Chapter 15

"It's about time. Let's part ways here. If we stay any longer, we might be noticed."

Shiraishi was worried that their secret meeting with Ayane would be exposed. If that happened, not only would Ayane be in trouble, but he would also be thoroughly investigated.

Such a situation would undoubtedly be very troublesome.

"Actually, you don't need to worry, Shiraishi-kun. I have already awakened the Byakugan. Within a one-kilometer radius, no one can approach here without me noticing. I have already searched the area before coming."

As she spoke, Ayane formed hand seals, and the veins around her eyes began to bulge, her white pupils instantly turning cyan.

This was the Byakugan, the bloodline limit passed down through the Hyuga clan for generations.

Awakened Hyuga clan members could use the Byakugan to enhance the power of their clan's ancient Jūken (Gentle Fist) technique, further increasing its effectiveness.

The Byakugan not only maximizes the power of Jūken but also possesses numerous auxiliary abilities, such as long-distance vision, X-ray vision, and enhanced chakra release.

Currently, Ayane could fully perceive everything within a one-kilometer radius. With the Byakugan's X-ray vision, it meant that no one could approach undetected within that range.

Whether using cover or invisibility, the human body's meridian system would inevitably be detected by the Byakugan. This was the reason for Ayane's confidence that no one could approach silently.

While the Byakugan might not have the same combat enhancement as the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, its strategic value far exceeded that of the Sharingan.

One could say that as long as the Byakugan existed, Konoha would not have to worry about being ambushed and thrown into chaos during war.

All of the enemy's defenses and traps would become meaningless.

"When did you awaken your Byakugan, Ayane?"

Shiraishi's eyes showed surprise.

According to his understanding, the probability of awakening the Byakugan was much higher than that of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.

However, generally speaking, the likelihood of a Hyuga clan member awakening their Byakugan before the age of ten was still relatively low.

Ayane was only eight years old, yet she had awakened her Byakugan, indicating her exceptional talent.

"Recently. I wanted to surprise you, Shiraishi-kun, so I didn't say anything."

Ayane, with her Byakugan still active, smiled.

"I see." Shiraishi stroked his chin. "In that case, we need to change our plans. We can accelerate the research process. How about this: find a time to come to my place, and I'll give you a full body check-up."

The Byakugan... such precious and unknown data, he couldn't let it go.

"Although I know you're conducting legitimate experiments... um... when I come, you won't do anything strange, right, Shiraishi-kun?"

Ayane seemed to doubt Shiraishi's character.

"What are you thinking? You said it yourself, it's a legitimate experiment, right?"

Shiraishi looked at Ayane helplessly.

"Sure... but you've touched me all over before, right? You said it was to create a scientifically sound training method... but who knows if that was really true."

Ayane smiled slyly, her cyan eyes gleaming with mischief.

What does "touched all over" mean? Shiraishi didn't remember doing such a thing.

Besides, during the examination, Ayane was still wearing clothes.

Peeping is illegal.

"Hey, Ayane, you're really going off the rails... If my training method was really ineffective, you wouldn't be complaining to me today... Anyway, I have important matters to attend to, so let's end it here for today."

"Just a joke. I'll find a time to come and cooperate with your examination. See you later."

"Sure, see you later. Be careful not to be discovered."

Watching Ayane leave in another direction, Shiraishi put his hands in his pockets and slowly made his way home.

◎

After returning, Shiraishi began to analyze the blood samples collected by Ayane, using instruments to break down their composition.

Even ordinary blood contains many different elements or characteristics.

For example, the blood of a bloodline family and that of a common civilian can have very different traits.

Generally, those born into bloodline families have more active blood, and it contains a very special genetic factor that can be passed down to the next generation.

Therefore, Shiraishi concluded that chakra is the origin of all changes.

He titled this topic "Exploring the Origin and Essence of Chakra."

Ninjas use chakra to perform shape and nature transformations. The fusion of these nature transformations is a common prototype of bloodline limits.

A bloodline limit is typically a special abnormality in a part of the body caused by chakra, which gives that part an incredibly active genetic factor, altering the entire body's genes.

This special genetic factor is then passed down to the next generation through chakra, allowing the next generation to naturally inherit the bloodline's power.

This is how bloodline families are formed.

Because of this special genetic factor, ordinary ninjas generally have no advantage against bloodline ninjas.

However, Shiraishi's primary purpose in analyzing the blood samples from the Hyuga clan's branch family members was not to prove how special bloodline powers are or what significant advantages they have over ordinary people.

This topic had no value to Shiraishi.

Using these blood samples to uncover the secrets of the Hyuga clan's Caged Bird Seal was also impossible.

Shiraishi understood this from the beginning.

He simply wanted to understand the differences between bloodline users and ordinary people.

To verify a certain doubt in his mind and confirm that his hypothesis was correct, he was particularly interested in the things related to bloodline ninjas.

Before this, he had already obtained some skin flakes, hair, and saliva from Ayane.

Of course, he had also taken some from Ruri, although he was severely beaten when he proposed the idea.

To put it simply, Shiraishi had always divided his chakra research into two categories:

Applied chakra and essential chakra.

Applied chakra focuses on the practical use of chakra, such as deriving jutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu systems for combat and other fields.

Essential chakra, on the other hand, explores the true core of chakra.

Using water as an example, Shiraishi was not concerned with how water could be utilized; he was interested in how water forms, what elements it is composed of, how these elements are produced, and why they can combine to form water.

Similarly, Shiraishi was not concerned with what jutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu chakra could produce; he was interested in what chakra is composed of, why it can form, what spiritual energy and physical energy are, and why spiritual energy and physical energy can combine to form the chakra necessary for the human body...

So many questions filled Shiraishi's mind.

Because no matter how the things in a ninja's body change or evolve, they cannot be separated from the root of chakra.

All changes stem from the same origin.

Therefore, everything Shiraishi did was to explore the essence of chakra.

Chakra is the foundation of everything, the creator of everything.

If the secrets of chakra were unraveled, then the methods to break the bloodline limits or the Caged Bird Seal would not be difficult to discover.

No, Shiraishi could imagine that by the time he reached that point, he would no longer be interested in pursuing such things as jutsu and bloodline limits.

However, what seemed simple in theory was often the most difficult in practice.

Shiraishi had read through all the books in the ninja school library, but none of them explored the origin of chakra. They all described the perfected jutsu systems, not the root of chakra.

Either ninjas were just tools of slaughter, uninterested in the origins of their tools...

Or the higher-ups in Konoha had sealed away this information.

Based on Shiraishi's guess, the former was more likely.

Even if it were sealed, some information should be revealed to cultivate outstanding scientific researchers in the ninja school.

Shiraishi believed in the power of science, and this was not wrong.

However, this was the ninja world, where science was not the same as mathematics, physics, or chemistry.

It was chakra.

In a world where chakra is the truth, even science cannot escape the framework of chakra.

This was why Shiraishi concluded that Konoha had not truly delved into the origin of chakra.

Was it a difference in perception, or simply a lack of foresight?

If Konoha had research in this area, it could at least provide Shiraishi with a general direction.

However, Konoha had no such research, and everything would have to be perfected and constructed by Shiraishi himself.

Shiraishi touched his hair, hoping he wouldn't suffer from severe hair loss when he grew up.

He had such a simple yet handsome appearance.