Caged Bird Curse Mark

Seeing the uncertainty on their faces, Yota smiled faintly and gestured for the two of them to look at each other.

Hizashi Hyuga frowned as he looked at the Aburame Clan ninja, only to see an unforgettable mark on the man’s forehead.

"Caged Bird Curse Mark… How is that possible!?" Hizashi Hyuga cried out in shock. As if suddenly realizing something, he reached up to touch his own forehead, but felt only smooth skin.

"Could it… could it be…!?" Hizashi Hyuga trembled with excitement. Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths and forcibly squeezed a few strands of Chakra from his utterly depleted body.

This was an extremely damaging act, normally used only when one was fighting for one’s life. But Hizashi Hyuga could no longer care about that. He formed hand seals with both hands and directed Chakra into his eyes.

"Byakugan, activate!"

Veins bulged at the corners of his eyes, the sign that the Kekkei Genkai known as the Byakugan had been activated at full power. Moments later, the Chakra Hizashi Hyuga had wrung from his body was completely exhausted, and his activated Byakugan immediately shut down.

Yet Hizashi Hyuga no longer cared about that. Though his face was pale from severely damaging his vitality by forcibly extracting Chakra, he could not hide the joy written all over his face.

"I saw it, I really saw it! It was 360 degrees! My Byakugan vision has completely recovered! The Caged Bird Curse Mark has truly been broken!"

Besides controlling the Hyuga Branch Family, the Caged Bird Curse Mark also created a tiny blind spot in the Byakugan’s vision. There was a small area behind the spinal column that members of the Hyuga Branch Family could not see within their 360-degree field of vision.

And if one could see every part of the full 360 degrees, that meant the Caged Bird Curse Mark had been completely broken!

For a moment, Hizashi Hyuga felt as though he had fallen into a dream, too excited to control himself.

The Aburame Clan ninja, who had innocently received the Caged Bird Curse Mark, touched his forehead. "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ…"

There was nothing Yota could do about it. Although his Munch-Munch Fruit could freely modify objects—whether bodies, human bodies, rocks, trees, or even things like Cursed Seals—and transfer them at will, it could not create something from nothing or make objects vanish outright. So he had to find a vessel for the Caged Bird Curse Mark, at the very least.

Thus, the unfortunate Aburame Clan ninja became that vessel. In the end, Yota had simply found it too troublesome to catch some animal and waste time, so he casually used the closest person as a test subject.

Orochimaru’s eyes lit up with excitement at the sight before him. "Truly incredible. I now believe that you possess a Kekkei Genkai related to human-body modification. It seems to be an ability that can freely transfer and graft Kekkei Genkai, Chakra, and even Cursed Seals!"

"With this ability, even the most ordinary ninja could easily grow to the level of the God of the Shinobi World. I just wonder what the limits of this transfer are, and how much the human body can bear!"

Yota gave Orochimaru an approving look. He had hit the nail on the head. The Munch-Munch Fruit’s modification ability was powerful, but the human body ultimately had its limits.

Even if Yota modified an ordinary person with a Kekkei Genkai, that person would at most possess the combat strength of a jonin. Someone like Sara was undoubtedly an extraordinarily gifted talent, one in ten thousand.

As the Munch-Munch Fruit’s user, Yota’s own capacity far surpassed that of ordinary people. Even so, when faced with something like the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, he had no way to swallow it completely in one go.

However, as his physical abilities improved—especially as the Ōtsutsuki clan Kekkei Genkai puzzle became more and more complete—Yota believed that it would not be long before he could completely devour the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Come to think of it, Yota had originally thought that after obtaining the Rinnegan, the Naruto World would become his home-base world. Yet in reality, even now, the Naruto World was still an ordinary world. On the other hand, the dimensional-travel energy he had accumulated had already exceeded the limit by a wide margin, enough for him to travel through several worlds in succession.

Clearly, the Rinnegan alone still could not eliminate the possibility of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki escaping from the moon, so the current timeline had not undergone any major changes. But Yota believed that if he completely digested the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, this world would surely become his home-base world.

After all, without the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, even if Kaguya Ōtsutsuki leaped out of the moon, she would no longer be able to use God Tree World Advent to absorb the energy of the entire planet and humanity.

Upon hearing Orochimaru’s words, every ninja present revealed a shocked expression. Jiraiya in particular had far more to think about beyond his astonishment at Yota’s ability.

Yota had only removed Hizashi Hyuga’s Caged Bird Curse Mark just now, but there were several hundred members of the Hyuga Branch Family in Konoha. As long as Yota wished it, he could turn the entire Hyuga clan upside down at any time and win over the vast majority of the Hyuga Branch Family.

Before Jiraiya could finish thinking it through, Hizashi Hyuga suddenly prostrated himself before Yota. "Lord Black Shadow, please accept the loyalty of our Hyuga Branch Family. We are willing to become your strength."

"Have you lost your mind, Hizashi Hyuga!?" The Inuzuka Clan ninja’s face was filled with shock and fury as he shouted, "Have you considered the consequences of doing this? You are splitting your own ninja clan apart!"

Hizashi Hyuga gave him a cold look. "Of course I know the consequences. But rather than remain slaves beneath the Hyuga Main Family, I would rather split the entire Hyuga clan apart."

"You are Hyuga Hiashi’s younger brother… I remember you were not like this before." The Inuzuka Clan ninja spoke unwillingly.

"You’re right. I truly did not think there was anything wrong with it before. Though the Hyuga clan’s rules were harsh, Hyuga Hiashi was my elder brother. So I had never intended to resist the Main Family."

"Then why…"

"Because I have a son!" Hizashi Hyuga said. "Do you know that? I have a son! My son, Neji Hyuga, is an undeniable genius! His talent far surpasses mine! It even surpasses everyone in the Hyuga clan today!"

"But because of these rules, because of this damned Caged Bird Curse Mark, he has to protect a member of the Hyuga Main Family who is far weaker than him for his entire life! He has to brave fire and water for her, fight desperately for her!"

"But my son is clearly far more outstanding than her! Why should a pearl or a fine jade protect a worthless roof tile? All because of this damned system, all because I was born a few minutes later than my brother!"

"I can be a caged bird for my entire life, but I will never let my son remain trapped in a cage for his entire life!"