Eyes that see, heart that feels

To call it a problem might not be entirely accurate, as it was more of an unexpected inconsistency that Takara didn't know how or when it occurred.

Examining the jinchuriki with his Byakugan, he discovered that... Utakata was actually a woman!

(Whoops, wrong draft. Ignore this last line!)

Examining the jinchuriki with his Byakugan, he found that the rejection from the eyes, originally from Hinata, had completely disappeared, as if those white eyes had been his own since birth.

Curiously, it seemed that despite the disappearance of the rejection, the chakra consumption was still the same as when they were in the previous state of rejection.

How was it possible that one thing didn't solve the other?

And why had this change happened?

Takara had to push his doubts to the back of his mind and focus on recovering the Six-Tails above all else; at least these changes weren't the type that harmed him.

With the biju successfully sealed, Takara now possessed a third of the tailed beasts and the partial trail of another.

The current Kyubi, Isobu, and Saiken were under his control.

He had the chakra trail of Shukaku thanks to Gaara's noxins, which allowed him to locate its rebirth egg in the Wind Country.

"Next, I need to acquire Chomei inside Fu and, if possible, find Roshi to reclaim Son Goku," he reflected carefully. "But I must be cautious; the disappearance of these two could start to alert everyone."

While Fu was his original next target, he wouldn't refuse to acquire an additional biju if luck should find him.

As for the "A-rank" mission that Chiyo assigned him to eliminate the three Konoha ninja squads...

Simply let them go and say it's a failure; with the difference in numbers, it's normal to fail, right?

Takara knew that the village superiors were already looking at and selecting candidates to become the next Kazekage, so it wasn't hard to see that with his outstanding performance, they were now paving his way to gain prominence and have a more solid candidacy.

Too bad for them; he had no intention of being the Kazekage in charge of the weakest and least resourceful village among the Five Great Nations. While this would make him lose much favor with the elderly Chiyo, it wasn't yet within the range that would bother him.

The fact that he hadn't killed Gaara and taken Shukaku yet was already a favor returned.

But first, he had to resolve the issue with the Byakugan.

Looking back, what caused it to affect him like this?

...

Wait, perhaps...?

"Summoning Technique!"

A cloud of smoke burst forth, and a corgi-sized version of Katsuyu appeared in front of Takara.

"I'm glad to see everything went smoothly, Takara-sama," the slug greeted upon seeing that his contractor didn't seem injured and probably finished the matter he was occupied with. "Are you ready to begin Sage Mode training?"

"Before that, I want to ask you something," Takara directly addressed the situation with his eyes and wanted to know if having them during the adaptation process his body went through could have affected them in any way.

"Is that so?" Katsuyu moved her antennae as she pondered. "In fact, there has never been anyone who has gone through this process with parts of other people in their body, so I can't say there are precedents. But from what you've explained, I think it could be a trait that I was completely unaware of. It's interesting!"

Reluctantly, Katsuyu insisted on examining Takara's Byakugan to ensure there were no issues. He eventually agreed and removed his bandages and mask to reveal his face to Katsuyu.

When Katsuyu saw her new contractor's face for the first time, she thought only one thing: delicate!

If it weren't for the Adam's apple and their interactions thus far, even she might have had some confusion...

Fortunately, Katsuyu noticed Takara's mood and refrained from making any comments sensibly, focusing honestly on verifying the Byakugan and its interaction with the adapted slug body.

After a few minutes, Katsuyu descended from Takara's face and confirmed that it was indeed a trait she was unaware of from the process. The body had also adapted to the strange eyes to make them partially their own, but even without the rejection, since there was still no Hyuga lineage in his blood, the chakra would still be somewhat more costly.

Takara was more than okay with the situation; the fact that the eyes became "his" was an unexpectedly good gain, as it would stop him from feeling the itch of rejection, and despite the increased chakra consumption, he could wield his abilities better.

With this matter resolved, Takara looked at Katsuyu and brought up the previous issue:

"Let's start with Sage Mode practice."