Hey! Here comes the Caged Bird Seal

In the blink of an eye, Yu had spent several days with the Hyuga Clan.

He had behaved himself throughout those days.

But he was no little angel. He simply knew that Hiashi had assigned people to watch him.

In the Hyuga Clan, members of both the Main Family and the Branch Family generally possessed the Byakugan, which made privacy a real problem.

The Main Family had it easy. Their bedrooms and bathrooms were fitted with talismans that blocked the Byakugan's sight.

The Branch Family was less fortunate. Only their bathrooms had talismans.

So Yu drank water frequently, giving himself an excuse to visit the bathroom often without arousing suspicion.

During this time, something troubled him.

This Ōtsutsuki body never grew hungry, nor did it need to excrete anything...

No matter how much water he drank or food he ate, he never felt the urge to relieve himself.

As a modern man with a higher education, he couldn't help investigating.

Even though I don't need to excrete anything, the organs involved haven't disappeared through evolution. Could they be there just for reproduction?

No, if that were the case, wouldn't keeping my little you-know-what be enough? Why do I still have a back door?

Besides, if I don't need to excrete anything, where does all the food I eat go? I checked. Once it enters my stomach, it disappears without even being digested, as if it's fallen into a bottomless black hole. This is way too unscientific...

Just as he found himself utterly baffled,

the Book of the Gods provided an explanation.

To meet the demands of evolution, the Ōtsutsuki's digestive organs were extremely selective. They only recognized, digested, and absorbed highly concentrated masses of Chakra, such as Pills and Chakra Fruits!

Ordinary food or foreign matter, once swallowed, would be treated as waste and transported into another dimension.

This was an innate ability possessed by all Ōtsutsuki, called the abdominal passage.

"Waaah, I don't want to be a pixiu, taking things in but never letting anything out~~."

"I miss needing to poop. Give me back that urge~~!!"

As Yu muttered to himself, the Book of the Gods responded!

-Secret art: Ogetsuhime!

Effect: Swallowed food is no longer transported into the abdominal passage's alternate dimension. Instead, it is converted into Chakra extracts and expelled through the excretion gate!

[Note: This technique's name is not without basis. In mythology, the goddess Ogetsuhime produced various delicacies from her mouth, nose, and excretion gate, then offered them to the god Takehayasusanoo. Upon witnessing her actions, Takehayasusanoo believed she was feeding him filth and killed Ogetsuhime in his rage.]

After learning it, Yu immediately gave it a try!

Pfft~! Pfft~!

After a thoroughly satisfying session, he gazed at the colorful little balls on the paper, gathered his courage, and tasted one!

"Delicious! Isn't this White Rabbit Creamy Candy??"

"Hehe, just how twisted was the guy who invented this technique? I love it~~~!"

Yu ate the rest as well and made a new discovery.

"Do the candies' colors and flavors depend on the food I eat?"

A strange idea struck him. "If I ate poop, could I poop out stinky candy too???"

Curious as he was, he ultimately lacked the courage to find out.

Also, the candies produced by Ogetsuhime couldn't permanently increase his Chakra, but they could replenish his stamina and restore depleted Chakra.

They were similar to Ninja Soldier Pills, but their effects and taste were far better!

"Hehe, this is so much fun! Now eating and drinking have become a real pleasure too!"

That day, he made a special trip to the Hyuga Clan's convenience store and bought a large tub of candy!

He collected all the colorful wrappers, then hid in the bathroom to make candy!

Without realizing it, Yu stayed in the bathroom a little too long.

Hiashi paced outside the door.

"Yu... are you done yet?"

Whoosh!

The toilet flushed, and Yu pushed open the door, his pockets bulging.

Hizashi asked with concern, "You've been going to the bathroom a lot lately. Did you eat something that upset your stomach?"

"Hehe, I'm fine."

Yu took a beautifully wrapped candy out of his pocket.

"Dad, this is for you."

Hizashi accepted the candy. "Oh~ you never forget Dad when you've got something good. That's my boy!"

While using the bathroom, Hizashi peeled off the wrapper and popped the green candy ball into his mouth, chewing it.

"Mmm, it's good, but why does it taste like mustard? Did I put too much mustard in my lunch??"

"Still, eating this candy has somehow filled me with energy. Mmm~~~~~!!"

That evening, Yu waited in his room, with a small plate full of candy.

"Hey, hey, Yu, let's play~~!"

After finishing his training, Neji rushed eagerly into Yu's room.

Busy training all day long, he had hardly enjoyed anything resembling a proper childhood.

Yu's arrival had given Neji a playmate and freed his childish nature!

