Village: Village Hidden in the Leaf
Country: Fire Country
Status: Active
Advance Bloodline: Byakugan
The Hyuuga clan (日向一族, Hyuūga Ichizoku?, "Hyuūga family") is a fictional clan of ninja in the manga/anime Naruto. Hyuuga (日向) means "Towards the Sun" and is the name of a city in the Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan. It is assumed in the series that the Uchiha clan descended from the Hyuuga clan, and that the kekkei genkai of the former is descended from the latter's.
The Hyuuga clan is considered to be one of the oldest and most powerful noble clans in Konohagakure. All Hyuuga clan members are born with the Byakugan, the inherited kekkei genkai of the clan. The clan revolves around the Byakugan and is separated into two parts, the main house (宗家, Sōke?) and the branch house (分家, Bunke?), a creation 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. This seal gives the main house members absolute control over the branch members, because they can destroy the branch members' brains with a simple hand gesture. This seal also makes sure the secret of the Hyuuga's Byakugan is safe, because it seals the Byakugan after the wearer of the seal dies. There seems to be a great deal of bitterness between members of the main and branch houses, most likely due to the fact that no matter how powerful branch members become, they exist solely to protect the Hyuuga secrets. This can be seen in the attitudes of Hizashi and Neji.
Members of the clan are instructed in the use of the Gentle Fist style, which uses the Byakugan to view the opponent's chakra circulatory system and deal precise blows to disable and impede the flow of chakra. Due to training in this style, Hyuuga clan members tend to have excellent chakra control. This is emphasized in jutsus that utilize this chakra control, as well as the nuances of the Gentle Fist style. Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms uses the Gentle Fist style to strike sixty-four chakra points on the opponent's body, effectively halting the flow of chakra. Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin is the clan's defensive technique, with the user releasing an enormous amount of chakra, and then whirling to use the chakra as a shield to deflect their opponent's attacks. More powerful variants of these attacks exist, such as Neji Hyuuga's Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms, and Hinata Hyuuga's Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Only members of the main house are instructed in the usage of the these more advanced abilities, however, although Neji Hyuuga bypassed this restriction by learning them on his own.