Chapter 11: Pledge Your Loyalty To Me!
This pain, as if ten thousand shuriken were stabbing into his brain, was something Hizashi had just experienced not long ago.
That was when he was watching Hinata’s training and showed deep killing intent toward the extraordinarily talented Hinata, which was noticed by Hizashi Hyuga nearby, who then activated the “Caged Bird” to punish him.
And it was right in front of Neji.
But why did the mysterious person in front of him know the hand seal to activate the “Caged Bird” curse mark?
This was the Hyuga Main Family’s most core secret, never leaked outside for hundreds of years, passed down only orally through successive clan heads and elders.
Non-Main Family members absolutely could not know it!
Moreover, in the hundreds of years since the “Caged Bird” curse mark was created, there had never been any non-Main Family person who could use the “Caged Bird”!
Yet this person before him was repeatedly shattering Hizashi Hyuga’s traditional understanding of the Hyuga Clan!
As Uzumaki Menma finished his hand seals, Hizashi’s splitting headache finally eased considerably.
“You’re not from the Hyuga Clan!” Hizashi Hyuga gasped, looking at the mysterious person before him with lingering fear; he could only be sure of this one thing.
“You’re also not one of those who once slaughtered my Hyuga Clan!” Unknowingly, Hizashi Hyuga had already accepted the “historical truth” that Uzumaki Menma had instilled in him.
The Hyuga Clan wasn’t without instances of Byakugan leaking out, like Ao of Kirigakure, who during the Third Great Ninja War seized a Hyuga Main Family ninja’s Byakugan, thereby earning his fame as the “Byakugan Killer.”
But such events were absolute minorities, not enough to make the Hyuga Clan widely implement the “Caged Bird.”
Therefore, only a powerful external enemy that even the Hyuga Clan could hardly resist could explain how the Hyuga Clan’s “Caged Bird” came to be.
“Your goal is that eyeball fused from a large number of Byakugan, isn’t it!” Hizashi Hyuga recalled the power of that giant eyeball, his voice trembling slightly.
He was no fool; on the contrary, Hizashi was very smart, smart enough to leave a so-called “will” after being forced to commit suicide, instructing Neji not to resent the Main Family.
But this will had always been in Hiashi’s hands until the first Chunin Exams, when Hiashi finally gave it to Neji.
Wasn’t this also Hizashi’s protection of Neji?
“You’re very smart, and that’s one of the reasons I chose you over your brother.” Uzumaki Menma did not deny his ambition.
The existence of the Giant Tenseigan was equivalent to an orbital weapon that could launch attacks on the Ninja World directly from the Moon, while the people of the Ninja World had no power to retaliate at all.
Such a great killing tool, Uzumaki Menma naturally wanted to control it.
In the Limited Tsukuyomi World, he had also searched for traces of the Giant Tenseigan and the Otsutsuki Clan on the Moon, but unfortunately, after scouring all the Hyuga Clan records of that world, he found nothing.
Hearing the other compare him to his brother, Hizashi’s knuckles turned white.
“You’re no worse than him, and I can feel that you’ve already grasped the essence of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, but why didn’t you use it in the previous battle?” Uzumaki Menma continued to provoke Hizashi with words.
Yeah…
Recalling the previous battle, if not for the death crisis brought by the mysterious person’s attack on that once-dead angle, Hizashi absolutely would not have used the Rotation technique.
“I… am no worse than him…” Hizashi murmured to himself.
This had been his obsession for over twenty years.
Simply because he was born a dozen minutes later, as twins, he was relegated to the Branch Family, with the Caged Bird engraved on his forehead, unable to learn higher-level Gentle Fist taijutsu and Hyuga Clan secret techniques.
Even his own child, and all descendants of his line, would have the “Caged Bird” engraved on them for generations!
“Pledge loyalty to me.” Uzumaki Menma, wearing the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask, approached Hizashi Hyuga and extended his right hand, forming a single hand seal.
“Caged Seal!” With the hand seal complete, Menma’s right hand pressed onto Hizashi’s forehead.
A dark, brutal chakra surged into Hizashi’s brain, temporarily sealing the “Caged Bird” curse mark.
In an instant, Hizashi Hyuga felt an unprecedented clarity and—
Freedom!
The “Caged Bird” curse mark on Hizashi’s forehead, though not completely erased, had dimmed significantly.
The lingering pain from before also vanished instantly, and that once-dead angle at the back of his head was gone; he regained his 360-degree Byakugan vision!
A stream of tears flowed from Hizashi Hyuga’s Byakugan, slowly sliding down his cheek.
He had almost forgotten this feeling of 360-degree Byakugan.
This long-lost freedom stirred Hizashi Hyuga, who had been resigned for over twenty years, once again.
“This technique will only last 24 hours.” Uzumaki Menma withdrew his right hand.
This was a seal he had specifically researched in the Limited Tsukuyomi World using the Uzumaki Clan’s sealing talent, targeted at the “Caged Bird.”
The principle was actually simple: curse marks like the “Caged Bird” were mainly a combination of sealing jutsu and chakra, like parasites that latched onto the target and fed on chakra to sustain their existence.
So, as long as one was proficient in sealing jutsu and specifically researched it, they could naturally develop a sealing jutsu to temporarily seal the “Caged Bird.”
But it was only a temporary seal.
However, to completely erase the “Caged Bird,” Uzumaki Menma had at least three methods—three!
Unfortunately, these methods couldn’t be experimented with in the Limited Tsukuyomi World.
Moreover, who would dare to research such a simple sealing jutsu?
The Uzumaki Clan, proficient in sealing jutsu, had their nation destroyed and clan exterminated; inside Konohagakure, ninjas proficient in sealing jutsu could be counted on one hand.
Any Hyuga Clan ninja who showed even a hint of opportunity with sealing jutsu would be stopped by the Main Family immediately.
Hizashi Hyuga raised his hand to touch the “Caged Bird” on his forehead, savoring this rare freedom.
“Will you be a coward for life, or do you want to be a Branch Family hero? Even if just for a few minutes.” Uzumaki Menma dispelled the illusionary space and vanished from Hizashi’s sight.
Hizashi was back in the hospital room, but the bright sunlight shining in from outside the window gave him an unreal illusion.
After experiencing multiple illusions, he couldn’t distinguish whether this was reality or the illusion world.
Hizashi activated his Byakugan, feeling that newly regained 360-degree view, sensing an unprecedented sense of exhilarating refreshment.
“Is this the aura of freedom?” Hizashi thought of his child.
When Neji was painfully crying during the ceremony of being engraved with the “Caged Bird” curse mark, he, as the father, could only kneel nearby watching with worry.
He thought of the Branch Family clan members engraved with the Caged Bird, those pairs of Byakugan numb yet harboring deep resentment.
And that brother of his, who simply because he was born earlier, was destined to be superior—Hiashi Hyuga!
“A coward for life, or… a hero for a few minutes?” The mysterious person’s whisper coiled around Hizashi’s heart like a venomous snake.
New book seeking follow reads, seeking all kinds of data! Kneeling thanks to all reader bosses!
