Naruto: Reborn as Neji Hyuga After Dying in One Piece-Chapter 17. The Future Looks Bright [Bonus]

She moved closer, helping him remove his jacket and replace it with a fresh lab coat.

Neji, in turn, peeled off his headband, revealing his pale white eyes beneath.

Together, they turned to face the tanks and the countless Byakugan eyes floating inside.

The sight would have unnerved anyone else.

But for them... it was simply another day.

"How many new eyes matured?" Neji asked.

"Not many," Izumi said regretfully. "Only ten reached acceptable quality yesterday."

She hesitated before adding, "Still not enough for your needs."

Neji nodded, unsurprised.

Cloned Byakugan without chakra cultivation were little more than lifeless relics.

Without nurturing by a compatible chakra, they lacked true function unable to awaken their full potential.

Sharingan was similar.

Without special chakra, even the most perfect clone was just a corpse.

Neji had painstakingly cultivated nearly a thousand Byakugan over the years.

Each one was painstakingly nurtured by his chakra. Each one is a piece of his soul.

It was grueling, slow, and absurdly inefficient.

And yet it was necessary.

"Only ten...?"

Neji murmured, frowning slightly.

Still far from enough.

The quality wasn't where it needed to be.

The volume wasn't either.

He had chosen the hardest, most uncertain path:

Create a pure core of Byakugan, fuse them, and attempt to forge the legendary Tenseigan.

If successful, he would gain not just new power but an endless energy source.

A true perpetual motion core.

The value was unimaginable.

The risk... equally so.

But Neji had no intention of giving up.

He approached the newest tanks.

"Let's see if you can meet my expectations."

Neji placed his hands against the glass, channeling chakra into the cultivation medium.

The liquid bubbled faintly.

Inside, the newest Byakugan flickered and suddenly, a new vision bloomed behind Neji's closed eyelids.

Success.

Another pair had awakened.

He fed more chakra into the others, but most weren't ready yet.

They would need more time, more energy, more patience.

Beside him, Izumi watched silently.

She waited until he sagged slightly from chakra exhaustion before stepping in, guiding him carefully toward the resting lounge.

"You're pushing yourself too hard," she said softly.

For a long time, she had swallowed these words.

But not today.

Today, she let them out.

Neji smiled faintly as he collapsed onto the couch.

"I thought you'd never ask," he teased lightly.

Izumi smiled too, a little sadly.

Of course, he'd noticed.

He always noticed.

"But right now," Neji said, looking up at the ceiling, "I can't tell you everything."

He closed his eyes briefly.

"If I succeed, you'll witness it yourself.

If I fail..."

He trailed off.

Izumi clenched her fists.

"What if you fail?" she asked, voice tight.

Neji opened one eye, smiling in that quiet, almost cruel way of his.

"Then just treat it like a bad joke."

"No!" Izumi said quickly. "You won't fail.

You can't."

Her heart twisted painfully.

She had watched him grow, year after year from a quiet, brilliant boy into something greater.

She didn't just believe in him.

She needed him to succeed.

Because somewhere along the way, Neji's dreams had become her dreams too.

His battles, her battles.

She thought back to the countless nights she had sat silently by his side.

Watching him toil.

Watching him build.

Watching him fall and rise again without a word.

Every success brought her joy.

Every setback hurt more than she wanted to admit.

She was part of his world now.

No! he was her world.

Neji chuckled softly, breaking the heavy mood.

"Don't get too sentimental," he said, pushing himself upright. "I still stink of sweat after Guy-sensei's brutal test."

He stretched, preparing to leave.

"I'm going to shower."

"Want me to help?" Izumi blurted out automatically.

Neji froze.

Then he turned, an eyebrow raised.

"...I'm not a kid anymore, Izumi."

He said it gently, but firmly.

"I can handle a bath on my own."

"Huh?"

Realization crashed down on Izumi's head, and her cheeks flushed bright red.

'Right... he's not a child anymore.'

Once, years ago, she had helped him after long nights of training carrying him, cleaning him, comforting him.

But those days were gone.

He was a man now.

She bit her lip, feeling a strange, hollow ache inside.

---

Meanwhile, Neji slipped away, descending deeper into the underground complex.

A hot bath waited, hidden beneath layers of security measures.

Years of quiet growth had turned this isolated base into a fortress a world of gleaming metal, hidden beneath the earth.

The hotpot restaurant above was just a front now.

The land around it had already been purchased.

No one would stumble upon this place by accident.

No one would find the secret Neji was nurturing.

As he soaked in the steaming water, Neji closed his eyes.

The Tenseigan...

If he succeeded, his power would soar beyond anything the village had ever seen.

He knew he wasn't strong enough yet.

Not against true monsters not yet.

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on freeweɓnøvel.com.

But thanks to Life Return, his mastery over his own body and chakra was growing.

One step at a time.

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