Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Naruto briefly explained the situation to Hiashi, not hiding anything about Hinata's natural energy training.

Of course, that was also because Minato had already informed Naruto that Hiashi knew about his existence. Combined with the fact that he was Hinata's father, Naruto felt there was no need to conceal anything.

At least in the current Konoha, Hiashi Hyūga was someone Naruto trusted deeply.

"Changes in the eyes..."

After listening to everything, Hiashi remained silent for quite a while before finally speaking.

"The Hyūga Clan and the Uchiha Clan are said to share a common ancestor. However, unlike the Sharingan of the Uchiha, the Hyūga Clan has always emphasized bloodline purity."

"We do not require an awakening process like the Sharingan, nor are there different stages of development."

"Furthermore, throughout our clan's long history, there have indeed been records of Hyūga members marrying outsiders. Some mixed-blood descendants were unable to awaken the Byakugan at all."

"But once the Byakugan is awakened, I have never heard of it undergoing any further transformation."

"Naruto-kun, could you let me experience this natural energy you mentioned?"

Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Uncle, if someone hasn't been trained properly, absorbing natural energy is extremely dangerous..."

"It's fine."

Hiashi interrupted him immediately.

"As her father, no one is more concerned about Hinata than I am."

"We are both members of the Hyūga Clan. If natural energy is truly the cause, then I should experience a similar reaction."

"Use my body as the test."

The stubborn determination in Hiashi's voice left Naruto with no room to refuse.

In the end, he placed a hand on Hiashi's shoulder and carefully guided a portion of natural energy toward him.

With Naruto acting as a relay point, the risk of petrification from natural energy could be reduced to the lowest possible level.

A few moments later—

"What a strange power... but..."

Hiashi slowly shook his head.

He had never trained in Sage Mode before, so he had no means of storing natural energy within his body.

Still, throughout the entire process, he had been carefully sensing whether there was any reaction between the natural energy and his Byakugan.

Unfortunately, there was none.

"Hinata wasn't like this from the beginning."

Naruto frowned.

"She's been training with natural energy for a long time now. Nothing unusual happened before."

"It was only today."

"She suddenly said her eyes felt hot."

"Then a strange power erupted from them, and she collapsed immediately afterward..."

"Naruto, ask him directly whether the Hyūga Clan knows anything about the Tenseigan."

Kurama's voice suddenly echoed through Naruto's mind.

"If this old man's guess is correct, then the power Hinata awakened should be the Tenseigan."

The instant Hinata's eyes had changed, Kurama had already suspected what was happening.

Just as the Sharingan could eventually evolve into the Rinnegan—a power inherited from the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths and ultimately from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—

The Byakugan possessed its own evolutionary path.

The Tenseigan.

A power inherited from the bloodline of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths.

As someone who had personally witnessed the might of the Tenseigan, Kurama had immediately urged Naruto to bring Hinata to the Hyūga Clan.

After all, compared to himself and the others—who knew next to nothing—the Hyūga Clan was an ancient family whose lineage had never been broken.

Surely they would understand the secrets of the Tenseigan...

"...I've never heard of it."

Hiashi's face was filled with confusion.

"What is that?"

Naruto froze.

"You don't know?"

"The Hyūga Clan has no records of a power called the Tenseigan?"

"Not that I know of."

Hiashi frowned.

"You're saying the changes in Hinata's eyes are caused by something called the Tenseigan?"

"The Byakugan can evolve like that?"

The two stared at each other.

Both equally confused.

Naruto was completely stunned.

[Kurama, didn't you say this might be the Tenseigan, the evolved form of the Hyūga Byakugan?]

[How can Uncle Hiashi, the head of the Hyūga Clan, not know about it?]

"How should this old man know?"

Kurama immediately snapped back.

"Doesn't the Hyūga Clan always brag about how ancient and prestigious their lineage is?"

After saying that, Kurama turned toward Minato.

