To cultivate a genuine Tenseigan, one primary prerequisite had to be clarified first—the Sage Body actually emerged prior to the appearance of the Tenseigan.
Based on the original storyline, Hamura Otsutsuki's eyes remained fundamentally ordinary Byakugan up until the moment he teamed up with his elder brother to execute Six Paths — Chibaku Tensei, sealing their mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki, into the moon.
However, this in no way hindered Hamura Otsutsuki from being a genuine Six Paths-level powerhouse.
This also proved that the standard equipment for reaching the Six Paths level was not obtaining the Tenseigan, but rather the ability to independently accomplish the fusion of the seven elemental natures and manifest Truth-Seeking Balls with one's bare hands.
That being the case, given that a ready-made Six Paths powerhouse like Hamura Otsutsuki existed right there, why didn't the Otsutsuki clan on the moon follow his example and take the most orthodox path to acquire Six Paths-level power?
Furthermore, why did they engineer an alternative, roundabout path like the "Tenseigan"?
Hyuga Yu, who had browsed through a portion of the recorded history of the moon's Otsutsuki via the giant Tenseigan, quickly integrated the details from the original series to deduce that the fundamental reason still boiled down to one thing—lineage.
The Sage of Six Paths and Hamura Otsutsuki were able to manifest Truth-Seeking Balls and ascend to the Six Paths tier by virtue of directly inheriting the first-generation bloodline from Kaguya Otsutsuki. Once they reached a certain age and their bloodlines matured, this ability would be mastered as naturally as breathing; they were born as Six Paths powerhouses.
The Otsutsuki clan on the moon did not possess this caliber of bloodline. They held what was merely a third-tier lineage derived from Kaguya Otsutsuki's branch. Moreover, this lineage was continuously being diluted as the clan multiplied through successive generations. If left to develop in this manner, the moon's Otsutsuki clan would remain eternally locked beneath the strict tier of their bloodline, and it would be forever impossible for them to master Six Paths-level power.
Yet, as individuals who regarded themselves as the guardians of the shinobi world and the wardens of the Ten-Tails' husk (the Gedo Mazo), they understood the threat of the extraterrestrial visitors far better than the inhabitants of the shinobi world, and they desperately required this level of strength.
Consequently, they began to carve out a completely different path.
The research into the Tenseigan was highly likely back-derived based on the process through which the Sage of Six Paths awakened the Rinnegan. Relying on Six Paths-level relics like the Rinnegan and the Gedo Mazo, the Otsutsuki clan on the moon surmised that the Byakugan might possess an alternative evolutionary pathway, ultimately discovering the final form of the Byakugan—the Tenseigan.
They attempted to cultivate the Tenseigan to bypass their lineage's inadequacies, using the power of the Tenseigan to forcefully combine the seven natures of Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Yin, and Yang into one, thereby accomplishing the ultimate unification of all things in creation.
In this process—which resembled hitching a spacecraft engine to a bullock cart—the Tenseigan operated precisely as the "aerospace engine," forcefully dragging the moon's Otsutsuki clan's "bullock cart" of a bloodline forward to ultimately reach a domain they could absolutely never attain across their entire lifetimes.
From this perspective, although the Tenseigan was the final destination of the Byakugan's evolution, to the Otsutsuki on the moon, it was actually a path.
A promotion pathway leading directly to the Six Paths tier.
When Hyuga Yu first mastered the Yang Release Tenseigan chakra and his Hyuga bloodline tier experienced a passive ascension (Chapter 145), the seven elemental "slots" and the threshold of the Six Paths level he perceived were precisely the physical manifestations of this path.
According to Hyuga Yu's comprehension of this path and the explanations within the original databooks, the Tenseigan was essentially a supreme ocular瞳术 formed only when the chakra of the Otsutsuki clan combined with the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan.
Correlating this to the Otsutsuki clan on the moon who designed this promotion pathway, their original project was likely split into two components. First, the Otsutsuki on the moon were responsible for maintaining the purity of this bloodline and chakra.
