Chapter 308: Nurture the Tenseigan!
Since the Hyūga clan knew of the Tenseigan's existence, how could they not be enticed by it in the slightest?
Moreover, before Senju Hashirama established the ninja village system, the entire ninja world was in the Warring States period. In the Warring States period, ninja clans that were not powerful would truly disappear completely from the ninja world!
And from some unknown generation onward, the Hyūga clan had been attempting to create a Tenseigan that belonged to the Hyūga clan itself.
It was just that, as Hyūga Hiashi had said, the Hyūga clan's Tenseigan had consistently remained in a state between being born and unborn, or rather, it was merely surrounded by a layer of light unique to the Tenseigan.
"Those two elders of the new Main House have also been executed by us. The Byakugan are here."
Following the return of the last few Main House elders, everyone's expressions turned solemn.
They all knew that where they were about to head next was the true hidden ground of the Hyūga clan, near the Tenseigan that the Hyūga clan had spent an unknown amount of time and sacrificed an unknown number of clansmen's lives to build.
Deep in their hearts, they actually still held a sliver of hope—hoping that if the plan went smoothly and the eyes of the current Hyūga clansmen alone were enough to truly create the Tenseigan, then not only would they not have to sacrifice themselves, but they could even ensure that Uchiha Ikeizumi would be unable to pass judgment on them!
"Let's go!"
Hyūga Hiashi likewise took a deep breath. Nearly four hundred pairs of Byakugan—if this could succeed, they would not be the sinners of the Hyūga clan; even in the mouths of the future Hyūga clan, they would only be praised for their boldness!
But if it failed, then they truly could only use their own lives and their own eyes to atone for their sins!
As Hyūga Hiashi and the others walked toward the direction of the ancestral shrine, not a single person in the entirety of Konoha had yet noticed anything unusual about the Hyūga clan. After all, the Hyūga clan inherently possessed high courtyard walls capable of cutting off external observation.
When Hyūga Hiashi and the others opened the ancestral shrine and Hiashi pressed an unknown switch, an entirely different world unexpectedly revealed itself beneath the shrine!
A giant blue ocular orb was just floating like that beneath the underground of the ancestral shrine. Even though those Main House elders had never once seen what the Tenseigan looked like in their entire lives, they still could not help but be infatuated upon seeing this ocular orb.
"This is the Tenseigan!"
"The Tenseigan, which is stronger than the Sharingan, the Mangekyō Sharingan, and even the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!"
One Main House elder could not help but step forward; he wanted to touch this Tenseigan, but ultimately stopped his movements.
After all, this giant Tenseigan could be said to be the fusion of the eyes of the ancestors of everyone present!
The status of the Main House had granted them supreme power within the Hyūga clan; their obligation, or rather their destination, was the giant Tenseigan before them!
After every single member of the Main House died, they would actively send their eyes into this Tenseigan.
How was this Tenseigan not their ancestors as well?
In fact, at the very beginning, the Hyūga clan had only the lineage of the clan head, with absolutely no other Main House members.
It was over the course of the past several hundred years, with the initiation of the Hyūga Tenseigan Project, that those members in the Branch House whose bloodlines reverted to their ancestors—to the point where their Byakugan carried a trace of light blue—were deliberately promoted to the Main House!
Their bloodlines were considered the most pure, and their eyes were also considered the most helpful to the Tenseigan!
"According to the records in the Clan Head's Manual, when the Tenseigan was first built, it possessed only a light blue light."
"If we use the Uchiha clan's Sharingan as a reference, then a light blue Tenseigan probably only corresponds to the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"We fed this Tenseigan for several hundred years before it slowly turned deep blue. Contrasting it against the Uchiha clan, it should pretty much be at the level of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—that is, the level of Uchiha Madara's eyes back then!"
"If the successive generations of clan heads have not miscalculated, once this Tenseigan transforms into sapphire blue, that will also be when it completely becomes the true Tenseigan!"
Hyūga Hiashi looked at this Tenseigan, carefully sending the still-bloody Byakugan in his hands before it.
The moment this pair of Byakugan touched the Tenseigan, with almost zero hesitation, that pair of Byakugan was thoroughly devoured!
Pair after pair of Byakugan were personally sent before the Tenseigan by Hyūga Hiashi, and this Tenseigan, as if entirely incapable of being satisfied, thoroughly devoured these eyes representing the Hyūga clansmen who were still alive and well not long ago.
Under the watchful gaze of Hyūga Hiashi and the others, the color of this Tenseigan grew increasingly deep—so deep that merely taking a single glance at it would make one unable to resist being drawn in by the Tenseigan, becoming intoxicated by its light.
"Has it still not reached the brink of transformation—"
One Main House elder looked at the fewer and fewer remaining Byakugan, then at that giant Tenseigan, feeling somewhat disappointed in his heart.
"There are only the last thirty pairs of Byakugan left—"
Another Main House elder could not help but sigh. As expected, relying solely on the Byakugan of the Branch House was still not enough?
"Should we bring Neji here—"
A third Main House elder spoke up, but his words did not garner the agreement of anyone.
After all, if they all had to sacrifice themselves to fulfill the Tenseigan, then Neji would be the clan head of the Hyūga clan, even if that clan head existed for the sake of protecting Hinata.
"Everyone, get ready!"
"Everyone should be able to feel it; the Tenseigan has already reached the brink of transformation!"
"It is just a pity that in our generation of the Main House, not even Hiashi's Byakugan carried any blue; otherwise, perhaps it would be much smoother."
"Right now, we can only pray—pray that our eyes can cause the Tenseigan to undergo its transformation, or else we will have to think of a way to flee Konoha after gouging out our eyes!"
Yet another Main House elder spoke up. In order to keep the secret, they had even dared to kill a counselor to the Hokage; if they died in Konoha and it was discovered that their eyes had vanished, it might expose the secret of the Hyūga clan!
But if they died outside of Konoha, the disappearance of their eyes could still be explained as them destroying the eyes themselves, or the eyes being plundered by other ninja villages.
"Let me go first!"
"My age is a bit greater; perhaps it is just missing this pair of eyes of mine. That way, you all can still look at the Tenseigan on my behalf—"
The oldest Main House elder smiled as he thrust his fingers into his own pupils. It had to be said that this crowd in the ninja world was still quite ruthless; even an old man who lived in comfort and luxury dared to personally gouge out his own eyes.
And Hyūga Hiashi merely watched quietly from the side from beginning to end. After all, if the plan did not go smoothly, he too would have to go through this exact same process.
"It has transformed a bit more, but it is still not enough—"
"I'll do it!"
The second Main House elder sighed; he was that old relic who had suggested bringing Neji here.
"Perhaps by the time it reaches me, it will be pretty much enough—"
The third Main House elder gouged out his own eyes and personally sent them before the Tenseigan, allowing the Tenseigan to devour his eyes.
"The plan won't fail, right—"
The fourth Main House elder reluctantly gouged out his eyes; he felt a surge of regret, but it seemed regret was too late.
"Then, Clan Head, it will be up to you to look at the light of the Tenseigan on our behalf!"
"This time, it really is only missing the absolute final bit!"
The fifth Main House elder delivered his own eyes toward the Tenseigan!