"Now that I think about it... after we returned from the moon back then, Hanabi's eyes simply reverted to ordinary Byakugan after being recovered."

"Naruto even spoke to Hiashi afterward."

"And now that I remember it, the Hyūga branch on Earth genuinely had no knowledge of something called the Tenseigan."

"Tch."

"What a waste."

"At the time, nobody thought much about it and never bothered asking more questions."

Kurama scratched his head with a claw.

"The Tenseigan..."

Minato fell into thought.

"That would be the power possessed by the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother living on the moon... the people you mentioned before, Kurama-sama?"

"Exactly."

Kurama nodded.

"Remember when this old man told you about Naruto's previous life and that trip to the moon?"

"He ended up fighting a guy named Ōtsutsuki Toneri who possessed the Tenseigan."

"To be honest, his combat instincts were pretty mediocre. He never fully utilized the Tenseigan's true capabilities."

"If you really compare them, the Tenseigan lacks some of the flashy tricks of the Rinnegan."

"But compared to the Sharingan?"

"Heh."

"It's stronger by a ridiculous margin."

"Though all these eye powers are troublesome in their own ways..."

Kurama briefly recounted the battle between Naruto and Toneri.

Naturally—

He skipped over the parts where he himself had been beaten up rather badly.

After all, those parts weren't really related to the Tenseigan.

Right.

Absolutely not because Kurama was intentionally leaving them out.

Definitely not.

"An extension of the powers of the Ōtsutsuki Clan..."

Minato fell silent.

"This is troublesome."

"If it truly is the Tenseigan, then the Hyūga Clan knows nothing about it."

"The inheritance itself exists on the moon instead."

"And the power Hinata displayed earlier was completely out of control."

"She nearly collapsed under its burden."

Minato carefully analyzed the situation.

Originally, if the Hyūga Clan possessed complete records regarding the Tenseigan, helping Hinata awaken and control the power would not necessarily have been a bad thing.

But under these circumstances—

Acting recklessly would be dangerous.

"How about this?"

"After Hinata recovers, we find a secure location and slowly guide the awakening."

"If this really is a bloodline evolution, it may not be a bad thing at all."

With no records and no reliable information available, that was the only temporary solution they could devise.

Soon afterward, Naruto and Hiashi returned to Hinata's room.

By then, the Hyūga Clan's medical personnel had already completed their examination.

Their conclusion was simple:

Hinata had merely exhausted herself too severely and needed rest.

Unfortunately—

Hinata completely refused.

No matter who tried to persuade her, she stubbornly insisted on getting up immediately and returning home with Naruto.

Under Hiashi's increasingly dangerous stare, Naruto hurriedly joined the persuasion effort.

Fortunately, Hanabi stepped in as well.

She complained that it had been ages since she had a chance to spend time talking with her big sister and even shamelessly acted spoiled.

Only then did Hinata reluctantly give up the idea of leaving immediately.

There were also two small incidents during the process.

The first occurred when Hinata asked Hanabi why she wasn't at school.

Hanabi's answer came without hesitation.

"Konohamaru uses Shadow Clones to attend school all the time!"

"So of course I do too!"

The moment those words left her mouth—

Hinata slowly turned her gaze toward Naruto.

The original culprit sat right there.

Naruto immediately looked away awkwardly.

At the same time, he silently cursed Konohamaru.

That brat was teaching people all sorts of nonsense.

The second incident happened a little later.

A whirlwind suddenly burst into the compound.

Neji had returned.

Apparently, he had just rushed back to the clan and was preparing to gather people to search for someone.

Naruto had never seen Neji's facial expressions change so dramatically.

One moment, Neji's face was filled with urgency:

"Someone's gone missing! Hurry and come help me find them!"

The next moment—

His eyes landed on Naruto and Hinata.

His entire expression froze.

"...Why are you two here?"

The transformation from panic to complete confusion happened in less than a tenth of a second.

It was truly a spectacular sight.

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