Chapter 562: Dark History

Chapter 562: Chapter 562: Dark History

After learning about the history of the internal conflict between the Main and Branch Families of the Otsutsuki clan on the Moon, Kagami was almost certain that the Hyuga clan’s original purpose in developing the Caged Bird Cursed Seal was to prevent the Otsutsuki Branch Family on the Moon from plundering their Byakugan.

However, there was a discrepancy in the timeline that could not be ignored.

Kagami had privately studied the Caged Bird Cursed Seal before, and even he had to admit that it was an exceptionally sophisticated cursed seal.

During his time serving in the ANBU, he had also secretly consulted top-secret archives and discovered that all five Great Shinobi Villages, including Konoha itself, had attempted to break the Hyuga clan’s Caged Bird Cursed Seal. However, every single attempt had ended in failure.

This demonstrated that the Caged Bird Cursed Seal had indeed reached the very pinnacle of cursed fuinjutsu in the shinobi world. Without finding a method specifically tailored to counter it, even the five Great Shinobi Villages had no way of breaking it.

And this raised a question!

There was simply no way the Hyuga clan could have developed such an advanced cursed seal in a hurry. Even by the most optimistic estimate, developing the earliest version of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal would have required at least ten years.

But if the Otsutsuki Branch Family on the Moon had truly regarded the Hyuga clan as prey, how could they possibly have waited around for more than a decade, simply watching as the Hyuga clan gradually developed the Caged Bird Cursed Seal to protect their own Byakugan?

That made absolutely no sense!

Under normal circumstances, once the Hyuga clan became aware of the intentions of the Otsutsuki Branch Family on the Moon, they would have had, at most, a few weeks to react—perhaps even as little as a single week.

Faced with such a sudden crisis, the Hyuga clan would never have had enough time to develop the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.

Even if they had decisively abandoned their clan compound and gone into hiding throughout the shinobi world, it would have been extremely difficult to discourage the Otsutsuki Branch Family on the Moon from coveting their Byakugan.

It would have been even more impossible for them to buy themselves the ten or so years needed to develop the Caged Bird Cursed Seal simply by fleeing from place to place.

Developing a cursed seal on the level of the Caged Bird was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also required substantial financial support. With the entire clan constantly on the run, the Hyuga clan simply would not have possessed the basic conditions necessary to develop the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.

"Then what exactly did the clan do to survive that gap in time and buy itself the precious years needed to develop the Caged Bird Cursed Seal?"

A new question surfaced in Kagami’s mind.

Snap...

At that moment, he abruptly closed the clan genealogy in his hands.

Because the answer was right before his eyes!

Kagami boldly speculated that, in order to protect themselves from the blades of the Otsutsuki Branch Family, the Hyuga clan might have resorted to the same inhumane method as their lunar counterparts, hastily creating a Giant Tenseigan at the cost of sacrificing several hundred clansmen.

After all, only such a method could truly deter those lunatics on the Moon, extinguish their covetous intentions, and buy the Hyuga clan a brief opportunity to catch their breath.

Only then could the Hyuga clan calmly begin developing the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, cutting off the Otsutsuki Branch Family’s ambitions at their very root.

Although it had been an act of self-preservation, this was undoubtedly a dark Chapter in the Hyuga clan’s history—one too painful and shameful to look back upon.

Thus, after devoting the strength of their entire clan and spending more than a decade developing the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, the Hyuga clan chose to conceal this dark history.

"Hiss... Isn’t this theory of mine a little too outrageous?!"

As this thought crossed his mind, Kagami snapped back to his senses and sucked in a sharp breath.

However, he did not dismiss his speculation because of that. Instead, the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

"Assuming my theory is correct, then where is the Giant Tenseigan the clan created now? Why hasn’t it left behind a single record or rumor in the shinobi world? Could the clan have destroyed it once the initial development of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal was completed?"

Furrowing his brows, Kagami returned to his original question and pondered, "But if the clan destroyed it, then what exactly is suppressing the Hyuga clan’s population and the upper limit of its individual members’ strength?"

Kagami vaguely felt that if the Hyuga clan had truly created a Giant Tenseigan several hundred years ago to protect themselves, then that Giant Tenseigan certainly had not been destroyed by the clan.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why the Hyuga clan’s members had grown progressively weaker over the past century, while their population had also been slowly declining.

"If that Giant Tenseigan really exists, it must be somewhere continuously absorbing the Byakugan chakra of the Hyuga clan! And there must be something seriously wrong with its current state. Otherwise, there’s no way my Tenseigan wouldn’t be able to sense its existence!"

Kagami narrowed his eyes and surveyed the secret archive before him.

With this suspicion in mind, he began systematically examining the various ancient records stored in the archive.

However, to his surprise, none of the records contained the slightest mention of a Giant Tenseigan. There was not even a fragment of information related to it.

For a moment, he could not help but wonder whether his deduction had been wrong.

"Did I guess incorrectly? Or did one of the previous clan heads destroy all information related to the Giant Tenseigan? And what was his purpose in doing so? A trump card like the Giant Tenseigan, despite the inhumane methods used to create it, would already have been completed. What reason would there be to destroy it or conceal its existence?

"Unless... unless the Hyuga clan’s ancestors had already realized that the Giant Tenseigan would suppress the clan’s future development?"

Kagami genuinely could not determine whether there had ever been a wise individual among the Hyuga clan’s ancestors who could remain true to their principles in the face of such an overwhelming temptation of power and calmly weigh the benefits against the consequences.

After all, the Otsutsuki Branch Family on the Moon might have been extreme, and they might have been insane, but having annihilated the Main Family, they were certainly no fools.

Thus, as their population dwindled year after year, they must have realized that the Giant Tenseigan was harming the future of their clan.

It was simply that they could not bring themselves to relinquish the boundless power granted by the Giant Tenseigan.

They had succumbed to the temptation of that power, ultimately driving their entire clan to the brink of extinction without even the presence of an external enemy.

By comparison, the Hyuga clan’s ancestors had been far more rational.

However, all the signs suggested that even they had ultimately been unable to bring themselves to destroy the Giant Tenseigan.

Therefore, that Giant Tenseigan had most likely been sealed away somewhere. Furthermore, it was highly probable that the prolonged sealing had caused some abnormality in its condition.

To prevent ambitious descendants, blinded by greed, from emerging and leading the clan toward destruction, the Hyuga clan’s ancestors had destroyed every record concerning the Giant Tenseigan.

As a result, even the Main Family had lost all knowledge of this Chapter of their history.

"No. To guard against the possibility of the Otsutsuki Branch Family making a comeback, the ancestors must have left behind some kind of clue concerning the Giant Tenseigan. And it should be hidden somewhere within these ancient records. Perhaps it’s some kind of secret code, a cipher, or maybe even a map directly indicating the Giant Tenseigan’s location?"