Second, the Hyuga clan in the shinobi world was responsible for utilizing the Caged Bird to screen for individuals possessing the aptitude to awaken the eyes—or rather, they were responsible for providing a pair of pure Byakugan capable of evolving into the Tenseigan.
The counterpart corresponding to this was the so-called Hyuga Tennin.
Had Hyuga Yu not appeared, this pathway would have already been proven to be a complete failure—even a Hyuga Tennin could not withstand the side effects of the Tenseigan.
The failure of the Hyuga Tennin project, the theft of the Gedo Mazo, and the threat of the extraterrestrial visitors—a succession of events piling up together—had driven the members of the moon's Otsutsuki branch house into madness. Ultimately, they exhausted the strength of their entire clan to sacrifice their own Byakugan, fusing countless Byakugan into one to form a spherical stone bearing the Otsutsuki crest. By forcefully condensing countless Byakugan into a temporary purple Tenseigan, they annihilated the members of the Otsutsuki main house and activated the alternative backup to this project—
Placing their hopes upon Toneri Otsutsuki, who was born eyeless yet possessed the most pristine bloodline of the Otsutsuki clan up until the current era.
No longer placing their hopes upon the Hyuga clan of the shinobi world, they intended for Toneri Otsutsuki to plunder the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan once his bloodline matured, thereby completing all of this and ultimately walking to the end of this Six Paths pathway.
If Hyuga Yu did not exist.
Yet now, just as the moon's Otsutsuki branch house had already decided to stake everything on a single throw, an anomaly they could not afford to ignore abruptly surfaced—a Hyuga Tennin capable of resisting the influence of the giant Tenseigan had manifested in the world.
Regardless of how Hyuga Yu had accomplished this specific point, it introduced a second possibility for success within the moon's Otsutsuki Tenseigan cultivation plan. As long as they plundered Hyuga Yu's Byakugan and drained his "nutrients," they might be able to complete the final unification according to the main house's original conceptualization, awakening a genuine Tenseigan.
Understanding it through this lens, Hyuga Yu became a piece of raw material, a consumable asset capable of allowing the Otsutsuki on the moon to evolve into the complete state within their designs.
It was precisely because of this that the moment Hyuga Yu exposed his tracks, the Otsutsuki clan on the moon had impatiently descended upon the shinobi world, attempting to capture him.
Pondering up to this point, Hyuga Yu thoroughly understood his current predicament and immediately made a judgment—the fact that the Otsutsuki on the moon chose to go into hiding within the shinobi world immediately after failing to locate him during their first wave was not because they were amiable. On the contrary, this group from the Otsutsuki branch house was far more rational than he had imagined, and they were likely plotting a massive conspiracy directed at Hyuga Yu.
This was also one of the genuine reasons why Hyuga Yu refused to stop for even a breath upon returning to Konoha, pushing forward with the Tenseigan cultivation plan immediately.
Simultaneously, correspondingly, while the Otsutsuki on the moon sought to capture Hyuga Yu to complete their ultimate evolution, Hyuga Yu himself had already set foot upon this path of ascending to the Six Paths tier.
Upon completing his mastery of the Yang Release Tenseigan chakra, his Hyuga bloodline had already been passively elevated to an exceptionally pure state.
Not calculating the raw intensity of the Kekkei Genkai, but merely classifying the Otsutsuki bloodline based on tiers:
The first tier was Kaguya Otsutsuki. The second tier was the Sage of Six Paths and Hamura Otsutsuki. The third tier was the first-generation Otsutsuki on the moon, Indra, Asura, and the elderly Madara who had accomplished the fusion of Hashirama cells. The fourth tier consisted of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha as the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, alongside the eyeless Toneri Otsutsuki. The fifth tier was the level of the first-generation ancestors of the various shinobi clans like the Uchiha, Hyuga, Kaguya, and Senju, alongside the current Otsutsuki on the moon...
