Undoing the Caged Bird Curse Mark

The Hyuga clan’s estate was quite large, with a meeting hall spacious enough to accommodate every member of the clan.

At that moment, Hiashi Hyuga and Hizashi Hyuga were arguing red-faced with several Main Family elders.

"No, no, this is utterly absurd! What do you take the rules left behind by our ancestors for?"

"What rules left by our ancestors? They’re nothing more than an excuse for you to oppress the Branch Family!"

"That is to protect them! Without the Caged Bird Curse Mark, how many people would covet the Hyuga’s Byakugan?"

"I’ve never heard that protecting the Byakugan required the power to control someone else’s life and death!"

Yota yawned as he watched the crowd arguing above for half an hour. The Hyuga clan’s formerly stiff and elegant atmosphere had long since vanished.

"When their own interests are involved, even the seemingly detached Hyuga clan can argue until they’re red in the face… Still, have these elders lost their minds? Can’t they see that the Branch Family members below are looking at them differently now?"

"Besides, whether they agree or not, the initiative to undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark is in my hands. Unless they go mad right now and kill every single Branch Family member, once I undo the curse marks on those people below, these elders might end up with a dozen kunai in their backs and kill themselves in shame."

As Yota pondered this, he rubbed Hinata’s head beside him as though kneading a puppy. Hinata no longer cared about her Pops arguing on the stage. Her little face was bright red, as though it were about to steam.

The meeting went on for half the day and ultimately produced no results. The elders and the Hyuga brothers parted on bad terms.

As they left, those elders did not dare bare their fangs at Yota, but they kept glaring at the Branch Family members below. The Branch Family ninja all lowered their heads, appearing quite obedient.

That night, Yota did not sleep. He sat in the small courtyard, and before long, he heard a knock at the door.

Hiashi and Hizashi entered first. Looking rather embarrassed, they said that they had not properly discussed things with the elders and asked Yota not to take offense.

Then, Observation Haki quickly picked up the sound of someone climbing over the courtyard wall. A Branch Family Hyuga ninja sneaked over, only to spot Hiashi and Hizashi the moment he entered. An awkward expression immediately appeared on his face.

Of course, that was only the beginning. Before long, other Hyuga ninja began sneaking over one after another. By the middle of the night, even though the courtyard Hiashi had arranged for Yota was rather large, it was nearly filled with Hyuga clan ninja.

Thus, the next day, when several Main Family elders saw that nearly half the Branch Family ninja had stopped wearing their Shinobi Headbands, exposing their smooth foreheads, they nearly fainted from "excitement."

Before the second night even arrived, the remaining half of the Branch Family ninja could no longer sit still either. They went to Yota in broad daylight and asked him to remove their Caged Bird Curse Marks.

Even though the elders saw it this time, they no longer dared to say anything. The tide of events was unstoppable; even if they tried to block it, they could not.

Not to mention that nearly half of the Branch Family had already escaped the Caged Bird Curse Mark, but with the remaining Hyuga Branch Family united as one, the elders no longer dared interfere.

What? Activate the Caged Bird Curse Mark and kill them all?

This was Konoha. These Hyuga Branch Family members were Konoha’s ninja too!

If the Hyuga Main Family killed one or two Branch Family ninja, perhaps Konoha’s higher-ups would not say anything. But if they dared massacre Hyuga Branch Family ninja on a large scale, did they think Konoha’s higher-ups would tolerate them?

In the end, several Hyuga elders turned ashen-faced and slunk away without a trace.

Yota glanced at them. It would be fine if those elders quietly served as decorative figureheads from now on. If they failed to recognize their place, though, they might just "accidentally fall into the water."

Hiashi and Hizashi, on the other hand, saw their prestige soar throughout the Hyuga clan this time. What happened with the next generation was hard to say, but at least for this generation, Hiashi’s position as Clan Head was as secure as could be.

"This is our Hyuga clan’s secret chamber. It contains records of virtually all information about the Hyuga clan, including the various secret techniques of our Gentle Fist."

At the very center of the Hyuga compound, Hiashi opened the barrier and spoke to Yota.

Though it sounded extremely important, the Hyuga clan had not actually set up much defense around it.

The Hyuga clan’s Gentle Fist was closely tied to the Byakugan. Even if someone took it elsewhere, other ninja could not learn it. Even if they barely managed to learn it, its power would be greatly reduced. Basically, no ninja would set their sights on it.

There were also certain secret Gentle Fist techniques that only the Main Family could learn. In truth, however, they were not managed very strictly. If a Branch Family member could derive them from the Gentle Fist, the Hyuga Main Family would not interfere.

As for information such as the Hyuga clan’s history, even fewer people were willing to study it. In just twenty or thirty years, the Third Hokage had become the strongest Hokage, which showed just how much effort these ninja put into history.

Therefore, after Yota requested to examine the Hyuga clan’s records, Hiashi thought about it for only a moment before agreeing.

After Hiashi left, Yota began browsing through the records.

Yota only gave the Gentle Fist and similar things a cursory look. This kind of taijutsu that purely used Chakra did not suit his combat system, so taking a little inspiration from it was enough.

For the rest of the time, Yota pored over the Hyuga clan’s historical documents, paying particular attention to anything related to the moon.

"I wonder whether the Hyuga clan has any records concerning the Ōtsutsuki on the moon. More importantly, a way to get to the moon…"

Yota had holed himself up in the Hyuga clan’s estate, never leaving its gates, but Konoha’s higher-ups were tearing their hair out over him.

After all, a humanoid nuclear warhead was currently staying in their village. It would be strange if they could rest easy.

Moreover, Konoha had already learned that Yota had subdued Kirigakure. In other words, Yota was not merely a God of the Shinobi World-level powerhouse now; he also had a faction behind him, making him even more threatening.

For one thing, what if Yota asked Konoha to join the Akatsuki alliance as well?

Fight him? They had no chance of winning and would only be asking for a beating. Surrender outright? Then Konoha’s people would lose heart.

What was more, many ninja in Konoha had irreconcilable conflicts with Yota.

For example, Root, which had nearly been wiped out and had only recently been reestablished, and then there was—Uchiha.