Chapter 326: The Stolen Byakugan

Chapter 326: Chapter 326: The Stolen Byakugan

Looking at the mountain of flying ninja tools piled up before them, Shisui said with some difficulty, "With this many flying ninja tools, just moving them all is going to take quite a while!"

No sooner had Shisui finished speaking than Hyuga Kagami activated his Susanoo.

In an instant, a gigantic golden figure appeared inside the secret vault.

Seeing Kagami activate Susanoo, Shisui and Itachi exchanged strange looks.

Naturally, they had already guessed that Kagami intended to use Susanoo to transport all these flying ninja tools. But using Susanoo—the manifestation of the Sharingan’s supreme ocular power—as nothing more than manual labor for hauling cargo...

The two of them honestly found it a little hard to accept.

Seeing the odd expressions on Shisui and Itachi’s faces, Kagami smiled. "I can handle it myself. You two don’t need to help."

At times like this, the advantage of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan became apparent.

For Shisui and Itachi, every time they used the ocular power of their Mangekyo Sharingan, their eyesight would deteriorate. Whether it was Susanoo or any of their other Mangekyo Sharingan abilities, every use brought them one step closer to blindness.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, they did everything they could to avoid using the ocular power of their Mangekyo Sharingan.

But Kagami was different.

The ocular power of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan could recover on its own, so he could use Susanoo as casually as he would any ordinary ninjutsu.

With the tremendous strength of Susanoo, Hyuga Kagami quickly moved all the supplies from the secret vault into the aerial fortress.

Afterward, Kagami brought Shinno into the power room.

Shisui looked at Kagami solemnly and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Kagami explained, "The reason I set up so many sealing formulas was precisely so I could seal him inside the power room while he’s in a fully transformed Tailed Beast state."

Shisui warned him, "The amount of chakra contained within his body is simply enormous. Even I can’t say what will happen if I use genjutsu to stimulate him into a complete Tailed Beast transformation, so you need to be careful!"

Kagami nodded.

Shisui wasted no more words. He immediately activated his genjutsu and began stimulating Shinno.

Under the influence of the genjutsu, Shinno’s mind offered no resistance whatsoever. He immediately released the jinchūriki seal, and his body began to swell as he entered his Tailed Beast transformation.

As Shinno transformed, the black chakra surrounding his body immediately erupted outward.

Under the impact of that tremendous surge of chakra, clarity gradually returned to his eyes, and he began showing signs of breaking free from Shisui’s genjutsu.

Just as Shisui was about to strengthen the genjutsu, Kagami shook his head, stopping him.

At this point, the sealing array inside the power room had already begun taking effect. Whether Shinno was still trapped in genjutsu or not no longer mattered.

Without Shisui reinforcing the genjutsu, Shinno finally broke free from its influence and completely regained consciousness.

After regaining consciousness, Shinno immediately noticed the three Kamigami Homura standing silently before him. Furious, he shouted, "You... What the hell are you trying to do?!"

Hyuga Kagami said nothing. He merely continued silently activating the sealing array formed from the Four Symbols Seals.

At this point, Shinno also noticed that more and more Four Symbols Seals were being layered onto his body. His face immediately turned pale with horror as he shouted, "No... You can’t do this...!"

...

Konoha, Hyuga Clan Residence.

Under the cool, tranquil night sky, the two brothers, Hiashi and Hizashi, sat together in the courtyard, chatting leisurely for the first time in quite a while.

After exchanging some idle conversation, Hizashi finally shifted the topic to Kagami’s earlier suggestion.

"Brother, the Hyuga Clan has to change."

Hiashi raised his teacup and took a small sip. "What are you trying to say?"

Hizashi repeated to his elder brother what Kagami had told him earlier, then continued, "I think Kagami made a lot of sense. The Gentle Fist may be the foundation of our Hyuga Clan, but the Gentle Fist has its limitations as well..."

Before Hizashi could finish, Hiashi interrupted him.

"What nonsense are you talking about? If the elders heard you saying something like that, do you have any idea what the consequences would be?"

Hizashi hurriedly replied, "Brother, this is just a private conversation between the two of us. We’re not discussing this at a clan meeting."

Hiashi let out a long sigh. "I know the Branch Family has many grievances, but whether it’s the Gentle Fist or the Caged Bird... In any case, these are all traditions of the Hyuga Clan. They’re what have ensured that our clan’s legacy has endured for a thousand years without decline. As the head of the clan, I cannot question our traditions, much less destroy them!"

Hizashi lowered his head and sighed as well.

Suddenly, a rapid alarm bell rang out from within the residence.

Hiashi’s expression sharpened as he shot to his feet. "Not good! That’s the alarm from the forbidden grounds!"

Hizashi immediately stood as well and exclaimed, "Could someone have broken into the forbidden grounds?!"

With a grim expression, Hiashi said nothing and rushed toward the forbidden grounds. Hizashi followed closely behind.

Someone breaking into the Hyuga Clan’s forbidden grounds was something that had not happened in nearly a century.

By the time Hiashi and Hizashi arrived, several clan patrol squads had already gathered there.

Everyone discovered that the gates to the forbidden grounds had been thrown wide open.

Inside the outer hall sat a withered old man.

He was already completely lifeless.

And his eye sockets were empty.

His Byakugan were gone!

"Elder!"

Hiashi cried out in shock and immediately rushed into the outer hall.

The elder who had died there was one of the most senior members of the Hyuga Main Family. Although his advanced age had caused his physical strength to decline and his abilities were far below their former peak, he was still by no means someone an ordinary jonin could contend with.

More importantly, this was the Hyuga Main Family residence.

Hyuga clan members were everywhere, both inside and outside the compound.

To silently kill an elder of the Main Family here without anyone noticing...

It should have been almost impossible.

It had to be remembered that members of the Main Family, who were not branded with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, had no blind spot in their Byakugan.

In other words, under normal circumstances, there should have been no possibility of the Main Family elder guarding the outer hall of the forbidden grounds being caught by surprise.

Staring at the elder’s pitch-black, empty eye sockets, Hizashi also realized just how serious the situation was.

The Byakugan was the Hyuga Clan’s most precious asset. Thanks to the existence of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, the possibility of a Byakugan falling into outsiders’ hands had been reduced to an absolute minimum. Even throughout several Great Ninja Wars, the Hyuga Clan had only ever lost a single Byakugan.

Therefore, having an entire pair of Byakugan stolen now was nothing short of a catastrophe for the Hyuga Clan.

"Seal off the clan compound! No one is allowed in or out!"

After furiously issuing the lockdown order, Hiashi headed deeper into the forbidden grounds with a dark expression.

Stored within the forbidden grounds were not only a thousand years’ worth of the Hyuga Clan’s history and secrets, along with countless rare treasures the clan had collected over the generations, but also the scroll containing the method for applying the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.

If the scroll containing the method for applying the Caged Bird Cursed Seal had been stolen, then the Main Family–Branch Family system that the Hyuga Clan had maintained for centuries could collapse in an instant.

Worse still, the lives and deaths of every Branch Family member branded with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal could fall under someone else’s control...