Naruto: From Capturing the Main Clan to Becoming the Mastermind

Chapter 33: Multiple Ninjutsu Techniques to Solve the Caged Bird Seal

It's quite strange; it shouldn't be like this.

Surely my luck in gambling can't have failed me?

After thinking it over, Tsunade still didn't choose the way Yu suggested.

"We can talk about these novel bets later. I bet you've never played dice before. Let's try something simple first, just one die. Four and above is big, and below is small. You go first."

Hinata Yu glanced at the dice cup and dice, but didn't touch them.

"This kind of gambling is meaningless. Whether I win or lose depends entirely on whether I want to or not."

"Pretty confident, huh?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"You've piqued my interest. Tell me your purpose first, I don't mind listening. After that, you'll have to gamble with me a few rounds."

It's basically just a medical team anyway...

"Have you figured out how to break the caged bird trap?"

Tsunade's pupils contracted, and she instantly stood up.

"How did you know that?!"

Only the Third Hokage, her, and the current Hokage Minato Namikaze know about this. Why would Hyuga Yu know about this?

A variety of guesses flashed through her mind, causing Tsunade's expression to change unpredictably.

"Please be mindful of the impact." With a sigh, Hinata Yu gestured to those around him.

Noticing the Konoha residents looking around, Tsunade sat down stiffly, staring intently at Hyuga Yu. "Don't change the subject. This is not something you should know."

"The Hokage wants me to stay in the village and assist the advisors in governing it."

Hyuga Yu observed Tsunade's expression, which first furrowed and then gradually softened. "This is not the kind of arrangement that should be made for the Shadow Guard, nor is it the kind of arrangement that should be made for the members of the Hyuga branch family."

Unless... Minato is confident that he won't have to exist as a member of the branch family.

"I see. So you suspect me for my previous research on caged birds?"

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, glanced at Hyuga Yu's calm expression, and muttered, "You're quite clever, but a clever person shouldn't be asking this kind of question."

"I want to confirm this," Hinata Yu said, lowering his eyelids slightly, "and then I'll carefully consider the Hokage's suggestion."

Tsunade poured herself another glass of wine and shook her head: "I did finish it, but strictly speaking, that method of breaking the curse isn't widely applicable."

"I know it's not that easy. If the method for solving the caged bird problem weren't difficult to apply universally, I wouldn't have lent you my help."

Hinata Hagu's eyes were deep.

Although he did not actively research methods to break the Caged Bird Technique, his years of research on ninjutsu and forbidden techniques gave him many ideas on how to break it.

Even while researching forbidden techniques related to the pupils and the soul, he developed some methods to deal with the Caged Bird Seal.

Some measures are temporary, while others are completely lifted.

However, they all have flaws and lack universality.

For example—Izanagi!

He knows how to use the Transcribing Seal technique, so how could he let go of this bugged ninjutsu from the Uchiha clan?

In the Hidden Mist Battlefield, obtaining a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan was not difficult for him at the time, given his Byakugan's two-kilometer field of vision.

As for the Izanagi technique... Orochimaru obtained it while researching the power of the Senju and Uchiha clans. In order to better understand the Sharingan, Orochimaru dug up the Uchiha clan's ancestral graves...

Hmm, Madara Uchiha's father... I wonder where Orochimaru found the grave.

I learned about Izanagi and the Transcription Seal from the reanimated Uchiha clan leader.

Otherwise, the sealing technique that reverses the absorption of pupil power—the White Prison—could not be completed.

After obtaining the three-tomoe Sharingan on the battlefield, he used the White Prison to directly imprint Izanagi into his eyes.

He can now use Izanagi twice, but this transcribing eye technique is not as strong as that used by the Uchiha clan. It cannot be delayed like Madara's technique and can only be used as a temporary measure to deal with the Caged Bird Technique.

Just like how Amaterasu, which Itachi transcribed to Sasuke, could only burn Obito, it wasn't his own eyes, it wasn't his own eye technique, so it was ultimately too limited.

The price was that the Sharingan with its three tomoe was completely drained of its power, turning into ashes.

Other temporary solutions include sealing techniques, which sever the connection between the main family and the Caged Bird!

While it's difficult to break free from the caged bird trap, it's relatively easy to prevent it from receiving external commands—simply create a special sealing technique to counter it.

Drawbacks: The sealing technique has obvious markings, the chakra flow in the sealed area is abnormal, and it is very easy for people with Byakugan to detect. After using it, one must be prepared to defect.

