Chapter 163 163: Sage Mode
Hyūga Estate.
Training Hall.
"Ha!"
With a sharp shout, the girl in a black training uniform struck forward, her pale palm slicing through the air beside Kyūsei's ear with a fierce gust of wind.
He swayed lightly, his body moving like drifting smoke. Nao's relentless flurry of strikes rained down—but every single one missed by a hair's breadth.
She didn't falter.
Seeing him defend without counterattacking only sharpened her gaze. She retreated two steps, then settled into a familiar stance.
Gentle Fist Art — Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
Kyūsei twitched at the corner of his mouth.
She wasn't holding back at all.
Nao's assault exploded forward like a storm. Though the Hyūga's path might seem narrow, it had been honed for centuries. "Gentle" in name only—her strikes were anything but soft. Her palms cut the air like blades; even the sweat falling from her brow shattered before hitting the ground under the force of her attacks.
At this level, simple evasion was no longer enough.
Kyūsei finally began parrying directly, batting aside her strikes one after another.
When she stopped, lightly panting, she waved dismissively.
"Enough. I'm done."
She walked to the corridor outside the training hall, grabbed a towel, and wiped the sweat from her neck.
Kyūsei scratched his head.
Maybe he should've let her win?
No… if she found out, she'd just get mad.
"What are you standing there for?"
"Come sit."
She was already seated along the wooden veranda, tea and sweets neatly arranged beside her.
Kyūsei stared.
The evils of capitalism.
…Wait. The capitalist heiress is my girlfriend?
Oh. Never mind then.
He gulped down the tea inelegantly and stuffed a sweet into his mouth. Nao watched him, amused.
"Kyūsei… did you know?"
"Hm?"
"The clan elders don't approve of us."
The air grew heavier.
"But whether they approve is their business. I approve—that's enough."
There was no burden in her expression.
"And compared to that… I care more about getting stronger."
"Instead of living under other people's judgment…"
"I'd rather one of us become powerful enough to shut them up."
"With absolute strength."
She sipped her tea calmly.
Kyūsei nodded slowly.
Nao always bore pressure alone. He couldn't call that wrong—if she weren't strong-willed, she wouldn't be Nao.
As the future head of the Hyūga, choosing him meant scrutiny.
The fact that not a single Hyūga had come to confront him?
She had blocked it all herself.
…Sage Mode really couldn't wait any longer.
Seeing him silent, she laughed softly.
"Don't worry."
"I've got it."
He twitched.
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?"
"Mm-hmm~"
She patted his head with indulgent amusement.
Their roles felt reversed.
"If those old fossils keep talking," he muttered, "I'll send them a strawberry-flavored Tailed Beast Bomb."
"I hope Hokage-sama doesn't kill you first."
She smiled.
Kyūsei knew it wasn't that simple.
The Hyūga were traditional. Conservative. Even outside their clan, a man with two partners would raise eyebrows.
Let alone here.
"By the way…" he said casually, "Sharingan evolves from one tomoe to three."
"So… can the Byakugan evolve too?"
Nao's brows knit slightly.
"I found something interesting in the archives."
"Centuries ago, the Hyūga suffered a disaster. Nearly sixty percent of the clan died."
"After that… the Caged Bird Seal was created."
"The clan split into Main and Branch families."
"And no one resisted."
"It was implemented… shockingly fast."
Kyūsei's mind raced.
Someone had discovered the secret of the Tenseigan.
Sixty percent dead.
They failed.
Otherwise history would've recorded it.
And the Caged Bird?
It wasn't to guard against outsiders.
It was to guard against their own.
Nao understood that too.
The Byakugan held a secret.
One tied to the clan's survival.
After leaving the estate, Kyūsei felt heavier.
Nao's burdens.
The Caged Bird mystery.
The moon.
Was the Ōtsutsuki clan up there already fractured?
He knew there was a massive Tenseigan on the moon.
If Nao wanted it—
He wouldn't hesitate to take it for her.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri's noble excuse in the future?
He didn't buy it.
Kyūsei turned toward the Forest of Death.
He needed strength.
He couldn't defeat Menma alone.
If Menma could cross worlds through the Dragon Vein—
Who else could?
What about impossible variants?
Six-Tomoe Rinnegan Sasuke.
A completed Infinite Tsukuyomi Madara.
A darkened Naruto.
The thought alone was suffocating.
He sat cross-legged on a massive stone beside a river deep within the forest, barrier deployed to keep beasts away.
Calm. Balance.
He recalled Kaoru 's guidance.
He sank into perception.
Inside the First Hokage's necklace, Senju Hashirama watched silently.
Last time, he had created a dense natural-energy field to help Kyūsei sense it.
This time—
No help.
Could the boy do it alone?
Time passed.
Dusk deepened.
Kyūsei slipped into a strange state.
The grass beneath stone cracks.
The floating duckweed.
The rustling leaves.
Every detail entered his awareness.
He hadn't activated Kagura's Mind's Eye.
This was natural energy.
A breeze brushed past.
A droplet slid from a blade of grass and fell to dark soil.
Clouds shifted overhead.
A golden fish leapt from the river and splashed back down.
A stray droplet landed on his nose.
With it—
The entire world rippled.
Red markings slowly emerged across his skin, climbing silently toward his neck.
He didn't notice.
The image before him stabilized.
Stronger.
Hashirama felt urgency rising.
This wasn't borrowed energy.
This was talent.
There was only a thin veil between Kyūsei and Sage Mode now.
One final push.
Without a word, Hashirama gathered ambient natural energy once more, feeding it gently toward the boy.
Night fell.
The moon rose.
Insects chirped.
And then—
As if by instinct—
A pair of clear, water-like gray eyes opened in the dark.
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