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Chapter 7 Zetsu’s first move
🕑 Added 2025-06-09 02:00:03 +0000 UTCThe current Hyūga Clan was still finding itself, though from what I could see, the current clan head wasn’t half bad. His Byakugan was highly pure, and he could see the entire clan all at once including much of the surrounding lands.
Seeing is knowing, and knowing is a power of its own. With a good idea of his clan’s current situation, he could better decide on the path forward.
He was a smart guy, I would admit that much, his focus was on how to truly secure his clans dominion.
More than merely getting the social status to match the Uchiha, he, too, understood the need to gain the power to match them. For with the Uchiha and Senju having the Mangekyō Sharingan, Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and the Wood Style, the Hyūga Clan was far behind.
It was refreshing to see someone acknowledge that and work towards fixing their flaws.
In this early time, with the Uchiha hand signs still being new and Ninjutsu being few and far between, there weren’t many easy ways to gain power. So, he had his work cut out for him.
Given that they were able to spot the enemy from far away, a clear path was to be able to attack them from a great distance.
The greatest weapon man had made doing this time period was the bow, well if one didn’t account for Chakra and jutsu.
The bow was a great weapon, easy to use and hard to master, yet it offered both range and power once mastered.
It honestly wasn’t a bad idea, though it wasn’t without problems. After all, Chakra wasn’t easily manipulated over vast distances, so once an arrow was released, it was hard to add chakra to it.
So, the limit was pretty much still the distance a bow could fire an arrow. Sure, chakra would allow someone to use a bigger and stronger bow, firing an arrow further than without, but it was hardly enough to take full advantage of the Byakugan.
Now, I couldn’t fault him for going down that path, the Hyūga Clan could indeed enhance their power by using the bow, at least in terms of defence I could see most people not faring well attempting to mount an assault.
It was also a decent weapon for ambushes, though it wasn’t the most fitting tool for displaying the noble air they were going for.
Still, the clan head decided to go for it and trained not only himself but also a good part of the clan in the use of the bow. And they weren’t half bad. Over a shorter distance, they were deadly marksmen in no time.
As for their wish to find someone to elevate to clan status, they had less luck there. Within their territory, there just weren’t a lot of good options. Something that wasn’t helped by their pride, which further limited what would be considered a good option.
I spent around three years watching mostly the Hyūga and Kaguya Clans. Both didn’t live too far away from one another, though they were taking very different directions. The Noble and mostly peaceful Hyūga and the far more aggressive Kaguya.
However, the Kaguya clan did have the foundation to do as they pleased; the Shikotsumyaku that they inherited from Hamura was a powerful weapon. It came with greater strength, chakra, and healing.
The warriors of the Kaguya clan were no less powerful than those of the Uchiha or Senju clans. While they didn’t target the lands of their neighbouring Hyūga, they did expand aggressively.
Earning them a reputation for being powerful and ruthless.
Something that did benefit the weaker Hyūga since none were willing to believe that the clan wasn’t a match for them, which included most within the Hyūga clan itself.
Though thankfully, the clan head himself knew the truth, that the Hyūga were far weaker than their sibling clan.
Another benefit was that while the Kaguya didn’t care much for the people living in their territory, the Hyūga did, and many moved or outright fled to their lands to escape the ruthlessness of the Kaguya.
This made the lands of the Hyūga clan all the more prosperous. After all, in this time and age, manpower was important; the only things more important were chakra and food.
Still, a few years of those two clans were quite enough, there wasn’t much to learn from watching them. I had no use for learning how to use the bow, nor how to use Shikotsumyaku. My own all-killing ash bones were far more deadly and wouldn’t be used in the same way.
Just like one wouldn’t use a stick and a gun in the same way, their bones and my own just weren’t in the same league at all.
No, I truly wanted to learn how these people would use my chakra in ways I had never thought of.
In particular, I was interested in new ways to use dojutsu like the Sharingan and other bloodlines. After all, all the elemental bloodlines were just special ways of molding chakra, and everyone, myself included, could learn such things.
So, I cast a wide net, looking all around the world, seeing if I could find any signs of elemental bloodlines starting to form. I didn’t expect it to happen quickly, given that Ice Style was still slowly taking shape.
But I wanted to know if any were in the initial stages so I could keep an eye on them from time to time, to not miss too much.
By now, the hand signs were all pretty much ironed out, and new jutsu were being made every so often. Though it honestly wasn’t anything truly impressive.
No, for that I would have to wait longer still. But as long as I could learn the important ones, the rest didn’t really matter.
Even after spending a few months looking far and wide, I didn’t find anything too interesting.
And so I once more settled my gaze on the major clans. Watching the Uchiha and Senju go about their things. Which involved trying to prove which clan was better without starting another deadly war.
