At that moment, although he didn't know how Shinichi Hyuga had mastered the Caged Bird Seal, he knew there was no chance of turning things around.
When two people used the same technique, in the end, it came down to their strength.
Shinichi Hyuga's visual prowess had far surpassed that of the rest of them, all of whom possessed the Byakugan.
The Great Elder's wails became mere background noise.
Hyuga Hiashi sat slumped on the ground, surrounded by the bodies of Hyuga clan members who had supported him.
In stark contrast, the eyes of the Hyuga Branch Family members behind Shinichi Hyuga burned with a flame: hope for the future.
They would burn away the filth of the past, complete their transformation, and welcome a new beginning.
At that moment, Hyuga Hiashi looked just like a defeated dog!
The hand with which Shinichi Hyuga had formed the Hand Seals finally dropped. He waited for the Great Elder's final fate.
The Great Elder, who had been rolling around in pain, lost the visual prowess in his eyes. His eye tissue and meridians had been destroyed.
Like a little bird trapped in a cage, slowly strangled to death after its owner grew bored of it!
The eyes of the Hyuga Branch Family members behind Shinichi Hyuga held a mix of emotions.
A few looked somewhat unwilling to see it!
Some looked thrilled by their revenge!
Most looked relieved!
The man who had once treated them like slaves and scolded them had now died by the very technique used to control them!
"Please, Lord Shinichi, become the clan head and lead the Hyuga Clan forward!"
After the Great Elder died, silence fell over the Ancestral Hall for a moment. Then a resonant voice rang out.
Everyone turned toward the speaker. It was Hizashi Hyuga!
The current clan head's younger brother!
"Please, Lord Shinichi, become our new clan head!"
The voices grew louder, until they finally became one.
Shinichi Hyuga felt something he couldn't quite put into words.
Their shouts held positive emotions like gratitude and admiration.
But they also held negative emotions like fear, resentment, and unease.
These emotions reflected their attitude toward Shinichi Hyuga. They looked forward to what was coming, yet worried about it too.
They feared that Shinichi Hyuga, the dragon slayer, would become a new Arlong.
Shinichi Hyuga coughed softly and waved his hand. Everyone around him fell silent.
He walked over to Hyuga Hiashi, still slumped on the ground, and asked, "Ahem... What does our clan head think?"
Hyuga Hiashi raised his head and looked at Hizashi Hyuga, the first to speak. He couldn't hide the desolation in his eyes. Even his own younger brother supported Shinichi Hyuga. What right did he have to object?
"Do I have the right to object?"
Then Hyuga Hiashi pushed himself up with both arms and stood, as if mocking himself.
In this situation, he had lost!
He had lost completely!
And yet he stubbornly clung to that last shred of Main Branch pride.
"It's the Caged Bird! You removed the Caged Bird Seal from their family members! You'll destroy the thousand-year foundation of the Hyuga Clan!"
Hyuga Hiashi still didn't dare meet Shinichi Hyuga's eyes, but he continued to question him.
He wanted to know where, exactly, he had gone wrong.
"What is the Caged Bird to you? Is it the foundation of the Hyuga Clan?
The reputation of our Hyuga Clan was built on the sacrifices our predecessors made, one by one!
It was built on strength!"
Shinichi Hyuga had a moment of clarity. Were these Main Branch members so stubborn that they could even fool themselves?
He refused to believe Hyuga Hiashi didn't know the Caged Bird's true purpose!
Was the Hyuga Clan's glory thanks to the Caged Bird? Was it thanks to the Main Branch's lofty position?
"This is the greatest wisdom of our ancestors. It's the only way to protect our Hyuga Clan! To keep our Kekkei Genkai from falling into the hands of others.
It also increases the Hyuga Clan's combat strength!
You'll bring the Hyuga Clan to the brink of annihilation!"
Hyuga Hiashi found something to cling to. Remembering the teachings of the Main Branch through the generations, he was certain he was right.
Their Main Branch was the Hyuga Clan's greatest benefactor.
"Hahaha, how ridiculous! You really think that's what the Caged Bird Seal is for? That so-called seal is completely useless for preventing our Kekkei Genkai from leaking out.
The Caged Bird Seal is only applied after birth!
There are countless ways to obtain the Byakugan!
The children born to the Branch Family have flawless Byakugan.
With my skills, I can even replicate the Byakugan directly.
Protecting the Byakugan from falling into the wrong hands is just a high-minded excuse you use!
You haven't told them the real reason!
Tell me now!
Tell them the Caged Bird's true purpose, before you twist it into something else!"
Shinichi Hyuga pressed him relentlessly. The blue in his eyes grew ever more intense, and his presence continued to expand. He wanted Hyuga Hiashi to reveal the hidden secret.
It was a secret every Branch Family member deserved to know, but the Main Branch had shamelessly kept it hidden.
"Shinichi Hyuga, you're making excuses for your rebellion!
Without the Caged Bird, we would have become prey for hunters across the Ninja World long ago!"
Hyuga Hiashi's voice faltered, but he kept making excuses for the Main Branch's actions.
Inside, however, he was already filled with fear.
"You're still lying at a time like this!
Look me in the eye. Are you jealous of this color?
Only sheep get hunted!
Even in chains, we're wolves of the Ninja World!"
Shinichi Hyuga's one remaining eye fixed on Hyuga Hiashi. The Caged Bird Seal activated beyond his control, drawing visual prowess from Hyuga Hiashi's eyes and replenishing his own.
Hyuga Hiashi was deeply shaken, and his mind went blank.
The secret the Main Branch had hidden had finally been exposed!
He lowered his head, unable to look at Shinichi Hyuga. His hands trembled uncontrollably, and his heart seized.
Shinichi Hyuga stopped looking at the coward and turned to the confused clan members behind him.
"Clan members, look at how pathetic he is!
You must be wondering what secret the Caged Bird was hiding from us.
Many years ago, when I fought the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, he stabbed one of my eyes with his blade.
At that moment, something unimaginable happened.
All my visual prowess gathered in my one remaining left eye, and it underwent a transformation. It gained the ability to suppress the Cursed Seal of the Caged Bird.
That was when I understood the Caged Bird's true purpose.
Our Byakugan can also evolve into a higher-level Kekkei Genkai: the Tenseigan.
Just like its name suggests, the Caged Bird is a restraint! But it's also protection!
Its original purpose was to protect the weak and make the strong rely on themselves.
Everything depended on the Main Branch, who held the key!
But as time went on, some parasites emerged. For their own selfish ends, they turned the Caged Bird into a means of enslaving the Branch Family.
The Caged Bird's original purpose
was to protect our children."
Shinichi Hyuga sank into his memories. He had the chance to evolve his Byakugan thanks to a coincidence back then.
Most importantly, Kyogoku Makoto had possessed a special trait: Limit Breaking!
It allowed him to transcend the limits of the world. At that time, one of his eyes had absorbed the visual prowess of the other, and had already acquired some of the Tenseigan's properties.
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