When Hyuga Xiao returned to his secret hideout, his back was already drenched in cold sweat.
The dark-blue Branch House uniform clung to his skin, sticky as though he had just been pulled from the water. He leaned against the cold stone wall, feeling the Curse Mark within him frantically drain his life force—like countless fine needles piercing his marrow, every breath accompanied by the stabbing pain of their tips twisting.
Thirty-five hours remained until death.
Gritting his teeth, he removed the active Curse Mark Fragment from the sealing scroll tucked into the innermost compartment of his shinobi tool pouch. The black chunk of flesh writhed faintly in his palm, and Orochimaru's pale, eerie face emerged on its surface.
"Looks like... you've run into trouble." The fragment let out a hoarse laugh. "The Level-Two Caged Bird Seal—the Hyuga Main House's highest-level harvesting method. Any Branch House member planted with this Curse Mark will have even their corpse drained of its final drop of ocular power."
Xiao ignored its mockery and went straight to the point. "The method to break it."
"Oh?" The smile on the fragment's face deepened. "What makes you think I'd tell you?"
"This."
Xiao's left eye suddenly lit up.
It was not the chakra vision of the Byakugan, with veins bulging around the eye, but a deeper, colder light. Faint azure points of starlight appeared in the depths of his pupil, like the most distant stars in the night sky. Though it was only an embryonic form, the Intimidation belonging to the Tenseigan made the fragment tremble violently.
"You... you actually..." For the first time, the fragment's voice wavered. "That's impossible! How could a Hyuga Branch House member possibly—"
"Answer my question." Xiao cut it off, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Otherwise, I'll purify you completely right now."