Demanding a Person and Sealing Arts

Hyuga Hoshishaku did not know many people within his clan.

Before the age of four, he spent most of his time receiving private tutoring in his own courtyard, only occasionally heading to the main residence to study the Gentle Fist.

After turning four, he frequently ventured into the village to perform scouting missions. Aside from the occasional elder who looked down on him for lacking decorum, his life was essentially that monotonous and dull.

However, he had already inquired with his cousin: aside from the Clan Head, the elder responsible for assigning members of the Branch House was named Hyuga Takashi.

Thus, Hoshishaku went straight to Hyuga Takashi's residence and got straight to the point, demanding personnel.

"Are you saying you want two Branch House members to help manage your business assets?"

Hyuga Takashi, with his aged face and stern expression, asked Hoshishaku again.

Hoshishaku replied without a blush or a racing heart:

"Oh, yes. If the Branch House has plenty of manpower, assigning me four—or no, six would be fine. Ten would be even better."

"Because my two shops still need managers, and I will have branches in the future. Personally, I also need people to manage the vast wealth I will accumulate."

Watching the little brat before him present his demands with such clear logic—and shamelessly keep raising the price—Hyuga Takashi's expression suddenly softened.

He knew that, barring any accidents, this shameless brat would absolutely become the next Clan Head.

After all, his talent, thick skin, maturity, and composure were all things that Hyuga Yueye could not compare to.

Therefore, he would do his best to satisfy the requests of the future Clan Head.

It was just that...

Watching the little one before him, who was rambling on and had already raised the requested number to twenty while providing reasonable arrangements for each, Hyuga Takashi felt his heart twitching in pain.

He hurriedly raised a hand to call a halt:

"Stop, Young Master Hoshishaku, stop right there. The Branch House can only spare you two people at most."

Hoshishaku felt a secret thrill, but on the surface, he appeared somewhat dissatisfied:

"Ah? I've said so much, and you're only giving me two people?"

Hyuga Takashi seemed to see through Hoshishaku's secret joy; the corners of his mouth twitched, and he took a sip of tea with an unruffled expression:

"Please understand, Young Master Hoshishaku. With the recent shifts in clan industries, there is almost no one left idle. Sparing two people is already the limit."

"Fine then, two it is."

Hoshishaku agreed reluctantly. After discussing the candidates with the elder, the topic was finally brought to a close.

As they were finishing up, Hyuga Takashi said:

"I will have Hyuga Shiin and Hyuga Ren report to you tomorrow. By the way, if you intend to let them handle money, it would be best to adjust the Caged Bird Seal."

Hoshishaku asked with curiosity: "The Caged Bird Seal can be adjusted?"

Hyuga Takashi nodded:

"Of course. The Main House has several branches, but the Branch House is a single entity."

"Therefore, aside from the Clan Head who holds the master incantation to activate all seals, every Main House member controls an independent secondary incantation."

Hoshishaku frowned upon hearing this.

He understood the elder's meaning instantly.

That is to say, besides the Clan Head who could activate the Caged Bird Seal to punish Branch House members, every Main House member had placed a second seal on top of the basic Caged Bird, which they could activate at any time to punish those of the Branch House.

In this way, they could ensure that Branch House members would remain loyal not only to the Clan Head but also to the specific Main House member who controlled their secondary seal.

Although Hyuga Hoshishaku was a beneficiary of this system—and perhaps the greatest beneficiary in the future—his values made it difficult for him to agree with such a philosophy.

Hoshishaku suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and continued to ask the elder about the seal.

But Hyuga Takashi was an old fox; how could he not see through his discontent?

"Child, I know you might have a sense of wanting to champion the downtrodden. To be honest, every Main House member has had such thoughts in their youth."

"But the Caged Bird Seal is the fundamental guarantee that protects our Kekkei Genkai from leaking out, and it also indirectly protects the weaker members of the Branch House. So, do not harbor thoughts you shouldn't have."

"Yes, if those with low strength possess a Kekkei Genkai that can be stolen, it is like a child carrying gold through a busy market—it is the crime of being innocent but harboring a treasure. I agree with the elder's point of view."

"However..."

As he said this, many scenes he had witnessed in the past flashed through Hoshishaku's mind.

They were all filled with bullying, humiliation, and torture.

The phrase "the child of a scapegoat is also a scapegoat" seemed to ring in his ears once more.

"Let's not talk about this," Hoshishaku said with a forced smile.

"Then how should I adjust the Caged Bird Seal?"

Hyuga Takashi stared into Hoshishaku's eyes, seemingly in thought, or perhaps simply observing him.

After a long while, he said: "There is no need to adjust the Caged Bird Seal of that boy, Yun Fei; only the Clan Head can activate it. If you need a secondary Caged Bird Seal, go find Elder Asakawa."

"As for Ziyin and Lian, I will remove their double seals. Likewise, if you require a double seal yourself, go find Elder Asakawa."

"Very well, many thanks, Elder Xiao."

After expressing his gratitude, Hyuga Hoshishaku hurried away.

He felt as though his disguise couldn't fool the old man before him in the slightest.

It made sense, after all; before coming to this world, he was just a high school student.

How could his emotions possibly be hidden from a cunning adult?

Hyuga Hoshishaku walked toward his small courtyard, feeling quite depressed.

Until his strength was sufficient to suppress the entire clan, it was better to avoid discussing clan systems with these old men.

That was what he thought.

After dinner.

Hoshishaku first provided Yun Fei with guidance on the essentials and techniques of the Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation.

Afterward, Yun Fei taught Hoshishaku the most basic sealing and unsealing techniques.

Of course, this was merely a means for Hoshishaku to legitimize the abilities he had acquired from the B-rank ninja Ajisai.

After all, the taijutsu he had previously obtained from Neji could still be explained away as skills learned from observing the training grounds frequently.

But basic sealing techniques, no matter how fundamental, were something no one would believe could be learned just by watching once.

Having laundered Ajisai's primary abilities through Yun Fei, Hoshishaku couldn't wait to start experimenting.

To be honest, he only knew that the Loli Path was extremely formidable when it came to summoning techniques.

He truly had no idea how to use the basic sealing techniques meant for opening scrolls as a primary means of attack.

Glancing at Yun Fei, who was practicing Rotation in the backyard.

Hoshishaku walked into the study and began preparing the materials for the sealing technique.

Strictly speaking, the paper required for sealing techniques must be of a special variety.

The village's ninja tool shops sold finished products of this special paper—blank sealing scrolls.

However, after obtaining Ajisai's abilities, he had a feeling that ordinary paper might also work.

Thus, he followed this intuition and did not start practicing with sealing scrolls right away.

Instead, he cut a few pieces from a large sheet of paper.

Just like in Ajisai's training memories, he formed hand seals and slapped them onto the paper, condensing the sealing formula onto its surface.

A sealing formula resembling the Eight Trigrams was successfully inscribed onto the palm-sized piece of paper.

Hoshishaku found it somewhat incredible.

"It actually worked?"

Consequently, he produced a few more sealing papers.

Then, he took these papers to the backyard, ready to test their power.