Speculation About the Hyuga

Destroying the Uzumaki Clan and killing Kagami Uchiha with such ease was beyond any ordinary ninja.

Mito Uzumaki could not help wondering whether Madara Uchiha was still alive. But how could that be possible?

Hashirama Senju had killed Madara Uchiha back then. Mito had no reason to doubt him on that point.

Perhaps someone was secretly stirring up trouble in the Shinobi World, someone who likely harbored deep malice toward Konoha.

As long as she was around, she could keep that person in check. Once she was gone, there might be no one left to stop them. That was one reason Mito worked so tirelessly to nurture Uchiha Yi.

"I'm curious about certain things that happened in the past. Studying history makes us wiser. Only by understanding the history of the Warring States era can we appreciate how precious today's peace is." Uchiha Yi had always thought there was something wrong with Hashirama Senju's head, but that did not stop him from recognizing Hashirama as a great man.

During the Warring States era, the clans had been locked in constant warfare. Children younger than Yi was now had picked up weapons and killed.

There was still a Shinobi World War in this era, and in some ways, it was an escalation of the fighting between clans. But ordinary days were comparatively peaceful. Children did not have to go straight into killing or being killed.

Compared with the Warring States era, the age of Ninja Villages was already much better.

As for why they had adopted a one-country, one-village system instead of unifying military and political power, that was a limitation of the times.

Even Yi had to admit that most ninja were unsuited to governing a country. The one-country, one-village system was a compromise with the times. People had only so much time and energy; would those ninja be better off studying how to govern a nation?

To Yi, none of these arrangements were set in stone. The question was whether people were willing to change them.

But Konoha lacked the strength to change things now, let alone continue reforming the world. That would have to wait for Yi's future.

"Studying history makes us wiser?" Mito nodded thoughtfully. Yi seemed to grow more impressive by the day.

"The Senju Clan and the Hyuga Clan worked together quite often back then, but neither the Senju nor the Uzumaki understood the Byakugan very well," Mito continued patiently.

Orochimaru loved listening to Mito recount hidden history. Her accounts sometimes felt more reliable than the information he found himself. Unable to hold back, he asked, "Is that because of the Caged Bird Seal? It should be a kind of Sealing Jutsu too. Is it really that hard to undo?"

He had never studied the Caged Bird Seal, but if it was a Cursed Seal, there ought to be a way to undo it. Mito was a master of Sealing Jutsu in this era. Could she do it?

Mito shot Orochimaru an exasperated look. "The Hyuga Clan's affairs are complicated. Tobirama studied the Byakugan back then and even asked me to help solve the problem of the Caged Bird Seal. After looking into it briefly, I found it was almost impossible to undo. It acts on the soul."

"Even their souls are bound? Why would they go that far? Aren't the branch family members part of their clan too?" Nawaki and the others shuddered.

"To keep other people from obtaining the Byakugan, I suppose," Yi explained quietly. "The Byakugan has enormous strategic value. It lets you see over great distances, which is incredibly useful. And from what I've heard, it places no great burden on its user. The Sharingan is different. If someone has one transplanted, it puts a huge strain on them. It might even drain their Chakra until they die.

"That's why we don't need a Cursed Seal like the Caged Bird Seal. Besides, if someone stole one of our Sharingan and we found out, we'd hunt them down. We wouldn't stop until one side was dead."

"That makes sense. But why divide the clan into a main family and branch families? If the point is to protect the Byakugan, why not put the seal on everyone?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin. His question earned him plenty of eye rolls.

Mito shook her head helplessly. She liked Jiraiya, but the boy was far too naive. Some of his ideas were remarkably like Hashirama's. Unfortunately, his political judgment was sorely lacking.

At least, he fell short of Tsunade and Orochimaru.

She turned to Yi, expectation flickering in her eyes. "Yi, what do you think?"

"Everyone has selfish desires. Perhaps protecting the Byakugan was the original purpose of the Caged Bird Seal. But as time passed, someone was bound to want control over others and make them serve their own interests.

"Whether it's a clan, a village, or even a country, the pattern is the same. Power corrupts people easily." Yi hesitated for a moment before saying it.

He did not know whether those words would reach Hiruzen Sarutobi. But facing Mito, he could not lie.

Some things were best left understood without being said aloud.

Konoha had only been founded a few decades ago, and problems were already emerging, weren't they?

If the Senju Clan had never disbanded, and the Third Hokage had also been a Senju, then the Hokage title would have become the Senju's property. Eventually, resentment toward both the Senju and the Hokage would have grown so strong that Konoha and the Senju Clan might both have been destroyed.

"Very good, Yi. I was right about you!" Mito nodded in satisfaction. She had thought Yi might hold back, but he had spoken plainly and even carried the point further.

Her care for him had not been wasted. Perhaps an Uchiha really would become Hokage one day.

"It's because you taught me so well, Grandma Mito!" Yi hurried to give her all the credit.

"Heh." Mito smiled without committing herself. "The Hyuga Clan couldn't put the Caged Bird Seal on everyone. That technique from back then could probably only be used by someone whose Byakugan was free of the seal. It remained a last resort for the Hyuga Clan.

"But that technique has serious aftereffects. Before the village was founded, it was a way to protect the clan when they faced a threat they couldn't handle. Once Konoha was established, though, the situation changed dramatically."

Everyone fell silent. Unless they had no other choice, members of the Main Family would never go to the battlefield.

The chances of that technique being used had fallen sharply, and the Main Family had grown less and less important. If things continued this way, the conflict between the main and branch families would only intensify.

But even the Hokage could not resolve a matter like that, much less any of them.