One year later.
Land of Demons Shrine.
In the side hall, candlelight flickered, reflecting various ancient runes painted on the walls.
The air is filled with a faint aroma, mixed with some Sealing Jutsu unique Chakra aftertaste.
Shion stood in the center of the hall, his hands Hand Seals, his expression focused.
In front of her, Ning Xue sat cross-legged, with his eyes slightly closed, and the green Caged Bird Seal on his forehead flickered in and out of focus under the candlelight.
"Are you ready?" Shion asked softly.
Ning Xue opened his eyes, looked at her, and nodded.
"Hmm."
Shion took a deep breath and suppressed the tension in his heart.
One year.
A whole year.
She read through all the books left by the witches of the past generations and studied countless records about souls, Cursed Seal, and seals.
From having no clue at first, to gradually figuring out the way out, to finally finalizing the plan.
This process was much more difficult than she imagined.
But fortunately, she did it.
Caged Bird is engraved on the skull and deeply bound to the soul.
This is the most difficult thing to crack because the ordinary Sealing Jutsu can only act on the surface and cannot reach the root cause.
But just right.
The power of the witch lineage is better at dealing with issues at the soul level.
After all, they have been dealing with Mōryō for generations.
"I will first cut off the contact between Cursed Seal and Main Branch."
Shion spoke with a solemn tone.
"This step is the most critical and dangerous.
Once I start, Hyuga Main House far away from Konoha will sense that someone is moving Caged Bird.
They may try to launch Cursed Seal."
She paused and looked at Ning Xue.
"If they manage to launch before we finish..."
"I know." Ning Xue interrupted her with a calm tone, "I will die."
Shion pursed his lips and did not deny it.
"So, I need you to believe me." She said, her purple eyes reflecting Ning Xue's face.
"No matter what happens, don't resist my Chakra."
Ning Xue looked at her, looking at the undoubted seriousness in those eyes.
After a moment of silence, he nodded heavily. "Okay." There was no fear in his tone, only determination for life and death.
Shion Seeing this, he stopped talking and closed his eyes again.
Both sides know that this is not only a test of life and death, but also a race against time.
Chakra began to surge inside her body, and a soft purple light emerged from her palm, slowly covering Ning Xue's forehead.
at the same moment.
Distant Land of Fire, Hyuga Clan Compound.
In a dark secret room, the elder in charge of Caged Bird was closing his eyes to rest.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes suddenly and felt that a thread was shaking and breaking at an extremely fast frequency.
"This is..."
The elder's pupils shrank, and his hands quickly Hand Seals, sensing with all his strength.
Then... his expression changed.
"Someone... is trying to sabotage Caged Bird?!"
He stood up suddenly, opened the door of the secret room, and shouted sharply at the guards outside.
"Immediately summon all the elders who can sense Caged Bird! Quick!!"
After a while, the secret room was filled with people.
More than a dozen elders were sitting around, with beads of sweat oozing out from their foreheads.
"Have you found it?!" the leader of the elders asked sharply.
"Positioning!" Another elder gritted his teeth and responded, "The other party is... extremely far away! Chakra The fluctuations are very weak, but they are indeed moving!"
"Asshole!" someone shouted angrily.
"Which Branch Family brat dares to do such a thing!"
"More than Branch Family."
The other elder opened his eyes, his face gloomy.
"Ordinary Branch Family members have no idea how to crack Caged Bird.
Behind this... there must be external forces involved."
"Stop talking nonsense! Find him first! Activate Cursed Seal!"
Everyone closed their eyes again and felt with all their strength.
Chakra surged out like a tide, spreading rapidly along the invisible network towards the trembling node.
Soon.
Soon.
At the moment when their consciousness is about to touch that point.
"Broken."
An elder opened his eyes suddenly, his face full of disbelief.
"What?!"
"Broken! That thread... is completely broken!"
The atmosphere in the secret room instantly solidified.
A dozen elders looked at each other, their eyes full of shock and absurdity.
Caged Bird... cracked?
How is this possible?!
How is this possible!!
"Impossible!!"
The grumpy elder stood up abruptly and slapped his palm on the low table in front of him, causing sawdust to fly everywhere.
"Caged Bird is Secret Technique inherited from the Hyuga Clan for hundreds of years! How could it be cracked?"
"But the facts are before our eyes!" Another elder's face turned livid, "All of us have sensed it! The wire is indeed broken!"
"Could he be... dead?" Someone asked tentatively.
"Impossible!" the leader of the elders gritted his teeth, "At the moment of death, Caged Bird will automatically activate, destroying the brain and eyeballs. The thread will disappear instantly, instead of... breaking off bit by bit like this!"
The atmosphere in the secret room became increasingly solemn.
Everyone is silent.
After a long time, the leader of the elders slowly spoke, his voice hoarse like a tiger about to get angry.
"Check."
"Check all Branch Family members, alive, dead, missing... don't let them go!"
He almost roared angrily.
After calming down, he squeezed out the last sentence through his teeth.
"At the same time, issue an S-class reward order, regardless of life or death."
(Let's speed up, there are too many chapters to write in this chapter. If I go into details, I will have to write several chapters.
I'll probably talk about it in a chapter Land of Wind later.)