Three years.
A full three years had passed since Hinata was born.
Hiashi Hyuga stood inside the Main House Elders’ dedicated dojo, watching the small figure before him dressed in a pure white martial arts uniform, sporting a dark blue hime-cut.
His heart was a jumble of conflicting emotions.
Helplessness—a deep, overwhelming sense of helplessness.
Over the past three years, he had utilized every covert method available, even secretly commissioning Konoha’s top medical ninja to conduct lineage verifications.
Ultimately, the results proved one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: this child was indeed his own biological flesh and blood!
There was no infidelity whatsoever.
Hinata’s refined facial features were virtually cast from the exact same mold as his wife, Karin.
Yet, this biological eldest daughter didn’t seem to inherit the Hyuga clan’s proudest trait: the Byakugan!
Those brilliant, azure-blue eyes looked nothing like the pure, flawless, milk-white Byakugan.
In Hiashi’s eyes, this was undeniably a sign of bloodline degradation.
Because of this, Hiashi had visited Hinata only a handful of times over these three years, essentially keeping her half-sequestered in the deep courtyard of the Hyuga compound.
It wasn’t until today, on Hinata’s third birthday, that Hiashi had a sudden whim to personally test his daughter’s physical constitution.
Thump!
A dull thud echoed.
Three-year-old Hinata, looking like an unstable roly-poly toy, tumbled backwards onto the smooth, hard wooden floor.
“Too slow!”
Hiashi stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at his daughter from above.
His voice was as cold and hard as iron.
“The Hyuga clan harbors no weaklings!
You are so sluggish doing even basic Gentle Fist (Jūken) footwork.
Get up and continue!”
Sitting on the floor, Hinata lowered her head, nervously poking her short, chubby index fingers together in front of her chest in a show of aggrieved helplessness.
Water welled up rapidly in her eyes, and her mouth pouted as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
However, beneath this pitiful, adorable exterior, the soul of a twenty-four-year-old adult man was roaring in fury.
‘Damn it!
A full-grown man like me forced to play dumb and act cute every single day!’
Hinata cursed Hiashi eight hundred times in his mind.
‘This three-year-old body has stumpy arms and short legs—how do you expect me to use Gentle Fist?
I was a real tough guy in my past life, but to survive in this village where people die left and right, I have to squeak in a high voice and pretend to be timid!
It’s so embarrassing!’
Embarrassing as it was, the show had to go on.
Hinata sniffled, using her chubby little hands to push off the floor as she wobbled back onto her feet.
Creak…
The sliding door of the dojo was gently pushed open from the outside.
Karin Hyuga, dressed in an elegant kimono, stepped inside carrying a refined wooden tray.
On the tray sat steaming tea and several pieces of red bean cake (azuki-mochi).
“Dear, Hinata is only three years old.
This level of training is too intense for her.”
Karin’s voice was as gentle as water, yet carried an undeniable strength.
She walked quickly to Hinata’s side, set the tray down, and pulled a pristine white handkerchief from her sleeve, tenderly wiping away the sweat on Hinata’s forehead and the tears at the corners of her eyes.
“Mother…”
Taking advantage of the moment, Hinata buried herself in Karin’s embrace, calling out in a babyish voice.
‘Mom’s warmth is truly the best!’
Hinata was deeply moved inside.
Karin gently stroked Hinata’s dark blue hair, then lightly placed her palm over the knee Hinata had just bumped.
A warm, pale-green glow of medical chakra flowed steadily from Karin’s palm into Hinata’s body, soothing the minor bruise.
At that exact moment—
Deep within Hinata’s lowered eyes, those azure-blue pupils suddenly contracted!
Deep-layer Byakugan—or rather, the Six Eyes (Rikugan)—activated!
Hum!
In an instant, the world in Hinata’s vision transformed into countless precise streams of data and chakra flow paths.
Taking advantage of Karin’s chakra delivery, Hinata’s vision penetrated right through her mother’s body, clearly reading the chakra pathway system (Keirakukei) within.
