Hyuga Yu had been conceptualizing the applications of Wind Style Chakra Mode for many years.
Initially, his thoughts followed the conventional logic of the shinobi world: using chakra to stimulate cell activity for enhanced mobility, creating an invisible wall of wind around the body to deflect projectiles, and manipulating the wind's shape and nature to form mid-range offensive patterns.
These were the low-hanging fruit. As long as one could overcome the technical hurdles, developing them wasn't particularly difficult.
For instance:
The C-rank Wind Style: Ensnaring Net he used when he killed Yumiko.
The B-rank Wind Style: Vacuum Blade—a technique he formed instantly by condensing the surrounding air to increase its lethality and scale—which he used to eliminate the spy hiding even deeper behind Yumiko.
Beyond that, one could naturally expect the high-speed maneuverability afforded by a Wind Style Chakra Mode. But once Yu had fully mastered the shape and nature transformation of the wind attribute, he suddenly had an epiphany—
Those were all merely surface-level applications.
Deeply developing those traits was certainly viable, but they placed an immense burden on the user's chakra reserves. The reason the Fourth Raikage, Ay, was so overwhelmingly powerful wasn't just because his Lightning Style Armor was sophisticated; it was because his chakra volume was comparable to that of a Tailed Beast.
With chakra at that level, any jutsu he used would erupt with a force unimaginable to ordinary shinobi.
Yu didn't have that much chakra—at least not yet. If he wanted to extend his endurance in battle and enhance his combat effectiveness at higher levels, he realized there was a more fundamental parameter that Wind Style could modify with surgical precision:
Resistance.
Resistance is the force that opposes the motion of an object. To use a simple analogy: a train traveling on a straight track is subject to the traction of the engine and the resistance from both the air and the rails. Traction and resistance act in opposite directions; traction increases the train's speed, while resistance decreases it.
If traction and resistance are perfectly balanced, their effects cancel each other out, and the train maintains a constant velocity.
A shinobi's movement works on the same principle.
A ninja relies on chakra-adhesion to their feet to kick off the ground for high-speed maneuvers. They are propelled by the traction generated by that contact, while simultaneously being hindered by the resistance of the air and the ground.
Conventional Wind Style attempts to impede an enemy by applying heavy resistance to the air in front of them. This usually leads to one of two results:
The enemy is physically blocked or blown away by the sheer force of the wind.
The enemy powers through the wind's resistance and slams into you like a runaway juggernaut.
Traditional Wind Style is too dispersed, making the application of resistance inefficient.
However, if one could precisely pinpoint the exact moment an enemy's toes touched the ground—and then use Wind Style chakra to apply a calculated amount of resistance to that narrow contact surface—they could nullify the traction provided by the enemy's chakra. By simultaneously smoothing the environment of their landing point to minimize the friction coefficient, an enemy's speed would plummet instantly.
The average ninja couldn't pull this off.
Whether it was observing and capturing the enemy's footwork, controlling Wind Style to such a microscopic degree, calculating the relationship between forces and friction in a split second, or the simplest hurdle—rewriting the parameters of resistance without the enemy noticing—it was impossible.
But for Hyuga Yu—the "test-taker" of the shinobi world who possessed a mutated Byakugan, unique blue chakra, superb control, and mastery of wind nature transformation—it was possible.
Yu named this ability: [The Resistance-Free Wind].
At that moment, a figure stepped out from the shadows near the tents. It was the Root ninja wearing a bird-head mask—the same one Yu had encountered once before in the abandoned laboratory.
He looked down at the corpses of the Hidden Cloud spies sprawled on the ground, his brow furrowing deeply behind his mask. He turned to Yu and snapped coldly, "You're being too reckless!"
Yu didn't mind the man's aggressive tone. Instead, he flashed a faint smile. "In that case, I'll leave the cleanup to you."
After leaving the laboratory, Yu had headed straight for his tent to begin the final phase of his Byakugan: Wind Style Chakra Mode development—hand-crafting a "plug-in" for himself.
This "plug-in" wasn't a system or a cheat code; it was a literal piece of hardware: an external, mountable Zero-Tails.
First, he had performed surgery, using his own cells and Zero-Tails cells to cultivate a "protoplast" through a process of mutual consumption and adaptation—a procedure modeled after the creation of the Nue.
Unsurprisingly, the Zero-Tails, which was originally developed as an artificial Tailed Beast, had a high compatibility with human cells, even those of a "commoner" like Yu.
However, the process was reversed: the Zero-Tails cells consumed Yu's cells, yet failed to generate a living "consciousness" like Hashirama's cells might. Shortly after, Yu used the new cells to breed a complete "Zero-Tails Protoplast" that inherited all the creature's basic abilities without rejecting Yu's body.
After rapidly maturing the protoplast using the Mystical Palm Technique and the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique, Yu used the Five Elements Seal to bind it within his abdomen.
With this "plug-in," Yu could use the Zero-Tails to trigger the dark emotions within the hearts of enemies within a ten-meter radius and quietly convert them into dark chakra.
Naturally, this violent dark chakra couldn't be used to perform standard ninjutsu. However, Yu's blue chakra—his Byakugan Chakra—could decompose it, turning it back into physical energy for conversion and use.
In short, Yu's ninjutsu development had been a massive success. He had successfully constructed the tactical system he had long envisioned:
Byakugan: Wind Style Chakra Mode: Utilizing three forms (Close-quarters Wind Blades, Mid-range Wind Arrows, and High-speed Resistance Manipulation) to establish combat dominance and battlefield control.
The Zero-Tails Supplement: Using the influence of the Zero-Tails on enemy emotions and chakra conversion to bolster his genjutsu-style capabilities and combat endurance.
Furthermore, Yu wasn't surprised by the presence of the bird-masked Root ninja. Once he confirmed the man harbored no immediate ill will, Yu had simply ignored him while focused on his experiments.
Hearing Yu's casual response, the Root ninja—Terai, who had been entrusted with Yu's oversight by Aburame Ryoma—couldn't help but roll his eyes behind his mask. He lowered his voice and hissed angrily:
"Acting like this causes significant problems for our original plan! Hyuga Yu, I know you're a smart man, but in this current situation, I advise you not to act on your own!"
Yu turned his head to look at him, the smile fading from his face. He wiped his blade on the clothes of the dead Cloud ninja at his feet and shook his head calmly.
"The 'original plan'? The 'current situation'?"
"No."
"This entire battlefield has already begun to descend into chaos."
Terai frowned. He knew Yu was clever; it wasn't surprising that Yu knew spies from rival villages had been watching him. But Yu's sudden, violent outburst—killing three spies in one go—had undoubtedly thrown the situation into disarray.
Terai asked in a low voice, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Yu narrowed his eyes at Terai. "Isn't that an answer you should be giving me?"
But then, a thought seemed to strike him.
"No... wait. You shouldn't be the one acting as my contact right now."
Yu snapped his head up, his gaze sharpening. "Is Aburame Ryoma not here?"
Terai fell silent. That was information he couldn't share with Yu.
Seeing Terai's silence, Yu already had his answer. He took a deep breath, gripped his sword, and turned to walk straight out of the camp.
Terai called out again, "Where are you going?"
Yu didn't look back, leaving behind only a calm sentence:
"To save someone."
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