Naruto Fans Still Have Questions About This Character's Lack Of Interest In The Byakugan
In long-running series with dozens of named characters, it is not unusual for plot holes to occur. As brilliant as an author may be, more often than not, they are but one mind keeping track of everything. If a certain mistake or gap is not caught during production, the audience is sure to pick up on it later. This is what happened with a particular plot point that never materialized in Masashi Kishimoto's "Naruto" series.
Ask any Naruto fan about how tenacious and creepy Orochimaru of the Legendary Sanin is, and they'll tell you. He may be a snake, but he is also like a cockroach as he never seems to fully die and has a habit of appearing out of nowhere whenever it suits him.
He is also a character whose greed knows little to no bounds, always searching for the next big and morally questionable upgrade he could get for himself. So much so, that fans wonder why the villainous shinobi never went after one of the universe's strongest eye jutsus: the Byakugan.
Purposeful or lapse?
Although it is widely beloved, there are certain aspects of "Naruto" that have been scrutinized and criticized. On Reddit, there are several posts discussing Orochimaru's lack of interest in the Byakugan.
"Just like Kishimoto," u/bbreezy1121 posted, "any interest in the Byakugan is dropped after Pt. 1." Another user, u/shak_0508, responded directly to this, recalling how early on this plot line was built up enough to rival the Sharingan.
When first introduced in the series, personified in the intimidating form of Neji Hyūga, the Byakugan and its associated techniques are a force to be reckoned with. Not so much toward the end, though. Some fans, like u/SomewhereEuphoric186, pointed out that even if Orochimaru became adamant on getting his hands on the Byakugan, he would have gone after Hinata instead Neji because of the older Hyūga's curse mark, which prevented the eye jutsu from being forcefully stolen.
Nevertheless, it begs the question as to why Orochimaru fixated on the Sharingan but never on the Byakugan. Some fans have a comedic answer to this.
"Maybe he thought the Byakugan would screw up his whole snakey look with no pupils and all that," u/Bluesnow2222 posted. "Probably would clash with his makeup too."
There are also reasonable explanations along with the handful of jokes. U/DispiritedZenith suggested that Orochimaru did not have time to consider anything else because of his multiple obsessions, like the Sharingan. U/DispiritedZenith later added that Orochimaru had more pressing priorities to tend to, which made him fixate specifically on Sasuke since he was not powerful enough to get his older brother Itachi.
It is possible that, true to human nature, Orochimaru had certain obsessions that exchanged logic for tunnel vision. Therefore, instead of being a plot hole, this was more so a character trait.