Chapter 327: Seeds of Suspicion

Chapter 327: Chapter 327: Seeds of Suspicion

After entering the secret chamber within the forbidden grounds, Hiashi’s expression eased, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

The secret vault containing the scroll for applying the Caged Bird Curse Seal had not been opened by the intruder. For Hiashi, this could truly be considered a blessing amid misfortune.

"Byakugan!"

After activating his Byakugan, Hiashi carefully examined the secret vault.

The Hyuga Clan’s secret vault wasn’t particularly large, only about the size of an ordinary hall. After all, there weren’t many things important enough to warrant being stored here.

The scroll containing the method for applying the Caged Bird Curse Seal was kept inside a treasure box at the deepest part of the vault.

An extremely sophisticated sealing jutsu had been placed on the treasure box. Within the entire Hyuga Clan, only Clan Head Hiashi and a select few elders of the Main Family knew how to undo it.

After carefully examining the treasure box containing the Caged Bird Curse Seal scroll, Hiashi’s expression grew more solemn.

He had discovered that the sealing jutsu on the treasure box had already been triggered.

The alarm he had heard earlier must have been activated when the intruder triggered the sealing jutsu protecting the treasure box.

Moving his gaze away from the treasure box, Hiashi began examining the other areas of the secret vault.

Before long, he discovered that the bookshelves containing records of the Hyuga Clan’s thousand-year history and secrets appeared to have been searched through.

He quickly walked over and took inventory of the books on the shelves. His expression immediately turned grave.

After a quick count, he discovered that at least three ancient texts were missing—and all three contained secret records concerning the Byakugan and the Caged Bird Curse Seal.

Hiashi thought to himself, "The intruder’s objective was very clear!"

From the theft of several ancient texts recording secrets about the Caged Bird Curse Seal, to the triggering of the sealing jutsu on the treasure box containing the scroll for applying the Caged Bird Curse Seal, it was obvious that the intruder had come specifically for the Caged Bird Curse Seal.

After checking the vault one final time and confirming that nothing else was missing, Hiashi walked out with a dark expression.

By this point, the outer hall of the vault was already packed with members of the Hyuga Clan. Several elders of the Main Family had rushed over after hearing the news. Even the Main Family member who had lost one of his Byakugan during the Third Shinobi World War was among them.

Everyone was examining the murdered elder’s corpse. When they saw Hiashi emerge from the vault, they immediately asked, "Is the scroll for applying the Caged Bird Curse Seal safe?"

Hiashi nodded.

After receiving Hiashi’s confirmation, the members of the Main Family collectively let out long sighs of relief.

They all knew that an extremely sophisticated sealing jutsu protected the treasure box containing the Caged Bird Curse Seal scroll. Unless the intruder could break that sealing jutsu, the chances of successfully stealing the Caged Bird Curse Seal were virtually nonexistent.

Even so, the mere thought that the scroll for applying the Caged Bird Curse Seal might have been stolen sent chills down the spines of every Main Family member.

Seeing how deeply the Main Family members feared for the Caged Bird Curse Seal—the very seal that allowed them to control the life and death of the Branch Family—Hizashi, standing off to the side as a member of the Branch Family, wore an incredibly complicated expression.

He resented the Main Family’s control over the Caged Bird Curse Seal, yet at the same time, he was worried that the Caged Bird Curse Seal might truly fall into someone else’s hands.

Hiashi walked over to the murdered Main Family elder and asked, "How did the elder die?"

One of the Main Family elders stepped forward and pulled open the dead elder’s collar, revealing two dark fang marks on his neck.

"Judging by the bite marks, it was most likely a venomous snake!"

Hiashi instinctively replied, "How is that possible?"

The secret vault within the forbidden grounds of the Hyuga Main Family estate wasn’t a place outsiders could approach. Even ordinary members of the Hyuga Clan weren’t allowed to casually come near it.

On top of that, the Main Family elder guarding the forbidden grounds was himself an experienced shinobi.

For someone like him to die from a venomous snake’s surprise attack was simply too unbelievable in Hiashi’s eyes.

Another Main Family member glanced at Hizashi and ordered, "For now, everyone from the Branch Family is to leave the forbidden grounds!"

Hizashi snapped angrily, "What do you mean by that? Are you suspecting the Branch Family?"

Faced with Hizashi’s accusation, the Main Family members remained silent.

However, the suspicion and wariness written across their faces were completely undisguised.

There was no doubt about it.

Although the intruder had failed to steal the scroll for applying the Caged Bird Curse Seal, they had successfully planted a seed of suspicion between the Hyuga Main Family and Branch Family.

Considering that the intruder had indeed come specifically for the Caged Bird Curse Seal, Hiashi said coldly, "Hizashi, leave for now!"

Left with no other choice, Hizashi led the Branch Family patrol team out of the forbidden grounds.

After every member of the Branch Family had left, one of the Main Family members turned to Hiashi and asked, "What exactly was stolen from the secret vault?"

Hiashi didn’t conceal anything and told everyone that several ancient texts concerning the Caged Bird Curse Seal had been stolen from the secret vault.

The one-eyed Main Family member’s expression turned ugly.

"Hmph, so they really did come for the Caged Bird Curse Seal!"

Another Main Family member said, "I checked the visitor records. There were no outsiders in the estate today, which means the intruder could only have been someone from our clan’s Branch Family!"

Hiashi shook his head. "It’s too hasty to conclude that the culprit is from the Branch Family."

Hiashi wasn’t blindly defending the Branch Family.

The Main Family elder stationed in the outer hall of the secret vault also knew how to activate the Caged Bird Curse Seal. That made it extremely difficult for a Branch Family member to launch a successful surprise attack against him.

After all, the moment the elder activated the Caged Bird Curse Seal, he could instantly incapacitate any member of the Branch Family.

The Main Family member who had first discovered the elder’s cause of death said, "For its venom to kill the elder almost instantly, that snake was clearly no ordinary venomous snake. Doesn’t that remind any of you of someone?"

Hiashi’s expression changed.

"You mean Orochimaru?"

The Main Family member nodded. "That’s right. Before Orochimaru defected, he once attacked you and even wounded you. I’m sure everyone here still remembers that incident!"

The incident he was referring to was naturally what had happened several years ago, shortly before Orochimaru’s defection, when Orochimaru had made one final attempt to obtain research material for Hyuga Kagami’s Tenseigan experiment.

During that incident, Orochimaru had personally ambushed Hiashi and obtained a portion of his flesh, allowing Hyuga Kagami to finally collect all the special genetic sequences he needed.

At the time, because Orochimaru held a high-ranking position and his identity was extremely sensitive, the Hyuga Clan had kept the incident quiet.

However, everyone within the Main Family knew about it.

Hiashi asked, "You suspect that someone from the Branch Family has colluded with Orochimaru and is trying to obtain the Caged Bird Curse Seal?"

The members of the Main Family all nodded, unanimously displaying their suspicion toward the Branch Family.

After pondering for a long while, Hiashi said, "Hizashi was by my side when the incident occurred, so he can be trusted. I’ll have him cooperate with us in conducting a thorough investigation of the Branch Family!"

At that moment, one of the Main Family members said solemnly, "I’ve heard that quite a few members of the Branch Family have recently begun questioning our clan’s traditions. Some have even openly questioned the Gentle Fist..."