The air in the underground chamber of the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine still carried the scorched smell left behind by shattered sealing formulas.
Hyuga Hiashi knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold stone floor. Kotoamatsukami's power was taking root deep within his consciousness, winding around his original patterns of thought like vines and gradually reshaping his understanding of the world.
Xiao stood before him, the azure glow of the Tenseigan flickering in the dim chamber.
"Look at me." Xiao's voice was calm.
Hyuga Hiashi raised his head. The Byakugan that had once held such authority now contained only hollow obedience. Kotoamatsukami was taking effect, but Xiao needed to make sure—to make sure this puppet would not lose control at a critical moment because of lingering memories.
The Tenseigan's ocular power surged into Hiashi's brain like a tide.
Xiao did not crudely rummage through his memories. That would damage the brain's structure. Like a surgeon, he was precise, targeting only the memory nodes related to the Pact Stone, the Tenseigan, and the Observers for removal. The Tenseigan naturally suppressed such matters—after all, it had originally been a tool used by the Ōtsutsuki Clan to control those beneath them.
Hiashi's body began to tremble.
The process of stripping memories was not painful, but the feeling of "loss" instinctively filled one with terror. Xiao could sense the struggle in the depths of his consciousness, like a drowning man trying to seize his last straw. But Kotoamatsukami suppressed that resistance, leaving Hiashi only able to watch as those vital secrets gradually vanished from his mind.
Three minutes later, Xiao withdrew his ocular power.
Hiashi collapsed limply to the ground, gasping for breath. His eyes became even more vacant, while the mark of the Watcher Seed on his forehead faintly heated up, seemingly