Chapter 7: Searching for Clues to the Tenseigan

*Whoosh—*

*Whoosh, whoosh—*

In the forest on the outskirts of Konoha Village, four Anbu ninjas leaped and darted through the trees, gradually converging from various directions.

"Target not found!" One Anbu ninja stopped, standing on the branch of a large tree. He used his sensory abilities to scan the surroundings before reporting to his comrades via the communicator hanging from his ear.

Come to think of it, the technological tree of the ninja world was quite strange. The development of thermal weapons had basically stagnated, and the level of technology was uneven, yet they already possessed radio communications and even microphones.

The other Anbu ninjas also stopped one after another, each standing at a high vantage point on the tree trunks, keeping watch over the surroundings.

"Strange, where did he go?" The sensory ninja formed hand seals again. His chakra rippled outward, but he still found nothing.

*Whoosh—*

The sound of wind being torn apart suddenly erupted, and Kakashi, wearing a white cat mask, landed not far away.

As the Anbu captain, Kakashi wouldn't normally be dispatched easily, but this time, the incident involved the Hyuga clan, one of the two great noble families of Konoha.

The Third Hokage had personally ordered Kakashi to lead a squad of Anbu ninjas to investigate the situation.

"Captain!" The other Anbu ninjas turned their heads to look over.

"You didn't find anything either?" Beneath his white cat mask, Kakashi’s single eye was grave.

After that mysterious person disappeared into the night, Kakashi had immediately led the Anbu ninjas in pursuit, spreading out like a giant net.

Yet, they were almost at the village’s protective barrier, and they still hadn't found a trace of the opponent.

"The orphanage has been cleared; no abnormalities," one Anbu added. "This area only has scattered buildings. The director is Yakushi Nonō."

"The Wandering Miko?" Kakashi murmured in a low voice.

He had naturally heard of her reputation. After all, the Root was considered a sub-division under the Anbu, and many of the Root's spies and intelligence reports were filed with the Anbu.

As for the ninjas Danzo trained privately, they were not included in this.

"Continue the search! You two follow the protective barrier and search toward the east; the rest of you follow me to the west!" Kakashi ordered.

"Yes!" The ninjas moved out quickly.

——————

Konoha Hospital, in a special care ward.

After being resuscitated by medical ninjas, Hyuga Hizashi was out of danger and had been moved to a private room for recovery.

After all, Hizashi was not only a Jonin but also the head of the Hyuga branch family and the younger brother of the Hyuga clan leader.

However, Hyuga Hizashi, who should have been fast asleep and recuperating, could not fall asleep at all.

He lay on the hospital bed, his Byakugan staring at the ceiling, the furrows between his brows as deep as knife cuts.

The scenes of the battle just now flashed repeatedly in Hizashi’s mind.

Facing the attacks from himself and Hiashi, the mysterious person had struck his blind spot directly, as if he knew the situation of the Hyuga clan very, very well.

*Knock, knock—*

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in." Hizashi, lying on the bed, turned his head toward the door.

The door opened slowly, and Hiashi, who had changed into casual clothes, walked in.

"Brother..." Hizashi struggled to sit up to pay his respects, but Hiashi raised a hand to stop him.

"Lie down. Your condition isn't very good." Hiashi walked to the bedside and sat on a stool. Seeing his younger brother injured like this, his expression was somber.

Although he had strong opinions about his brother due to recent events, he had to admit that Hizashi’s combat strength was on par with his own.

The two of them had attacked the mysterious person from both sides, yet they had ended up with one seriously injured and one lightly injured!

Such a powerful ninja was definitely not an ordinary person; he shouldn't be someone whose name they hadn't heard of.

And...

"I came here to confirm the techniques used by that mysterious person earlier," Hiashi said with a soft huff, putting on a serious face.

"Yes..." Hizashi lay on the bed, his expression dim as he recalled. "That person... he knows us, or rather, he knows the Hyuga clan very well."