The sixth tier consisted of the existing Uchiha, Hyuga, Uzumaki, and other shinobi clans within the current shinobi world...
The bloodlines of the various levels possessed a strict hierarchy, making them exceptionally difficult to surpass through conventional means.
Hyuga Yu quickly estimated that at this time, his bloodline level had already developed and ascended from the sixth tier to the fifth tier, reaching the extent of the ancestral first-generation Hyuga clan from the ancient era, sitting at the exact same level as the current Otsutsuki clan on the moon.
Solely regarding the bloodline of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Yu had already practically reached the absolute limit, making it difficult to continue purifying it further. Combining this purity of bloodline with the Tenseigan chakra and the Byakugan allowed Hyuga Yu to accomplish the fusion of three elemental attributes, manifesting Yin-Yang Release black receivers and chakra prayer beads to enter the Tenseigan Chakra Mode. If he wished to take a step further and completely unlock the full strength of the Tenseigan chakra, Hyuga Yu would have to elevate his bloodline to the fourth-tier level. Furthermore, to borrow the power of the Tenseigan to accomplish the unification of the seven natures and master the Six Paths power, Hyuga Yu estimated that he would need to reach the third tier of the bloodline hierarchy at the very least.
As for the method to realize the very first step, it was to utilize the Chimera Technique as the core architecture to cultivate the second type of Sage Body belonging to Hamura's lineage!
While answering the questions posed by Hiruko and Sasori and simultaneously reflecting upon these matters regarding the Otsutsuki bloodline, Hyuga Yu lifted his head to look at the two individuals, setting the framework for this brief meeting: "In short, these are the details of the preliminary plan. Do either of you have anything further to add?"
Hiruko immediately knit his brows, speaking up: "Meaning that we need to prioritize completing the Kekkei Genkai fusion of the Hyuga and Kaguya clans first?"
"However," his brow furrowed deeper as he voiced the core problem: "How do you intend to arrange the experiments?"
Hyuga Yu shook his head, looking toward Hiruko. "My understanding of the knowledge regarding genetic fusion is not deep. The core execution of this experiment requires you to preside over and develop it. What are your thoughts?"
After pondering for a brief moment, Hiruko spoke: "Involving cell fusion and gene-editing technologies, I require a large-scale Biosafety Level 4 laboratory at the very least."
"We will complete the theoretical verification of this experiment across four phases—"
"Genomic analysis, gene editing and cell preparation, tissue culture and systems construction, and finally, in-vivo testing."
"The laboratory will require a third-generation high-throughput gene sequencer, a cell electrofusion device, a multifunctional stem cell culture system... You should be aware of these types of experimental apparatus."
He paused, casting a glance at the cramped biological laboratory outside the office as a trace of helplessness surfaced on his face. "Before you arrived, I already inspected the current laboratory of the Konoha Hospital. To be perfectly honest, though the equipment can be considered passable, it is far inferior to the research conditions over on Orochimaru's end."
"The genomic analysis of the initial phase can be performed here, and the gene editing of the second phase can be managed by barely scraping by with the Chimera Technique to patch things together. However, the critical experiments that follow simply cannot be supported under the conditions of the Konoha Hospital."
"Furthermore, it isn't merely a matter of the apparatus required for the experiments; what is far more critical is the raw materials needed for the testing..."
"To accomplish the Kekkei Genkai fusion of the Hyuga clan and the Kaguya clan, what is required are the cells, human tissues, and... live subjects of both the Hyuga and Kaguya."
Hiruko stared at Hyuga Yu, spreading his hands. "I do not possess any experimental materials from the Hyuga clan in my possession, let alone any from the Kaguya clan."
"Lastly, I require funding."
Hyuga Yu nodded, noting down Hiruko's various requirements. "Regarding personnel, I will mobilize the experimental staff from the Foundation to cooperate with you."
