Meanwhile, Hiashi Hyuga's thoughts also began to stir quietly.
The Hyuga Clan's relationship with the village had always maintained a subtle distance.
A large part of the reason stemmed from their system of main house and branch house divisions, as well as the Curse Mark: Caged Bird seal.
Within the Hyuga Clan, this system was regarded as a necessary means of preventing the Byakugan from leaking outside the clan.
However, in the eyes of many outsiders, the practice of dividing clan members into main house and branch house and controlling the lives and deaths of the branch house through seals was no different from slavery.
It seriously contradicted the political correctness of the Will of Fire established since Konoha's founding.
The only reason things had remained this way was that when the Hyuga Clan joined Konoha, they had reached an agreement with the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
The village would not interfere in the Hyuga Clan's internal affairs and systems.
It was this agreement that had caused Konoha's leadership to maintain a tacit attitude of turning a blind eye to the system all these years.
Yet this also resulted in the Hyuga Clan occupying a position that seemed detached but was, in fact, marginal within Konoha's political structure.
Even the Uchiha had once entered the village's power core temporarily when they were accepted as students by the second Hokage.
The Hyuga Clan, meanwhile, never had.
They did not even have a single member in the Anbu.
Therefore, they never hoped that a clan member would truly enter the village's center of power, much less become Hokage.
However, if they could maintain a good personal relationship with a future Hokage, that would still be of tremendous significance to the Hyuga Clan.
Thinking of this, Hiashi's gaze unconsciously shifted toward the black-haired youth walking at the front of the group.
"Doesn't Hizashi seem to have a pretty good relationship with Shinichi-kun?"
"Perhaps... Some effort can be invested in that area."
Unlike the two Clan Heads beside him, who were each harboring their own thoughts, Minato Namikaze was not thinking nearly as much.
He enthusiastically discussed the details of mission arrangements with the young boy beside him.
After finishing the discussion about work, his tone suddenly became somewhat hesitant, and a conflicted expression appeared on his face.
"Well... Shinichi..."
Minato scratched his head and spoke awkwardly.
"Uh..."
"When did you become so hesitant, Minato-senpai?"
Shinichi turned to glance at him and smiled.
"If there is something, please just say it directly, senpai."
"Well... I want to learn your Wind Style Nintaijutsu."
After deliberating for a while, Minato finally said it.
"Wind Style Nintaijutsu?"
Shinichi paused briefly before nodding.
"Of course you can, but weren't you researching Lightning Style Nintaijutsu, Minato-senpai?"
His tone shifted as he smiled toward Minato.
"I was actually hoping that you could help Kakashi and me develop a method to strengthen neural reaction speed, senpai."
"Well... About that..."
Minato continued scratching his head and smiled awkwardly.
"I am indeed still researching Lightning Style Nintaijutsu. It's just that I feel it doesn't help my current combat style very much. After all, I possess the Flying Thunder God Technique. When it comes to pure linear burst speed, there really isn't much room left for improvement."
"What I need more is a combat system capable of flexible directional changes over short distances, light and agile movement, and better adaptability to complex terrain and close-quarters combat. So..."
At this point, Minato paused before continuing.
"But don't worry, Shinichi. I won't abandon research into Lightning Style Nintaijutsu, and I'll do my best to develop methods for strengthening neural reactions as quickly as possible."
As he said this, Minato could not help muttering inwardly.
Truthfully, he had never possessed any special tricks regarding neural reactions, because he was simply born with extraordinarily sharp reflexes.
Since childhood, he had always been like this.
He grew naturally and used those abilities naturally, and he had never deliberately researched any methods.
Back when he taught Kakashi how to train visual tracking and neural reactions to control Chidori, he had put in tremendous effort to extract a few training methods from his instincts that operated almost entirely subconsciously.
Even then, he was not completely certain they would work.
Fortunately, Kakashi had been talented, and the results turned out fairly well.
But since he had promised to specifically research this area, he would have to devote himself to it seriously afterward.
He could no longer rely solely on intuition as he had before.
Hearing this, Shinichi nodded.
Although Lightning Style Nintaijutsu could strengthen speed, power, and defense, the greatest benefits to the body's foundation came when training before the body had fully matured.
Minato was already twenty-one years old.
His growth was essentially complete.
No matter how much he trained, the results would ultimately be less obvious than for youths like Shinichi and Kakashi.
In that case, the more agile and flexible Wind Style Nintaijutsu was indeed better suited to Minato's current fighting style.
Thinking of this, Shinichi said, "Alright. Since you asked, Minato-senpai, I'll organize my insights on Wind Style Nintaijutsu and prepare a copy for you. You can study it first, senpai. If there's anything unclear, once we return to the village and have some free time, I'll explain it in person."
"Thank you, Shinichi."
Minato finally relaxed.
"There's no need to be so polite, senpai."
Shinichi smiled slightly.
"As for the Flying Thunder God Technique, perhaps someday I'll have to seek guidance from senpai as well."
"No problem."
Minato nodded without hesitation.
"Not just Flying Thunder God Technique. As long as it's something I know, Shinichi, you can come ask me anytime."
...
At the moon, on the Otsutsuki branch house settlement, deep in the underground.
Within a secret hall covered by layers of ancient techniques, the light of countless sealing arts and barrier ninjutsu quietly flowed across every wall, casting the chamber in a deep and eerie glow.
It was as though the entire space had been isolated from reality itself.
"Hahahahaha! Success! Success!!!"
A wild, unrestrained burst of laughter suddenly exploded through the sealed hall, echoing repeatedly.
Nobuhiro Otsutsuki stared fixedly at the stone held between both of his hands.
It was about the size of a fist and radiated a mysterious purple light throughout its entire body.
His eyes burned with nearly insane ecstasy.
This stone was the small Tenseigan.
After nearly a month of effort, searching through every ancient clan record, personally conducting numerous trials and verifications, and ultimately using the donated Byakugan of twenty branch house members, Nobuhiro Otsutsuki had finally succeeded in creating it.
"Good! Excellent! Wonderful! Starting today, our branch house finally possesses a Tenseigan of our own!"
Inside the hall, the surrounding branchhouse members erupted into fanatical cheers.
A considerable number of them had hollow eye sockets and deeply sunken eyes.
Clearly, they had lost their own eyes, but not only was there not the slightest trace of pain or loss on their faces, but instead they were filled with a near-martyr-like fanaticism.
A branch house member who had lost both eyes suddenly stepped forward, dropped to one knee, raised his head, and said in an excited, trembling voice: "Clan Head! Please gather all branch house members immediately! Regardless of age or gender, let everyone offer up their Byakugan! Use them to create an even stronger Tenseigan! Then
let's destroy the main house in one stroke, carry out ancestor Hamura's will, and purify this filthy Shinobi World!"