"When I first engaged him, every time my Gentle Fist hit his acupoints, he could force chakra out from those points to resist, using it to protect them. It was like hitting an iron block every time. It was difficult for my Gentle Fist to seal his acupoints, and even harder to force my Gentle Fist chakra into his meridians."

Hyuga Hiashi’s engagement with the mysterious person had been very short, and he hadn't used Gentle Fist acupuncture, opting instead to use Eight Trigrams Palms directly.

So, hearing this, Hiashi’s expression became even graver.

"I tried to use my Byakugan to see his face beneath the mask, but I found that beneath it was an endless abyss of darkness. His chakra was even more indescribably vast."

"And he seemed to know my blind spot..." At the thought of this, Hizashi’s body trembled slightly.

The blind spot brought about by the Caged Bird seal was different for every member of the Hyuga branch family. It was basically impossible to figure out a branch member's blind spot in a single engagement.

Even a Jonin like Hizashi, who had experienced many cruel wars, had basically never had his blind spot discovered.

But today, the mysterious person had done it in just over ten exchanges—

Hiashi crossed his arms over his chest and remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "I was defeated by his Twin Lion Fists."

"What?!" Hizashi, lying on the bed, was shocked.

He had been in a semi-conscious state after being knocked away by the mysterious person and hadn't seen the miserable sight of Hiashi being sent flying by the Twin Lion Fists.

But as the head of the branch family, Hizashi had seen his brother use the Twin Lion Fists many times during their sparring sessions.

The full name of the Twin Lion Fists was 'Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists,' a high-level taijutsu that only the Hyuga main family could learn.

By clenching both hands and gathering a large amount of Gentle Fist chakra, the user changes the shape into two lion heads attached to their fists. Combined with footwork, it greatly increases attack power and range.

Its difficulty to learn was no less than Rotation. Even Hyuga Hizashi, who had developed Rotation on his own, had not been able to develop the Twin Lion Fists.

In an instant, many possibilities flashed through Hyuga Hizashi’s mind.

The Hyuga clan... could there be a defector?

——————

Late at night, Hyuga clan, main family compound.

After shaking off the Anbu ninjas, Uzumaki Menma made a sudden return.

Taking advantage of the fact that both Hyuga Hizashi and Hyuga Hiashi had gone to the hospital, Menma strolled into Hyuga Hiashi’s study.

Little Kurama jumped out from Menma’s fur collar and onto the desk, starting to rummage through the cabinets.

"What did you say we were looking for again?" Opening a drawer, Little Kurama paused. What was he looking for?

"Clues about the moon and the Tenseigan." Menma stood in front of a bookshelf filled with books, reaching out his right hand to search for something.

It was impossible for the descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura on the moon to have no connection with the Hyuga clan in the ninja world.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain why, among so many bloodline limit families in the ninja world, only the Hyuga clan had developed a curse seal like the 'Caged Bird.'

What they were guarding against might not necessarily be other families in the ninja world stealing the Byakugan.

Other families in the ninja world stealing a Byakugan would be lucky to get one or two, like Ao.

But the Otsutsuki on the moon were different.

Moreover, in the Naruto movie, Otsutsuki Toneri had come to the ninja world with his father when he was young, found the Hyuga clan's territory, and observed Hinata from afar.

After Toneri became an adult, he even sought out Hyuga Hiashi for a meeting, and Hiashi had gone to the appointment with only two trusted aides.

It was evident that Hyuga Hiashi might have learned something about the moon from the clan's ancient records.

"Menma." Little Kurama, rummaging through the drawer, suddenly sensed something and hopped back into Menma’s fur collar.

"That big sister is here," Little Kurama said, shrinking into the mental space.

"Hm?" Menma, who was flipping through a copy of *Byakugan Usage Manual*, paused.

He expanded his malice sensing, and a somewhat familiar chakra was approaching.

And the other party seemed to be quite angry.

(End of chapter)