According to his vague memories from his previous life, the Tenseigan—an overwhelmingly powerful dōjutsu—was an evolved form of the Byakugan, a top-tier power capable of rivaling the Rinnegan.
As far as Hyuga Kagami knew, there were two ways to evolve the Byakugan into the Tenseigan.
The first was the method used by Ōtsutsuki Toneri: combining the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki clan on the Moon with the bloodline of the Hyuga clan’s Main Family on Earth, thereby evolving the Tenseigan.
The second method was to fuse together a large number of Byakugan.
Hyuga Kagami immediately ruled out the first method.
He wasn’t a member of the Main Family, nor did he have any way of obtaining the Byakugan belonging to Ōtsutsuki Toneri’s bloodline on the Moon.
As for the second method, because of the Caged Bird Seal, the Byakugan of Branch Family members would be destroyed the instant they were removed from the body or upon the owner’s death.
Relying solely on the Main Family, it would be impossible to gather enough Byakugan.
Both methods seemed unworkable.
However, the second method gave Hyuga Kagami a new idea.
Whether it was the Byakugan, the Sharingan, or any other kekkei genkai, they were ultimately just physical manifestations of one’s genes.
If he couldn’t gather enough Byakugan, then could he approach the problem from the genetic level instead?
What if he collected the genes of a large number of Hyuga clan members, fused those genes together, and then used them to evolve his Byakugan from the inside out—directly at the genetic level—into the Tenseigan?
Based on this bold hypothesis, Hyuga Kagami began focusing his studies under Orochimaru on genetic technology.
Through continuous study and observation, Hyuga Kagami made an astonishing discovery: within the genes of every member of the Hyuga clan, there existed 33 sets of special gene sequences.
Further observation revealed something else.
Among different clan members, the number of activated sequences within these 33 sets of special gene sequences varied from person to person.
In Hyuga Kagami’s own case, only sequences 17 through 33 of the 33 special gene sequences in his body were active, while sequences 1 through 16 remained inactive.
The dozen or so other Hyuga clan members whose genetic samples he had collected showed much the same pattern.
Of their 33 sets of special gene sequences, only a portion were active.
This discovery further confirmed Hyuga Kagami’s hypothesis.
He even began to suspect that if all 33 sets of special gene sequences within the body could be activated, then every member of the Hyuga clan might be capable of evolving their Byakugan into the Tenseigan.
In an instant, this idea began spreading wildly through Hyuga Kagami’s mind.
Thanks to the war, Hyuga Kagami, who had been assigned by Orochimaru to work at a field hospital, was easily able to collect a large number of genetic samples from members of the Hyuga clan.
After screening and comparing more than a hundred genetic samples, he successfully extracted the activated special gene sequences numbered 4 through 16.
Combined with the activated sequences 17 through 33 already present within Hyuga Kagami’s own body, the only ones he was still missing out of the 33 sets of special gene sequences were the first three—activated sequences 1 through 3.
Hyuga Kagami had already collected more than enough genetic samples from the Branch Family, but none of them possessed activated versions of special gene sequences 1 through 3.
Naturally, he turned his attention toward the Main Family.
However, members of the Main Family rarely went to the battlefield personally.
Even when they did, they were usually placed under layers of protection.
They simply weren’t people a ninja of Hyuga Kagami’s standing could easily approach.
As a result, he had never managed to obtain a genetic sample from a member of the Main Family.
With no other choice, he had to ask Orochimaru for help.
Orochimaru didn’t refuse Hyuga Kagami’s request.
But even for Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, secretly obtaining a genetic sample from the Hyuga Main Family was no easy task.
And so, the matter dragged on for more than a year, forcing the experiment to come to a halt.
Although frustrated, Hyuga Kagami understood his situation clearly.
He was nothing more than an insignificant figure struggling to survive.
If he wanted to change his fate, he would have to seek out opportunities with his own hands rather than wait for fortune to simply fall into his lap.
