Hyūga Clan
(日向一族, Hyūga Ichizoku; Literally meaning "Hyūga family")
Appears in Anime, Manga, Game and Movie
Affiliations
Konohagakure
Kekkei Genkai
Byakugan
[hide] Known Members
Hyūga Elder
Hanabi Hyūga
Hiashi Hyūga
Hinata Hyūga
Kō Hyūga
Neji Hyūga
Hizashi Hyūga
Tokuma Hyūga (Manga only)
The Hyūga clan (日向一族, Hyūga Ichizoku; Literally meaning "Hyūga family") is one of the oldest and most powerful clans in Konohagakure. All members born into the family possess the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai that gives them extended fields of vision and the ability to see the chakra circulatory system. The Uchiha clan's Sharingan is believed to be descended from the Byakugan.
Members of the Hyūga branch house
The clan is separated into two parts, the main house (宗家, Sōke) and the branch house (分家, Bunke), a system that protects the secrets of the Byakugan from outsiders. The main house runs the family while the branch house protects it. The members of the branch house are branded with a cursed seal upon the next heir/heiress of the main house's third birthday. This seal gives the main house members absolute control over the branch members, because they can destroy the branch members' minds with a simple hand gesture, 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.
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. Due to training in this style, Hyūga clan members tend to have excellent chakra control. This is emphasized in jutsu that utilize this chakra control, as well as the nuances of the Gentle Fist style. The clan's strongest techniques, like the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, are only allowed to be taught to members of the main house. Neji Hyūga, however, has bypassed this restriction by learning them on his own, earning a reputation as a "genius" in the clan.
Trivia Hyūga (日向) means "Towards the Sun", and is the name of a city in the Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan.
The name "Eight Trigrams" is a reference to the Chinese martial art Baguazhang, a fighting style usually made up of circular movements, allowing the practitioner a wider range of motion and full use of momentum, without giving his or her opponent much of a chance for a direct strike. In Japan, it is known as Hakkeshō.
Ao of Kirigakure has defeated a member of the Hyūga clan, and took the member's Byakugan and transplanted into his right eye.
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ABILITIES
The first ability of the Byakugan gives the user a near 360º field of vision, except for one blind spot at the back of the neck above the third thoracic vertebra.
The second ability is being able to see through solid objects, and can use 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 Hyūga was able to see an area of 50 meters, but later he increases his visual range to at least 800 meters, while Hinata Hyūga's range in Part II stretches at least as far as 10 km. However, the Byakugan cannot see through certain barriers, such as the Four Black Fog Battle Formation used by the Sound Four.
Chakra Pathway SystemThe third and one of the greatest uses of the Byakugan is the ability to see chakra, as well as the chakra circulation system inside another's body. It is from this particular ability that they are able to employ their ultimate attack style: Gentle Fist. Unlike the Strong Fist, which is focused on external injuries, the Gentle Fist style focuses on internal injuries. Each strike, when placed correctly, strikes along the chakra pathway system, which is the network of vessels that carry chakra. This network is closely intertwined with the functioning of the body's organs, and so, when the keirakukei take damage, the organs suffer as well. There is no defense against the Gentle Fist, since one cannot train one's internal organs to become stronger. The only possible defense is to stop the Gentle Fist's hits from connecting.
Particularly skilled users of the Byakugan can take the Gentle Fist style one step further. Along the keirakurei are 361 pinprick-sized nodes called tenketsu, or chakra points. When struck, the Byakugan user can choose to either seal, or forcibly open these tenketsu, thus giving the user complete control over their opponent's chakra system. So, with precision, all those points along the victim's body can be sealed, stopping the chakra flow to those areas. Able to strike without force, and yet do more damage to a ninja than some of the most powerful ninjutsu, the Gentle Fist is the greatest taijutsu style known in all of Konohagakure.