that man killed his entire clan and parents.
And he, living in a relatively peaceful environment these years, was why his Sharingan's pupil power hadn't seen any major improvement.
Moreover, a person's personality is related to the education they receive and the environment they are in.
Sasuke, being influenced by Naruto and Jiraiya, naturally had no chance to develop extreme thoughts.
However, having figured this out, Sasuke felt a little puzzled again.
"Then how do you plan to enhance my pupil power? I will absolutely not do something as cruel and inhuman as that man."
If killing his relatives was the only way to gain power, then Sasuke would rather give up this evil power.
"Don't worry."
Naruto shook his head with a smile: "You just need to wait quietly for that day to come."
"What day?"
"Guess?"
Sasuke was instantly choked, unable to help but say angrily: "Are you a child? Still playing 'guess guess guess'!"
But no matter what Sasuke said, Naruto no longer spoke.
"Tch, say it or don't. Who cares!"
Seeing his mysterious appearance, Sasuke clicked his tongue with some anger and walked away in a huff.
Naruto watched his retreating back, sighing secretly in his heart.
"I just hope that when that day comes, you won't resent my choice."
After all, everyone has their own path to walk.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Hyūga clan grounds.
Thump thump thump!
Neji was sweating profusely, punching the wooden post one after another.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"This Gentle Fist thing, this Gentle Fist thing, why is it so weak and powerless?!"
Blood seeped from his bandaged hands. Neji's heart was filled with anger and unwillingness.
As a genius of the Hyūga clan, yet he was defeated by the dead-last, Rock Lee.
Such a humiliation deeply stung Neji's sensitive heart.
Neji, who had always been proud of his Gentle Fist, for the first time felt that the Gentle Fist was so powerless.
But only the Gentle Fist could cooperate with the Byakugan's ability to see through acupressure points.
If they lost the power of the Gentle Fist, they would only have a reconnaissance role.
"As a dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai clan, same as the Uchiha, they have the Mangekyō Sharingan. Do we only have the Byakugan?"
In terms of bloodline potential, is the Hyūga clan really inferior to the Uchiha clan?
Neji's heart was filled with unwillingness.
With the end of the night of the massacre, Uchiha Itachi's defection, and the appearance of Ame-no-Minakanushi, intelligence about the Mangekyō Sharingan was also completely made public.
Above the three-tomoe Sharingan, there was the Mangekyō Sharingan, as powerful as gods and demons.
But the Byakugan, at its end, was still just the Byakugan.
What's more, only the Main Family could develop the Byakugan to its fullest.
The branch family, branded with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, could not possess a complete Byakugan. Their upper limit was fixed the moment the Caged Bird was branded.
Click!
A slight sound came from behind. Neji abruptly turned around.
"Who's there?!"
The blue veins around his Byakugan bulged as he looked towards the forest behind him.
In the shadows of the forest, two figures had appeared there at some unknown time.
The strange chakra within the two made Neji's heart fill with suspicion.
But the next moment, the two slowly spoke.
"Father, is this the person we're looking for?"
"No, Toneri. This is a bird kept in a cage."
"A bird kept in a cage?"
"Yes, a bird with its wings broken."
Hearing the two's calm conversation, Neji's heart was fiercely squeezed, his handsome face somewhat twisted.
"You're courting death!"
Overcome by a fit of rage, chakra gathered at his feet, and he abruptly charged towards the two.
But the instant he got close to them,
BOOM!!
Neji was sent flying back by an invisible attack.
"Weak power, weak fist technique, and you've gone down the wrong path."
Ōtsutsuki Tatsuhito, pulling Toneri along, slowly walked out of the shadows, looking down at Neji lying wretchedly on the ground.
Compared to their Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon, the advantage of the Hyūga clan lay in the purity of their Byakugan.
Unfortunately, these distant relatives seemed to have missed the point.
"Byakugan?!"
Staring intently at the pair of white eyes, and the two's smooth foreheads, Neji questioned with suspicion and uncertainty: "Who on earth are you? Why do you have the Byakugan?"
Neji was certain that the Main Family, and even the entire Hyūga clan, absolutely did not have these two people.
The two's attire was also very strange, not at all like people from Konoha, or even from the ninja world.
"We have the same eyes. Our blood comes from the same person."
Ōtsutsuki Tatsuhito pointed to his own eyes, a smile curling on his lips: "Young man, I can feel your desire for power, and I can also feel your dissatisfaction with the current situation."
"Then... I have what you need. Do you want to know the true power of the Byakugan?"
(End of Chapter)
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