Since the Hyuga clan knew the Tenseigan existed, how could they possibly feel nothing toward it?
Especially before Hashirama Senju established the hidden village system, when the entire shinobi world was still in the Warring States era. Back then, a clan that lacked strength could really vanish from the world altogether.
And at some point in the clan's history, the Hyuga had begun trying to create a Tenseigan of their own.
But just as Hiashi had said, the Hyuga clan's Tenseigan had always remained in a half-born state—or rather, it had only ever managed to develop the faint unique glow of a Tenseigan.
"We've executed the other two new main-family elders as well. Their Byakugan are here."
As the last few main-family elders returned, every face grew solemn.
They all knew that what they were about to enter was the Hyuga clan's true hidden sanctuary, the place surrounding the Tenseigan they had spent who knew how many years creating—at the cost of who knew how many clan members' lives.
Deep down, they still held one last hope: that the plan would succeed, that the eyes of the Hyuga clan members who had already died would be enough to truly complete the Tenseigan. If that happened, then not only would they not need to sacrifice themselves, even Uchiha Chizumi would be unable to judge them.
"Let's go!"
Hiashi took a deep breath as well. Nearly four hundred pairs of Byakugan—if this worked, then they would not be remembered as the sinners of the Hyuga clan. In fact, future generations might even praise them for their resolve.
But if it failed, then they really would have no choice but to atone with their own lives—and their own eyes.
As Hiashi and the others made their way toward the ancestral shrine, not a single person in Konoha noticed anything wrong with the Hyuga clan. After all, the Hyuga estate had always been surrounded by tall walls that blocked outside observation.
But when Hiashi and the others opened the shrine and activated a hidden mechanism beneath it, an entirely different world was revealed below.
A gigantic blue eye floated beneath the shrine, suspended in the underground chamber. Even though those main-family elders had never seen a Tenseigan before in their lives, the moment they laid eyes on it, they couldn't help being mesmerized.
"So this… is the Tenseigan!"
"A Tenseigan stronger than the Sharingan, the Mangekyo Sharingan—even stronger than the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"
One main-family elder couldn't help stepping forward, wanting to touch it. But in the end, he stopped himself.
After all, this giant Tenseigan was, in a sense, the fusion of the eyes of all their ancestors.
The status of the main family had given them supreme authority within the Hyuga clan, and their duty—or perhaps their ultimate destination—was this giant Tenseigan before them.
Whenever a main-family member died, their eyes were willingly offered into this Tenseigan.
In that sense, wasn't this Tenseigan itself also their ancestor?
In fact, in the very beginning, the Hyuga clan had only possessed the head family line. There had been no other main-family members at all.
It was over the last several hundred years, as the Hyuga Tenseigan plan progressed, that certain branch-family members whose bloodlines had regressed closer to the origin—whose Byakugan carried the faintest trace of blue—had been deliberately elevated into the main family.
Their blood was believed to be the purest. Their eyes were believed to be the most useful for nurturing the Tenseigan.
"According to the notes left by the clan heads, when the Tenseigan was first created, it only emitted a pale blue light."
"If we use the Uchiha clan's Sharingan as a point of comparison, then a pale-blue Tenseigan would only be about equal to a Mangekyo Sharingan."
"We've fed this Tenseigan for hundreds of years, and only then did it gradually deepen into dark blue. Compared against the Uchiha, that should place it roughly at the level of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan—the same level as Uchiha Madara's eyes back then."
"If the clan heads of past generations calculated correctly, then when this Tenseigan turns sapphire blue, that will be the moment it truly becomes a complete Tenseigan."
Hiashi looked at the Tenseigan and carefully presented the bloodstained Byakugan in his hand before it.
The instant that pair of Byakugan touched the Tenseigan, it was swallowed without the slightest pause.
One pair after another, Hiashi personally brought the eyes before the Tenseigan. And the giant eye, as though incapable of ever being satisfied, devoured them all—those eyes that had belonged to living Hyuga clan members only moments before.
Under Hiashi and the others' gaze, the Tenseigan's color grew deeper and deeper, so deep that just looking at it made it hard not to be drawn in, lost in its glow.
"It still hasn't reached the edge of transformation…"
One elder looked at the dwindling number of Byakugan and then at the giant Tenseigan, disappointment creeping into his heart.
"There are only thirty pairs left…"
Another elder let out a sigh. So just relying on the branch family's Byakugan still wasn't enough?
"Should we bring Neji here…"
A third elder voiced the thought, but no one agreed.
After all, if they all had to sacrifice themselves to complete the Tenseigan, then Neji would become the head of the Hyuga clan—even if that clan head existed only to protect Hinata.
"Everyone, make your preparations!"
"You should all be able to feel it—the Tenseigan is already on the verge of transformation!"
"It's just a pity that among the main family of our generation, not even Hiashi's Byakugan carries any trace of blue. Otherwise, this might have gone much more smoothly."
"Now all we can do is pray—pray that our eyes will be enough to trigger the Tenseigan's transformation. Otherwise, after gouging out our eyes, we'll have to find a way to escape Konoha!"
Another main-family elder spoke up. They had already dared to kill a Hokage advisor just to keep their secret. If they died in Konoha and it was discovered that their eyes were missing, the Hyuga clan's secret might be exposed.
But if they died outside Konoha, then the disappearance of their eyes could still be explained away as self-destruction—or as having been stolen by another village.
"Let me go first!"
"I'm the oldest. Maybe all it needs is my pair of eyes. Then the rest of you can still live to witness the light of the Tenseigan in my place…"
The oldest elder smiled and reached his fingers into his own eye socket. It had to be said—people in the shinobi world were truly ruthless. Even a pampered old man could still bring himself to gouge out his own eyes.
Throughout all of this, Hiashi merely stood to the side and watched in silence.
After all, if the plan failed, then his turn would come too.
"It changed a little more… but it's still not enough."
"Then I'll go next!"
The second elder let out a sigh. He was the one who had suggested bringing Neji here.
"Maybe it'll be enough once it gets to me…"
The third elder tore out his own eyes and personally presented them to the Tenseigan, allowing it to consume them.
"This plan… it won't fail, will it…"
The fourth elder removed his own eyes reluctantly. He was already starting to regret everything—but regret had come too late.
"Then, Clan Head, you'll be the one to witness the Tenseigan's light on our behalf!"
"This time, it's truly only one final step away!"
The fifth elder offered up his own eyes to the Tenseigan.
~~~
Thank you for reading!