Just as Hyuga Kagami had begun setting his sights on Hinata, the soon-to-be-born child of the Main Family, something completely unexpected happened.
When Orochimaru came to bid him farewell, he actually brought Hyuga Kagami a piece of flesh tissue from a member of the Main Family.
As he processed the tissue sample, Hyuga Kagami pondered inwardly,
“Orochimaru should be defecting from the village within the next few days.
Yet not only does he have no intention of taking me with him, he even brought me the experimental material I desperately needed before leaving.
What exactly is he planning?
Does he want me to remain peacefully in the village and act as his spy?”
Whether judging from Orochimaru’s recent behavior or from Hyuga Kagami’s vague memories of his previous life, he could be certain that Orochimaru had already lost most of his interest in the Byakugan.
For Orochimaru to still bring him the experimental material he urgently needed at a time like this clearly wasn’t for the sake of researching the Byakugan.
It was meant to reassure him.
At that thought, Hyuga Kagami silently mocked himself.
“Looks like the ‘Caged Bird Seal’ isn’t completely without its benefits after all!”
There was no doubt that the decisive reason Orochimaru had chosen to leave Hyuga Kagami behind in the village was the Caged Bird Seal engraved on his forehead.
After all, members of the Branch Family simply didn’t have the luxury of defecting.
The moment Hyuga Kagami attempted to abandon the village, the Caged Bird Seal could be used to dispose of him directly.
Naturally, Orochimaru had no interest in taking a useless corpse with him.
As the experiment proceeded, Hyuga Kagami pushed aside his distracting thoughts and focused his full attention on his work.
The Main Family tissue Orochimaru had brought him was remarkably fresh and full of vitality.
If Hyuga Kagami’s guess was correct, it most likely came from Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga clan—and his genes were precisely what Hyuga Kagami wanted most at the moment.
Because the tissue sample was so fresh, the gene extraction process went exceptionally smoothly.
After comparing the results, Hyuga Kagami was astonished to discover that out of Hyuga Hiashi’s 33 sets of special gene sequences, a full 28 were in an activated state.
More importantly, among them were the three sets he needed most—sequences 1 through 3.
“Twenty-eight sets of special gene sequences are actually active…
As expected of the clan head!”
Thinking of Hyuga Hiashi’s strength, which was close to Kage-level, Hyuga Kagami quickly found the result understandable.
Hyuga Hiashi was in the prime of his life and undoubtedly the strongest member of the Hyuga clan.
For someone of his caliber to possess some of the finest genes in the clan was only natural.
Putting those thoughts aside, Hyuga Kagami focused completely on extracting the three activated special gene sequences he had dreamed of obtaining—sequences 1 through 3.
With this, Hyuga Kagami had finally gathered all of the activated special gene sequences from 1 through 16 that he had been missing.
“Whether I can defy fate and change my destiny…
it all comes down to this!”
Joy, anticipation, anxiety, uncertainty—countless emotions surged through Hyuga Kagami all at once, leaving him momentarily dazed.
He wanted to throw his head back and roar.
He wanted to freely vent all the fear and oppression that had weighed upon his heart for so many years.
But the one-eyed viper resting on his shoulder made him abandon every such thought.
Letting out a quiet breath, Hyuga Kagami gradually suppressed the torrent of emotions within him.
Immediately afterward, without showing the slightest change in expression, Hyuga Kagami poured the extracted genetic solution into a small temperature-controlled vial.
He then took out a scroll and sealed the vial inside it.
Orochimaru’s defection was certain to cause a massive stir throughout the village.
To make sure he wouldn’t be implicated, Hyuga Kagami still had many loose ends to take care of.
First and foremost was this laboratory.
He had to completely erase every trace of his presence from the lab.
Even the traces left behind by his experiments had to be thoroughly removed, lest the village discover them and follow the clues back to him—or worse, uncover the special gene sequence fusion experiments he had been conducting.