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Returning to the heart of the village, Neji felt something… different.
The air in Konoha had shifted.
It wasn't heavy anymore. The grim tension that had gripped the streets had lessened. The return of Tsunade had clearly steadied the hearts of many like the village had finally found its spine again.
Neji didn't linger.
He quietly slipped through alleyways and headed toward the hidden entrance beneath a quiet shrine. Moments later, he was back in the sealed underground lab.
---
Inside, Izumi had been waiting impatiently.
The moment the entrance seal was released, she was already there.
"Welcome back, Neji."
Neji opened his eyes as the light shimmered across the barrier. He stepped through and nodded calmly. "I'm back."
He began unbuttoning his uniform, handing it over to Izumi. "Any updates?"
She took the clothes without missing a beat, reporting clearly:
"Zabuza and Haku have taken over training Karin, as you instructed. The trade agreement with the Land of Waves has also nearly been secured—we're close to complete control."
"Only one anomaly… Someone's been snooping around here. They didn't act—just came close, saw the barrier, then left."
Neji's movements paused. "Describe them."
Izumi hesitated just slightly.
"He… emerged from a tree. Literally. Like… part of the tree. His face was half black, half white. Spoke in two voices—like two people trapped in one body. And he mentioned Itachi, Kisame… and someone named Pain."
Neji frowned.
That confirmed it. Black Zetsu—Kaguya's will in disguise. A master manipulator. Either Pain sent him, or Tobi did. Or maybe he was just sniffing around on his own.
Regardless, it meant his lab was now noticed.
"Keep surveillance tight. Use the [Mono-Eye] network—extend our visual grid to every sector. If anything breaches our sensors, I want to know immediately."
He paused, then added, "When Zabuza finishes his assignment, I'll have another mission ready. We'll need to return to the Land of Waves."
But first… he had something more important to do.
The Teleportation Jutsu Archives had finally been decrypted. Whether or not he mastered the [Flying Thunder God Technique] didn't matter. What mattered was understanding the mechanics—transportation.
He had the surveillance. Now he needed mobility.
If he could combine [Mono-Eye] and teleportation, then true battlefield dominance would be his.
And eventually… [Tenseigan].
---
Steam hissed softly as Neji lowered himself into the warm water. After hours of combat and a full day of travel, his muscles ached, his body soaked with sweat.
The bath was a relief. A fleeting comfort.
But his mind was always moving.
If Sasuke runs, it's his problem now.
Tsunade is back in charge Jiraiya can complain all he wants, but that pervy old man as Hokage? That would've been a disaster.
---
After his bath, Neji gathered the chakra at his fingertips and performed a water manipulation seal.
Moisture lifted off his skin, formed into a floating sphere, and splashed down a drain of a closed-loop recycling system.
He dried off, dressed quickly, and headed toward the white-eye cultivation lab. Izumi followed quietly behind him.
"How's the white-eye experiment going?" he asked.
"It's accelerating. We've reached… a considerable amount."
She opened the reinforced door, and Neji stepped in.
Inside the room, thousands of [Byakugan] floated inside crystalline suspension tanks, glowing faintly under chakra lamps.
It was a sight to behold: sterile, clinical, and eerie.
Neji crossed his arms.
"There's enough to begin testing fusion. The final transformation… we still don't know how many will be required."
In the original records, it was only mentioned that many were used to create the [Tenseigan]. But "many" could mean thousands. Or tens of thousands.
The civil war between Main and Branch families had made the supply… complicated.
Still—he could begin. Now.
"Izumi. Bring me the controller."
She handed it to him wordlessly.
Neji walked back to the entrance and adjusted the room's configuration via the control panel. The suspension tanks rotated, shifted, and reformed into a perfect ring—leaving an open circle in the center.
"Perfect," he muttered.
In the middle of the formation sat one tank—untouched.
Inside floated the original Byakugan he had recovered from a Hyuga heir's remains. Untainted. Pristine.
This… will be the base.
---
Neji stepped forward.
He infused his chakra into the tank, focusing it through his hands. Closing his eyes, he began to guide the raw [ocular chakra] of both left and right eyes into resonance.
Matching them… syncing their spiritual frequencies… it was like tuning instruments to the same note.
Then—
Snap.
A soundless wave pulsed through the chamber.
He stepped back to Izumi's side as the two white eyes inside the tank quivered.
They pulled toward each other—like magnets. And then… they merged.
No resistance. No rejection. No cracks.
Just fusion.
Still a Byakugan—visually unchanged—but now…
Unified.
The first step had been achieved.
Izumi gasped then, unexpectedly, threw her arms around Neji.
Caught by surprise, his face met her chest. Tall as she was, the embrace was suffocating.
She stroked his hair gently.
"You did it, Neji… You actually did it…"
Her voice trembled, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
This project had been her life. Their life. The culmination of years of forbidden knowledge, stolen science, and whispered dreams.
He had succeeded and that success hit her like a flood.
Neji, stunned at first, felt the tension leave his body. He didn't resist.
Let her cry. Just this once.
After all, it wasn't just a scientific breakthrough.
It was hope.
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