Breakthrough! Releasing the Caged Bird!

"You two, father and son." Mother looked worriedly at the pair, who had remained utterly silent.

Yuzuru Hyuga returned a gentle smile. "Mother, don't worry. It's my fault."

"Hizashi, Yuzuru has already admitted fault!" Mother glared reproachfully at Hizashi Hyuga.

Hizashi Hyuga raised his rice bowl and snorted coldly. "He didn't apologize."

"Yuzuru?" Mother turned her head to look at Yuzuru Hyuga.

Yuzuru Hyuga smiled and raised his own rice bowl in the same manner. "Has Neji eaten yet?"

"You! Two!" Even the gentlest mother could turn into a tigress at home. She huffed and set down her chopsticks. "Hizashi, you're sleeping alone tonight."

"But I—" Hizashi Hyuga's face twisted with frustration.

Yuzuru Hyuga set down his chopsticks. "Mother, I'm full. I won't disturb you and Father any longer. Good night."

He slipped away quickly.

Mother frowned. "Don't get into a temper with a child."

Hizashi Hyuga stiffened his neck. "You have no idea what that rebellious son is thinking. Don't treat him like a child anymore!"

"He's only four! If you don't treat him as a child, what do you treat him as? When you were four, you still wanted to bathe with me!" Mother shot back, eyes wide.

"That's different!" Hizashi Hyuga subconsciously used his Byakugan to check—the brat had indeed gone far.

"In any case, don't ask." Hizashi Hyuga let out a long sigh, set down his chopsticks, and lost his appetite.

Mother also realized the problem seemed serious. "What exactly is going on?"

"Don't ask." Hizashi Hyuga repeated solemnly.

She was silent for a long time, then raised a hand to cover her mouth as she coughed twice. "Don't, cough, argue too long. Yuzuru is a good child. Cough. Some things, we as parents cannot prevent."

"Even if they're wrong?" Hizashi Hyuga's brow was tightly knit.

"Yuzuru will not do wrong things," Mother said firmly.

"He's just a four-year-old child!" Hizashi Hyuga took a deep breath.

"Stop always treating him like a child! Yuzuru is so mature it breaks my heart. When you're not home, you have no idea how much he's done for you! In the Branch House, who doesn't know that child's abilities?" Mother retorted.

Hizashi Hyuga was left speechless.

What?

He finally decided to drop the discussion and figure it out slowly on his own.

After all, he'd barely made it home from the war—he didn't want to end up unable to even get into bed.

In his own room, Yuzuru Hyuga's fingers flickered with a faint blue light, freely sweeping across paper as he copied poems or essays.

In truth, calling it copying was generous—he had long since memorized the originals. At this point, reproducing them was merely a mechanical, habitual motion.

As his fingers glided over the paper, black characters continuously emerged.

At the same time, the proficiency in his skill bar advanced steadily.

[Finger Seal (C): Level 10 (3989/4000)]

A blessing in disguise—skill leveling, though requiring more per level, was not exponential.

After over a month of hard training, this C-rank Ninjutsu had nearly calloused Yuzuru Hyuga's fingers, but at last, it was reaching the threshold.

Fortunately, the difficulty of this Sealing Technique lay in control rather than chakra; as long as output remained steady, large amounts of practice were possible.

After finishing the last sheet of paper, Yuzuru Hyuga neatly stacked the manuscripts and tossed them into the trash.

[Finger Seal (C): MAX (Breakthrough Available)]

[Your C-rank Sealing Technique: Finger Seal has reached max level.]

[Obtained Free Experience Points: 5000.]

Breakthrough!

[Please specify the breakthrough direction.]

This was Yuzuru Hyuga's first skill breakthrough. Honestly, he had no idea what it could achieve.

So, he ran a small test first.

I need a sealing technique that can remove the Caged Bird.

[Please specify the detailed direction of the breakthrough.]

No—there might be many ways to remove the Caged Bird. I should be more specific.

'I need a sealing technique that can remove the Caged Bird curse mark, targeting only the Caged Bird, not other curses, with minimal consumption and low rank.'

The system text finally changed.

[Current breakthrough directions available: 2]

[1: Targeted Sealing Technique (B-rank)—Can rapidly seal the Caged Bird by consuming a large amount of chakra, cutting off remote sensing and triggering of the Caged Bird and other curse marks. Multiple layers of sealing can completely isolate the Caged Bird or other curse marks, but cannot fully erase them; requires periodic reinforcement. (Cost: 10000 Free Experience Points)]

[2: Targeted Sealing Technique (B-rank)—Can overwrite the Caged Bird seal. Once activated, depending on the user's strength, it consumes significant time to gradually overwrite the Caged Bird. After complete overwriting, the seal is released, thus removing the Caged Bird. (Cost: 10,000 free experience points)]

He wanted both.

Even if it meant spending every last bit of his savings.

[Only one option can be selected. It can be further upgraded after reaching full proficiency, or you can spend more free experience points for consecutive breakthroughs.]

But from a cost-performance perspective, saving up and going all in one go was absolutely the best choice. It avoided wasting time having to max out a B-rank technique before breaking through again.

"What if I want to go straight to the final step?"

[1: Targeted Sealing Technique (S-rank)—Consumes a large amount of chakra to quickly break most cursed seals, including the Caged Bird. However, due to the enhanced curse-breaking function, its effectiveness against sealing techniques is slightly lacking. (Cost: 200,000 free experience points)]

How many zeros?

Yuzuru Hyuga rubbed his brow.

Two hundred thousand.

It wasn't exactly impossible.

