Chapter 561: The Secret Hidden in the Clan Genealogy

Chapter 561: Chapter 561: The Secret Hidden in the Clan Genealogy

Inside the secret archive of the Hyuga main family’s estate.

"Just as I thought..."

After examining the Hyuga clan’s genealogy, Kagami discovered that during the Warring States Period, there had been numerous marriages between the Hyuga and Kaguya clans.

However, the overwhelming majority of these marriages involved women from the Kaguya clan marrying into the Hyuga clan. Almost no women from the Hyuga clan had married into the Kaguya clan, so there were no records of the Byakugan spreading outside the clan.

From the scattered entries in the genealogy, it was also evident that the Hyuga and Kaguya clans shared a bloodline connection. They were most likely two branches descended from the same ancestor.

However, with the establishment of shinobi villages such as Konoha and Kirigakure, the relationship between the Hyuga and Kaguya clans, now belonging to two different villages, rapidly grew distant.

"Hmm...?"

Suddenly, as Kagami continued turning through the genealogy page by page, something occurred to him.

Throughout the more than nine hundred years of recorded clan history, the Hyuga clan’s population had consistently remained around three thousand.

During the chaotic Warring States Period, this placed them among the largest and most powerful shinobi clans, on the same level as the Senju and Uchiha clans.

Yet, for some unknown reason, the Hyuga clan’s population had begun declining year after year starting three hundred years ago.

By the present day, even including all the clan members whose existence had been concealed by the family, the entire Hyuga clan numbered only a little over seven hundred people. Moreover, the overwhelming majority were elderly, weak, women, and children.

A population decline from three thousand to seven hundred over the course of three hundred years might not have attracted much attention when viewed across such a long span of history.

But as Kagami examined the genealogy over the course of just ten minutes or so, the steady year-by-year decline in the clan’s population stood out to him with startling clarity.

"Could it be because of the wars?"

Kagami muttered to himself.

War was the primary culprit behind the sharp population decline of many shinobi clans.

The once-mighty Senju clan, for instance, had suffered devastating losses because its members had consistently taken the lead on the battlefield during the wars following Konoha’s establishment.

Combined with the First Hokage’s policy of fully integrating the Senju clan into Konoha, which led to large numbers of Senju women marrying ordinary villagers and further diluting the clan’s bloodline, the Senju clan had, by the present day, practically ceased to exist as a distinct shinobi clan.

However, Kagami quickly dismissed this hypothesis.

After thoroughly examining the genealogy, he discovered that apart from a record of several hundred clan members mysteriously dying three hundred years ago, there were no other records of large numbers of clan members dying within a short period.

Of course, this was only natural.

Even during wartime, the Hyuga clan primarily served in reconnaissance and defensive roles. Unlike the Senju, who consistently led the charge, or the Uchiha, who were particularly fond of battle, the Hyuga clan’s casualty rate was undoubtedly far below average.

"If it wasn’t because of war, and there haven’t been any large-scale rebellions or internal conflicts within the clan, why has our population continued to decline? And why has the decline been so gradual that no one noticed? It’s almost as though an invisible hand has been manipulating everything from behind the scenes..."

Kagami’s suspicions continued to deepen.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Hyuga clan was already one of Konoha’s foremost great clans. The Uchiha clan, which enjoyed a comparable reputation, seemingly had only half as many members as the Hyuga.

However, this perception was merely a misconception held by those unfamiliar with the Uchiha clan.

The reality was that the number of Uchiha shinobi was indeed far smaller than that of the Hyuga, roughly half as many.

But the Uchiha clan’s total population was by no means smaller than the Hyuga’s. On the contrary, when all clan members were counted, the Uchiha clan’s population far exceeded that of the Hyuga.

It was simply that the overwhelming majority of Uchiha clan members had never awakened the Sharingan and lacked the aptitude to become shinobi. They were practically indistinguishable from ordinary villagers.

