Chapter 3 — Level 3: Flesh Regeneration?
With Orochimaru's personally signed travel order in hand, Hyūga Ritsu passed through the heavily guarded eastern front camp without so much as a question. Once outside the gates, his figure flickered — three light leaps, and he vanished into the dark northern forest.
For nearly six kilometers, he moved soundlessly beneath the moonlight filtering through the trees, until he finally came to a halt.
"Byakugan — activate."
The veins around his temples bulged as his eyes turned a pure, unbroken white.
The world expanded.
A 359-degree panorama flooded into his perception, every motion of insect and leaf mapped within his mind. But after a few moments, he narrowed his focus, retracting his vision to normal range. Turning toward the south, he extended his sight across the distance — the sprawling front-line camp soon appeared in his far vision.
The Byakugan's 360-degree awareness, long-range observation, and chakra-vision were not passive traits; they were tools to be fine-tuned at will. Without that control, even daily life would be unbearable, let alone combat.
However, his observation soon hit an obstacle — the camp was enclosed within a massive spherical barrier. His sight couldn't pierce its chakra membrane, leaving the inside obscured. But that didn't bother him; his purpose wasn't to spy on the camp. He was scanning the terrain between it and his own position.
Everything was normal.
No tails. No watchers.
He turned his vision across the other directions as well — empty forest, shifting shadows, nothing more. Only then did he press on, Byakugan still open, his movement silent and steady.
Caution. Precision. Discipline.
Those weren't just habits; they were instincts, carved into him after countless missions where he had danced on the edge of death.
Even though he possessed what many would call the "bonus of reincarnation" — a cheat of another world — his wasn't exactly the sort you'd envy. His luck, apparently, had been poor from the start. As he'd once joked to himself:
"When they drew lots for divine gifts, my goddess must've just come back from the bathroom and forgotten to wash her hands."
His so-called gift?
A psychic power known as "Body Regeneration."
Its origin — Academy City.
Its rating — Level 1.
Effect: automatically seals ruptured blood vessels by forming a thin regenerative membrane, temporarily stopping bleeding without conscious control.
In the world of shinobi, that barely qualified as a trick — next to useless, really.
He had no miraculous bloodline, no god-tier chakra beast sealed inside him, no destined protagonist plot armor. So he learned to survive the old-fashioned way: by being cautious, clever, and patient.
Fortunately, his ability could evolve.
He began training it at five years old. Over ten years, it had evolved twice.
First evolution: minor cuts and shallow wounds could heal within minutes.
Second evolution: all non-fatal, non-amputating injuries could fully regenerate.
And that — that was the cornerstone of Ritsu's confidence in using the Chimera Technique in a way no one else dared.
Since becoming Hiruko's disciple nine years ago, Ritsu had contributed his own refinements to the forbidden art. Their research had revealed that the true difficulty of the Chimera Technique lay not in stealing a Kekkei Genkai — but in fusing it.
The fusion process was extraordinarily dangerous. It required a body with immense vitality — one that could withstand both rejection and mutation.
That was why Hiruko had designed the method around five Kekkei Genkai — not out of greed, but to use the elemental principles of mutual generation and restraint among the Five Natures to balance the unstable fusion process and lower the risk of death.
Now, with his regenerative ability advanced to what he called Level 3, Ritsu's life force was far beyond that of a normal shinobi. His body could endure the extreme cellular stress that fusion would cause.
But that wasn't his only reassurance.
The target he had chosen — the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse) — shared the same ancestral root as his own Byakugan.
Both the Byakugan and the Shikotsumyaku originated from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and unlike elemental Kekkei Genkai like Ice Release or Lava Release, these were physiological bloodlines — transformations written into the very structure of the body.
Fusing such a power was far more dangerous — but also far more promising.
If he succeeded, the fusion could reshape the Byakugan's genetic foundation itself.
And when the foundation changed…
The Caged Bird would finally have no perch to cling to.
It would crumble — just like the chains that had bound him since childhood.
