The Hyūga Clan (日向一族, "Hyūga Ichizoku") is one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure. All members born into this clan possess the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai that gives them extended fields of vision and the ability to see through solid objects and even the chakra circulatory system, amongst other things. Members of this clan also possess an innate ability which allows them to expel chakra from any of the tenketsu in their body.
Appearance[]
The Hyūga Clan have a very distinguishable appearance: delicate features, pale complexion, and spacious white, almost lavender, eyes. Their hairstyle varies from clan member to clan member, but the signature hair length often varies from shoulder length and longer. Brown in color, but not always the case. The Hyūga move with extreme grace and their clothing is often very expensive. They are prideful of not only their clan name, but their appearance as well, almost to a point that one could consider it a sin in vanity.
Culture[]
In the past, the Hyūga were very prideful people, which at times can lead them toward arrogance and even being blind-sided by their enemies. However, as time went on, they became much more easygoing. The introduction of Naruto Uzumaki into their family played a large part in their cultural evolution. Once they accepted him openly, his contagious kind and courageous spirit spread all throughout the clan and changed their outlook and belief. So much so, that they no longer separate themselves by Main or Branch House, but instead have some together as one.
However, this does not mean that their pride and noble-like demeanor has dwindled away, but rather has been repurposed toward a better direction that benefits society as a whole. They are courageous and loyal individuals who would be willing to lay their life down for any cause they deem worthy. They believe in law and order, believing that it is important to follow the rules in order to maintain peace. Naturally, the Will of Fire courses through their veins and invigorates their willpower and strength during challenging times.
Hyūga Clan members are naturally calm and serene which can at times be mislabeled as apathetic. However, the one thing that is certain is that they are prideful of their lineage.
Background[]
The Hyūga clan are descendants from the Ōtsutsuki Clan, specifically from Hamura Ōtsutsuki's lineage. As a result, they are also distant cousins of the Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki, and Kaguya clans. They are considered to be one of, if not currently, the most powerful clan in Konohagakure. Their fame and prowess stretches far and wide, leading others to both praise and covert their abilities. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, a Kumo-nin noted that they had a hard time against them during a previous war.
The clan was previously separated into two parts: the Main House (宗家, “Sōke”) and the Branch House (分家, “Bunke”), a system that protects the secret of the Byakugan from outsiders. The Main House runs the family while the Branch House protects it. The members of the Branch House are branched with a cursed seal upon the third birthday of the heir to the Main House. This seal gives the main house members absolute control over the branch members, because they can destroy the branch members' brain cells with a simple hand seal, or cause them great pain to punish them. This seal also makes sure the secret of the Hyūga's Byakugan is safe, because it seals the Byakugan after the wearer of the seal dies. Because they are essentially servants, simply because of their birth order or heritage, some Branch House members are hostile to those of the Main House.
This was later changed after the introduction of Naruto Uzumaki into the Hyūga family. His warm spirit spread through the Hyūga families and changed their ways. Most members of the Hyūga Clan are all considered equal other than the Hyūga Clan Lord, Sayū Hyūga, who is obviously held higher in ranking due to his position. The Hyūga Clan now has been split up into three branches: the Medical Unit (医療部隊, “Iryō Butai”), the Assassination Unit (暗殺部隊, “Ansatsu Butai”), and the Patrol Unit (警邏部隊, “Keira Buta”). There is no hierarchy between these branches. Everyone is equal. However, the Hyūga Clan members are still all marked with the Juinjutsu in similar fashion as before, which uses the Hyūga Clan Lord's Heavenly Domain and The Monarch's Observation, which is the very seal that surrounds the entire Hyūga Compound.
Something noteworthy is that in the past, there have been several attempts on the part of Kumogakure to acquire the dōjutsu of this clan. This even culminated in the death of the would-be-thief: the Head Ninja of Kumogakure and the demands of Hiashi's corpse who had killed him according to the stipulations in the peace treaty that the two villages had signed. Ultimately, Hizashi was the one who sacrificed his life for the village and clan, sealing away his Byakugan as he died and avoiding war. This event would become known as the Hyūga Affair.
Medical Unit[]
Hyūga Clan members have exceptional chakra control and incredible visual clarity. Putting these together combined with their intelligence has potential to produce an unbelievable Medical Ninja. For these very reasons, Hyūga clan members who seem to align most with Medical Ninjutsu have the opportunity to further their studies. This essentially means in-house lessons outside of their typical academy learning. Here they’d learn about specific herbs and medicine the Hyūga use along with additional learning about the human body.
All clan members are required to go through these training regimes regardless of whether or not it interests them. They are at least, at minimum, expected to understand the basics of the human body along with being capable of healing minor injuries they, or their ally, have become victims of. Advanced members are capable of entirely different feats and are able to heal major to severe injuries.
Assassination Unit[]
There is another unit within the Hyūga Clan, one that requires the clan members to be void of emotions and heart. From the very beginning, the clan’s abilities have made them exceptionally dangerous, but it was never focused or prioritized as it has been recently. Their supernatural eyesight make them invaluable as scouts, bodyguards, thieves, and assassins as rarely anything could escape or block their vision.
The Unit specializes in espionage and assassinations. Due to their amazing eyesight, they can scout out targets from afar. When they have located the target, they can then infiltrate with ease. The unit taught kenjutsu and the importance of shinobi tools. Furthermore, they are taught how to completely suppress their chakra, but still remain capable of accessing ninjutsu or genjutsu. There are also long-ranged techniques that allow for the Hyūga to assassinate targets from miles away. They have many more techniques that allow them to be successful, including principles and tactics as well. Their techniques, along with others, are very closely guarded and are never given out to others.
