Rumors

Uchiha Yuan stared at the blue crossed mark and the two hook patterns curling in opposite directions on Hyuga Asana's forehead, and sank into thought.

The original work had given far too little information about the Caged Bird. The only thing that could really be confirmed, bluntly speaking, was this: the Caged Bird Curse Mark was cast by the Hyūga Main Family to restrict the Byakugan's abilities, and after someone was marked with the Curse Mark, members of the Hyūga Main Family could use their own will to destroy the brain tissue of the person bearing it.

"Asana, does the Caged Bird Curse Mark disappear after a person dies?" Uchiha Yuan asked.

Hyuga Asana nodded and said, "It should. I once saw a senior from the Branch House. He suffered very serious injuries on the battlefield, and after he was sent back to the clan, they couldn't save him.

He was my father's friend. On the day of his Funeral, our whole family went to attend. At that time, there was no Caged Bird Curse Mark on his forehead."

Uchiha Yuan nodded. He also remembered that in the original work, after Neji died, the Curse Mark on his head had slowly disappeared as well.

It was just that whether that disappearance had been because the Chakra of the Curse Mark vanished after destroying the Byakugan and the brain, or because the soul had left the body, was impossible to know.

If it was the former, then there was already a ready-made method to break the Hyūga Clan's Caged Bird.

One only needed to learn Living Corpse Reincarnation from Orochimaru, then have Orochimaru help cultivate a clone of Hyuga Asana, and then use Living Corpse Reincarnation to transfer her soul into that clone. The Caged Bird would be broken.

But did the Caged Bird Curse Mark really only act on the body? Uchiha Yuan felt it was not that simple.

Because he remembered that, in another plotline from the original work, Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother Hizashi Hyuga had been revived by Kabuto through Impure World Reincarnation during the Fourth Great Ninja War to fight the Allied Shinobi Forces, and the Caged Bird mark had still been on his head.

However, during the fight between the Impure World Hizashi Hyuga and Hyuga Hiashi, Hiashi had not used the Curse Mark, so Uchiha Yuan could not be certain whether that Curse Mark had truly existed or not.

If Hyuga Hiashi had merely not used the Caged Bird out of guilt or some other emotion, then that meant the Caged Bird Curse Mark did not only act on the body. It was very likely carved deep into the soul.

If it was connected to the soul, then the difficulty of breaking the Caged Bird would increase greatly.

At least at this stage, Uchiha Yuan could not think of a second method besides killing every member of the Main Family so no one could activate the Caged Bird.

"It's about time. We should go to school. Let's stop here for today!"

Hyuga Asana's words interrupted Uchiha Yuan's train of thought.

By the time Uchiha Yuan came back to himself, Hyuga Asana had already rewrapped the bandage on her head and turned to leave.

She had to hurry back to the Hyūga Clan to escort Hyuga Chiwa to school.

Compared to her, Uchiha Yuan had much more time. He took out the dry rations he had prepared, ate breakfast by the river, and then headed to school.

There was only one week left before the fourth-year students graduated and headed to the battlefield early.

All the students, no matter whether their grades were good or bad, were seizing this moment to make their final effort.

Faced with Class 2-4's suddenly intense atmosphere of study, even Uchiha Yuan felt a little unused to it.

"Yuan, I have some inside information about team assignments. Interested?" As soon as Uchiha Yuan arrived in class, Yamanaka Kizuki came over and said.

"What? Did you find a deer and butterfly to pair up with?" Uchiha Yuan asked.

"No. The clan said my partners will depend on whether there are members of the Nara Clan or Akimichi Clan on the battlefield who've lost their partners.

But the war situation is very tense right now. A lot of Ino-Shika-Cho members who lose their partners just reform teams nearby on the battlefield. Even if there are any, it probably won't be my turn."

"Then who is your inside information about?" Uchiha Yuan asked.

"A lot of people. I heard..." Yamanaka Kizuki repeated to Uchiha Yuan the information he had heard from who-knew-where.

This piece of news covered the team assignments of half the students in the class.

And honestly, judging purely from personnel allocation and how their abilities complemented each other, this information actually seemed somewhat reliable. That made Uchiha Yuan a little interested. "Yamanaka Kizuki, is there anything about my team assignment?"

"Heh heh! I thought you'd be able to hold back and not ask forever!"

"Cut the crap. Is there or not?"

"Of course there is. You, me, and Hyuga Asana—the three of us are on the same team," Yamanaka Kizuki said.

Uchiha Yuan frowned when he heard this. "Are you sure?"

"Who would dare be sure about this kind of thing? I only heard someone mention it," Yamanaka Kizuki said.

"Someone? Who mentioned it to you?"

"My uncle. After my father died in battle, my mother and I relied on my uncle to look after us. He works in intelligence over at the Hokage Building. I feel like the information should be pretty reliable."

After hearing Yamanaka Kizuki's words, Uchiha Yuan no longer had any doubts about this so-called team assignment.

Yamanaka Kizuki's uncle had probably leaked this information to Yamanaka Kizuki on purpose.

And in all likelihood, the Third Hokage had hinted for him to do so.

The Hyūga Clan's Byakugan, the Yamanaka Clan's mental secret techniques and sensory abilities, plus the insight of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan—this squad was absolutely a top-tier reconnaissance team, not at all inferior to Hinata's team in the original work.

For such a top-tier reconnaissance team, even if they were Genin, the missions they carried out in wartime would all be very dangerous.

Informing the members of the squad of their other teammates a few days in advance would help this team build some coordination ahead of time. At the very least, they could become more familiar with one another.

That would help them carry out missions better in the future.

To be honest, if he could choose, Uchiha Yuan did not want to be on this kind of squad.

But it seemed he had no choice, and Hyuga Asana was also on this squad. If it was the two of them, they should be able to develop tacit understanding more easily, right? That could be considered a blessing amid misfortune.

He just did not know who their instructor would be.

For such a top-tier reconnaissance team, there would definitely be someone to lead them in the early stage. Only after the squad gradually became familiar with the rhythm of the battlefield would the teacher leave.

I hope this teacher is at least somewhat capable, Uchiha Yuan thought to himself.

The next morning, while they were training by the river, Uchiha Yuan told Hyuga Asana about the team assignments.

Hyuga Asana froze for a moment when she heard it, then said, "Looks like my Medical Ninja plan is going down the drain. I'll have to go with you on the most dangerous missions."

"With me?"

"Yeah! Yamanaka Kizuki's clan and mine are both under the Hokage's faction, while you're from the Uchiha Clan. I don't need to spell out the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and Hokage-sama, do I?

"And in the whole class, the only person you can really call a friend is Yamanaka Kizuki. Add to that the fact that Hokage-sama already knew about your relationship with me in advance, and in a sense, this squad was formed because of you."