The Third Shinobi World War never lacked for headlines. The storm stirred up by Hizashi Hyūga was quickly eclipsed by new developments, failing to remain the center of attention for even three days.
On December 4th, in the 49th year of Konoha, Iwagakure and Sunagakure pushed their front lines forward, engaging in a bloody struggle with Konoha within the Land of Rain.
The tragedies of the Second Shinobi World War began to repeat themselves in the Land of Rain, and the entire nation plunged into a state of massive upheaval.
However, amidst this chaotic four-way deadlock, an organization soon began to distinguish itself. Relying on the philosophy of "exchanging dialogue for peace," it gained widespread support among the desperate and war-torn shinobi of the Land of Rain.
This organization expanded rapidly. In fact, a large number of original Rain Shinobi defected from their village to join them. Together with the organization's leaders, they traveled across the Land of Rain, working tirelessly to seek a path to peace.
The name of this organization was—Akatsuki.
Time flew by, and the 49th year of Konoha drew to a close as a new year dawned.
On January 15th, Konoha Year 50, a thousand Iwa shinobi broke through the defensive lines Konoha had established in the Land of Grass. Crossing the Kannabi Bridge, they invaded the Land of Fire, inflicting heavy casualties on the Konoha forces.
To counter the Iwagakure offensive, Konoha dispatched Minato Namikaze, who had just completed a mission with his team. He assigned his three disciples the task of blowing up the Kannabi Bridge to destroy Iwagakure's supply hub.
Kakashi Hatake, who had been promoted to Jōnin at the young age of twelve, split off from Minato to lead his teammates—Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara—toward the Kannabi Bridge.
Almost simultaneously, the situation on the eastern front of the Land of Fire deteriorated rapidly. Using their initial "failed" landing attempt as a cover, Kirigakure completely cut off Konoha's ability to obtain intelligence beyond the Kusunami Coast, seizing total control of the sea. Within two months, they established a stable and secure maritime corridor.
The second landing operation ended quickly at the cost of hundreds of Konoha shinobi. Konoha's defense collapsed like a mountain crumbling; they were unable to mount any decent resistance. Plagued by severe shortages of intelligence, manpower, and supplies, Konoha suffered a crushing defeat.
The high command had no choice but to order a retreat, surrendering the front line and rebuilding their defenses further inland within the Land of Fire.
(Note: In the events of the Itachi Shinden, Fugaku Uchiha takes a three-year-old Itachi to a battlefield that is mountainous with no sea in sight, supporting the fact that the fighting had moved to the interior of the Land of Fire by this time.)
On this day, at a secret Root base established in the Land of Bears.
The site was a derelict hospital. On the surface, it appeared to be nothing but ruins and debris, dilapidated and without a single light. However, looking through the barriers placed on the surface, one would find a fully equipped facility within. Teams of Root intelligence personnel moved in an endless stream, aggregating reports from various fronts. The facility was also equipped with emergency medical units, interrogation squads, intelligence departments, a secretarial pool, and an assembly ground for high-level combatants.
Inside a sealed room cast entirely from steel, Hyuga Yu lay on an operating table with a black cloth covering his eyes. His body, as perfectly sculpted as a statue, was draped in an open-chested black kimono, revealing streamlined abdominal muscles and a somewhat strange midsection.
On his abdomen, there was a pale patch of skin that differed markedly from the surrounding tone, occupying the exact area of his core. In the center of those six pale abdominal muscles was an ink-black mark of an Ouroboros.
He kept his eyes closed, determining his position solely through the touch of his fingers. His fingertips flickered with the Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel as he pressed them against the side of his eye socket, just in front of his temple. Bit by bit, he used Meridian Reconstruction to repair the final pathway required to activate the Byakugan.
Snap!
The Wind Style: Chakra Scalpel precisely connected the final meridian. The suture was complete!
The surgery was a success!
In the next instant, Yu's chakra began to circulate through his body once more!
"—Boom!!!"
A violent surge of chakra erupted from Yu's body. A cyan chakra, more condensed than ever before, exploded outward from his entire being!
He used no jutsu—this was purely the result of a single surge of chakra!
The steel-cast room—or rather, the cell—began to hum and shake! Even the entire hospital vibrated for a brief moment.
"Inhale... Exhale..."
Yu took a long breath and slowly pulled away the black cloth, opening his pure white eyes!
The meridians around his eyes bulged prominently. The strange cyan chakra began to flow through his pathways—pathways that had expanded and become sturdier after facing the Caged Bird seal for a second time and surviving.
Everything before him became clearer, down to the finest detail. He could even see the trajectory of every speck of dust dancing in the lamplight!
The power of his "Insight Eye" had been enhanced once again. Compared to a two-tomoe Sharingan, it was now no less formidable.
Through this unnervingly clear field of vision, Yu could precisely see every trace of chakra circulating within his own body. Furthermore, if an enemy were to perform a jutsu in front of him, Yu could replicate their technique one-to-one.
Additionally, Yu slowly raised his hand, looking at the air in his palm that was constantly deforming and twisting under the influence of his chakra.
He furrowed his brows slightly and swung his hand forward!
A burst of repulsive chakra erupted from his palm, shooting out instantly!
Crack!
Bang!
Directly in front of Yu, the steel wall was struck by an invisible force. It buckled, twisted, and cracked inch by inch, revealing the solid earth behind it as dust rained down.
Yu felt a sense of realization in his heart. "The first time I bypassed the Caged Bird, I obtained a higher form of Byakugan chakra—the cyan chakra—and gained the 'Insight Eye.'"
"Facing the Caged Bird a second time, launching a struggle against it and surviving due to the Hashirama cells, has given me an even more condensed cyan chakra. My Insight Eye has also been upgraded."
"At the same time, because of the expansion of my meridians, this higher quality cyan chakra has manifested a new characteristic—"
Yu stared at the air twisting in the center of his palm. "Gravity."
"The attractive force between any two objects or particles related to the product of their masses is called gravity, where the side with greater mass exerts a pull on the side with lesser mass."
"The density of this cyan chakra is greater than the particles existing in the atmosphere, making it a source of gravity. However, the cyan chakra also constantly repels the intervention of other elements, thus giving birth to a repulsive force."
"By utilizing this ability, I can create methods of attack based on attraction and repulsion..."
Yu's brow tightened slightly. "Is this the reason why the Tenseigan possesses the power to control gravity and repulsion?"
A complete Tenseigan possessed the power to manipulate attractive and repulsive forces, even to the point of controlling the orbital trajectory of planets. This was the root of that power.
However... "This power is still too weak right now. There isn't much I can do with it."
Yu shook his head. To manipulate planetary gravity, one would need to create a Giant Tenseigan. To reach the level of gravity and repulsion control seen in the Rinnegan, his eyes would need to reach the Tenseigan level, or perhaps meet some other specific condition.
But Yu could see clearly: "My eyes have not 'leveled up,' nor have they evolved in the way a Sharingan does."
"In essence, they are no different than they were when I plucked them from Hyuga Genko's eye sockets. Even if I swapped them for another pair, my abilities would not weaken or change."
"The root cause that allows me to see so clearly and grants me these various strange abilities isn't the eyes themselves, but rather—"
Yu looked down at the chakra floating in his hand. "This cyan chakra, which leaked from the Caged Bird and altered the form of my own chakra... this is the true source."
"This is... the gift of the Caged Bird!"
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