369. The Caged Bird

"It's a ninja from the Hyūga clan!"

Upon seeing this technique, the experienced Cloud ninja immediately identified the enemy's affiliation.

The Hyūga ninja, after deflecting all the incoming tools, quickly advanced, charging toward the fleeing enemies at full speed.

Clearly, he had no intention of letting them escape.

Seeing this, the Cloud ninja, who was determined to cover his teammates' retreat, had no choice but to act swiftly.

To avoid revealing his identity, he had to abandon his signature ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques, resorting instead to swordsmanship to attack the enemy.

Surprisingly, the masked Root ninja from the Hyūga clan didn't engage in close combat.

Instead, from a distance of nearly ten meters, he thrust out his palm.

Before the Cloud ninja could comprehend what was happening, several nearly invisible chakra needles had already pierced through the air.

By the time he sensed the danger, it was too late.

He could only watch as the chakra needles penetrated his skin, sealing his chakra points!

*This is bad!*

The Cloud ninja cursed inwardly.

With his chakra points blocked and his energy flow disrupted, he had lost all ability to resist.

As the final chakra needle struck his pressure point, his vision went dark, and his body collapsed heavily to the ground.

After successfully capturing one enemy, the Root ninja didn't stop.

He activated his Byakugan to its fullest extent beneath his mask while gathering a large amount of chakra in his palm.

Once he locked onto the enemies' positions, he thrust out both hands.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms of Vacuum Needles!"

In the next moment, the chakra concentrated in his palms transformed into a dense barrage of needles, piercing through all the trees in their path like a storm.

The needles then mercilessly struck the fleeing Hot Water ninja, embedding themselves into their bodies.

This was a new technique created by Hyūga Hizashi, who had mastered advanced chakra nature transformation and compressed chakra to its limits.

It was a revolutionary evolution of the traditional Gentle Fist—

Sharp Fist!

Unlike the subtle and steady Gentle Fist, the Sharp Fist was all aboutrevealing its sharp edge.

This was why Hizashi could effortlessly take down several Hot Water ninja from a distance of over a hundred meters.

After the battle, Shisui appeared beside Hizashi like a ghost.

Looking at the fallen enemies, he couldn't help but remark, "Senior Hizashi, your strength has grown even more impressive."

Hearing this, Hizashi glanced at Shisui, who had appeared silently beside him, and shook his head with a smile.

"Don't joke around. Compared to you, my strength is nothing."

Hizashi's words were sincere.

As a renowned genius of the Uchiha clan, the youngest foreign minister of Konoha, and a disciple of Danzō, the "Darkness of the Shinobi," Shisui perfectly embodied what true talent meant.

At just over a dozen years old, he had surpassed his peers, awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and reached Kage-level strength.

In the face of such a prodigy, what did his own strength amount to?

In response to Hizashi's praise, Shisui simply said earnestly, "Senior Hizashi, you're just bound by certain constraints. Once you break free, your strength will undoubtedly soar."

Hearing this, a shadow of sadness flickered in Hizashi's eyes.

He knew exactly what Shisui was referring to.

But like the name of the curse itself, he was nothing more than a caged bird.


What could he do against such a binding seal?

Perhaps sensing Hizashi's despondency, Shisui suddenly smiled.

He pulled out a small scroll from his pocket—more precisely, an order from the village.

When Shisui handed it to Hizashi, the latter's face immediately lit up with disbelief.

"Is this real?"

He looked at Shisui eagerly, desperate for confirmation.

Shisui nodded, responding firmly to Hizashi's plea.

"It's real. My teacher has already set out and is on his way to the Land of Rice!"

---

Danzō did not disappoint Hizashi.

He arrived in the Land of Rice Fields the very next day.

Upon hearing the news, Hizashi, who hadn't slept all night, rushed over immediately.

As for what could excite a member of the Hyūga branch family so much, there was only one possible answer—

Danzō's research on the Caged Bird Seal had yielded results!

That's right.

To fulfill his promise to Hizashi, Danzō had never given up his research on the Caged Bird Seal over the years.

Fortunately, as his reputation grew, so did his skill points. He finally used a special skill point to elevate the Seal ability to S- rank.

With the system's assistance, Danzō secretly studied all the ancient texts and records of the Uchiha and Hyūga clans, conducting numerous experiments.

Eventually, he gained a clear understanding of the Caged Bird Seal.

At its core, the Caged Bird Seal was a mass of chakra sealed within the brain of every Hyūga branch family member.

It had four activation triggers:

1. Eye Protection: When a branch family member's eyes were harmed or at risk of being stolen, the seal would release chakra to destroy the Byakugan preemptively.

2. Death Activation: When a branch family member died, the seal would also destroy the eyes.

3. Tamper Detection: If someone attempted to break the seal, it would release chakra to destroy both the eyes and the brain.

4. Direct Control: When activated by a main family member, the seal would release chakra to inflict severe headaches or even death on the host.

While the first three triggers were ostensibly designed to protect the branch family's eyes from falling into enemy hands, the fourth trigger completely exposed the hypocrisy of the Hyūga main family.

Perhaps the original intention of the Caged Bird Seal was indeed to protect the branch family.

But such unchecked power inevitably bred corruption.

The most glaring example was the Hyūga main family's policy of avoiding the front lines.

Since they weren't marked with the Caged Bird Seal, the main family members were exempt from battlefield duty to protect the Byakugan.

If they had simply stayed off the battlefield, it might have been tolerable.

But the main family also monopolized the clan's best training resources.

Techniques like Rotation and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms were exclusive to the main family.

Meanwhile, the branch family members, who risked their lives on the battlefield, were relegated to practicing inferior techniques.

Moreover, after every mission, branch family members had to deduct a portion of their earnings to contribute to the clan.

The main family, who didn't undertake missions, could comfortably enjoy the fruits of the branch family's labor.

And the root of all this injustice was the seal that controlled the fate of every branch family member—

The Caged Bird!