Upon seeing it, the aggrieved expression on Hinata’s face instantly froze.
Under the absolute vision of the Six Eyes, although Karin’s internal chakra pathway system was still functioning, many vital chakra points (tenketsu) and main channels exhibited a dark, withered grey color!
Especially the pathways around her abdominal region—they were so fragile they looked like spider silk that would snap at the slightest tug.
Her vitality was draining away at an extremely slow, yet irreversible pace.
‘How could this be?!’
A storm surged within Hinata’s mind.
‘Mother’s body…
it’s like a leaking sieve!
Did she suffer severe damage during my childbirth that left a chronic illness?’
As a die-hard Naruto fan in her previous life, Hinata instantly recalled the original lore—Karin Hyuga had passed away shortly after giving birth to her second daughter, Hanabi!
So this weakness had already begun way back now!
“Cough, cough…
cough!”
Just as Hinata was burning with anxiety, Karin suddenly covered her mouth and coughed violently.
A sickly flush rose on her pale cheeks, and her brows furrowed in pain.
“Mother!” Hinata cried out, her small hands tightly clutching Karin’s sleeve.
Hiashi, who had been maintaining his stern father facade, completely broke character.
In a flash of Body Flicker (Shunshin), he appeared by Karin’s side, grabbing her shoulders with his broad hands.
His cold eyes instantly filled with intense worry and tenderness.
“Karin!
What’s wrong?
Did you catch a chill?”
Hiashi’s voice trembled with undeniable panic, lacking any of his usual patriarch authority.
“Forget the training!
Go back to your room and rest right now!
I’ll call a medical ninja immediately!”
Karin gently shook her head, placing her hand over Hiashi’s to soothe him softly:
“Dear, I’m fine.
I was just walking too fast and caught my breath wrong.
Don’t frighten Hinata.”
Saying that, she turned to Hinata, picked up a piece of red bean cake from the tray, fed it toward Hinata’s mouth, and said with a smile:
“Little Hinata worked very hard today.
Here is a sweet cake as a reward.
After eating this, let’s end today’s training, okay?”
“Mm!
Thank you, Mother!”
Hinata obediently opened her mouth and took a bite.
The sweet, soft taste filled her mouth, but her heart felt heavy as lead.
Seeing this, Hiashi didn’t insist further, letting out a cold grunt to cover up his momentary lapse in composure:
“Since your mother is speaking up for you, we will end here today.
Karin, let me assist you back.”
Watching her parents walk away together, Hinata stood in the empty dojo, tightly clenching her chubby fists.
Late at night.
Bright moonlight poured like liquid silver into the secluded courtyard of the Hyuga estate.
Hinata stood alone in the center of the yard, taking a deep breath to clear her mind.
‘Mother’s body won’t hold out for many more years.
I must gain power as quickly as possible!’
Hinata’s gaze sharpened, her azure-blue eyes glowing with an intense, heart-stopping light in the dark.
She forcibly channeled the meager chakra inside her body, attempting to connect with that invincible template belonging to Gojo Satoru deep within her soul.
‘Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!
(Shutsu-shiki Junten: Ao!)’
Hinata roared inwardly.
A faint blue light condensed at her fingertip, causing the surrounding air to distort slightly.
A few fallen leaves were pulled toward her finger by an invisible gravitational force.
However, right at the moment this power was about to form—
“Ugh!”
Hinata let out a muffled groan of pain as the blue light at her fingertip shattered instantly.
A searing pain, as if thousands of steel needles were stabbing simultaneously into her chakra pathways, swept through her entire body!
Thud.
Hinata’s legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily while large beads of sweat drenched her forehead.
Failed.
Hinata gritted her teeth tightly, feeling the waves of weakness and tearing sensations inside her body.
She was filled with frustration and anxiety.
She now fully understood her current situation.
Constrained by this three-year-old child’s body, her chakra pathways simply couldn’t handle high-energy outputs!
