2 The Byakugan and The Hyuga Clan
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The Byakugan is the kekkei genkai of the Hyuga Clan that has been passed down the generations of their clan for around a thousand years. It was inherited from their ancestor, Otsutsuki Hamura, though the clan itself already forgot about their celestial ancestry and heritage a long time ago.
Almost everyone in this bloodline has white irises and pupils and can potentially awaken the Byakugan once they have the necessary chakra capacity and control. Whenever the Byakugan is activated, the veins around the eyes swell from the increased flow of chakra.
Because actually activating the eyes is quite difficult, the Hyuga developed a hand-seal sequence to channel their chakra in the correct way which is taught to all of their children.
Though there were exceptions before, in their history, when a child unlocks their Byakugan all on their own, without any help from adults.
Those geniuses usually become famed shinobi later in their lives and their eyes are purer and stronger than from the other Hyugas', usually, depending on the age at which they unlocked them.
It was significantly harder to awaken the Sharingan, another world-famous dojutsu, than it was the Byakugan. Basically, every Hyuga at some point in their life will eventually awaken the Byakugan, but not every Uchiha will awaken the Sharingan, they need the right amount of talent and stimulus.
It was because the Hyuga clan practiced way more inbreeding in their long history, than the Uchiha clan, so their original genetic bloodline was not as diluted overall as the Uchiha clan's bloodline.
Essentially, it was quantity over quality when comparing the respective strengths of these two clans.
Although some would argue that Byakugan was equal, or even stronger than the so-called "base Sharingan", and that only with the Sharingan's evolution into the Mangekyo, it starts being stronger than the Byakugan.
Therefore, even before the Nine-Tails incident Hyuga and Uchiha were considered at most equal in the village, but now, there was no question about it, Hyuga was way more powerful and respected, and got rightfully named the number one wealthy family of the Konohagakure.
When active, the Byakugan eyes gain a supernatural acuity that allows them to see the world with incredible clarity. Everything becomes that much sharper, distances are easier to perceive, color is more pronounced and their minds can process everything they see at a faster rate than normal.
One ability that the Byakugan shares with all other doujutsu is seeing chakra as a part of the visible spectrum. Ordinary eyes are only able to see chakra when it's concentrated to the highest levels but the Byakugan can see it in even the faintest quantities.
It perceives chakra as different colors which are unique to each individual, judges chakra levels, reveals things hidden by chakra from the naked eye, shows disturbances in a person's chakra flow such as genjutsu, and sees it in the techniques used against them.
The Byakugan possesses panoramic vision which allows the Hyuga to see in almost a full three hundred and sixty degrees so that they can view practically everything around them. By doing so they are able to anticipate attacks from any direction, including directly above them, with greater awareness than those who would rely on their other senses to compensate. However, it does have a blind spot where attacks are able to reach the Hyuga without them seeing it beforehand.
They are capable of telescopic vision which can see over dozens of meters further from their earliest activation, and which can be trained to extend hundreds of meters and even tens of thousands of meters. Such range means that they can spot enemies and track their movements with them none the wiser.
And lastly, they possess x-ray vision which allows them to see through physical objects as if they were not there to view whatever may exist beyond them. This ability in particular makes hiding from the Byakugan so difficult as it can see through solid walls, smoke, dust, clothing, and equipment, or even through a person's flesh to see their bones or internal organs.
It also assists in their ability to psychoanalyze their opponents as they can see how their body reacts such as producing more sweat, increasing their heart rate, and other chemical changes. As such, very few people are capable of lying to a Hyuga. Not just that, they could also anticipate their enemies' next moves judging from their body language positions, and inner muscle contractions.
The Hyuga clan's members usually combine their x-ray vision with their ability to see chakra, allowing them to see the chakra pathways and tenketsu within the human body. This served as the foundation of their Gentle Fist as they inject their chakra into the enemy's pathways that are entwined with their internal organs to damage them in ways they can't defend against.
Those with higher than average visual acuity, naturally or trained, can even see the three hundred and sixty-one chakra points which release chakra from the body which can then be targeted to disrupt and seal the enemy's chakra flow. Viewing the chakra pathways directly means that they can literally see the enemy generate chakra, transform it into a technique and channel it through their body, allowing them to react to an attack before it is actually unleashed.
It is even one of the reasons why the Hyuga are so gifted with chakra control. Where other people can only rely on how their chakra feels as they manipulate it, those with the Byakugan can actually see the chakra moving through their own bodies. With this knowledge, they can better adjust their chakra levels when applying it to exercises or techniques to use exactly as much as they need.
And they combine their panoramic vision with their telescopic vision to see as far as possible, in all directions, so that they can perceive everything happening in that territory and defend themselves against it. It is perfect for fighting against multiple enemies at different ranges as they are able to keep track of any attack against them where other ninja would be overwhelmed.