Patrol Unit[]
Lastly, the last public known unit by name within the Hyūga Clan is the Patrol Unit. Members of this unit had incredible perceptional capabilities allowing them to see from distances typical Hyūga Clan members cannot. The majority of their Byakugan, if not all, rival the Hyūga Clan Lord’s, yet still fall short. The unit is led by Lady Sightseerer, Hinome Hyūga. The Patrol Unit surrounds the Hyūga Compound while remaining hidden. They act as the first line of defense since they are capable of spotting irregularities from quite a distance away. The members of the unit are incredibly disciplined and masters of remaining hidden while they carry out their duties. The Hyūga clan also uses this branch to support the Land of Fire and are spread throughout the land to ensure the safety of their home. This unit typically houses ones that prefer a simple Shinobi life, yet instrumental in security. Meaning, they are not known for their combat prowess, only their capabilities of completely erasing their presence while scouting.
Abilities[]
The Hyūga are famed for possessing the highly coveted Byakugan, a kekkei genkai feared for great visual prowess that it grants the wielder. Almost everyone in this bloodline has white irises and pupils and can potentially awaken the Byakugan once they have the necessary chakra capacity and control. When active, the eyes gain a supernatural acuity that allows them to see the world with incredible clarity. Everything becomes that much sharper, distances are easier to perceive, color is more pronounced and their minds can process everything they see at a faster rate than normal. They can even see in low light conditions as clear as in day and can adapt to the most intense levels of light as well. This perceptiveness makes it an ideal tool for analyzing a person’s mental state through their body language and using that knowledge against them.
Whenever the Byakugan is activated, the veins around the eyes swell from the increased flow of chakra. The first ability of the Byakugan gives the user near three-hundred sixty degree field of vision, except for one blind at the back of the neck above the third thoracic vertebra. The second ability is being able to see through solid objects , and cause use of a degree of telescopic sight. The distance and the degree of telescopic sight varies from person to person, and can be improved. In Part I, Neji was able to see an area of 50 meters, but later he increases his visual range to at least 800 meters, while Hinata's range in Part II stretches at least as far as 10 km. Sayū can see up to 20 km in his immediate surroundings and up to 60 km in one direction before losing visibility. However, the Byakugan cannot see through certain barriers, such as the Four Black Fogs Formation used by the Sound Four. The third and one of the greatest uses of the Byakugan is the ability to see chakra, its flow, as well as the chakra circulation system inside the body with great detail.
Members of the clan are instructed in the use of the Gentle Fist style, which uses the Byakugan to view the opponent's Chakra Pathway System and deal precise blows to disable and impede the flow of chakra. The Hyūga combine their x-ray vision with their ability to see chakra, allowing them to see the chakra pathways within the human body. This served as the foundation of their Gentle Fist as they inject their chakra into the enemy’s pathways that are entwined with their internal organs to damage them in ways they can’t defend against. Those with higher than average visual acuity – naturally or trained – can even see the 361 chakra points which release chakra from the body which can then be targeted to disrupt the enemy’s chakra flow. Viewing the chakra pathways directly means that they can literally see the enemy generate chakra, transform it into a jutsu and channel it through their body, allowing them to react to an attack before it is actually unleashed. It is even one of the reasons why the Hyūga are so gifted with chakra control. Where other people can only rely on how their chakra feels as they manipulate it, those with the Byakugan can actually see the chakra moving through their own body. With this knowledge, they can better adjust their chakra levels when applying it to exercises or jutsu to use exactly as much as they need.
Another ability possessed by members of this clan grants them the innate ability to expel chakra from every tenketsu in their body, allowing them to fully utilize chakra with attacks such as the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and the Gentle Fist Art One Blow Body techniques. This allows descendants of the clan, such as Boruto to use the Gentle Fist despite lacking the Byakugan. In addition, the clan's techniques outside the basic Gentle Fist fighting style, like the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms etc., was only previously taught to members of the Main House. That since has changed.
Different Hyūga have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their Byakugan just as regular people do not always have equal eyesight. Hyūga Hinata’s is particularly proficient in its telescopic vision which could see roughly a kilometer away when she was rookie genin which increased to seeing at least ten kilometres and then twenty kilometers as she grew older. Her cousin Neji couldn’t match her maximum range yet his eyes were naturally better at seeing minor details at close range which is why he could see chakra points at such a young age unlike her which was combined with his prodigious talent for the Hyūga’s Gentle Fist. Sayū has been noted to be the only exception and his Byakugan is often labeled as the purest of them all.
Overusing the Byakugan by maintaining its active state for hours on end, especially while pushing its eyesight to the limit, can strain the eyes to the extent that they temporarily damage their vision. Even if the Hyūga keeps their Byakugan active, they would normally leave it in its default state and then change its type of vision when needed.
Leaders[]
The current clan lord, Sayū Hyūga
- Hyūga Elder: Former Leader
- Hiashi Hyūga: Former Leader
- Hanabi Hyūga: Former Leader
- Sayū Hyūga: Current Leader
Trivia[]
- Takewa Sozo, under the guise of Director Hideo, genrously donates 30 Million Ryō to the clan annually via an anonymous source with a Crane stamp.
- "Hyūga" (日向) means "place in the sun," and is also the name of the city in the Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan.
- In the anime, it was noted that the Hyūga also have elaborate training rituals such as the Senbon Sparring ritual where the trainee must spar roughly one thousand times in succession.
- While the clan's emblem didn't appear in the manga, it was featured at the end of each episode in the anime adaptation of Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding.
- In the anime, it is alluded that despite inheriting the Byakugan, not all Hyūga are able to manifest its actual powers.