"Regarding the laboratory, construction on the project over in the Forest of Death will commence shortly, mobilizing a large number of Konoha shinobi to participate in the construction. We should be able to erect the primary structural portions of several laboratories within three months. When that time comes, the experiments will be transferred over there. The equipment and all other aspects will be far more complete than the Konoha Hospital."
"As for the apparatus the laboratory lacks prior to that... we will use the Foundation's first. If that doesn't suffice, we will use Orochimaru's. I will coordinate this matter."
"Regarding experimental materials..."
"For the Kaguya clan, we can make do with the corpses of the Kaguya clan collected by the Corpse Processing Team for the time being, and I will find a solution for the rest later. As for the Hyuga clan's... mm, I will have them delivered to you within the next couple of days."
As for the final issue, Hyuga Yu pinched his chin and pondered for a brief moment. The plundered funds from Iwagakure had not yet arrived; even when they did arrive, they likely wouldn't last for an exceptionally long duration. He could only state helplessly: "As for funding... we will utilize the budget of the Konoha Hospital for the time being."
Hiruko thought about it and realized they could only make do in this manner for the time being.
Standing to the side, Sasori raised his brows at this moment, catching the key focus within Hyuga Yu's words. "Aside from the project involving the Chimera Technique, you still intend to construct several alternative laboratories?"
Just as Hyuga Yu prepared to respond, the heavy doors of the laboratory were pushed open from the outside. Two elderly men clad in white lab coats, leading a long line of department heads behind them, squeezed into the laboratory. They scanned their surroundings, quickly spotting Hyuga Yu standing in the interior of the lab. Their eyes lit up in unison. The old man leading the way, who possessed a goatee, raised his hand warmly, waving it as he shouted: "Yo, Yu-kun, you've returned?"
Beside him, another old man with graying hair and a thoroughly stern expression nudged the first old man, scoffing: "You foolish old man, what do you mean calling him Yu-kun? Call him Director!"
Hyuga Yu turned around, recognizing the two individuals, and a trace of a smile couldn't help but surface on his face. The leading old man was the current Deputy Director of the Konoha Hospital, Shiraishi—Konoha's future Medical Class Leader, Kanpo, was his grandson. The individual beside him was another Deputy Director of the hospital, Matsumoto.
These two, along with Furofuki, were the three executives of the Konoha Hospital who had kept Hyuga Yu by their sides to cultivate him over the past six years. "Director Shiraishi, Director Matsumoto."
Hyuga Yu stepped forward quickly, taking an arm of each elderly man to support them into the office. "Let us save the catching up for a few days from now when I visit your residences. As it happens, I have some matters that require the assistance of you two."
"Assistance?"
Director Shiraishi and Director Matsumoto exchanged glances, looking at one another before turning their gaze back to Hyuga Yu. They didn't refuse, but their faces betrayed a look of unvarnished speechlessness. "That fellow Furofuki wasn't wrong after all—your swift, resolute style of doing things truly hasn't changed in the slightest."
Hyuga Yu paid no heed to the old men's teasing, stating directly: "Moving forward, I intend to establish four research projects within the Konoha Hospital. I require the mobilization of the seniors from the various departments to participate in the upcoming experimental blueprint."
Upon hearing this, Shiraishi was instantly stunned. "Wait a moment... your transfer order to assume the role of Director hasn't officially come down yet, has it? How is it that you've run back here to direct operations today? You couldn't possibly be enacting retribution against these 'seniors' of yours, could you?"
In the past, Hyuga Yu's status within the hospital belonged to the level of a workhorse; any executive within the hospital could order him around, and the Byakugan was indeed exceptionally convenient...
Behind the two Directors, the various department heads felt their hearts shudder and their expressions collapse upon hearing that their already busy daily schedules were about to be saddled with four additional experimental projects. They looked toward Hyuga Yu—who had now become the Director—with an air of dread, thinking to themselves: Oh no, this wave is targeting me.
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