If the Hyuga truly pushes their visual processing power then they can experience a phenomenon where time appears to slow down so that they can perfectly perceive everything around them and respond.
However, using multiple types of vision can limit their maximum ability such as when trying to extend their visual range while looking in three hundred and sixty degrees at the same time; they cannot see nearly as far as they would by just focusing on their telescopic vision. This is why they usually focus on a specific type of vision and then, as the circumstances change, switch over to a different type of vision to adapt, often assisting that change with a hand-seal.
Overusing the Byakugan by maintaining its active state for hours on end, especially while pushing its eyesight to the limit, can strain the eyes to the extent that they temporarily damage their vision.
***
The current Neji Hyuga activated his Byakugan naturally at just three years old right at the moment when another foreign soul took over the original Neji's soul and devoured it, effectively getting control of his whole body finally. He formerly had to wait and lie dormant, for that exact moment, for three whole long years. The moment when Neji's original child soul was in its most agitated and vulnerable state for a takeover, just after Hizashi's, his father's, pitiful passing, that's when he acted.
That's when he managed to defeat the original owner's much stronger soul. Yes, even children in this world have much stronger souls than the adults of his past life, that's why he could only hide carefully inside Neji's mindscape and wait until then. But, it's not like he was wasting all his time there, he eventually formulated many plans and strategies and consolidated his knowledge of the series even more, during that period of waiting to strike. He thought of his Neji seizure plan also during that time. He also slowly mentally adapted from his past modern identity to this current supernatural and extraordinary world then. Therefore, it wasn't such a shock when he took over.
That was also the first moment current Neji realized that the connection between dojutsu and spiritual/soul energy was a real thing, right when all that happened. Due to the soul fusion between the original and current Neji, his new body somehow managed to awaken the Byakugan right then.
Therefore, he immediately realized how to strengthen both of them at the same time in the future. By strengthening his Byakugan, and strengthening his soul, at the same time, both will propel each other's strengths. So, he decided to train his Byakugan regularly on daily basis after that. Now he also had a much stronger soul and spiritual energy than others. He also felt that his thinking speed, processing power, intellect, and creativity also got much stronger, that it was in his previous life.
As for spiritual power, he has another idea on how to train it to the maximum. The connection between the Yin Release and spiritual power should be obvious by now, and his path was clear.
Just look at the Uchiha clan, once their emotions run wild, they get an awakening and later even an upgrade for the Sharingan. And it doesn't stop with the Mangekyo Sharingan. The stronger hatred Sasuke accumulated inside of himself during Naruto Shippuden, the stronger his abilities and overall strength were with almost no limits, even during the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan state.
And the Mangekyo Sharingan Susanoo's ability was in fact a Yin Release, there was nothing clearer than that. The strongest Sasuke's hatred and emotions were at that time, the stronger the giant was.
The Hyuga clan's dojutsu, the Byakugan, was maybe wired differently and Hyuga's spiritual powers don't actually increase that much with hatred, or other kinds of emotions, but with something else completely instead, he doesn't know of for now. However, the Yin Release should be genjutsu as well, so, in theory, by practicing genjutsu, Neji's spiritual powers would get stronger, which will in fact lead to his Byakugan becoming stronger by extension. Not just genjutsu, but other Yin Release jutsu could improve his soul powers as well, which will in fact get his Byakugan stronger if he's lucky.
So, for now, Neji planned on how to get different soul techniques and genjutsu, while practically exerting his Byakugan towards its limits every day until the danger of overusing comes, then he stops for the day. He was sure that other Hyuga don't actually do that every day, it was really dumb.
Neji was different from other users regarding how he exerts and trains his Byakugan. He wasn't doing it toward outside distances like them, instead, he was mostly focusing inwardly, going inside of his own body, chakra pathway system, tenketsu points, muscles, bones, with his vision, the farthest he could go, every day the same, until his eyes start getting uncomfortable and then he stops. Currently, he was doing just that, inside his spacious room. Bulging veins surrounding his sharp, activated Byakugan, his focus was at its highest state.
'More, more, just a little bit more...', He repeated inside his head, like in a trance. Every day he wanted to go further and further. Until one day he develops microscopic vision, to be able to see his own cells. Or even further, which was now at least ten years away from the current him, to see his own DNA chain inside those cells, and develop what he called the final ability of the Byakugan, the DNA vision. Only in this way would he be able to change his tragic, enslaved destiny. Cells and DNA equal fate. Combing the knowledge of his two lives, that was the only way for him to accomplish his goals!
As for the basic stuff, suited for his age, like chakra control exercises, Neji already mastered them, and not only Neji, but basically, all the big clan kids master those basics by the time they were five to six.
