Only after hearing Vegapunk's words did the clan Ninja finally exhale in relief, their faces quickly lighting up with eager anticipation.
Awakening a clan's Bloodline Limit had always been a major hurdle, especially for the mightier bloodlines—the stronger the ability, the harder the awakening.
Take the Byakugan: though not the most destructive of Bloodline Limits, it had still become one of the most renowned across the Ninja World. Beyond its powerful utility and support functions, its extraordinarily high success rate of awakening was a huge plus.
So why, among all bloodline clans, had only the Hyuga Clan developed a main/branch family system like the Bird in a Cage seal? Besides the ease of transplanting the Byakugan, another reason was simple—other clans simply had too few bloodline-bearing Ninja!
Among the Hozuki Clan, perhaps only one in ten would awaken their Bloodline Limit. The Yuki Clan's Ice Release was about the same, and the Kaguya Clan's Shikotsumyaku was even worse—only one in thirty or fifty might ever awaken it.
With numbers that low, who would bother with main and branch families? Any Ninja who did awaken a Bloodline Limit was naturally a cut above the rest; there was no need for a Cage seal to enforce status.
For those who failed to awaken, their standing within the clan was little better than the Hyuga branch members. Yet because this was purely ability-based—and no one held their lives in their hands—few held any real resentment.
But if you said they didn't long to awaken their Bloodline Limit, to grow stronger and rise in rank, that would be the real joke.
'My lord, is it true? Can your research really help us awaken our Bloodline Limits?'
A Hozuki Ninja asked, face flushed with hope.
'Let's start the research first. I won't guarantee anything, but I'm seventy, maybe eighty percent confident.'
Vegapunk watched as these people leapt into the pot of their own accord, a smile spreading across his face… While he continued his bloodline research, the butterfly effect he'd set off kept rippling across the Ninja World.
Konoha, still reeling from the Nine-Tails disaster, was in shambles. The Third Hokage had taken up the mantle once more, but facing such a mess left him feeling more than a little overwhelmed.
In his youth, the Third might truly have deserved the title 'Shinobi Champion,' but now, back in office, he had lost much of his former brilliance and decisiveness. His first instinct when faced with any issue was to muddle through with half-baked compromises.
'Is that so? Kakashi, thank you for your hard work.'
The Third set down his pipe, speaking kindly to Kakashi.
'I'm just glad the intel proves useful to the Village.'
Kakashi lowered his head, replying earnestly.
'Then I'll take my leave.'
The Third nodded, watching Kakashi leave the office, a grave look settling on his face.
'This intelligence is truly astonishing! Vegapunk, is it? A remarkable genius—he's done something shocking.'
The report Kakashi delivered was, of course, about Vegapunk and his group. In fact, the moment he'd returned to Konohagakure, Kakashi had filed a detailed written account of his encounter.
At the time, the Village had treated the report with some interest—but only enough to skim and file away.
Though Kakashi had been on an S-rank mission and the intel should have been vital, the Land of Snow was simply too far from Konoha. While the report acknowledged Vegapunk's talent, no one expected him ever to cross paths with the Village again.
Even Kakashi himself, for all the impression Vegapunk had left, thought any future dealings would be years away. Who could have guessed that in so short a span Vegapunk would unify the entire overseas Ninja World?
Though the new Village's nominal Mizukage was Suikazan Fuguki, any well-informed shinobi Village knew the real architect of the Sea Ninja Village was Vegapunk.
Kakashi suspected—though he kept it to himself—that Vegapunk, not Suikazan Fuguki, was the one truly pulling the strings.
After all, back in the Land of Snow, Kakashi had seen that Vegapunk was far too mature for a mere thirteen- or fourteen-year-old, utterly devoid of the reverence for nobles or daimyo typical of kids his age—a truly lawless individual.
Installing little Fukaboshi Koyuki as a figurehead daimyo was something he'd done without the slightest pretense.
'To think he's actually the heir to a daimyo title—no wonder he doesn't revere anyone.'
Leaving the Hokage Office, Kakashi briefly pondered Vegapunk, then pushed the matter aside.
He'd taken plenty of lumps in the Land of Snow, but the end results had been worth it—his own strength had grown considerably.
More importantly, Konoha's real concern right now wasn't some distant Sea Ninja Village but the Cloud Ninja who still refused to lay down arms.
Though the Third Ninja World War had ended, localized conflicts persisted. Kumogakure and Konohagakure had never signed a peace treaty, yet under the deterrent of the Fourth Hokage—the Yellow Flash—both sides had effectively ceased hostilities.
The Nine-Tails disaster and the Fourth's death had left Konoha badly weakened, and Kumogakure seized the chance to resume small-scale warfare.
Not only did Kakashi soon file the Sea Village intel away, even the Third Hokage—who did sense a potential threat—could only sigh and shelve it.
For one, the fledgling Sea Ninja Village lay far across the ocean; Konoha could do little even if it wanted to. For another, the Village was still licking its wounds and fending off the Cloud, leaving no room to worry about distant seas.
Konoha had no bandwidth for the Sea Village, and while Iwagakure bore an ancestral grudge against the old Kirigakure—now the Sea Ninja Village—the two had no actual conflicting interests, their countries not even sharing a border.
Thus the feud mostly stayed verbal. Besides, Ōnoki had back-stabbed the Cloud, helped kill the Third Raikage, invaded the Land of Wind, and still clashed along borders with nearly every major Village—Konoha included.
So when the Sea Ninja Village was founded, Ōnoki merely grumbled a few sarcastic lines about how Kirigakure had fallen so far they'd even changed their Village's name, then told his intel division to keep an eye out and left it at that.
As for Kumogakure, that martial Village was currently locked in a death-match with Konoha. They rarely dealt with the Mist turned Sea, had only minor skirmishes, and no full-scale wars. They too merely ordered extra scouting on the new Village.
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