11. The Degree of Hyuga Clan’s Power

11. The Degree of Hyuga Clan’s Power

Then, after Hikari mentioned that he would take some time to decide which of the three paths to focus on more in the future, Takumi's demeanor shifted to a more serious tone.

He began to share with Hikari several important facts about the Byakugan that Hikari hadn't known or was only vaguely aware of, both from his past life's knowledge and his current life's experiences.

Takumi explained that there was a strict rule against activating the Byakugan within Konoha village itself, except within the confines of the Hyuga compound.

This rule was established by mutual agreement during the founding of Konoha. The concern was that the Hyuga clan, being located close to important buildings like the Hokage's office and other clan compounds, could inadvertently uncover sensitive information or violate the privacy of villagers, including potentially observing individuals beneath their clothes.

Such surveillance was deemed unacceptable by the rest of the village, leading to the prohibition of Byakugan use outside the Hyuga compound without explicit permission from Konoha's authorities, except under special circumstances such as a village-wide emergency. Violating this agreement would lead to severe consequences.

Furthermore, Takumi revealed that around the Hyuga clan's extensive compound, a powerful spiritual barrier had been erected, supplemented with special minerals. This barrier was under the direct supervision of Konoha's Barrier Team, ensuring that members of the Hyuga clan could not use their Byakugan to peer outside of Konoha from within their compound.

Not just surrounding the compound, but also within it, many similar barriers have been erected, like around the Fifth Elder's residence. This barrier served to prevent any other members of the Hyuga clan from peering inside, ensuring a layer of privacy and security.

Hikari also learned that the much-discussed, so-called 'blind spot' in the 360-degree vision of the Byakugan was not as significant a weakness as he had thought. Interestingly, this limitation was predominantly applicable to members of the Side Branch of the Hyuga clan.

And nowadays it is often employed tactically by the Side Branch members on the battlefield, serving more as a means to mislead opponents into underestimating the Byakugan user.

This strategic use of the blind spot could be leveraged to bait enemies in the direction that was already predicted, drawing them into a false sense of security before springing a trap.

As Hikari's curiosity grew, he began to ask Takumi a series of questions, to which Takumi was willing to provide detailed answers, helping Hikari clear up many important doubts.

Given that Hikari hadn't been able to directly engage with all the relevant materials Takumi had previously provided him before, as he could with a living expert of the highest order within the Hyuga clan, he was eager to acquire a more comprehensive understanding now.

Through their conversation, Hikari came to realize a significant misconception from his previous life: the notion that the Hyuga clan was 'foolish' for not utilizing ninjutsu, genjutsu, and other techniques was entirely unfounded.

Contrary to this belief, the Hyuga did not solely rely on the Gentle Fist technique, it was just the basis of their overall skillset, but many individual members were also proficient in ninjutsu, genjutsu, medical jutsu, and even fuinjutsu (sealing techniques).

These capabilities allowed Hyuga shinobi to cast illusions on their opponents suddenly and from great distances, and positions from which they didn't expect it, while also leveraging their insight into the opponent's chakra flow.

Additionally, their adeptness in manipulating Yin chakra within an opponent's chakra system could enhance the effectiveness and duration of their illusions, making them more potent and difficult to counter.

Indeed, Hikari realized that the Hyuga clan had developed numerous unique, strong genjutsu techniques over the hundreds of years, designed to leverage the unique capabilities of their Byakugan and to integrate seamlessly with the foundational Gentle Fist main techniques.

This realization led him to hypothesize that the reason many of these advanced techniques were not mentioned in the original stories was due to their being closely guarded secrets of the Main Branch.

He believed that these techniques were learned only by Takumi, the clan leader, the other Elders, and their lineages. This meant that the most powerful moves of the Hyuga clan were hidden from the Side Branch members who often fought in battles.

These Side Branch members might know basic ways to channel a little of their Yin genjutsu chakra in their Gentle Fist attacks if they were exceptionally lucky or talented to learn that on their own, but they didn't have access to the more advanced techniques. And this is not only the case with genjutsu techniques, but many other techniques as well.

Furthermore, Hikari also knew that the Hyuga clan wasn't just good at using genjutsu; they were also really hard to trick with it. Thanks to their Byakugan, they could see when someone was about to use genjutsu on them by noticing changes in that person's chakra.

Plus, Hyuga clan members who were good at controlling their chakra could break free from genjutsu, on their own, easily.

And not only that, Hikari also confirmed that some Jonin and Elite Jonin of the Hyuga clan could use their Byakugan to see weak points in an enemy's ninjutsu attacks.

So, besides being skilled at using and defending against genjutsu, the Hyuga clan also had an edge in dealing with various ninjutsu like Shadow Clones and others, including various chakra nature transformation ninjutsu techniques.

Their ability to observe chakra made it easy for them to spot the difference between a clone and a real person.

With this insight, they could either easily break through these attacks or counter them effectively using their Gentle Fist technique.

Splitting, deflecting, and outright destroying elemental ninjutsu attacks also wasn't impossible for them.

Takumi brought up these points as he began to shift the conversation towards finally starting to teach Hikari more about the Gentle Fist next.