***
The morning light gradually replaced the cold night outside. The Hyuga clansmen gradually woke up and started doing their daily activities inside their large clan compound. The clan compound was constructed as some kind of large labyrinth, long residential areas, made mostly of wood, in traditional japanese-like style, and in between were many open courtyards used for training activities. It also had many levels with terraces overlooking the training grounds, some faced the outside of the clan, towards the village center, or the bordering forest, like the room six-year old Neji lived in.
Generally, only branch members lived towards the edges of the compound, whereas the main clan usually lived in the first row of their estate, located near the center of the village, facing the Hokage's building and village's commercial center, not like the branch members, whose rooms faced the outskirts, the forest, and the village walls. Neji's own residence was of course on that side.
Neji usually didn't venture towards the main branch side of the estate. He didn't have reasons to, and he hated seeing those kinds of eyes of the main branch family while they were also looking at him, from those terraces, as if they were high above him, both literally and figurately, as if they were higher life forms than the lowly him. As if he was their unquestionable property, livestock branded with a large slave mark, on his forehead, an inferior being trapped inside a cage to serve them all eternally. But, today was different, it was the day when he finally first enters the Konoha's Academy.
It's hard to imagine the number one illustrious family inside the Konoha, even inside the whole Ninja World, behaving like that behind closed doors. But, such was the truth, and no one knew the cruelty inside as well as he did. As Neji quietly walked towards the exit gates of the residence, to go to the Ninja Academy, he saw it all once again and cursed inwardly. No one from Konoha didn't know, or better said, they did but simply didn't care about it. Konohagakure, with the so-called "Will of Fire" mentality didn't care about slavery, and no Hokage ever attempted to abolish the practice.
What was slavery, when they even dared to commit genocide against the Uchiha family in the original? Slavery was a lightweight matter to them, they even killed an entire clan that founded them. They harassed a hero that saved them, Naruto Uzumaki, and drove "White Fang" to suicide.
Not only genocide, but human experimentation as well, sixty of their own children were killed by Orochimaru and Danzo while doing experiments with Senju cells in the past, and Hiruzen let them both go, didn't chase Orochimaru, nor did he punish Danzo. Maybe he also supported that experiment, in the hope of awakening a new Wood Release user, there is no other way to explain it.
While passing through those large hallways and courtyards and looking at the situation, Neji thought, all of a sudden, 'Those branch members have jealousy and resentment but they don't have any means, courage, or knowledge to try and attempt some kind of revenge or to break out of their cages, they were raised as slaves, from the moment they were born, and they don't know any better.',
'But, I'm different than them, and I will take revenge against all of the main branch members! In fact, not only because of Neji's soul, but because of my previous life as well. I'm different now, I won't be that weak ever again!', Neji thought firmly, but still keeping that same cold, but resided to fate, look that the other branch members had as well, and the one Neji Hyuga also had in the original series.
'I can guess what those main branch bastards must be thinking right now. No matter what kind of genius you are, awakening Byakugan, all on your own, at just three years old, you're still just a bird in a cage. But, they don't understand, that I'm not a bird in a cage, but a beast in a cage for them!',
The clan is separated into two parts, the main house, and the branch house, a system that nominally protects the secrets of the Byakugan from outsiders. The main house runs the family while the branch house protects it. The members of the branch house are branded with a cursed seal upon the third birthday of the heir to the main house. This seal gives the main house members absolute control over the branch members because they can destroy the branch members' brain cells with a simple hand seal, or cause them great pain to punish them. This seal also makes sure the secret of the Hyuga's Byakugan is safe because it seals the Byakugan after the wearer of the seal dies.
However, if the protection of the secrets of the Byakugan was the main reason for those wretched curse marks, why was the function to destroy the brain cells of the branch members introduced?
Why did those kinds of "punishments for disobedience" happen often, and what connection does it have with protecting the Byakugan's secrets? Because it's all just a facade, the real reason is to keep power in the hands of the main family firmly, an ancient practice from the Warring States period.
To make matter worse for him, in fact, Neji had a substantial chance to become the main branch member and even the next leader of the whole Hyuga clan himself. His grandfather was the previous patriarch before Hiashi. However, his father, Hizashi, was an identical twin who was born within minutes after his older brother, Hiashi, and only one of them could become the next head.
Having both of them in the main branch could later cause multiple succession problems that can easily be prevented by sealing one of the brothers as a branch member. By doing so it could prevent an uprising from the younger twin who might feel disgruntled by the fact that he didn't receive the title of heir just because he was born minutes after his older brother.
Furthermore, genetically speaking identical twins share the same DNA as each other, so it wouldn't be surprising if the two brothers couldn't be distinguished by their appearance and chakra networks. In that case, the younger brother could just pose as the older brother and there would be no way to identify which of them speaks the truth. By forcing Hizashi to become a branch member and branding the seal on him the Hyuga prevented all of these aforementioned complications.
