Rebirth of the Filth

"I thought you would choose a different way to deal with the Caged Bird, Hane-kun."

The figure that suddenly appeared smiled.

"Lord Orochimaru, neither you nor I have any interest in wasting time researching a boring jutsu like the Caged Bird. Isn't it better to leave the cracking of it to others?"

Hyuga Hane was not surprised by Orochimaru's arrival; he remained focused on extracting the Byakugan from Hyuga Hisanobu.

This underground laboratory was built near the Konoha base camp, something he could not have accomplished on his own at the time.

Its owner was none other than Orochimaru.

"I have no interest in lifting the Caged Bird for others, but I am very interested in lifting yours, Hane-kun."

"So, Lord Orochimaru, you still haven't given up on extracting information directly from my mind?"

"No one likes to obtain information passively."

Orochimaru walked to the experimental table, looked at the two eyeballs Hyuga Hane had already placed in separate containers, and licked his lips.

"The Byakugan of the Main Family—truly excellent research material."

Hearing this, Hyuga Hane picked up one of the containers and handed it to Orochimaru, who squinted as he took it and instinctively produced a scroll.

"This is the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu. You're planning to launch your scheme, so you should need this, right?"

Hyuga Hane took it, proactively raising the stakes for this transaction.

"Like the Sharingan, the Byakugan can also evolve. The condition is to fuse it with the Byakugan of the Otsutsuki clan on the moon, but... we can't do it."

Having gained another interesting piece of secret intelligence, Orochimaru felt satisfied.

For him, as long as he had a hint to pierce through that layer of window paper, he could achieve many results.

However, the "can't do it" mentioned by Hyuga Hane made him frown slightly.

"Can't do it? This is the first time I've seen you show timidity, Hane-kun."

"Without the strength of the God of Shinobi, don't even consider it."

Ignoring Orochimaru's teasing, Hyuga Hane shook his head.

If one wanted the Byakugan to evolve into the Tenseigan, according to Toneri, one needed the Otsutsuki bloodline from the moon.

But that was hard to obtain.

The Otsutsuki on the moon were indeed strong—not in terms of individual power, but because of the Giant Tenseigan.

If they rushed into a war, the moon might be driven by the Giant Tenseigan to crash down and destroy the Shinobi World. It required careful planning.

"I am truly curious where you get your information, Hane-kun. I previously reincarnated a member of the Hyuga Main Family, but he only knew that the moon held distant relatives of the Hyuga clan who were coveting the Byakugan; he knew nothing of the Byakugan's evolution."

Orochimaru said, his words carrying a hidden meaning as he studied the Byakugan.

The boy before him had sought him out at the age of twelve, trading secrets of the Uchiha and Senju clans in exchange for his guidance.

At the time, he had almost given up on his Wood Release experiments, but because of this, he had picked them up again.

The Uchiha and Senju were both descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, their powers originating from the same source and complementing each other. This news had allowed his experiments to make great progress, even leading to the creation of a monster.

However, compared to the secrets already known, the boy's uniqueness made him even more interesting.

"Your current strength is enough to protect yourself; there is no need to maintain the Self-Destruction Jutsu at all times. It is dangerous," Orochimaru said gently.

At twelve, Hyuga Hane did not have his current strength and was far behind him.

If Hyuga Hane hadn't set a jutsu in his own mind—one that would detonate his eyeballs and indirectly trigger the Caged Bird to destroy his nerves and memories the moment foreign chakra invaded—he would have long since controlled the boy and viewed his memories.

As for killing Hyuga Hane and then using Impure World Reincarnation to interrogate him... that would be too wasteful.

This boy was likely the most talented individual in the Hyuga clan today!

This could be seen from the fact that Hyuga Hane's long-range Byakugan vision was twice that of an average clansman; he was the perfect subject for researching the power of the Hyuga clan.

"Being with you still puts a lot of pressure on me."

Hyuga Hane's expression was calm, but his movements as he examined the Impure World Reincarnation scroll slowed, his body tensing.

Orochimaru had too many tricks up his sleeve. Even if the information he possessed kept the man from acting against him for now, and even if he had a trump card to save his life, he could not let his guard down.

"I would never strike at a companion," Orochimaru said with a helpless smile.

You didn't stop when you struck today. Not to mention, to make it easier to obtain Sharingan, you even swapped defense zones with Jiraiya. And you say you don't strike at companions? Who would believe that?

After silently complaining, Hyuga Hane suddenly looked up and asked, "Lord Orochimaru, do you have a sacrifice for the reincarnation?"

Orochimaru casually produced a scroll and released a Mist Village ninja he had captured, unconcerned by Hyuga Hane's attempt to verify the authenticity of the Impure World Reincarnation.

The Second Hokage's Impure World Reincarnation was only a semi-finished product; the strength of the summoned ninja was pitifully weak compared to their original self and posed no threat to him.

He already had ideas for the direction of improving the Impure World Reincarnation, so he wasn't worried about using it as a trade item.

"Do you have the personal intelligence of a ninja? Or are you going to use this Hyuga Main Family member for the experiment?"

Hyuga Hane did not answer. Under Orochimaru's curious gaze, he drew the formation for the Impure World Reincarnation on a blank scroll, then cut his own palm and pressed his blood onto it as the intelligence information.

"Summoning Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Hyuga Hane pressed his palms together, watching as the gray-white paper gradually covered the Mist Village ninja, transforming him into a small child who looked as if he had just been born, and thought to himself:

As expected, from the moment of birth, I have lived by usurping another's name. Reincarnation, rebirth, merging with the original host—these are merely self-deceptive delusions.

Success on the first attempt.

Orochimaru's initially intrigued expression turned grave.

Did his own blood summon someone else? Was Hyuga Hane a reincarnated soul, just like his own Living Corpse Reincarnation?

"You truly have given me a surprise, Hane-kun."

Hyuga Hane dispelled the Impure World Reincarnation, allowing the newly birthed soul to return to the Pure Land, and said softly:

"Lord Orochimaru, it seems our cooperation can continue for a long time. After all, if I die, the Impure World Reincarnation will be useless."

"It would appear so."

Orochimaru regained his usual composure and said with interest: "There are quite a few members of the Hyuga Branch Family here on the Mist Village Battlefield. Who do you need to sacrifice? Do you need my help?"

"Let them choose for themselves."

Hyuga Hane said coldly: "If some people have knelt for so long that they can no longer stand, then they should never get up again."

Just as he had told Hyuga Hisanobu, he personally had no interest in taking revenge on the Hyuga Main Family, but whether the Hyuga Main Family could survive the growing pains of having the Caged Bird seal removed was another matter entirely.

Starting the next day, several ninjas of the Hyuga clan began to drop dead suddenly when encountering enemies, and rumors that the Mist Village had seemingly mastered the Caged Bird technique quickly spread throughout the entire camp.

Orochimaru, the supreme commander of the Mist Village Battlefield, made a prompt and decisive order.

--All Hyuga ninjas are to withdraw to Konoha immediately.

Among them, naturally, was Hyuga Hane.