"Do you know what the essence of ninjutsu is?"
"The answer is [bloodline]."—Hyuga Ritsu
Year 50 of the Konoha Calendar.
The Third Shinobi World War was still in full swing. Along the eastern coastal region of the Land of Fire, thousands of Konoha Ninja were scattered across the long coastline, locked in a grueling tug-of-war and endless fierce battles against the mist ninja from Kirigakure in the Land of Water. This winding coastline was like a long, shared wound, causing Konoha and Kirigakure to bleed continuously.
At the front-line base camp of the Konoha faction,
inside a certain tent,
two people sat facing each other, each with a bowl of instant ramen in front of them.
"Here, Teacher, have an egg."
Hyuga Ritsu smiled as he pulled two boiled eggs from his pocket, placed one in front of himself, and stretched out his arm to put the other on the opposite side.
However,
Hiruko, sitting opposite him, did not even look at the boiled egg placed before him. Instead, he stared fixedly at his disciple and said with a serious expression, "I'll ask you one last time, Ah Ritsu. Are you sure you want to do this? Think very carefully. If you fail, you will undoubtedly die."
"Teacher, I sincerely hope you can have a little more faith in the forbidden jutsu you improved yourself."
Hyuga Ritsu picked up his egg and gave it a gentle tap, cracking the shell before beginning to peel it with one hand.
"I don't doubt the forbidden jutsu I improved, but ask yourself honestly, Ah Ritsu, are you planning to proceed with the normal procedure?"
Hiruko picked up his egg, tapped it gently against the corner of the table to crack the shell, and used both hands to peel it normally. Without stopping, he muttered, "My improved Chimera Technique requires the simultaneous capture of five bloodline limits. Using the principle of mutual generation and restriction of the five elements, it maintains an absolute balance among the five bloodline limits, ensuring that they can be accommodated within one's body without any side effects!"
At this, he paused, opened the lid of his instant ramen bowl, dropped the tender, peeled white egg inside, unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks, and stirred them slowly in the bowl.
Opposite him,
Hyuga Ritsu had already lifted the lid of his instant ramen bowl, picked up his unwrapped disposable chopsticks, scooped up some noodles, and began to slurp them down voraciously.
Hiruko also scooped up a mouthful of noodles, but before putting them into his mouth, he stared at Hyuga Ritsu again and could not help continuing, "Just look at what you're doing right now. Forget about five bloodline limits; you haven't even gathered two. We only have one [Shikotsumyaku], yet you can't wait to use the Chimera Technique. How do you expect me to have confidence in you?"
There was not only anger in his eyes,
there was far more worry.
Hyuga Ritsu raised his head. The instant ramen in his bowl had been completely devoured, leaving only the egg soaking in the broth.
He looked at Hiruko and said with a smile, "Teacher, I told you before. An ancient text passed down in my family recorded that our Hyuga Clan and the Kaguya Clan are relatives. Although it might sound a bit absurd, the fact is that the bloodline limits of our two families originate from the same ancestor. That's why I think I can give it a try. Maybe after acquiring Shikotsumyaku, it will cause some changes to my Byakugan, thereby breaking the Caged Bird Seal."
"Bring me the ancient text to read."
"I was young and ignorant, didn't have paper when I went to the toilet, so I tore it up to wipe my butt."
"I'm telling you... if you're going to lie to me, can you come up with a more plausible excuse?"
Hiruko wore a helpless expression as he put the now slightly cooled noodles into his mouth.
He truly had no way of dealing with Hyuga Ritsu. After all, he was a disciple he had raised for nearly ten years, and they shared the same interests, able to research forbidden jutsu together. There was no problem at all with Ritsu inheriting his legacy in the future. To be honest, even a biological son would find it hard to compare.
Furthermore, he was unmarried and had no interest or thought of raising children in this lifetime, so Hiruko regarded Hyuga Ritsu as his own flesh and blood.
Therefore,
when Hyuga Ritsu told him last night that he intended to use the Chimera Technique on the Kirigakure member of the Kaguya Clan whom they, master and disciple, had captured together a few days prior, it felt as though a heavy stone was pressing down on his heart, so weighed down that he still could not shake it off. He even felt a bit regretful for bringing Hyuga Ritsu along to research the Chimera Technique.
The so-called Chimera Technique
was originally a forbidden jutsu created by the Second of Konoha, Senju Tobirama. Its purpose was to combine the limbs of ninja beasts with shinobi in an attempt to enhance the taijutsu abilities of the shinobi.
