Wasn't the Branch Family Just the Main Family's Slaves?

That afternoon, in the mountains behind the clan compound.

The Branch Family members were packing boxes in their courtyards, preparing to move to Konoha in three days.

No one paid Shinichi any attention.

He casually found an excuse, saying he was going to patrol the mountains, and left the compound alone.

Because in three days, Hashirama Senju would come to take the Hyuga to Konoha.

Before then, he had to undo the Caged Bird Seal.

Shinichi followed the mountain path deeper into the mountains.

After walking for roughly an hour, he came upon a secluded cliff face.

Dense shrubs completely concealed a cave.

The original owner of his body had stumbled upon it while on patrol.

It was over a mile from the Hyuga Clan Compound.

The Branch Family members normally activated their Byakugan only to check their route and patrol. Their range extended a few hundred meters at most, nowhere near that far.

As for the Ōtsutsuki on the moon?

They were observing the entire shinobi world.

With the cave shielding him, they definitely wouldn't notice him as long as he didn't cause too much of a disturbance.

It was like the thousands of new books posted on Tomato every day-what editor would happen to click on his?

Shinichi pushed the shrubs aside, stooped, and slipped into the cave.

He hauled over several heavy boulders and sealed the entrance tightly.

The cave went completely dark.

Shinichi sat cross-legged on the cold ground and took a deep breath.

Open the beginner's gift pack, Shinichi said silently.

The system's voice instantly rang out in his mind:

[Beginner's gift pack opened. Reward: Tenseigan awakening.]

[Reward delivery confirmed. Unbinding system...]

[Unbinding successful.]

[Have a pleasant life, host. Goodbye.]

With those words, his mind fell completely silent.

Shinichi froze.

He called for the system several times in his mind, but received no response whatsoever.

In his previous life, he had written over a million words of webnovels and created at least eight systems, if not ten. He had never seen one run off right after delivering the goods.

Before he could think any further, a fierce burning sensation erupted in his eye sockets.

Then his forehead felt as though a red-hot piece of iron had been pressed against it. The pain was unbearable.

The chakra inside him surged wildly, expanding rapidly.

Shinichi clenched his teeth, cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the ground, and didn't utter a sound.

Fortunately, the intense pain passed as quickly as it had come.

Within moments, the burning sensation slowly faded.

Shinichi opened his eyes.

The cave was so dark he couldn't have seen his hand in front of his face, yet everything was perfectly clear to him.

His vision even pierced the thick stone walls, revealing the veins on the leaves outside.

A small puddle formed by seeping water a short distance away reflected his image.

He leaned over to take a look.

His formerly lifeless gray Byakugan were gone, replaced by pale blue eyes with a ring of starburst patterns surrounding the pupils.

Shinichi untied the white cloth around his forehead and reached up to feel it.

Where the raised Caged Bird Seal had once marked his skin, everything felt smooth.

The Cursed Seal was completely gone.

The untied white cloth fluttered toward the ground.

Shinichi bent to pick it up, but before his hand reached it, the cloth suddenly rose into the air and flew straight into his palm.

Shinichi paused, then realized this was the Tenseigan's innate gravitational ability.

He turned toward a stone on the ground and deliberately activated his Tenseigan.

The stone shot into the air with a whoosh and landed securely in his hand.

If there's attraction, does that mean there's repulsion too?

Shinichi raised his hand toward the stone wall and pushed his chakra outward.

The stone flew from his hand and buried itself entirely in the wall with a bang, splitting the hard rock with several cracks.

The original owner of his body had practiced Gentle Fist for over a decade, but even a full-force palm strike against a stone wall had only left a shallow dent.

Yesterday, while guarding the entrance to the main hall, Shinichi had secretly activated his Byakugan to look at the clan head, Nissei Hyuga, as well as Hashirama and Madara.

The clan head's meager chakra was nowhere near what Shinichi possessed now.

Apart from a few jinchuriki, even the Kage Level characters in the original story probably couldn't match the current Shinichi in chakra reserves.

After he kept it up for a while, his eyes suddenly began to ache, and most of his strength drained away.

Shinichi quickly closed his eyes, deactivated his Tenseigan, and rested against the stone wall for a long time.

These eyes consumed an enormous amount of energy. As he was now, he couldn't keep them active for long.

He picked up the white cloth and tied it around his forehead again, covering the place where the Cursed Seal had been.

Then Shinichi moved the boulders blocking the entrance and left the cave.

The sun had begun sinking westward, casting long shadows through the mountain forest.

Shinichi tightened the white cloth around his forehead and headed down the mountain path.

I have to act tonight!

In three days, the Hyuga would join Konoha.

Once they entered Konoha, it would be difficult to move against the Main Family.

Tonight, however, the Hyuga Clan had spent the entire day busy preparing for the move.

Even if they weren't exhausted, at the very least, the Main Family would certainly be off guard within the compound.

To overthrow the Main Family, he only needed to kill them all.

But to establish his own village, he needed people under his command.

The Hyuga Clan was a ready-made population.

So he needed not only to kill, but also to win people over.

Not the Main Family, but the Branch Family.

As it happened, his eldest uncle was the head of the Hyuga Branch Family.

As long as his uncle supported him, Shinichi could take control of the Hyuga Clan after wiping out the Main Family.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Shinichi unconsciously quickened his steps toward his uncle's courtyard.

At dusk, several half-open wooden boxes stood in the spacious courtyard of the Hyuga Branch Family's head.

Shinichi's eldest uncle, the Branch Family head, was crouching beside the boxes, packing some old clothes.

Shinichi walked over and silently helped him lift a heavy wooden box nearby.

His uncle didn't look up, his hands still busy.

Shinichi asked with feigned casualness, "Uncle, why does our Branch Family have to protect the Main Family generation after generation?"

His uncle's hands paused. He glanced toward the courtyard gate, then stuffed the clothes into the bottom of the box.

"Why all these questions?"

His uncle lowered his voice without looking up. "These have always been the Hyuga Clan's rules. To keep the Byakugan from falling into outside hands, the Hyuga Clan is divided into the Main Family and the Branch Family. The Main Family carries on the Hyuga Clan's lineage, and the Branch Family protects the Main Family. If someone takes our Byakugan, the Caged Bird Seal destroys it."

His uncle tugged at the rope fastening the box and added, "Stop asking about these things and get packing. Don't cause trouble for the clan when we reach Konoha in a couple of days."

Shinichi set down the box in his hands, looked at his uncle's back, and said evenly:

"What do you mean, rules we've always had? Put plainly, isn't the Branch Family just slaves to the Main Family?"

His uncle grabbed Shinichi by the collar, yanked him into the brick house behind him, and firmly latched the door.

His face pale, he hurriedly peered outside through the crack in the door twice. Only after confirming that no one was in the courtyard did he whip around.

"Have you lost your mind?!"

His uncle's teeth trembled as he forced the words out in an extremely low voice. "If the Main Family hears you saying that, how many lives do you think you have to spare?!"

His uncle's gaze fell on the white cloth around his forehead.

"Don't you know what's carved into your forehead?"

"The Main Family only needs to activate the Caged Bird Seal to destroy your Byakugan, or even take your life."

His voice grew quieter.

"Once you leave this room, consider those words never spoken."

Shinichi didn't reply.

He raised his hand and untied the white cloth around his forehead.