Even with his current strength, if he just found a bunch of useless, easy-to-train ninjutsu or taijutsu—like the Finger Seal—he could master one in a little over a month. Considering that his learning efficiency would increase as he grew stronger, mastering one per month wasn't hard.

Calculating that way, he could accumulate at least fifty to sixty thousand free experience points a year.

At most four years—likely even shorter in practice—and he could go from nothing to solving the problem that had plagued the Hyuga Branch House for decades.

But...

Yuzuru Hyuga sighed and made his choice.

[Selected: Targeted Sealing Technique (B-rank)—Can overwrite the Caged Bird seal. Once activated, depending on the user's strength, it consumes significant time to gradually overwrite the Caged Bird. After complete overwriting, the seal is released, thus removing the Caged Bird. (Cost: 10,000 free experience points)]

[Breakthrough successful. Please name the new sealing technique.]

After a long silence, Yuzuru Hyuga spoke softly: "Flying Bird."

[Sealing Technique: Flying Bird (B): Level 1 (0/800)]

A wealth of knowledge about the sealing technique poured into his mind. Yuzuru Hyuga closed his eyes, delved deep into understanding the jutsu, and then decided to act immediately.

He took a deep breath, sat in meditation to recover his chakra, then opened his eyes. He slowly formed hand seals, confirming each one was flawless, and finally pressed his palm against his forehead.

A blue light flickered on his brow. The black sealing pattern flashed briefly, and the green Caged Bird emitted a faint cyan glow before quickly settling back to stillness.

Yuzuru Hyuga let out a breath of relief.

In truth, he wanted someone else to test the waters for him, but because the method of breaking the seal was so unique, he had to take the risk himself.

Holding his forehead, though it looked the same as always, Yuzuru Hyuga could clearly sense that a white bird was faintly taking shape beneath the skin, gestating within.

Under the supply of chakra, this white bird was like an extremely patient and seasoned hunter. Against the Caged Bird's seal on his forehead, it would occasionally peck at it like a sneak attack, then, before the seal could react, it would lie low again.

Slowly, yet steadily, bit by bit, it drained the Caged Bird's seal.

Once the Flying Bird devoured the Blue Bird, the Caged Bird's mark would become nothing but a decoration. At any moment, by releasing the Flying Bird sealing technique, the now-illusory Caged Bird would vanish as well.

But as the price—his chakra cap was now reduced by thirty percent. Perhaps as his chakra grew, this ratio would decrease, but for now, it seemed unlikely he'd get a chance for a massive chakra leap.

Beyond that, he had to be careful.

As the Flying Bird's progress deepened, the Caged Bird mark on his forehead would gradually fade. Of course, even if the technique was fully completed, as long as he didn't release the Flying Bird seal, the Caged Bird wouldn't disappear. Still, from now on, he'd need to prepare something to cover the gradually fading pattern on his brow.

Based on the current progress...

"Within a year."

Yuzuru Hyuga calmly judged the answer.

The time was neither too much nor too little, but it was basically within his plan.

He had to show his father within a year that he could break the Caged Bird.

Only then could he make his father resolve to walk the same path as him.

Eliminate the Caged Bird, make the Hyuga Clan equal and just.

And the reason he had to settle this within a year was the major event coming in a year—the Nine-Tails Incident.

From then on, the Uchiha Clan would be pushed into the spotlight, and their explosion was only a matter of time.

But Yuzuru Hyuga didn't want the Uchiha Clan to explode.

At least, not yet. Not now.

Once the Uchiha blew up, the Hyuga Clan, unable to stand alone, would inevitably lose their neutral advantage as the third pillar in Konoha's quagmire and be forced onto the stage against the village.

That meant he had to do something. But with his current status, it was hard to find leverage in the massive swamp of Konoha, and his power was insufficient.

But Hizashi was different.

He had prestige, status, and the influence to sway Hiashi's decisions.

To be honest...

Yuzuru Hyuga looked calmly out the window.

Four years later, using the Kumogakure incident...

He wanted to try moving his father to a different spot.

Moving the home from one end of the estate to the other.

He wanted those curse marks to transform into flying birds soaring across the sky.

He wanted a hundred birds to pay homage to the phoenix, carrying him straight to the heavens.

To give this filthy, bloated, decrepit Konoha—

An early blood transfusion.

Of course, grand plans like these had to be taken step by step.

And the first step had already been taken. The second step, relatively speaking, was simpler.

"Get stronger."

Yuzuru Hyuga stared into the distance with firm eyes. In the end, a shinobi's words only carried weight through strength. If he were already as monstrous as Hashirama Senju right now, what need would there be for scheming? Once the seal was undone, a single clap of his hands and the Third would be on the ground. The Hyuga Clan would willingly abolish the Caged Bird. Madara Uchiha would just keep lurking in the Underworld, waiting for him to die of old age. The other hidden villages would hand over their tailed beasts and choose to merge—can't beat them, join them. And thus, the shinobi world would achieve great peace.

Fortunately, that kind of power wasn't out of reach for Yuzuru Hyuga.

Come to think of it, Itachi should have recovered quite a bit by now.

Logically speaking, it should be about time for Shisui to meet me, right? That guy Itachi must have been badmouthing me to Shisui nonstop.

Yuzuru Hyuga curled the corners of his mouth, took off his black-rimmed glasses, and went to bed.

Tomorrow would be another day full of hope.

P.S.: On Qidian, new books don't even get recommendations without daily reads. Please, if you like it, add it to your collection and read it every day. Otherwise, without recommendations, there's only a dead end ahead! I'm begging you! o(╥﹏╥)o!