Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 10: The Main Family's Response (Part 1)

After a moment of thought, Hyuga Fuji retrieved the scroll containing the three captured ANBU and released one of the unconscious ANBU ninjas.

Then, from the pouch at his waist, he took out a test tube containing a strand of black hair.

This was the hair of the Hyuga ninja he had just killed.

He hadn't collected blood—it was too easy for the scent to cling to him and raise suspicion.

"Summoning Jutsu: Edo Tensei!"

Gray paper-like fragments enveloped the unconscious ANBU ninja. The pain jolted him awake, and he stared in terror at the paper binding him.

"W-what is this…?"

Before he could finish his sentence, his head was completely wrapped, and the previously deceased Hyuga jonin was summoned back from the afterlife.

The jonin's eyes opened in confusion, and as soon as he saw Hyuga Fuji standing nearby, he instinctively tried to take a defensive stance.

To his shock, he found himself unable to move at all.

"What have you done to me?!"

"This is the Second Hokage's Edo Tensei. You've died—surely you haven't forgotten?"

The jonin raised his cracked, reanimated hand in stunned silence. "I'm… already dead?"

"You can process that later," Hyuga Fuji said as he approached, placing a kunai with a sealing tag inscribed on it into the jonin's brain.

"For now, activate your Byakugan."

The jonin's hand raised against his will, his voice monotone as he obeyed: "Byakugan, activate!"

Hyuga Fuji observed the smooth activation of the Byakugan, his eyes gleaming with interest.

Before the jonin's death, Fuji had absorbed all of his Byakugan ocular power, and yet here the jonin was, still able to use his Byakugan.

It was similar to how Nagato and Uchiha Itachi, despite having lost their physical eyes, retained their dojutsu after being reanimated.

"So it's the chakra that's inherited, not the physical bloodline itself?"

Hyuga Fuji chuckled softly.

"That's why awakening the Tenseigan requires the Byakugan from members of the Hyuga clan."

The reanimated jonin remained in his Byakugan stance, glaring at Fuji with resentment. "Did you bring me back just to take revenge on the Main Family?"

"It's for verification," Fuji replied calmly, glancing at him with a faint smile. "Before you died, I used a sealing technique to absorb all of your Byakugan ocular power.

It's a technique I created based on the Uchiha clan's Transcription Seal, but it works in reverse—it forcibly extracts the target's ocular power."

"However," Fuji continued, "you were unable to activate your Byakugan in the final moments before your death. And yet, now you can. Why?"

The jonin had no chance to process this sudden revelation before Fuji answered his own question:

"Because you haven't lost your chakra!"

"A ninja's Kekkei Genkai exists not because of bloodline inheritance, but because of the chakra passed down through generations."

"Edo Tensei shinobi with Kekkei Genkai all prove this point."

Those summoned with Edo Tensei, despite losing their physical bodies and the genes that carried their bloodline limits, could still use those abilities.

This realization clarified several long-standing mysteries for Fuji.

—Why did Nagato retain the Rinnegan after being reanimated?

This could also be examined alongside Naruto's situation.

The whisker marks on Naruto's face were a result of Kurama's chakra influencing him even before he was born.

This was because Kushina, Naruto's mother, had been the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, indirectly passing Kurama's chakra to Naruto.

It was a strange thought, but Naruto's innate chakra inheritance could be considered a blend of Minato's, Kushina's, and Kurama's.

The child of two humans and one fox?

Nagato's case was similar. After receiving the Rinnegan as a child, his chakra had been continuously influenced by the immense power of the Rinnegan, transforming it to align with the Rinnegan's unique chakra.

And through the Spiritualization Technique, it was evident that a ninja's soul wasn't merely composed of spiritual energy—it was formed from chakra itself.

Thus, when Edo Tensei provided Nagato with a new body, he retained the Rinnegan's power because the Rinnegan's chakra remained imprinted on his soul.

Following this logic, using Rinnegan abilities should theoretically require only the corresponding chakra—not the physical Rinnegan itself.

As Fuji fell into deep thought, the reanimated jonin frowned and cautiously asked, "Now that you've realized this, what do you plan to do with that knowledge?"

Fuji glanced at him coldly, causing the jonin to shudder.

"Use it to make myself stronger."

Without another word, Fuji waved his hand, recalling the perplexed jonin into the scroll. His expression darkened as he left the underground training room.

"Byakugan, Sharingan, Rinnegan, Tenseigan… dojutsu are merely organs—no different from the lungs or heart. The only difference is that they convert chakra into ocular abilities."

"What matters is the chakra that drives them, which means… Yin-Yang Release!"

The Tenseigan, being on par with the Rinnegan, couldn't have reached such power without the influence of Yang Release chakra.

Yin and Yang Release complement each other: Yin Release reaches its pinnacle with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, while Yang Release is represented by Hashirama's chakra. Together, they give rise to the Rinnegan.

Obito had transplanted Hashirama's cells to prevent blindness from his Mangekyo Sharingan, effectively achieving a pseudo-Eternal Mangekyo.

To evolve the Byakugan into the Tenseigan, Yang Release chakra might be the key.

---

Deep within the Hyuga compound, several Main Family elders and the clan head were gathered.

"Another ninja close to us was killed tonight. That traitor is becoming increasingly audacious!"

An elder slammed his fist down angrily. "Clan Head, what are you thinking? Since the perpetrator is so well-hidden, let's interrogate them one by one.

I don't believe they can endure the pain brought by the Caged Bird seal!"

If even Danzo had deduced that the attackers were from the branch family, how could they, who were more aware than anyone of the branch family's resentment, not come to the same conclusion?

The problem was that the culprit was too difficult to identify.

The branch family's ability to strike from the shadows gave them a natural advantage with the Byakugan.

Not to mention that as fellow villagers, they shared experiences from the Third Shinobi War and knew precisely how to evade Konoha's investigations.

They understood which targets were off-limits, which clans had unique investigative techniques capable of finding hidden clues, and how to counter them.

The current clan head, father of Hyuga Hiashi, opened his half-closed eyes and spoke in an indifferent tone: "Do you want them to stage a coup?"

The elder scoffed dismissively, but the clan head sighed.

"Don't assume it's impossible. Even sheep can become deadly when led by a lion."

"Based on the timing of these deaths and the strength of the fallen, there are quite a few branch members rebelling in secret. If we strike first, it will push more of the branch family to their side."

"After all, we've enslaved them—and intend to enslave them for generations to come."

And no parent would want to see their child become a slave, let alone their descendants, forever.

(End of Chapter)