Chapter 98: Awakening Together

The Byakugan was an innate trait of the Otsutsuki Clan, symbolizing their primordial purity. The Sharingan, Rinnegan, and Tenseigan had all developed from it—either mutated or evolved forms.

Each of Kaguya's offspring—Kara, Momoshiki, and Kinshiki—developed unique abilities through their own Byakugan.

Mind reading, oppressive aura, space-time manipulation, even foreseeing another's fate...

Indeed, this was an eye full of infinite potential.

However, the Byakugan inherited by the Hyuga Clan from Hamura Otsutsuki had severely regressed over generations. It retained only basic functionality while losing its crucial ability to evolve.

Now, after all this time, that dormant power finally stirred back to life within Hiashi Hyuga.

As the eldest son of the Hyuga main branch, Hiashi carried the purest Byakugan bloodline—closest to his ancestor Hamura Otsutsuki.

After cultivating the Eight Gates, his body's potential awakened, revealing signs of genetic regression toward ancestral traits. Now, Heiyan's death delivered a massive psychological blow, unleashing the full force of the Yin Release chakra buried deep within his eyes.

His Byakugan had evolved into a higher form, possessing capabilities similar to the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan.

[Left Eye: Oppression.] [Right Eye: Telekinesis.]

From this moment forward, after standing still for over a thousand years, the Hyuga Clan had finally taken its first bold step forward.

"Trying to escape?"

After eliminating several White Zetsus, Hiashi turned his gaze toward Black Zetsu, just in time to see the latter diving underground—attempting to flee.

Black Zetsu always immediately burrowed deep beneath the earth whenever situations turned unfavorable—a trick that had never failed him until today.

But before Hiashi's newly enhanced Byakugan, this tactic proved useless.

Hiashi clearly saw Black Zetsu's movement patterns underground.

As he moved to chase down the slippery foe, a sudden surge of danger froze him in place—his expression darkened instantly.

Whoosh!

He dodged sideways midair, narrowly avoiding an unexpected Black Line Fist attack from behind.

It turned out Kakuzu—who lay defeated earlier—had somehow revived himself and attacked Hiashi from behind.

"The Hyuga's Byakugan really does offer 360-degree vision," said Kakuzu, narrowing his green eyes when he noticed Hiashi had evaded his attack.

Frowning, Hiashi stared at Kakuzu across from him. The enemy's chest contained a gaping hole yet appeared completely unaffected.

What exactly was this guy?

Although Hiashi's Byakugan had already identified Kakuzu's unique physique—being stitched together with countless black threads—it still assumed he'd be human enough that destroying his heart would mean certain death.

He hadn't expected this.

In that case, he would completely annihilate Kakuzu's entire physical form without leaving any trace—then see if this opponent could resurrect.

As Hiashi prepared to strike, he noticed Kakuzu voluntarily revealing his true form.

Tear!

Kakuzu tore off his clothing, exposing his upper torso covered entirely with suturing lines—as though his body had been haphazardly sewn together from mismatched pieces.

Behind him were four grotesque masks protruding from his back, though one had already been destroyed.

"Heh heh..."

He hunched forward, letting out a pained growl. His back bulged violently, like something trying to break free from inside the masks.

Finally—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The black threads binding Kakuzu's back snapped apart entirely. Each mask shot outward, dragging massive clusters of black threads from his body, finally forming four mask beasts.

These four mask monsters varied in appearance—some tall, some short, some upright, others crawling. Their bodies were made of black threads, their heads adorned with masks representing the four elements: Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning.

Combined with Kakuzu's original Earth Release ability, they now completed all five elemental natures.

However, the Water mask beast had barely emerged when it collapsed to the ground with a loud "pop," its mask cracked, dying instantly.

Clearly, this was the "heart" previously destroyed by Hiashi Hyuga's [Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm].

Even so, the current situation presented four against one—an obvious disadvantage for Hiashi Hyuga.

[Byakugan: Oppression]!

Hiashi struck first, attempting to immobilize these mask beasts with his dojutsu, hoping to trap them all at once.

But Kakuzu was prepared. Instantly, he ordered the masked creatures to scatter in all directions, exiting the range of Hiashi's dojutsu, then encircled Hiashi himself.

[Fire Release: Flame Eruption]!

The fire mask beast attacked first, spewing forth an enormous wave of flame from its mouth like surging seawater. Upon hitting the ground, the flames spread rapidly, sweeping toward Hiashi as if to consume everything in their path.

The scale of this Fire Release technique surpassed even Fugaku's full-powered [Great Fireball Jutsu].

There was nowhere to flee.

[Rotation]!

Hiashi spun rapidly on the spot, activating the ultimate technique of the Hyuga clan. He generated a hemispherical barrier around himself using chakra expelled from his body.

It barely managed to hold out against the assault.

Yet just as the flames faded, before Hiashi could catch his breath, the lightning mask monster launched its attack. It fired several sharp lances of lightning from its mouth, raking the area where Hiashi stood.

[Lightning Release: False Darkness]!

This [Lightning Release: False Darkness] was also among the highest-level Lightning Release techniques, capable of easily piercing through rock several meters thick, with immense destructive power.

"Up!"

At this critical moment, Hiashi uttered a low shout and used telekinesis to lift his body high into the air, narrowly avoiding the strike of the Lightning Release technique.

However, what he hadn't anticipated was that the Wind mask beast had already taken its position.

Flapping its wings, it soared higher into the sky, then released countless high-pressure wind orbs from its mouth. These formed a storm covering everything, exploding widely above Hiashi in a massive aerial blast.

[Wind Release: Pressure Damage]!

This time, there truly was no chance to evade.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Under the vortex-like attack of the violent wind, Hiashi's body sustained multiple injuries and fell from the sky like a torn piece of cloth.

Kakuzu's relentless offensive employed large-scale techniques of Fire, Lightning, and Wind in succession. Not only did he defeat Hiashi Hyuga, but he completely devastated the surrounding terrain.

These mask beasts had been top-class ninja during their lifetimes, and under Kakuzu's control, they demonstrated seamless coordination in battle.

Hiashi had just awakened his White Eye, and without fully developing its abilities, he naturally couldn't match Kakuzu, whose powers were already mature.

Thus, Hyuga Hiashi was defeated and gravely wounded.

Once again, Uchiha Fugaku witnessed this scene unfold.

"I... am truly useless."

He kept his head bowed low, fists clenched tight, entire body trembling, veins bulging on his face and the back of his hands.

He felt hatred—hatred for his own weakness, helplessness. He could only watch as his teammates fell one by one. The image of Heiyan's chest pierced through, the sight of Hiashi plummeting from the sky—all endlessly replayed in his mind.

If only time could turn back... He wished they could live again. Wished it had been him lying lifeless instead.

That way, he wouldn't have to carry guilt and regret, suffering through every painful day.

"Even now, you still can't awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

Black Zetsu emerged from deep underground once more, disappointment written across his face as he mocked Fugaku, "Looks like your so-called 'companions' mean nothing to you at all."

At that moment, Black Zetsu decided to abandon Fugaku. Facts showed this man simply lacked the talent needed to be worth developing further as a pawn.

So he sneered without restraint: "Never would've guessed it—Fugaku Uchiha's just a selfish bastard who always put himself first!"

"Silence!"

Fugaku suddenly roared furiously, sharply lifting his head. Without realizing when, two streaks of blood had trailed down from his eyes.

Within his pupils, three crimson tomoe merged together, forming a perfect circle. 

A continuous, endless circle.

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