Naruto: Reborn as Neji Hyuga After Dying in One Piece-Chapter 98. Wait… When Did I Get Hurt?

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The soft patter of rain lingered as Neji left the Hyuga cemetery. After paying his respects, he made his way down to the underground lab, tucked beneath a nondescript building on the village outskirts.

As the steel door hissed open—

"Neji! You're back!"

Izumi hurried toward him. Her relief was plain in her eyes.

For days, the outside world had been in chaos. Even from the safety of the lab's surveillance feed, the scenes she'd witnessed explosions, tailed beast battles, and the destruction of Konoha's landmarks had been enough to terrify anyone.

Seeing him safe was like breathing again.

"You're soaked," she said, already pulling a towel from the side shelf. "Hold still. You'll catch a cold like this."

It was a familiar scene like a doting older sister fussing over her reckless younger brother after a storm. She ushered him toward the bathroom, her concern unwavering.

Neji raised a hand to stop her. He opened his eyes, and she paused.

The blindfold was gone.

She didn't ask why.

"...How's Karin?" he asked instead, cutting straight to business.

Izumi folded the towel away.

"She arrived safely. Smart girl even if her strength's nothing special."

"She reached the Land of Rain, decrypted your sealed message, and made contact with Zabuza and Haku. They're regrouped at the base now."

Neji nodded. That was enough.

"Leave a clean set of clothes outside. I won't take long."

"Of course."

She hesitated, almost wishing he'd let her stay longer... but turned away obediently.

---

The water was warm.

Neji sat in the bath, arms wrapped around his knees, posture curled like a fetus. He listened not just to the rhythm of his heart, but to the flow of blood in his veins. A form of sensory training. Deepening his [Observation Haki].

He let his mind drift, visualizing the two items now stored in his system inventory: the original Byakugan eyes... and the sealed scroll.

Eventually, he sensed Izumi returning with fresh clothes outside the door.

He rose.

Steam curled off his body. His movements were fluid and deliberate. The eight-pack on his abdomen glistened faintly, the tribal-like seal across his side exposed. Toned. Balanced. Efficient.

He dried himself with a subtle flick of his hair chakra-enhanced, of course. Tricks like this barely registered in his mind anymore.

---

Dressed, he entered the resting area where Izumi waited.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

"...Just picked up a future I didn't plan for."

She didn't press further. But her eyes lingered on him longer than usual.

---

Inside the meditation room, Neji summoned the two objects: the eyes... and the scroll.

The Byakugan felt oddly distant to him now. He'd already regrown his own using [Life Return] and Yang Release. Technically identical. Practically? Maybe better.

His current Byakugan offered normal and negative-polarity vision. A likely quirk of system purity meaning yes, he could see full-color chakra silhouettes.

Yes, he had accidentally glimpsed... things. Once. Or twice. freewebnøvel.com

He set the eyes aside.

Then... the scroll.

He infused chakra, breaking the seal. The surface looked blank.

With a quiet exhale, Neji activated his Byakugan.

Text flared to life—mysterious, complex... and familiar.

[Burn Protocol Activated]

A flicker of heat sparked in the scroll's center. Flames curled along the parchment's edges. Within seconds, it was ash.

Neji sat back, gaze somber.

"As expected," he muttered. "The Caged Bird Seal."

Alongside the technique's full breakdown was a personal note from Hiashi:

> "Neji, I've known about your research into sealing techniques. I've chosen not to interfere. I want to change things too. This is everything I have on the Caged Bird Seal. Use it. I believe in you.

—Hiashi."

Neji chuckled softly.

"So the most rigid traditionalist of them all... was the one most eager for change."

He let his eyes drift shut, mentally recording every formula and structure. The seal was deceptively elegant. Hard to alter but not impossible.

"The Caged Bird seal takes up one degree of peripheral vision," he murmured. "Not just because of how it's placed but because of how the curse interacts with the Byakugan's neural mapping."

He tapped the floor thoughtfully.

"I could strip the destructive failsafe—make it a simple deactivation marker. But... that still doesn't fix the vision loss."

Compressing the seal further had hit a wall.

Then, a thought.

"...If I can't shrink it... what if I expand it?"

A wild idea. But a viable one.

Make the seal mimic a lens. Refract and distribute the neural load. Maybe even reinforce the optic nerve for prolonged usage...

Inspiration struck like lightning.

He pulled out fresh scrolls and began drafting.

Seal after seal. Iteration after iteration.

Hours passed.

---

Elsewhere, in a dim guestroom of Konoha...

Sasuko sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the mirror.

The curse mark on her neck still faintly pulsed. Neji had suppressed it but not removed it.

She touched it gently.

"...I want to be stronger."

But he had refused.

He hadn't explained why. Just... said no.

She clenched her jaw.

Would he refuse again?

She didn't know. But she wasn't going to stop.

The thoughts churned in her mind until a sudden sting in her abdomen broke the spiral.

She glanced down.

A spot of red.

"...Huh?"

She blinked.

Blood?

"...When did I get hurt?"

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