Among the solutions to completely resolve the issue, the best one so far was the Soul Reincarnation Technique he developed using spiritualization techniques and his own soul characteristics.

It could solve the problem of caged birds, but Yu doesn't want to use it.

He is a taijutsu ninja, and a taijutsu ninja based on Gentle Fist and Byakugan. Using that move is equivalent to giving up all his strength.

Today, he has acquired an even more efficient method—Ranmaru.

The opponent's red eyes allow him to transfer his own life force, a technique similar to the Reanimation Jutsu used by Granny Chiyo to revive Gaara. The prerequisite is that there is life force and the soul is still in the body.

This condition is practically meaningless to him.

Even if one dies and is resurrected, one can still escape the caged bird.

However, it also lacks universality.

In Hinata Yu's memory, in Ranmaru's story, he used this move to revive Kurosuki Raiga, but almost died, and then recovered inexplicably.

But such a pupil technique cannot be used twice. Once might be okay, but if it is used twice, this red-eyed boy will definitely die.

If all the Hyuga branch families want to resolve the Caged Bird Seal, only Tsunade, currently in Konoha, can do it.

Or rather... the Slug Sage could!

Its millennia-old heritage has given it knowledge and abilities far surpassing those of ordinary ninjas.

The other two sages might be able to do it too, but the most gentle and likely to take action among the sages is the Slug Sage. The Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and he all placed high hopes on Tsunade for this very reason.

With that in mind, Hyuga Yu feigned confusion and asked, "Is it a solution related to medical ninjutsu?"

As expected, it's that ninjutsu.

"Telling you won't help; it's not something an ordinary person can do."

Tsunade's gaze was somewhat complicated. She casually set up a small barrier to block out the sound.

"That's a Rank A ninjutsu that only one person in the history of the ninja world has ever accomplished—the Split Technique!"

It's not a clone, but a split.

The Second Tsuchikage used a ninjutsu that split himself in two, with both being his original body!

Besides Wu, there is another creature that knows this trick: the Slug Immortal, one of the three holy lands!

Its ability to split is even more terrifying; it can divide into countless individuals, some large and some small.

"The Caged Bird Seal is ultimately a cursed seal, not part of the body. Just like when the main family used the Caged Bird Seal in the past, and you used the Clone Technique, your main body would suffer because of the Caged Bird Seal, but the clone would not, because the clone does not have the cursed seal."

"A split entity is similar to a clone, but different. Even if the original body dies, the split entity can survive. The caged bird is ultimately not part of the body. As long as another self is perfectly split off, the problem can be completely solved!"

The split body will not have the Caged Bird, but the original body will. Therefore, if someone activates the Caged Bird, the original body will die, but the split body will not.

However, the price is that both your strength and chakra will be permanently halved.

Through her conversation with the Slug Sage, Tsunade learned that this loss of strength could be recovered through training.

The Second Tsuchikage was unable to use the Split Technique because he had met the Slug Sage and gained inspiration from him; no one understood this technique better than the Slug.

The Second Tsuchikage had used this technique to escape danger several times, and each time he survived, he slowly recovered his strength.

This solution is the best answer Tsunade can currently provide.

Hinata Yu nodded thoughtfully.

Tsunade's thinking was the same as his.

The simplest and most violent solution for a caged bird is to die once!

The Caged Bird disappears when it dies. Although the Caged Bird still exists after Hizashi is resurrected by Edo Tensei, it is only because the Cursed Seal Chakra has been preserved for many years, similar to Nagato's Rinnegan.

He had seen cases of branch family ninjas dying before. After death, once their eyes and brain nerves were destroyed, the Caged Bird Seal would disappear.

Therefore, as long as one has the ability to continue living after death, the caged bird problem can be solved!

Splitting is an unusual solution; the original entity dies while the split entity survives.

Besides that, Izanagi, which Madara used to delay activation after death, is also an option, since it involves restoring the body after death and the Caged Bird Seal has already disappeared.

Various reincarnation techniques and similar eye techniques can also solve this problem, so Ranmaru, Chiyo, and others can do it, as can those who possess the Dragon Tongue (a natural ability to control dragons) and the Rinnegan.

Even according to the original plan, the entire Hyuga branch family would have had a chance to resolve the Caged Bird Seal.

—The Payne Rice Incident!

That Shinra Tensei definitely affected the Hyuga clan's territory; the Caged Birds that died would disappear, but Nagato would later revive them.

What a great opportunity, but it seems they didn't seize the chance to separate, and may even have voluntarily carved the image of the caged bird, just like the previous "New Caged Bird".

(End of this chapter)