Something which they would fail at, thanks to Zetsu, who would ensure that those two clans would fight soon enough. However, I was honestly starting to get concerned because I hadn’t seen him yet.
It just didn’t seem likely that I hadn’t seen him yet, given that I had watched over those two clans for so long. Yet I couldn’t imagine where else he would be.
My only guess was that he was lying low, afraid to start meddling too much while the two clans of Hagoromo’s blood were still so strong. Zetsu had been made in a hurry, and his strength wasn’t the best.
Sure, he wasn’t helpless, but he had his flaws, so I guess that while there were too many pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan around, he wouldn’t mess with them. After all, he needed someone he could manipulate, which might not be too difficult, but the problem lay in what came next.
Gaining the Rinnegan might be easier in this age than in the time of Naruto, but gathering the tailed beasts would be much harder.
After all, there were many people who could fight against his tool; even with the Rinnegan, one wasn’t invincible. Much less if they earned the anger of all the other clans.
Still, there wasn’t anything I could do but watch and learn. And as I did so, I once again seemed to have missed something happening elsewhere. Because suddenly, the Uchiha clan got a lot of messengers coming in.
I was tempted to look around, but I also worried that it would just make me miss what was happening in the Uchiha clan. I wish I could record the events and play them back later. But without being able to focus on the entire world, I was forced to pick only one area to watch in detail.
And for now, the Uchiha clan it was.
And thankfully, it didn’t take long to figure out what was happening. Apparently, smaller families, villages, and everyone wanting to be a clan somehow started wars with one another.
Trying to claim resources and whatnot to become a proper clan.
I couldn’t help but think this was Zetsu’s work.
It did nothing but destabilize the world, something that would benefit no one other than maybe Zetsu.
It also explained why I hadn’t seen him around if he was messing around with those kinds of people, since I had no interest in watching such boring places.
Now, as to why he might have done this, I could only guess that it was because he would have had an easier time acting while the world was in chaos.
And that he was likely worried that if things remained as they were, everything would stabilize in its current state.
I had honestly wondered about how this stable state of peace would be broken enough to start the warring clan period. It seemed it all started here, with Zetsu.
It didn’t take long before the current peace was fully broken as war once again broke out. With smaller forces crossing borders to fight and prove themselves, it was only natural that the clans ruling the invaded lands would react.
It seemed to start with the Kaguya clan. They already sought war, given how aggressive they were. But they still didn’t attack their cousins, which allowed the Hyūga Clan to mostly stay out of the war, for now at least.
And what a war it was becoming. It seemed that no matter how much some smart people tried to limit things, they just couldn’t stop the war from escalating.
From the pre ninja wannabe clans fighting in the beginning, soon enough, real clansmen started throwing around chakra left and right.
Fireballs, water bullets, stones, and more soon flew around. The Kaguya clan quickly gained a reputation as bloodthirsty due to the way they would leave no one behind when they passed through.
At the same time, the Hyūga Clan, who stayed mostly out of things, gained a reputation as aloof, rarely doing anything, yet still doing enough to protect their territory, but only when provoked.
I got to see them in action, and they were using their current tactic very well. They were deadly with a bow. Small teams would go out and shoot down their enemies before they even had a chance to see them.
They were very different from everyone else at this time. This was a time before ninjas. Here, the clans fought openly and proudly, with no sneaking around. Only the Hyūga Clan killed without even being seen.
Still, war wasn’t pretty, and chakra only made it more deadly. All over the place, entire villages were wiped out overnight. Countless lives were lost day after day.
In particular, the clashes between the Senju and Uchiha clans were brutal. The Uchiha, with their mastery of the new jutsu and their Mangekyō Sharingan, were unbeatable monsters. The might of the Susano was on full display.
Yet the Senju weren’t without their own means to fight back. With the sage body and wood style, they were more than able to hold their own.
The battles between the Uchiha and Senju grew more intense with each passing day. It was clear that neither side was willing to back down, and the world around them was paying the price.
Villages were caught in the crossfire, fields were scorched, and countless innocent lives were lost as collateral damage. The power these two clans wielded was undeniable, but it was also terrifying.
It didn’t take long before the world focused on those two clans and their fighting. Old rivalries were ignited once more as they found an excuse to fight freely, no doubt helped on by Zetsu from the shadows.
The Inuzuka clan had tried to offer their support, but quickly realized that they couldn't measure up against the clans carrying my blood. That clan might be a fine ninja clan, but this age wasn’t one for ninjas, not yet.
(End of chapter)
Here we have things getting shaken up a little, war and death. We see more of the clans, getting to see the paths they took or could have taken to reach where they were.
And with Zetsu moving in the shadows, it's likely that the world will only change even more soon. As to where we are currently? I would say, halfway towards the Naruto era. So still a few hundred years yet to go.
