A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Gentle Fist... Aoba couldn't deny his interest. As a transmigrator, he knew the ultimate potential of Gentle Fist.

The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, the ultimate technique, was on par with any top-tier ninjutsu or taijutsu. Unfortunately, the Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist was far from reaching that level. They hadn't even scratched the surface of the Vacuum Attack.

Moreover, the secrets of the Byakugan were no less extraordinary than those of the Sharingan. Unfortunately, the knowledge required to advance it had been entirely lost. The Hyūga Clan didn't even know that the Byakugan could evolve into the Tenseigan.

From observing the original story, Aoba had developed an even deeper hypothesis: the Hyūga Clan's lineage might be closer to that of the traditional Ōtsutsuki Clan.

After all, when Kaguya was resurrected later in the story, the eyes she had were Byakugan, while the Rinne Sharingan on her forehead was born from absorbing the chakra of the Divine Tree.

However, this was only speculation. To uncover the truth, he would need to conduct in-depth research.

And now, Hiashi Hyūga had delivered the perfect research subject to Aoba's doorstep. Hinata was likely the Hyūga Clan member with the purest Byakugan lineage.

As for Neji, Hiashi's intentions were even clearer. He hoped that someone could solve the problem of the Caged Bird Seal, but that person couldn't be him, which was why today's scene had unfolded.

Hiashi was taking an extreme step by offering Gentle Fist as a gift. Strictly speaking, as the head of the Hyūga Clan, this act was a betrayal of his own class.

Aoba pressed the scroll under his hand, thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Very well, I accept."

Counting it up, Aoba already had quite a few disciples.

In addition to his direct disciple, Sakura Haruno, he now had Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, and now Neji and Hinata. There were barely enough seats left at the dining table at home.

At the same time, Konoha's research institute gained a new secret laboratory, dedicated to studying the Byakugan.

The institute was accumulating an increasing number of classified projects. From the early studies on the Sharingan and Hashirama's cells to the research on Black Zetsu's body tissues, and now the Byakugan, all were top-secret subjects delving into the deepest mysteries of the ninja world.

In addition to these, Aoba had a few independent projects, ones he worked on alone, without any outside interference. These focused on Sage Mode and Tailed Beasts.

These two areas of research were far more dangerous and involved obscure hypotheses that even Tobirama Senju couldn't be part of. Only Sakura provided some auxiliary support in peripheral tasks.

Currently, the integration of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was progressing slowly. The wager with Madara had been disrupted by Obito, and he hadn't been able to obtain the information he needed. Aoba had no choice but to take his time.

For now, he focused more of his energy on Sage Mode and Tailed Beast chakra.

After continuous practice and numerous battles, Aoba's mastery of Sage Mode had reached an exceptional level.

For some reason, Aoba felt there should be a further progression to Sage Mode. Unfortunately, there was no related information in the original story, so he could only continue exploring on his own.

Since obtaining the Eight-Tails' chakra, Aoba now had the chakra of both the One-Tail and the Eight-Tails.

This prompted him to attempt his first experiment in merging two different Tailed Beast chakras.

Unsurprisingly, the experiment failed.

The two types of chakra were completely incompatible, like water and fire, and showed no signs of merging.

Aoba didn't know why the Ten-Tails could fuse them, but he realized he might need a different approach.

He decided to use natural energy as a catalyst.

And then, it worked!

The moment of success left Aoba stunned. He had mentally prepared for a long-term battle with this research but had unexpectedly succeeded so easily.

However, when he withdrew the natural energy, the two Tailed Beast chakras separated again, as if the fusion had been an illusion.

But Aoba knew he had succeeded. With the aid of natural energy, the Tailed Beast's primal chakra could temporarily fuse to form a higher-quality chakra.

Aoba immediately began testing the properties of this new chakra. His conclusion was that its nature was similar to Sage Mode chakra.

However, it was far more volatile and primal. Manipulating it was difficult, and it was not yet viable for enhancing combat power.

After tinkering in the lab for a while, Aoba checked the time and left.

Today was the first lesson for his two new disciples. Hiashi had broken with Hyūga tradition to offer Gentle Fist as a gift; Aoba had to take this seriously to save face.

At the training field, Neji and Hinata were already waiting.

Hinata's small eyes were darting around furtively, likely searching for Naruto.

Unfortunately for her, Naruto wasn't there. He was training with his father, Minato.

When Aoba arrived, Neji stepped forward, clearly excited.

"Aoba-sama!"

"Heh, let me give you another chance. What should you call me?"

"… Aoba-sensei," Neji corrected himself, his excitement undiminished. After all, Kamikawa Aoba was his idol. Rising from a civilian background to become the Hokage's assistant, slaying the Raikage, defeating the Cloud army, and earning the title of the strongest ninja in the world. Aoba was a role model for most young ninjas.

Seeing this, Hinata timidly followed suit, softly calling out, "Aoba-sensei."

"Aoba-sensei."

"Good. We're already familiar with each other, so let's skip the introductions. You're both experienced genin, so I'll also skip the basics. Let's get straight to the core question: how to make you stronger.

Neji, you first. How do you think you can become stronger?"

"…"

Neji was immediately stumped by the question. His first instinct was to say, learn more Gentle Fist techniques.

But he quickly realized something, standing before him was none other than Aoba Kamikawa, the strongest ninja in the world. As a Branch House member, Neji had personally witnessed Aoba's combat prowess in action.

Afterward, Neji had spent a long time pondering how Gentle Fist could possibly counter Aoba's attacks but had come up with nothing. He opened his mouth to respond but ultimately couldn't bring himself to speak.

Deep down, he harbored an unspoken realization: the Gentle Fist he prided himself on might be utterly insignificant in front of Aoba-sensei.

"What about you, Hinata?"

"I… I want to develop my own unique Gentle Fist style."

To everyone's surprise, while Neji remained silent, Hinata spoke up with her own ambitions. Neji turned to her in astonishment, as if he were seeing his cousin for the first time.

"Show me," Aoba said.

"W-what?" Hinata was startled by his request.

"Show me your progress. Hinata, if you're saying this, you must have made some progress already. Let me see."

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Currently on Chapter 277 - Hashirama Senju Appears