According to Ritsu's calculations, fusing the Shikotsumyaku should inevitably trigger a structural evolution in his Byakugan bloodline — dismantling the very foundation that the Caged Bird Seal relied upon. Once the root was gone, the curse would collapse on its own, an empty tower suspended in air.
When the moon sank and the stars began to fade, just before dawn, Hyūga Ritsu finally stopped after running through the night without pause. Deep within a desolate forest — thick with the scent of wild beasts — he stood before a towering dead tree.
Without hesitation, he slipped into a hollow at its base. His fingers brushed against the rough bark, pressing a concealed trigger beneath the roots. A section of the ground slid open, revealing a narrow passage plunging into darkness.
Ritsu dropped in.
His sandals struck the rock face lightly as he descended the vertical shaft with practiced ease. A moment later, he landed softly on solid earth.
It was pitch black — a darkness so dense that even his outstretched hand disappeared before his eyes.
But for someone with the Byakugan, such darkness meant nothing.
He activated his eyes once more, the veins around his temples swelling faintly as the subterranean world unfolded in his mind's vision. The entire secret laboratory lay mapped before him — every corridor, every sealed chamber. Everything was just as he had left it. No intrusions, no disturbances.
Even the "precious specimen" they had been keeping here was still alive.
Ritsu moved through the dark with unerring precision, his steps silent, until he reached the reinforced cell at the end of the corridor.
A faint snap echoed as he struck a match and lit a candle.
The wavering light pushed back the darkness for several meters around, revealing the cell's grim contents.
Suspended by chains from the ceiling was a man — tall, gaunt, dressed in what had once been a white uniform now shredded and filthy. His long black hair hung in matted strands over his face, and two red markings dotted his forehead. Even bound and beaten, his features carried a feral cruelty.
As the candlelight touched his eyes, he squinted, blinking rapidly before the madness returned to his expression.
A hoarse roar tore through the chamber.
"You damned Hyūga brat — I'll kill you!"
He struggled violently, the chains clattering against the stone walls with sharp metallic echoes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ritsu didn't even flinch.
The man's chakra pathways had been sealed by a Gentle Fist strike, rendering him unable to mold chakra or use any jutsu. No matter how fiercely he thrashed, it was meaningless.
Still, Ritsu couldn't help but admire the prisoner's tenacity.
This man — a Jōnin of Kirigakure's Kaguya clan — possessed the Shikotsumyaku, a bloodline that allowed him to manipulate and weaponize his own bones. On the battlefield, he had been a terror, slaughtering countless Konoha shinobi. It had taken both Ritsu and Hiruko working in tandem to lure him into an ambush. Even then, capturing him alive had required every ounce of their skill.
They had concealed the capture from everyone. The official report claimed the Kaguya had been lured into a trap and blown to pieces by explosive tags.
In truth, he had become their private prize.
Bringing such a specimen — a shinobi bearing a Kekkei Genkai — back to the main camp would have meant immediate confiscation by the ANBU. Once that happened, the body would vanish into the village's classified archives, never to be seen again. Neither Ritsu nor Hiruko would be permitted to conduct their research.
Especially not research involving the Chimera Technique, a forbidden art that Konoha had outlawed for decades.
Ritsu stepped forward, his expression unreadable. He raised his right hand and jabbed sharply at the man's neck.
The Kaguya's furious shouts died mid-breath. His body went limp, head dropping as he sank into unconsciousness.
"Perfect," Ritsu murmured.
He turned, walked to the cell's entrance, and sat down cross-legged on the cold floor. From his pack he pulled a small ration bun and a water flask, eating slowly, quietly.
He would need his full strength soon.
The night's exertion had drained him, and what he was about to attempt required not only chakra — but absolute focus, perfect control, and a body that could endure pain beyond human limits.
He chewed the last bite of bread, set the flask down, and closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them again, the Byakugan gleamed faintly in the candlelight.
Tomorrow, he would no longer be a caged bird.
He would tear open his fate — bone by bone, blood by blood.
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