Chapter 563: The Insider and Access Privileges

Chapter 563: Chapter 563: The Insider and Access Privileges

Kagami quickly reined in his wandering thoughts and began sorting through the clues he currently possessed.

According to his speculation, if the ancestors of the Hyuga Clan had truly created a Giant Tenseigan and concealed its secret within these ancient texts, then judging by the timeline, the secret should be hidden among the records written between a little over three hundred years ago and a little over one hundred years ago.

This immediately eliminated the vast majority of the ancient texts in the secret archive, narrowing his search from the entire room to a single bookshelf.

Kagami slowly approached the bookshelf dedicated to records written during that period and activated his Tenseigan without hesitation.

After all, he had no idea what form the secret left behind by the Hyuga ancestors might take. Activating his Tenseigan would ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that he would not overlook any clues.

However, after examining more than a dozen ancient texts in succession, Kagami’s brows gradually furrowed.

He discovered that the records written by the clan during this particular period were especially incomplete.

For example, according to the catalog, the Hyuga Clan had compiled a total of seven volumes of its chronicles during this period, yet only three volumes remained on the bookshelf. Four volumes were missing.

Various travelogues and miscellaneous records were also missing to varying degrees.

"Strange. Why are so many ancient records from this particular period missing?"

Ding, ding...

Just then, a series of light chimes rang out within the secret archive.

Kagami curled his lips.

He knew that the main family’s elder guarding the archive was urging him to leave.

The secret archive was one of the Hyuga Clan’s most important forbidden areas. Even with Clan Head Hiashi’s permission, Kagami, as a member of the branch family, was not allowed to remain inside for too long.

Deactivating his Tenseigan, Kagami strode out of the secret archive and met with Hiashi once again.

Hiashi raised his teacup and took a gentle sip before leisurely asking, "Did you find anything useful in the ancient texts?"

After pondering for a moment, an idea occurred to Kagami, and he decided to probe Hiashi.

"Clan Head, while examining the clan genealogy, I noticed that the number of our clan members seems to be decreasing year after year. What’s the reason for that?"

Hiashi slowly furrowed his brows and sighed. "Perhaps it’s because of the wars. As you know, the shinobi clans in the village have all been affected by war to varying degrees. Some have even been wiped out entirely because of it."

Observing Hiashi, Kagami noticed that his expression did not seem feigned.

"It seems the main family has noticed this phenomenon as well. However, they probably don’t know the true reason behind it either, so they’ve simply attributed the declining clan population to the wars!"

With the Senju Clan having disappeared, the Uzumaki Clan scattered across the world, and the Kaguya Clan exterminated, the gradual decline in the Hyuga Clan’s population was hardly something shocking against the backdrop of one great shinobi clan after another falling into ruin.

It was only natural that the main family had noticed the phenomenon without paying too much attention to it.

This also indirectly confirmed that the current main family was unaware of the Giant Tenseigan’s existence and had completely lost control over it.

Kagami changed the subject and chatted casually for a while before subtly bringing up the serious problem of missing ancient texts in the secret archive.

Hiashi immediately looked troubled.

"Sigh. When the secret archive was attacked last time, several ancient texts were stolen. Who would have thought that with the village’s destruction this time, the archive would be damaged and even more ancient texts would go missing!"

Kagami’s heart tightened.

He had not paid much attention to the previous incident involving the attack on the secret archive and the theft of the Byakugan, but he knew that the culprit was almost certainly the insider who had been lurking within the clan all along.

After all, only an insider familiar with the Hyuga main family’s estate would have the opportunity to ambush the elder guarding the secret archive.

As for outsiders, forget carrying out the theft—even locating the Hyuga Clan’s secret archive would be no easy task.

What Kagami had not anticipated, however, was that the culprit had taken advantage of Akatsuki’s attack on the village to steal another batch of ancient texts from the archive. Moreover, the theft appeared to have been targeted.

"Could he have discovered something in those ancient texts?"

For a moment, this thought lingered in Kagami’s mind.

When the insider first broke into the secret archive, the fact that he had triggered the alarm associated with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal indicated that his primary objective had been the seal itself.

As for stealing the ancient texts, that had probably been a hasty decision made after triggering the archive’s alarm.

After all, breaking into the clan’s secret archive was no easy feat. If Kagami had been in his position, he would have grabbed something on his way out as well.

However, when the insider took advantage of the chaos engulfing the village and the destruction of the clan compound by Shinra Tensei to raid the archive a second time, his objective had become much clearer.

From this, it was evident that the insider must have discovered something among the ancient texts stolen during his first raid, prompting him to carry out a second, more purposeful theft.

And precisely because the insider’s second operation had been so focused, targeting only a handful of ancient texts without coveting any of the archive’s other treasures, it had failed to attract the main family’s attention.

Consequently, no corresponding investigation or search had been launched.

"What a restrained and patient fellow. Heh, looks like our Hyuga Clan still has some talented people after all!"

Having analyzed the situation this far, Kagami could not help but sigh inwardly in admiration.

If the insider had truly discovered clues concerning the Hyuga Clan’s Giant Tenseigan within those ancient texts and followed them to locate it, that would not necessarily be a bad thing for Kagami.

After all, possessing a Giant Tenseigan did not automatically grant someone the authority to control it. Access privileges to a Giant Tenseigan were determined by bloodline and degree of affinity.

The Giant Tenseigan on the Moon was composed entirely of Byakugan belonging to the Otsutsuki branch family. Consequently, Otsutsuki Toneri, the last descendant of that branch family, possessed the highest level of access privileges.

No one else, including Kagami, who also possessed a Tenseigan, could compete with him in this regard.

As long as Otsutsuki Toneri remained alive, Kagami would forever be only the second-highest authority over that Giant Tenseigan.

However, when it came to the Hyuga Clan’s own Giant Tenseigan, whether in terms of bloodline or affinity, Kagami, who also possessed a Tenseigan, was unquestionably the one with the highest access privileges.

If that insider followed the clues in the ancient texts, located the Giant Tenseigan, and removed the seal placed upon it, then he had better hide far away and never appear before Kagami.

Otherwise, if he ever showed up in front of Kagami with the Giant Tenseigan in his possession, it would be no different from personally delivering it right to Kagami’s doorstep.

After all, no one could compete with Kagami for control over the Hyuga Clan’s own Giant Tenseigan.

Not even the current patriarch of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi, was an exception...