That was why the Uchiha clan appeared to have fewer members than the Hyuga clan.

After all, the Uchiha clan’s compound was the largest among all the shinobi clans in Konoha, far exceeding the others in size.

It even had a complete assortment of shops and businesses, making it almost entirely self-sufficient. It was practically a village within a village.

It was only because the compound was situated in a remote corner of Konoha that it appeared relatively inconspicuous.

"The Senju clan’s disappearance was the result of the First Hokage’s decisions. It was caused by human factors. As for the Uchiha, they’ve endured Uchiha Madara’s departure, internal conflicts surrounding the development of Izanagi, and heavy casualties during several wars. Yet their population has still remained at a normal level. Meanwhile, the Hyuga clan, which has enjoyed a relatively stable existence, has been steadily declining in population. That’s far too strange!"

The more Kagami thought about it, the more peculiar he found the situation.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled the Otsutsuki clan on the Moon.

As far as he remembered, by the time the branch family on the Moon officially launched its rebellion, it had already possessed the Giant Tenseigan.

It was precisely because of this that the branch family had annihilated the main family in the decisive battle, emerging practically unscathed.

In other words, the Otsutsuki branch family, which had been capable of mobilizing several thousand fighters for that decisive battle, had suffered virtually no casualties.

This raised an extremely bizarre question.

Why had the Otsutsuki branch family, whose total population had once numbered nearly ten thousand, inexplicably dwindled until only Otsutsuki Toneri remained, despite living on the Moon without any external enemies?

"Within a given period of time, the total amount of chakra is fixed. So, as the Otsutsuki branch family gradually gathered the Byakugan of their deceased members into the Giant Tenseigan, the Giant Tenseigan continued to grow stronger.

"And because the chakra of the deceased was absorbed into the Giant Tenseigan, it could no longer return to the cycle of reincarnation. Naturally, the number of newborns declined drastically.

"So, was it the Giant Tenseigan that suppressed the Otsutsuki branch family’s population? The stronger the Giant Tenseigan became, the fewer members of the branch family remained?"

A bold hypothesis suddenly formed in Kagami’s mind.

"If my hypothesis is correct, then doesn’t the fact that Otsutsuki Toneri was able to be born despite the Giant Tenseigan’s suppression mean that he must inherently possess the potential to awaken the Tenseigan?"

Following this line of thought, Kagami turned his gaze back to the genealogy in his hands and wondered:

"Then what exactly is suppressing the Hyuga clan’s population?"

The Hyuga clan’s population in the shinobi world had been declining year after year. Although the situation was nowhere near as extreme as that of the Otsutsuki branch family on the Moon, which had been driven to the brink of extinction, the decline was undeniably real.

Almost unconsciously, Kagami’s gaze fell upon the entry in the genealogy recording the mysterious deaths of several hundred clan members three hundred years ago.

"Judging by the ruthless way the Otsutsuki branch family exterminated the main family on the Moon, once they discovered that a large number of Byakugan could be used to create a Giant Tenseigan, there’s no way they would have willingly gouged out the eyes of their own clan members.

"They must have tried every possible means to plunder Byakugan and use them to create the Giant Tenseigan.

"And the Hyuga clan, which had settled in the shinobi world, would obviously have been an excellent target.

"After all, in terms of physique and techniques, the Otsutsuki branch family, which directly inherited the legacy of Otsutsuki Hamura, was considerably superior to the Hyuga clan. Moreover, the Hyuga clan’s Byakugan also met the requirements for creating a Giant Tenseigan.

"Come to think of it, the timing seems to line up with three hundred years ago..."

"But I remember that the Giant Tenseigan on the Moon was created entirely from the Byakugan of the Otsutsuki branch family!

"Then what exactly happened to those several hundred Hyuga clan members who mysteriously died three hundred years ago?

"Did the Otsutsuki branch family plunder their Byakugan, or did the Hyuga clan at the time, in order to protect themselves, also..."