The two played games and ate candy, and before they knew it, bedtime had arrived.

Still reluctant to stop, Neji said, "Yu, I need to go to bed. I've got training tomorrow."

Yu waved. "Go ahead, big brother."

Before leaving, Neji said, "You should hurry up and start training too. Then we can spend all day together!"

Lying on his bed, Yu sensed the gaze that never left him and murmured, "With someone watching me like this, I can't let loose, whether I'm playing or training. I'll wait and see for now. These days shouldn't last much longer..."

"Phew." In a corner of the Hyuga Branch Family compound, the Hyuga Main Family member assigned to watch Yu saw him fall asleep, deactivated his Byakugan, and took a Soldier Pill to replenish his depleted stamina.

His replacement arrived. "Anything unusual today?"

The man said, "Nothing except his slightly long bathroom visits."

"Thanks for your hard work. I'll take over. Go report to Lord Hiashi."

Well, well. They were actually working alternating day and night shifts.

At the Main Family residence.

"Lord Hiashi, young master Yu's activities today were as follows. In the morning, he did exercises in the courtyard. After breakfast, he spent twenty minutes in the bathroom, then watched lines of ants in the courtyard by himself until noon. After lunch, he visited the convenience store and bought candy to bring home. He stayed in the bathroom for an hour, then went to the Riverbank to sleep, remaining asleep until the afternoon!"

"After waking, he fished until evening, released all the fish he had caught, and returned home for dinner. He spent another twenty minutes in the bathroom, then returned to his room and played with young master Neji as usual..."

An elder beside him shook his head at the report. "All he does is eat, drink, relieve himself, sleep, and play. He neglects anything worthwhile. He'll never amount to much!"

"..." Holding his teacup, Hiashi looked thoughtful.

He hadn't assigned people to watch Yu out of suspicion.

Even if a three- or four-year-old child had a questionable background, how much of a threat could he pose?

His main aim was to understand Yu's character, so he could make a judgment about a certain matter.

"Lord Hiashi, should we continue watching him tomorrow? In my opinion, we won't discover anything new even if we keep this up."

"Besides, Lord Hizashi seems to have noticed that we're spying with the Byakugan. He's been subtly releasing his aura to warn us..."

Hiashi said, "Understood. Starting tomorrow, there's no need to continue watching him. Go get some rest."

"Yes, sir!"

The Main Family member left, visibly relieved.

Hiashi gripped his teacup tightly, staring at the ripples inside it with a deep frown.

The elder said, "Both the Main Family and the Branch Family have been watching these past few days. He's already had time to adjust. If we drag this out any longer, people will start talking. Since ancient times, those born into the Branch Family have never escaped the fate of the Caged Bird Seal. Cruel as it is, making an exception would harm the Main Family and be unfair to the Branch Family. Hiashi, you're the head of this clan. You mustn't let your emotions cloud your judgment."

His grip on the teacup loosened, and Hiashi seemed to make up his mind. "I'll settle this properly as soon as possible."

The next day, Yu lay on a tree trunk with a blade of grass between his lips. Gazing at the blue sky, he muttered to himself, "They're not watching me today, and Dad's been summoned too. Are they about to make a move...?"

At noon, Hizashi returned with a grim expression, his fists clenched. "Yu... the clan head wants to see you!"

"Understood, Father."

Whoosh!

Yu jumped down from the tree, thinking, So what's coming has finally come...

As they walked toward the Main Family compound, Hizashi's footsteps were unusually heavy, and his aura fluctuated!

Outside the clan head's residence, Hizashi stopped and clenched his fists. "Yu, this is our last chance. Let me take you away from here!"

Yu remained exceptionally calm. "If you did that, you'd be treated as a traitor, wouldn't you, Dad...?"

Hizashi froze. "Yu, you..."

"Besides, I'm not afraid."

Creak! As he spoke, Yu's little hand had already pushed open the tightly shut door!

After walking down the long stone path, father and son stopped outside the tatami room.

Hizashi glanced around and sensed something amiss. "Apart from my elder brother, none of the Main Family members or elders are here?"

He was just about to push the door open.

Hiashi's deep voice came from inside the room. "Yu, come in. Hizashi, stay where you are!"

Tap!

Hizashi stopped abruptly!

Consumed by torment and inner conflict, he watched Yu walk through that doorway alone!

Bang!

The instant the door closed, Hizashi knew it was too late for him to do anything!

Thud! He slammed his fist against the stone steps, his eyes bloodshot!

"I'm so useless! In the end, I couldn't even muster the courage to take Yu away by force and let him escape his fate as a caged bird!!!!"