Hyuga Branch Family Submits (Part One)

At some point, dozens of ice-mirror barriers had been erected around the camp within a radius of a thousand meters.

The elite jonin of the Hozuki and Snow Clan formed an airtight encirclement.

"Tosei, I trust you've been well." Xue Tahai stood on a hovering ice mirror and spoke calmly.

Veins bulged around Hyuga Tosei's Byakugan. "Old Ghost Xue, old Hozuki thief... what exactly are you trying to do?"

Hozuki Dark Moon slowly took shape from the mist and shrugged. "Why so tense, Elder Tosei? We mean no harm on this trip."

"No harm?" Hyuga Ryusuke pointed at the surrounding ice-mirror barriers and roared, "You call this no fucking harm?"

Xue Tahai landed lightly on an ice mirror. "Calm down. A certain lord wishes to speak with you all. They will be here soon."

The Hyuga Branch Family camp instantly erupted into chaos.

A dozen-odd Branch Family jonin drew their kunai at the same time, protecting Hyuga Tosei in the center.

"Great Elder!" a scar-faced ninja said urgently. "They're obviously stalling for time and waiting for reinforcements!"

"Exactly! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!" another echoed.

Hyuga Tosei's fists loosened, then tightened again. As the Great Elder of the Branch Family, he understood all too well what the choice at this moment meant.

Breaking out might still leave them with a slim chance of survival, but waiting could mean the entire force would die here.

More fatally, if the Main Family team returned and found they had withdrawn without permission... the entire Branch Family would suffer for it.

"All of you..." The old man's face was terrifyingly dark. "Prepare to..."

"Elder Tosei, this old man advises you!" Xue Tahai suddenly cut him off. "If you wish to lead the Hyuga Branch Family to break free from the Caged Bird's shackles forever... this old man suggests you wait. Otherwise, you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

Those words struck everyone over the head like thunder.

Hyuga Ryusuke's kunai fell to the ground with a clang. All the Branch Family ninja clutched their foreheads at the same time, where the burning pain of the curse mark had followed them all their lives.

"You... what did you say?" Hyuga Tosei's body trembled uncontrollably.

An ice flower formed at Xue Tahai's fingertip. "I said, when that person arrives, you may be able to gain true freedom."

"You can undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark?" the scar-faced ninja asked excitedly.

"The one coming in a moment can help you solve this problem!" Hozuki Dark Moon said.

Hyuga Tosei's wrinkled hand clutched his lapel tightly.

For fifty years, the Caged Bird had gnawed at his soul like a venomous snake.

At every moment, he had been enslaved by the people of the Main Family.

And now someone suddenly said they could lift this curse...

"Great Elder! Don't believe their bullshit!" Hyuga Ryusuke picked up his kunai. "This has to be a trap!"

"Exactly! How could the Main Family's secret curse mark possibly..."

"Shut up, all of you!" Hyuga Tosei suddenly shouted, his gaze fixed on Xue Tahai. "Do you dare swear on the honor of the Snow Clan?"

Before Xue Tahai could answer, a large flock of birds suddenly startled up from the distant forest.

Hozuki Dark Moon's water clone instantly condensed. "They're here."

Heavy footsteps came from far to near, and all the Branch Family ninja set up a defensive formation in unison.

When the first figure walked out of the woods, everyone from the Hyuga Branch Family sucked in a cold breath at the same time.

They were two Uchiha jonin, carrying a bloodstained wooden pole.

Hanging upside down from the pole was, shockingly, the half-dead Great Elder of the Hyuga Main Family!

"This... this is impossible..." the scar-faced ninja said, his face full of terror.

Qin Mo's figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the forest. "Everyone of the Hyuga Branch Family, are you satisfied with this greeting gift?"

"What did you do to the people of the Main Family?!" Hyuga Tosei roared. "Where is the clan leader?"

A cold smile tugged at Qin Mo's lips, and his hands rapidly formed seals. "Transformation Jutsu!"

Bang!

When the white smoke dispersed, the one standing before them was shockingly in Hyuga Tennin's form.

He spoke in the unique arrogant tone of the Main Family's clan leader. "This old man will take you to seize the Spring of Life now. The lowborn wretches of the Branch Family aren't worthy of enjoying it!"

"Enough!" Hyuga Tosei shook with rage. He finally understood why the Main Family team had suddenly disappeared.

Qin Mo returned to his original appearance, his gaze sweeping over every ninja of the Hyuga Branch Family. "I could have taken you all with me to die, but I admire the Hyuga Branch Family. I'll give you a chance to submit to me."

Hyuga Ryusuke roared, "Stop pretending! We of the Hyuga Clan would rather die than yield!"

"Cang." Qin Mo lightly snapped his fingers.

Whoosh!

Blade light flashed, and the rope suspending the Great Elder of the Hyuga Main Family snapped at once.

This former Great Elder of the Main Family crashed heavily to the ground like a torn sack, the splattering blood staining the surrounding mud red.

The sole of Qin Mo's boot ground down on the Great Elder of the Hyuga Main Family's back, and his long blade lightly touched the back of the man's neck. "Two choices. Let him go back and keep enslaving you..." The blade pressed down, and blood flowed down the elder's spine. "Or kill him and trade for your freedom."

"Don't waste your breath!" Hyuga Ryusuke pointed at his forehead. "I don't believe you have the ability to remove the Caged Bird Curse Mark..."

"Who says it can't be undone?" Qin Mo sneered. "Kill every member of the Hyuga Main Family, and won't the curse mark be undone?"

Those words stabbed into everyone's heart like a sharp blade.

This young man before them could actually speak of exterminating a clan so casually.

Hyuga Tosei said coldly, "Joining the Uchiha... wouldn't that be the same as being enslaved, just changing masters..."

"Wrong." Qin Mo suddenly sheathed his blade. "What I want are allies, not slaves.

I will give you autonomy. The Uchiha only need you to send troops in support during wartime. In ordinary times, we will never interfere in your internal affairs, much less place a curse mark on you to control you!"

Qin Mo's words plunged everyone from the Hyuga Branch Family present into silence.

"Great Elder..." the scar-faced ninja suddenly knelt. "I've had enough!"

"That's right!" A female ninja tore off her forehead protector, revealing the hideous Caged Bird mark. "My daughter is only three. Does she have to keep suffering like this too?"

More and more Branch Family ninja knelt on the ground.

Hyuga Tosei looked at these clansmen who had suffered alongside him for half their lives, and old tears streamed down his face.

"I want to ask one question." Hyuga Tosei's expression was grave. "Why choose us?"

Qin Mo said calmly, "I simply do not wish to see the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan gather dust here."

Madara snorted coldly, a hint of impatience flashing through his eyes. "If not for Mo's sake, you wouldn't even have the right to negotiate."

Izuna also said coldly, "Hyuga Branch Family, don't fail to appreciate this favor."

Hyuga Tosei shook all over, and a trace of realization flashed through his cloudy old eyes.

Only then did he realize that this seemingly young Uchiha youth before him was the one truly offering them a way to live.

"This old man understands..." Hyuga Tosei slowly knelt, pressing his forehead to the cold mud. "The Hyuga Branch Family is willing to submit. But this old man has three conditions."