In the underground training hall, Hyuga Yuu's pale eyes had shifted into a blue-white hue.
That was active dōjutsu power.
Frowning slightly, he raised his hand and thrust his palm forward.
Boom!
There was no visible shockwave—yet a wooden post more than a hundred meters away exploded into splinters.
From Yuu's perspective, it was as if space itself had shifted.
In front of that wooden post, unmistakably, was his own right hand.
"…Spatial manipulation of the Tenseigan?"
Among the six known abilities of the Tenseigan were:
Tenseigan Chakra Mode, gravitational attraction and repulsion, chakra absorption, summoning Hamura's stone statue, puppet control—and space manipulation.
What Yuu had just done was create a miniature spatial corridor, allowing his palm to pass directly through space and strike the distant target.
At that moment, in front of him and a hundred meters away, two small vortexes existed—each just large enough for a hand to pass through.
"So this is a personal dōjutsu."
Yuu thought calmly.
After absorbing enough Byakugan to trigger evolution, he had deliberately stopped further actions for two reasons.
First, the Third Hokage had stepped down and publicly taken responsibility—continuing would have been ill-timed.
Second, his Byakugan itself was undergoing transformation.
When the Byakugan first evolved, his eyes would uncontrollably take on a faint sky-blue tint. That had been the sign of surging dōjutsu power.
At the time, he hadn't understood what that change meant. As he gained control, the blue tint faded—and nothing seemed to happen.
Until a few days ago.
A change finally emerged.
A dōjutsu unique to him had begun to take shape.
Yuu withdrew his hand and created several spatial corridors large enough for his whole body, varying their distance and direction while carefully sensing the dōjutsu power consumed.
"Dōjutsu consumption has nothing to do with distance—only size. But the target must be within the Byakugan's field of vision."
"The dōjutsu power recovers naturally and doesn't burden my eyesight. The cost is lower than Mangekyō techniques, and it has none of their drawbacks."
As expected—
Perfectly aligned with the Byakugan's inherent stability.
"…No. More accurately, it's because the Byakugan is so stable that dōjutsu abilities rarely manifest."
Yuu's thoughts turned sharply.
"The Byakugan itself resists change. But recently, my training in Flying Thunder God—combined with chakra feedback from shadow clones—pushed it toward evolution. That's why I awakened a space-type dōjutsu similar to the Tenseigan's…"
"No—wait."
Yuu suddenly froze.
"Why did I assume those six abilities only appear at the Tenseigan stage?"
The realization struck him.
The Tenseigan appears as a completed form, with no recorded intermediate stages. That had led him into a misconception.
Consider this:
If the Rinnegan existed without the Mangekyō Sharingan as precedent, how would people interpret Susanoo?
They would naturally assume—
That it was a Rinnegan-exclusive dōjutsu.
Exactly.
Without examples of Mangekyō users manifesting Susanoo, everyone would reach the same conclusion.
The Tenseigan's one-step completion hid its evolutionary process, causing him to believe all its abilities were exclusive to that final stage.
But that might not be true.
As the Byakugan's ultimate evolution, the Tenseigan should logically share the Byakugan's defining trait—stability. Its abilities aren't wildly diverse like the Mangekyō or Rinnegan.
The giant Tenseigan and Toneri's Tenseigan share many overlapping abilities.
Of the six known techniques, four are clearly tied to the Tenseigan itself.
The remaining two—puppet control and space manipulation—might actually be crystallized abilities from earlier Byakugan evolutionary stages.
Just like Susanoo is retained after awakening the Rinnegan.
"If that's the case, then before evolving into the Tenseigan, my Byakugan should still have another stage."
"But this is just speculation… there's no reference point."
Yuu narrowed his eyes and took out a Flying Thunder God kunai engraved with special formulae, tossing it forward.
Swish—
With a sharp sound, his figure appeared beside the kunai.
He smiled faintly.
"Training Flying Thunder God refines my dōjutsu. My dōjutsu, in turn, completes Flying Thunder God."
"A perfect synergy."
"This is the strength of a Hyuga jōnin… even just a shadow clone."
In the forest, Ebisu watched as Hyuga Yuu's shadow clone effortlessly killed a Mist ninja who had infiltrated Konoha, admiration clear in his voice.
"Yuu is incredibly strong," Guy said, flashing a thumbs-up and a radiant smile.
"So we can't lose either—let's wipe out these Mist shinobi!"
With that, Guy charged toward another enemy.
"You go on ahead," Ebisu muttered, rolling his eyes.
They were on patrol duty.
Their original teammate, Genma Shiranui, had left the squad to grind missions with two other peers in order to boost his record for the jōnin exams.
As a result, their team was down to two members. Without a jōnin leader, many missions were unavailable. Guy had simply called in someone he knew to help.
Even though it was only a shadow clone—
A jōnin's shadow clone was still terrifying.
Even when Mist ninjas managed to sneak this far into Konoha territory, they were the ones trying to escape.
And yet, Ebisu couldn't feel happy.
He didn't dislike Guy—but being alone with him was another matter entirely.
Just imagining Genma passing the jōnin exams and not returning, leaving him alone with Guy forever, filled him with despair.
"Ebisu! Guy! Stop!"
A sharp shout snapped Ebisu back to reality.
On a tree branch ahead stood Hyuga Yuu's shadow clone, staring into the distance with a grave expression.
"Return immediately. Move away and fire a signal flare to warn the other patrols."
"There are seven Mist jōnin deep in this area."
"They're the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
An icy chill seized Ebisu and Guy.
They stared at Yuu in disbelief—only to see his back as he vanished into the forest.
"This shadow clone will draw them away as long as possible. Go—now!"
On the side they couldn't see, Yuu's shadow clone remained perfectly calm.
He had always intended this.
Guy was fated to encounter the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in the original timeline. This was his insurance.
Might Guy's selfless instruction had been the foundation of Yuu's survival in the shinobi world. He would never forget that debt.
Even if Minato weren't here—
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen would not leave Konoha alive.
"So this is Konoha's security? We've infiltrated this close, yet no response. Seems that so-called Yellow Flash isn't all that impressive."
Perched in a tree, the bandage-faced wielder of the Longsword Nuibari—Kushimaru Kuriarare—sneered coldly.
"They say he's the fastest in the shinobi world. I wonder if he can escape from us."
Nearby, Jinpachi Munashi, wielder of the Explosive Blade Shibuki, kicked aside the corpse of a Konoha shinobi and laughed arrogantly.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen acting together— even the Third Mizukage couldn't stop us. And you think some newly risen Hokage can?"
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