Why don't you carve "Caged Bird" to protect yourself?

"Damn it! Damn it! Why would the Mist set an ambush here?"

Hyuga Hisanobu sprinted through the forest in a disheveled state, his activated Byakugan tracking the rapidly approaching Mist ninja behind him as despair washed over his face.

As a member of the Hyuga Main House, he had been dissatisfied with the elders' overprotection and had brought his own guards to the front lines of the war between Konoha and the Mist.

Things had indeed gone as he expected at first; as a Special Jonin, he had showcased his skills to great effect here. The Hidden Mist Technique, a specialty of the Mist, proved entirely useless before his Byakugan, earning him the praise of many comrades and feeding his vanity.

But just today, he had received a mission to rendezvous with some allies.

That was where the nightmare began.

Upon arriving at the meeting point, he hadn't found his allies, but instead encountered eleven Mist ninja, including three Jonin!

These enemies had remained hidden far outside the range of his Byakugan, and by the time he detected them, the encirclement had already been formed.

If not for the two Branch House guards he brought sacrificing their lives to hold off the three Jonin, he wouldn't even have had a chance to flee.

However, he had only been promoted to Special Jonin due to the unique nature of his Byakugan. As a member of the Main House with virtually no real combat experience, how could he possibly defeat a group of elite Mist Chunin who had been tempered on the battlefield?

Watching the distance close bit by bit, Hyuga Hisanobu's expression shifted erratically.

These ninja hadn't gone for the kill yet—otherwise, he wouldn't have made it this far—and he knew exactly what their objective was.

"The Byakugan..."

Hyuga Hisanobu pulled out a kunai, aiming it at his eyes several times, but he couldn't bring himself to strike.

Wait a little longer, just a little longer. The distress signal has already been sent; perhaps nearby Konoha ninja will arrive in time!

When the Mist ninja were fifty meters away, the desperate Hyuga Hisanobu finally saw a glimmer of hope. Within the field of vision of his Byakugan, a familiar chakra signature appeared.

"Hane!"

That chakra broke through several hundred meters at incredible speed, appearing before them, causing Hyuga Hisanobu, who had been intercepted by the Mist once more, to beam with ecstasy.

"Quick, block them! I am a member of the Hyuga Main House; you must protect me with your life!"

In this moment, Hyuga Hisanobu had never been more grateful for his status as a member of the Main House.

The newcomer was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy who possessed the same Byakugan as him, but their statuses were worlds apart!

He was Main House, while Hyuga Hane was a member of the Hyuga Branch House.

Therefore, even though he knew the boy was only a Special Jonin like himself, he was obligated to protect him with his life!

Seeing the hope of survival, Hyuga Hisanobu overlooked one thing—why would a Special Jonin with a Byakugan be appearing on this battlefield alone, without any teammates?

Hyuga Hane landed outside the range of the ninja's attacks. Hearing the command, a strange smile curled the corner of his mouth. After confirming with his Byakugan that no one was approaching within two kilometers, he whispered in his heart:

'Eight Inner Gates, Fifth Gate of Limit, Open! Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Vacuum Palms!'

In an instant, a massive surge of chakra erupted from Hyuga Hane's palms, transforming into sixty-four shockwaves that struck the several Mist ninja!

The previously vigilant Mist ninja looked on in horror, unable to dodge in time. They all coughed up blood and were sent flying backward, hitting the ground and falling silent forever.

"Eh?"

Hyuga Hisanobu, who had been planning to flee, stared at the scene, his face blank.

That was the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm... no, was it the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms fused with the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm?

How is that possible?

The Branch House had no right to learn the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, let alone possess such power. And the green steam on Hyuga Hane's body...

"Ah!!!"

Hyuga Hisanobu's thoughts were interrupted by a wave of excruciating pain. He realized too late that his own arms had vanished along with the previous attack.

"To prevent you from activating the Caged Bird, the first thing I did was cripple your arms."

Under Hyuga Hisanobu's incredulous gaze, Hyuga Hane stared at him with the expression one might use for a lab rat, laughing:

"How lucky. Those two Branch House guards were so desperate; I thought I would have to put in more effort."

"Ever since you arrived on this battlefield, I have been looking forward to this day."

"The first test subject from the Main House, Hyuga Hisanobu."

A few minutes later, three Mist ninja arrived at the battlefield. They frowned at each other, reluctantly collected the corpses, and quickly departed.

Ten minutes later, a squad of Konoha ninja finally arrived, and Hyuga Hane was among them!

The original succeeded.

After merely glancing at the traces left at the scene, Hyuga Hane knew exactly what had happened. On the surface, he said in a deep voice:

"Captain, there are traces of the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm."

The Jonin Uchiha Kotaro frowned and made a gesture, signaling the others to guard the perimeter and search for clues, then gestured for him to continue.

"Judging by the extent of the ground cracking from the impact, the Hyuga ninja who performed the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm is far stronger than me. It is likely a Jonin from the clan."

Hyuga Hane's shadow clone looked at the earth and trees affected by the vacuum palms and analyzed the situation calmly.

"And as far as I know, there are only two Hyuga Jonin on the Mist battlefield."

Jonin are elites in any ninja clan, not common cabbages; if not for Hyuga Hisanobu's insistence on coming, these two branch-family Jonin wouldn't even be here.

After all...

Hyuga Hane looked toward his captain.

Currently, the Uchiha Clan—the strongest ninja clan in Konoha—had many of its members dispatched to the Mist Village battlefield by the higher-ups!

Although Hyuga Hane thought it was truly insane to pit the Fire Style-proficient Uchiha against the Water Style-proficient Mist ninjas, such bizarre decisions from Konoha's leadership were nothing new.

The elders of the Hyuga Clan had no desire to stand out or compete with the Uchiha using their bloodline advantage, as offending the Uchiha for no reason was unwise; thus, the Hyuga ninjas sent were merely sufficient, not particularly strong.

Uchiha Kotaro's expression darkened.

Those two branch-family Jonin had been protecting that member of the Hyuga Main Branch the entire time; if the Byakugan were to fall into the hands of the Mist Village because of this, it would be a disaster!

"Captain, we found the severed arms of our village's ninjas here."

Just then, a Chunin who had been scanning the surroundings discovered two severed arms on the ground, one of which still had a hand tightly gripping a kunai.

Hyuga Hane and Uchiha Kotaro flashed over to inspect them. "Judging by the wounds, they were severed simultaneously by brute force. The victims didn't even have time to react. To possess such strength and yet only break their arms..."

A trace of sorrow appeared on Hyuga Hane's face, and the surrounding comrades fell silent.

The worst-case scenario.

Ninja combat was always centered on lethal strikes; to intentionally disable resistance first could only mean one thing: they were after that Hyuga Main Branch member.

That Main Branch member hadn't committed suicide; he had been captured by the enemy!

It was truly laughable. Because of the Caged Bird seal, the Hyuga branch family was controlled by the Main Branch, but that also meant their Byakugan could not be stolen, so no one would target them.

And yet, the Hyuga Main Branch... a weakling lacking sufficient strength, insisted on coming to the battlefield to act as a target!

Glancing at Hyuga Hane, Uchiha Kotaro looked back at the severed arms and cursed under his breath.

If you were going to come to the battlefield, why didn't you get a Caged Bird seal like the branch family to protect yourself!