Chapter 214 – Hinata's Hidden Potential
"So… does that mean Yusuke-sensei isn't very skilled at Sage Mode?" Kiba asked, secretly swearing to himself that he had to master Sage Mode one day—to become the perfect version of himself.
"Ah, not exactly. I've mastered Sage Mode too," Hatake Yusuke said with a calm smile.
The moment he spoke, the natural chakra in the air began to gather around him, spiraling toward his body like a living current of energy.
Everyone instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces as an enormous pressure filled the area.
Moments later, Yusuke entered Sage Mode. A soft, pale-blue aura enveloped him, glowing faintly as wild energy surged outward. The force was so intense that his forehead protector cracked and fell away, revealing his breathtakingly handsome face.
Unlike Kakashi, the markings around Yusuke's eyes weren't purely golden. Instead, they shimmered in a mixture of gold and green, forming an unusual hue. The markings didn't extend above his eyes but appeared beneath them instead, and on his forehead, a diamond-shaped seal—similar to Tsunade's—slowly emerged.
However, his eyes didn't morph into those of a toad like Kakashi's. Instead, his already brilliant blue eyes grew even more dazzling, glowing with divine light.
"He's… so handsome… Even more handsome than Sasuke! How can someone like this exist?" Ino gasped, completely awestruck. Her admiration overflowed, her mind far too distracted by his looks to even register the transformation itself.
Shikamaru merely gave him a sidelong glance before looking away without comment.
"Why is Yusuke-sensei's Sage Mode different from Kakashi-sensei's?" Kiba asked curiously.
Although both men had entered Sage Mode in an instant, the difference in their presence was like night and day. The sheer amount of natural chakra surrounding Yusuke was almost enough to make everyone faint.
"That's because my Sage Mode comes from Mount Myōboku," Kakashi explained.
"As for Nii-san, his Sage Mode is a fusion of all three sacred sites—creating a unique, special variant," he continued.
"Well then, I think you all understand now," Yusuke said, smiling faintly as he looked at their reactions.
"Sensei! Can I learn Sage Mode too?" Kiba asked enthusiastically.
"Sorry, Kiba. You can't," Yusuke replied, ending his Sage Mode as the aura dispersed around him.
"Eh? Why not?" Kiba's tone fell, disappointment written across his face.
"First and foremost, your chakra capacity isn't enough. And second, learning Sage Mode comes with serious risks," Yusuke explained calmly.
"That's right," Kakashi added. "If you fail to master the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, you'll turn into a frog statue. The other two sacred sites also have their own unique dangers. And before you can even begin training, you must form a summoning contract with one of the Three Great Sage Realms."
"What? I have to sign a contract with the frogs too? Forget it," Kiba muttered, scratching his head after just finishing his meal.
"Woof! Woof!" Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Learning Sage Mode isn't easy," Yusuke said, his tone instructional yet casual. "Even Jiraiya never achieved perfect Sage Mode. He needed the help of two elder toads just to maintain balance. And when entering Sage Mode, the body itself can change—like growing a frog-like nose or skin. Kakashi's an exception; only his eyes change."
"Exactly," Kakashi confirmed.
"And you should know," Yusuke continued, "it's extremely difficult to enter Sage Mode instantly. While absorbing nature energy, the user must remain perfectly still. I can enter Sage Mode so quickly because of a special reason."
That special reason lay in the influence of the Haki training that both he and Kakashi had undergone.
Because their bodies were constantly tempered through battles infused with Armament Haki, their physical structures had gradually strengthened—much like the process of forging a Black Blade.
In fact, Yusuke's very bones had hardened to the point of rivaling that same indestructible steel.
Though Kakashi didn't possess a true Sage Body, he could still combine his reinforced physique with his mastery over the Life Return technique to enter Sage Mode almost instantly—albeit for a short time. It was comparable to Naruto's performance after fully mastering Sage Mode in the future.
Minato could also enter Sage Mode instantly, but that was thanks to his reanimated body and the Nine-Tails chakra residing within him.
As for Hashirama Senju, he could do so naturally because he had been born with the Sage Body from the very beginning.
"That's why," Yusuke said, looking around the group, "learning Sage Mode requires an extraordinary amount of talent, along with a powerful body and vast chakra reserves. Among all of you here, only Naruto truly meets those conditions… though Hinata also possesses significant potential."
"H-Huh? Me?" Hinata blinked, startled yet excited. Her pale eyes widened, trembling slightly with a mixture of surprise and hope. She had always wanted to become stronger—to walk beside Naruto as an equal.
"Of course," Yusuke said with a warm, encouraging smile.
In truth, among the twelve main students of this generation, Hinata's potential actually surpassed even that of Naruto and Sasuke.
She didn't just inherit the Byakugan—revered as the "Sage Eyes"—but also carried within her the Sage Body.
It should be noted that Hinata's appetite could rival, or even exceed, that of the Akimichi Clan. While the Akimichi's immense appetite stemmed from their secret techniques, Hinata's came from her natural biological constitution.
She was the descendant of a bloodline possessing both the Sage Body and the purest Byakugan in history.
Her potential was immense. That was why Yusuke trained her with such strict intensity.
The reason Hinata hadn't awakened the Tenseigan likely lay in the absence of Ōtsutsuki chakra within her lineage.
It should be remembered that for decades, only Uchiha Madara had successfully awakened the Rinnegan, while Obito could not—showing that the fusion of Ashura and Indra's chakra, the essence of creation and existence, was the key.
Hinata, however, didn't possess the primordial Ōtsutsuki chakra that would allow such evolution naturally.
In truth, the Tenseigan and Rinnegan weren't directly connected. The Byakugan was not inherently weaker than either of them.
The difference lay solely in the user's strength and circumstances. For instance, Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki could perceive fate itself through the Byakugan without ever needing to awaken the Tenseigan.
That alone proved that the Byakugan's ultimate form was still the Byakugan itself—while the Tenseigan was more of a mutation born from specific chakra interactions.
(Personal Setting Note: The Rinnegan isn't stronger than the Mangekyō Sharingan because the Sharingan is weak—it's simply that the Rinnegan's nature is far more destructive. After all, even with the Rinnegan, both Uchiha Madara and Sasuke continued to rely heavily on their Susano'o in battle.)
After hearing all that, the young ninjas fell silent.
Everyone wanted to become stronger—but among them all, only Naruto and Hinata truly met the requirements.
And those requirements were far stricter than anyone could have imagined.
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