Third underground level, before the flesh-and-blood altar.
The sealing array's white chains coiled around Hyuga Xiao's limbs like venomous snakes, suspending him in midair. The azure radiance of the Tenseigan flickered beneath the chains' suppression, like a dying candle in the wind.
Four Main House elders stood in the four directions, their hands forming seals to sustain the array. Veins bulged around their Byakugan, and fine beads of sweat covered their foreheads—despite the array's support, suppressing the Tenseigan's power still strained them greatly.
Hyuga Hiashi stood at the altar's edge, looking down at Xiao.
His expression was calm, calm to the point of cruelty.
"It's over, Xiao." Hyuga Hiashi's voice echoed through the empty underground chamber. "From the moment you awakened the Tenseigan, I knew this day would come. The Branch House should not possess power beyond the Main House. That is the rule."
Xiao did not struggle.
He merely raised his head. Hyuga Hiashi's figure was reflected in those Tenseigan, along with the Branch House corpses on the altar, their eye power drained dry.
"Rules..." Xiao repeated the word softly, almost as if speaking to himself. "Who made those rules?"
"The ancestors," Hyuga Hiashi said as though it were self-evident. "The Hyuga Clan's order has been an iron law for a thousand years. The Branch House protects the Main House, and the Main House leads the clan—such is the destiny of bloodlines."
"Destiny?"
Xiao suddenly laughed.
The laughter was cold enough to send chills down the backs of the four elders maintaining the array.
"Lord Hiashi," Xiao said with startling clarity, "is that thing in your forehead comfortable?"
Hyuga Hiashi's expression froze for an instant.
"The Watcher Seed," Xiao continued. "A surveillance device implanted into the Main House by the Moon Ōtsutsuki Branch Family. You think the Main House