Gojo Satoru’s character template was currently unlocked at a meager 10%!
Right now, aside from barely maintaining the supreme perception of the Six Eyes and a paper-thin, passive defensive layer of the Limitless (Mukagen)—which could only block basic bumps and falls—she couldn’t actively release any offensive techniques.
Forcibly using “Blue” (Ao) or “Red” (Aka) wouldn’t hurt any enemy; instead, it would instantly burst her fragile chakra pathways, causing permanent, irreversible harm to her own body!
In other words, the current Hinata was exceptionally weak—so weak that even an ordinary Genin could easily overpower her.
‘No…
I’m way too weak!’
Hinata looked up at the cold moon in the night sky, an unyielding flame burning in the depths of her eyes.
‘I have to grow up faster!
Only when my body matures can it bear this absolute power!
I will never let Mother die of illness like in the original story—never!’
The next morning.
Hiashi returned to the courtyard once again.
Karin’s coughing fit last night had left him uneasy, causing him to pay a little more attention to Hinata.
Entering the room, he saw Hinata sitting quietly on the tatami mat drinking rice porridge.
His gaze naturally fell onto her azure-blue eyes.
Do these eyes truly lack any dōjutsu capabilities?
Hiashi walked over to Hinata and sat cross-legged, looking at her with a grave expression.
“Hinata.” Hiashi spoke in a low tone.
“Father.” Hinata set her bowl down and straightened her posture.
Hiashi stared intently at those azure-blue pupils, asking tentatively:
“Those eyes of yours…
can they see the flow of chakra inside the human body?
Do they possess the same insight capabilities as the Byakugan?”
Hinata’s heart stirred.
She knew she couldn’t keep pretending to be a useless failure forever.
She had to display a fraction of her value to gain more resources and freedom.
So, Hinata put on an innocent, naive act and nodded seriously:
“Yes, Father.
I can see a lot of things.”
Hearing this, a flash of disappointment crossed Hiashi’s eyes.
So it’s just the basic Byakugan ability after all?
Then what’s the point of this mutated color?
However, Hinata’s next words struck Hiashi like a bolt out of the blue.
“I can see faint blue chakra flowing inside Father…”
Hinata reached out her little hand, pointing outside the door.
“I can also see a little bug emitting a faint green light on the tree in the yard, and near the flower by the wall, there’s a ring of red mist…”
Silence.
The room plunged into a dead, absolute silence.
Hiashi’s body froze instantly.
His normally calm and emotionless face was now filled with sheer disbelief.
His pure white eyes widened, his pupils quivering violently, and even his breathing stopped.
“W-What did you say?”
Hiashi’s voice actually trembled slightly as he grabbed Hinata’s tiny shoulders.
“Faint blue?
Green?
Red?!”
“Yes, Father.” Hinata tilted her head in confusion.
“Is something wrong?”
Hiashi gasped, feeling a surge of shock travel straight from his feet up his spine, making his scalp go numb!
As the head of the Hyuga clan, no one understood the Byakugan better than he did!
When a normal Byakugan activates, the world it sees is a high-contrast monochrome view of black, white, and grey x-ray vision!
Chakra flow to the Byakugan appears merely as black-and-white lines of varying brightness!
In the world of the Byakugan, color simply does not exist!
Yet now, Hinata claimed she could see blue, green, and red!
What did this mean?
This meant Hinata’s eyes not only possessed the Byakugan’s x-ray vision and insight, but also retained color perception—and could even distinguish different elemental attributes and natures of chakra and lifeforms by color!
This wasn’t bloodline degradation at all!
This was a mutation!
An unprecedented, ultimate evolution that transcended a thousand years of Hyuga lineage!
Hiashi’s hands trembled uncontrollably as he stared intently at Hinata’s brilliant azure-blue eyes, his chest heaving heavily.
Pure ecstasy!
An indescribable wave of joy erupted inside Hiashi’s heart like a volcanic explosion!