Chapter 100: White Eyes · Echo

A few of them, full of excitement, continued testing Hinata's newly awakened Byakugan's peculiar abilities.

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing his mind as he used his spiritual mechanical energy to skillfully manipulate the metallic particles left in the earth. Under his control, the metallic particles gradually gathered and fused together. Before long, a puppet that could be manipulated through chakra was constructed.

Hinata then gently raised her hand, and a shimmering green light emerged from her palm. With unwavering concentration, she guided the glow into the puppet’s surface. In Naruto’s keen perception, the energy transformed by that green light flowed like a nimble serpent, precisely tracing along every energy node of the puppet. With each node it passed, it was as if a key had unlocked a lock. Gradually, Hinata completely seized control of the puppet.

Once every energy node was successfully "hijacked" by Hinata, the puppet, which had previously obeyed Naruto's commands, was now beyond his control. Under Hinata’s deft guidance, the puppet began to move awkwardly. Moreover, the few extremely concealed mechanisms that Naruto had hidden inside the puppet were all discovered and activated one by one by Hinata, thanks to her new Byakugan abilities.

“Honestly, isn’t this ability a little too outrageous? It’s almost like cheating,” Sasuke couldn’t help but complain, frowning as he continued, “Others spend a lifetime painstakingly developing various ninjutsu, carefully researching and crafting intricate puppets, and you just take one look and not only learn it, but seize control as well. How is anyone else supposed to compete?”

Sasuke could hardly imagine—if the famed puppet master corps from the Sand Village ever encountered someone with Hinata’s abilities, they would be devastated beyond measure.

Naruto mused inwardly, Your Mangekyo Sharingan is pretty outrageous too, being able to pause time and move freely within a frozen moment.

Hinata, embarrassed by Sasuke’s words, lowered her head, a shy flush blossoming on her cheeks as her slender fingers unconsciously twisted together.

“Finally, let’s conduct one last, very important experiment,” Naruto declared, his gaze sharp. “I’ve noticed that after Hinata’s Byakugan evolved, her chakra control has advanced dramatically. Now she can see through the chakra flow within a ninjutsu—doesn’t this mean she could attempt to execute a jutsu without forming hand seals?”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” Sasuke interrupted, excitement brimming before Hinata could respond. “If she succeeds, I could try learning it myself! We both use ocular techniques—there’s no reason she can launch a jutsu without seals and I can’t.”

He looked at Hinata with anticipation and encouragement.

“Hinata! Go on, be bold and try it! If you succeed, you’ll open a whole new path for us ocular technique users. That’s a feat worthy of immortal fame!”

“It’s… it’s not that extraordinary,” Hinata protested, her face reddening as she waved her hands. Yet she closed her eyes softly, gathering all her will as she attempted to manipulate chakra solely with her mind.

She adjusted her breathing quietly. After a moment, her figure flickered like a wraith, swiftly approaching a nearby tree. She took a deep breath and struck the trunk with a sudden punch.

The tree shuddered under an invisible force, leaves cascading down in a flurry. Then, with a loud "bang," another tree appeared beside it. Clearly, this was no real tree, but merely a phantom. Hinata had infused chakra into the tree, casting a clone technique upon it.

“Um, I can only construct the chakra flow model for a ninjutsu inside my body. I can’t fully release a jutsu without forming seals yet,” Hinata said apologetically, her cheeks still flushed. “My ability is limited—I can only launch jutsu through taijutsu for now.”

Yet, there was an advantage: the jutsu Hinata launched didn’t activate immediately, but awaited her intent to detonate the pre-embedded chakra packet for the technique to take effect.

Even so, Naruto and Sasuke felt that this ability was already incredibly powerful. The new method Hinata had learned to release ninjutsu was extremely covert and sudden, with the direction and range of the attack controlled perfectly by her.

For ninjas, whose profession relied heavily on intelligence and tactical deployment, this ability was practically a “cheat” technique.

“Hinata, you might be the first in your Hyuga clan’s history to discover this evolved form of the Byakugan—perhaps the first to realize it could evolve further,” Naruto said sincerely. “I think you should have the right to name the advanced form. What will you call it?”

“I… I don’t know,” Hinata replied, bewildered and uncertain. She had always seen herself as a dutiful child, accepting whatever others told her, never imagining she would make any new discoveries herself.

Now, suddenly asked to name the new form she had discovered, Hinata felt at a loss, as if she were a mere echo wall, mechanically repeating others’ words.

She pondered deeply, wrestling with her thoughts. Finally, Hinata made up her mind and spoke: “No matter what others call this form, I want to name it Byakugan: Echo.”

Hinata did not know that, a hundred years later, in the Hyuga clan’s history books, this evolved form of the Byakugan would be called Echo Wall Byakugan, standing alongside the Uchiha clan’s Mangekyo Sharingan. Yet only Hinata, the ancestor who first discovered this advanced form, would have her Byakugan remembered as “Byakugan: Echo.”

Though some would later develop an ability called “Pure Eye” from the Byakugan, this never changed the Hyuga clan’s conviction that “Byakugan: Echo” and its higher evolutions represented the true path of Byakugan’s advancement.

This reverence stemmed from their profound admiration for Hinata.

“By the way, Hinata, why did your Byakugan suddenly evolve?” Naruto asked curiously, unable to contain his wonder. Sasuke, too, was intrigued. The Hyuga were a prominent clan in the Leaf Village, producing countless geniuses over generations.

Why, then, was Hinata the one to discover this advanced form, when no one else had?

Hinata’s cheeks flushed softly as she began to explain in a gentle voice.

It turned out Hinata had always possessed an astonishing appetite, never feeling fully satisfied. From a young age, she realized her constitution was somewhat unusual; every time she ate her fill, her eyes felt especially comfortable, and she could see distant things effortlessly.

Sometimes, even without activating the Byakugan, her vision was as clear as if she had.

At home, because of her family’s strict upbringing, Hinata had to maintain the dignity of the Hyuga clan, forcing herself to suppress her unusually good appetite. Her often timid demeanor was in part due to frequently being hungry.

During their stay in the Land of Waves, Hinata was like a bird freed from its cage, finally able to unleash her abilities without restraint.

She devoted herself wholly to training in spiritual mechanical energy, her progress so swift it was as if she had rocket boosters attached. This rapid advancement directly fueled an explosive surge in her ocular powers.

Correspondingly, Hinata’s appetite also grew dramatically.

In the Land of Waves, her uncle Hiashi was busy counting money and managing business affairs, and others, knowing Hinata was Naruto’s apprentice and companion, dared not interfere with her.

With no one watching her every move, Hinata, after a brief period of restraint, let herself eat to her heart’s content.

Her body developed a peculiar cycle: a bigger appetite spurred faster training, which led to quicker growth in ocular power; this, in turn, increased her body’s demands, making her appetite even larger.

This loop continued until a few days ago, when Naruto treated her to a feast of Ichiraku Ramen. Her ocular power reached its peak, and her stomach was no longer so easily hungry.

The fierce battle with Kakuzu provided a powerful stimulus, pushing her already formidable Byakugan to undergo a qualitative transformation, evolving into Byakugan: Echo.