However, such behavior genuinely violated human ethics, and things like half-beasts were truly unsightly. In the end, as expected, the First, Senju Hashirama, ordered it to be banned, adding yet another brick and tile to that thick catalog of forbidden books.
Of course,
merging with ninja beasts was the original function of this forbidden jutsu. The Chimera Technique, as improved by Hiruko, had the function of seizing other people's bloodline limits for one's own use, and Hyuga Ritsu was now preparing to use the Chimera Technique to seize the bloodline limit of Kirigakure's Kaguya Clan—Shikotsumyaku.
"Then I'll change the reason."
Hyuga Ritsu picked up his bowl and took a sip of the noodle soup, fading the smile from his face as he looked solemnly at Hiruko. "Teacher, did you hear about what happened yesterday?"
"Are you referring to... the matter of Hyuga Daisho having one of his Byakugan stolen by the mist ninja?"
Hiruko finished his noodles in a few bites, put down his chopsticks, and responded with a serious expression.
Many things had happened yesterday, but the only matter that Hyuga Ritsu could bring up was precisely this one. A squad led by Hyuga Daisho, a Main House member of the Hyuga Clan, had encountered an elite mist ninja squad on the battlefield. The two sides clashed, and as a result, Hyuga Daisho's squad suffered a disastrous defeat and fled back. Hyuga Daisho himself even had one of his Byakugan stolen.
This matter had caused a huge uproar and attracted a great deal of attention.
After all,
the Hyuga Clan's "Byakugan" was a renowned top-tier bloodline limit in the shinobi world. It possessed a 360-degree blind-spot-free field of vision, the ability to see ultra-long distances several kilometers away, and the penetrating ability to see through objects. The value of these capabilities on the battlefield was unquestionable, which was why it was coveted by various factions.
A millennium ago,
the ancestors of the Hyuga Clan, in order to ensure that their own bloodline limit would not be stolen by others, established a system where the Main House continued the bloodline and the Branch House guarded the Main House. The Main House would plant a curse mark called the "Caged Bird" onto the Branch House.
When a Branch House member died, or when someone attempted to excavate a Branch House member's Byakugan, the curse mark would activate, directly destroying the Byakugan while simultaneously allowing the Main House to manipulate the life and death of the Branch House members in the palm of their hand.
A situation like a Main House member's Byakugan being stolen was truly unheard of.
Therefore,
one could also imagine just how furious the Hyuga Clan would be.
"Teacher, you guess—now that the Main House's Byakugan has been stolen, how will we Branch House members, who are also on the front lines, be dealt with?"
Hyuga Ritsu asked.
"Dealt with..."
Muttering this word, which possessed a strong punitive nature, Hiruko furrowed his brows deeply. "What does this have to do with you? Although you are from the Branch House, you are not Hyuga Daisho's guard. To be precise, if it weren't for you arriving in time and driving away that group of mist ninja, Hyuga Daisho and the others might not have even survived to return."
"That's precisely where the trouble lies."
Hyuga Ritsu sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"Teacher, do you suppose Hyuga Daisho is thanking me right now for saving his life, or resenting me for not arriving a little earlier?"
"He dares..."
The moment the words left Hiruko's mouth, he choked and could not continue.
Because the other party indeed dared.
The system of the Hyuga Clan gave the Main House immense control over the Branch House. The Caged Bird curse mark could cause Branch House members to drop dead on the spot at any time, and the system of Konoha village in this regard was also extremely vague. The village basically did not interfere in the internal affairs of the various major clans.
In other words,
if the Main House of the Hyuga Clan executed Branch House members, the village would not intervene.
Based on Hiruko's understanding of Hyuga Daisho as a Main House member of the Hyuga Clan, he was a fool who possessed a certain amount of talent, but was arrogant, conceited, and lacked a sense of responsibility. Rather than reflecting on his own recklessness and stupidity, he was far more adept at shifting the blame onto others.
Instead of being grateful for Hyuga Ritsu saving his life, he would resent Hyuga Ritsu for failing to arrive a step earlier—Hyuga Daisho was entirely capable of doing such a thing.
"Ah Ritsu, do you really think it has come to the point where you must take such a risk to remove the Caged Bird Seal?"
"I don't want to gamble that those people in the Main House are all benevolent and righteous people who can distinguish right from wrong."
"Sigh!"
With a heavy sigh, Hiruko picked up the egg in his bowl and stuffed it into his mouth. As he chewed, he muttered indistinctly, "I'll go find Orochimaru later and have him arrange an outgoing intelligence-reconnaissance mission for you!"
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