Neji Hyuga was not a fool who could not tell right from wrong. At this moment, he already understood that Ryuji Hyuga was trying to knock him awake. The pain and humiliation finally connected into something clear in his mind.
"Brother Ryuji, please tell me." Neji Hyuga spoke with a hoarse voice, his tone steady. "What should I do?"
Ryuji Hyuga did not answer directly. He lifted his head and looked into the distance, then spoke slowly about something else. "When we were handing over the bodies with Kumogakure, we met a monster."
"He was very strong, frighteningly strong." Ryuji Hyuga continued without emotion. "He easily killed Magnet Release Troy, and slaughtered nearly a hundred Kumogakure Ninja."
"Even with the Byakugan, you could not see his face." His voice stayed calm. "All you could see were those brilliant blue eyes."
The moment those words fell, Neji Hyuga froze. A figure from his dreams suddenly surfaced in his mind, and he blurted out, "What did you say?"
Brilliant blue eyes. How could that be real? Had that not been just an illusion in a dream?
"When you have time, go to the Clan Ancestral Library within the clan." Ryuji Hyuga lowered his gaze and looked at him deeply. "I247.5, L632. Go look at that book, and you will understand many things."
Neji Hyuga lay on the ground, staring blankly up at him. When Ryuji Hyuga lowered his eyes and their gazes met, those pale eyes seemed to take on a faint glow.
For an instant, Neji Hyuga thought he saw blue rising within them, like white snow melting on a clear lake under sunlight. Yet when he focused again, the eyes were still nearly pure white, as if everything before had only been his imagination.
"Remember this," Ryuji Hyuga said softly, with deeper meaning in his words. "Those who cannot command themselves will be commanded by others."
As his voice faded, Ryuji Hyuga vanished from Neji Hyuga's sight. Only the echo of his words lingered faintly in the air.
Neji Hyuga lay on his back in the snow, silent and unmoving. The empty look in his white eyes slowly turned solid again.
Beneath those glacier-like calm Byakugan eyes hid something deeper, a stronger desire mixed with hatred. "The Clan Ancestral Library?" he murmured to himself.
Deep beneath the Hokage Building, in a hidden underground space, Ryuji Hyuga followed the guidance of a Scroll. He soon reached a door at the end of a long corridor.
There were no guards outside, yet he could clearly sense the presence of a Sealing Technique and a Barrier Technique. Even a mosquito flying in would instantly trigger alarms and defensive measures.
It was hard to imagine how Naruto Uzumaki had managed to steal the Book of Seals under Mizuki's instigation. But thinking of how Orochimaru had once broken in here, and how Mizuki was a piece placed by Orochimaru in Konoha, it no longer seemed impossible.
Ryuji Hyuga did not need to go through such trouble. When he took out the Scroll given by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the feeling of restriction vanished at once. With a light push, he opened the door to the Forbidden Techniques Vault.
kacha. As he stepped into the silent Forbidden Techniques Vault, dust on the floor was stirred by the air, and the candles in the room lit themselves.
The walls had no windows, and tall shelves stood in neat rows before them. Each shelf was filled with carefully arranged Scroll, sealed and labeled by rank, looking old and heavy under the flickering candlelight.
"It seems that the one known as the 'Ninjutsu professor,' the Third Hokage, comes here often," Ryuji Hyuga thought. The shelves and Scroll were old but clean, which made it obvious.
At the same time, he felt a faint sense of being watched. Was this Hiruzen Sarutobi's long-distance viewing technique?
This Ninjutsu used a special crystal ball as its core, relying on precise Chakra control to analyze fluctuations and transmit images over great distances. Hiruzen Sarutobi often used it for what he called "protective observation" of Naruto Uzumaki.
The great toad sage of Mount Myoboku used a similar method, though its range clearly surpassed normal limits. Even though it was only for reconnaissance and not combat, it was undeniably convenient.
Ryuji Hyuga sighed inwardly but kept his expression calm. As his eyes swept across the shelves, he even showed a hint of open surprise, like someone seeing a vast collection for the first time.
He casually pulled out a Scroll and unrolled it. The material was smooth, packed with dense handwritten text and a few diagrams.
It recorded a technique called Fire Release, Ash Pile Burning, an ordinary B-rank Fire Release Ninjutsu. Of course, that "ordinary" was only from Ryuji Hyuga's perspective.
Techniques were divided into six learning levels. E-rank was the entry level taught at the Ninja Academy, such as the Substitution, Clone, and Transformation techniques, along with skills like Stealth and Escape that were closer to technique than true Ninjutsu.
D-rank corresponded to the Genin level. The Binding Technique was often the only D-rank Ninjutsu an average ninja learned during academy days, while C-rank reached the Chunin level and already carried real difficulty, such as Summoning Jutsu and puppet techniques.
B-rank Ninjutsu belonged to the Jonin level and were considered valuable even among the five great villages. Even the Lightning Release Armor used by the Raikage was only at this level, so placing such a technique here was reasonable.
Ryuji Hyuga skimmed through it without much interest and soon returned the Scroll to the shelf. He continued browsing several more, most of them B-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu and Taijutsu.
There were techniques like Front Lotus, Wind Release Shuriken Production, Wind Release Great Kamaitachi, Wind Release Pressure Harm, and Wind Release Vacuum Great Sphere. After a quick glance, Ryuji Hyuga's eyelid twitched slightly.
"This is way too obvious," he thought, and put them back without hesitation. Only a few rare techniques made him pause, such as Summoning Jutsu combined with Gate of Life, Adamantine Sealing Chains, and Shadow Strangle.
"Not a single Forbidden Technique left for me, yet they did not take away the secret techniques of other clans." Ryuji Hyuga smiled inwardly. "Do they really think I cannot learn them?"
That assumption was not unreasonable, since the line between secret techniques and Kekkei Genkai was often blurred. Techniques like the shadow techniques of the Nara Clan or the Adamantine Sealing Chains of the Uzumaki did not come directly from blood at birth, but without special talent they were nearly impossible to master.
The Nara Clan were born with stronger spiritual energy, while the Akimichi Clan possessed greater physical energy. That was why they could inherit their clan techniques and master Baika no Jutsu.
The Uzumaki clan was the same. According to Uzumaki Mito, Uzumaki Kushina was chosen as a jinchuriki because she had a rare and special talent.
Only a few individuals in the Uzumaki clan could learn Adamantine Sealing Chains. They were naturally suited to restrain tailed beasts and become jinchuriki.
These secret technique clans felt like a lower tier of Bloodline Inheritance clans. Through long-term intermarriage, their bloodlines were refined, and war further filtered those with stronger traits.
Over time, stable special physiques appeared, and special Ninjutsu were developed around them, forming secret clans. Given a few hundred more years of intermarriage, they might even evolve into true Kekkei Genkai that required no learning at all.
Unfortunately for them, Ryuji Hyuga's current body was, by bloodline standards, the ancestor of all these clans.