Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The elder of the clan retorted, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

Those who belong to a small family dare to talk back; they have no respect for elders.

Do people who separate from their families truly possess loyalty?

He was very skeptical.

"you……"

The elder of the branch family felt humiliated and instantly turned red with anger, wanting to argue with the other party.

But Hyuga Kazuma immediately spoke up to stop the conflict from escalating further, saying coldly, "Enough, now is not the time to argue. Kazuya, the branch family members are the ones who protect the main family. You should not doubt their loyalty. Iwa is an excellent child; he knows what to do."

When the clan leader, Hyuga Kazuma, spoke up, the branch and main clan elders had no choice but to stop arguing. However, the two of them looked at each other with displeasure, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.

Hinata Kazuma remained expressionless upon seeing this.

He was used to the conflict between the main family and the branch family. Normally, he would watch it as a show, but now he really had no interest in watching it.

He was now eager to figure out Kirito's attitude towards the Hyuga clan. Although this Konoha genius was young, the strength he displayed today was considerable, and the Hyuga clan had to take him seriously.

Moreover, according to his intelligence, Kirito has recently become very close to the Uchiha clan.

Currently, both of Konoha's two major clans, the Senju and Uchiha, have connections with this Konoha genius, and their relationships are very close. However, the Hyuga clan has no connection with this Konoha genius.

If we're talking about connections, there are, actually. One member of the main family is Kirito's junior sister.

In order for Kirito to learn Gentle Fist, the Senju clan made a deal with the Hyuga clan, allowing a member of their main family to become a disciple of Mito and go to Mito to learn sealing techniques.

Unfortunately, this member of the main family had mediocre talent in learning sealing techniques, and he couldn't endure hardship or persevere. In addition, Lady Mito was already bedridden at the time, and her main energy was focused on teaching the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This member of the main family hadn't been to Mito's place to learn sealing techniques for a long time.

It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I'm too ashamed to go.

This member of the main family was severely discouraged by Kirito and Kushina's talent for sealing techniques and has completely lost the will to learn sealing techniques.

In addition, there is another connection: Hinatayama is Kirito's physical training teacher.

However, Hinatayama was implied by them that he could not pass on the advanced knowledge of Gentle Fist to Kirito, and the extent of his relationship with Kirito was questionable.

To be honest, the Hyuga clan's transaction with the Senju clan was somewhat unethical.

They only taught Kirito the basic Gentle Fist, but when Lady Mito taught sealing techniques, she chose to treat everyone equally and didn't hold back much; it's just that their main family member couldn't learn it.

"The winds of change are blowing once again. This time, what choice will the Hyuga clan make?"

As the clan leader, Hyuga Kazuma has keenly sensed an unusual political trend, and among the key figures leading this trend is Kirito, the genius of Konoha.

However, it seems that the Hyuga clan will have a hard time going with the wind this time, and it will be difficult for them to remain neutral as before and continue to use the Byakugan, their superior bloodline limit, to maintain their natural status in Konoha.

Because this Konoha genius seems to have a biased attitude towards the Caged Bird.

"A caged bird..."

Hinata Kazuma thought of the caged bird, and a face with a desperate expression flashed through his mind, causing his already cold heart to ache.

On the other side, inside the sealing barrier.

"What's wrong? Are you planning to keep telling me not to contact Hua Lian without giving me any reason? Don't worry, this sealing barrier has the effect of blocking out the Byakugan and sound. Those guys outside who like to peep and eavesdrop have no way of knowing what's happening here."

Kirito looked at Hyuga Iwa, who was silent at the moment, and said something to himself.

"You don't need to know the reason. You just need to know that I'm doing this for Hua Lian's own good. Hua Lian should grow up happily and live a peaceful life. As long as you stop having contact with her, all of this can be achieved."

Upon hearing this, Hyuga Iwa looked at the surrounding sealing barrier with some surprise, but he ultimately chose to conceal the matter concerning the main family and gave Kirito a seemingly plausible reason.

"Hmph, you really are a good older brother, arranging Hua Lian's future path so early on. But will Hua Lian really be willing to follow the path you've laid out for her? You're Hua Lian's older brother, so you should understand what kind of person she is."

Kirito retorted sarcastically when he heard Hyuga Iwa say that.

He now understood that Hua Lian's brother was a control freak, and someone who had completely submitted to his fate.

However, he must have had a history of resistance, but unlike Hua Lian, he chose to give up resistance after being severely hit by reality.

He now sees his past self reflected in Hua Lian, and as a brother who dotes on his sister, he naturally doesn't want Hua Lian to experience the same painful struggle against fate that he went through.

Therefore, for Hua Lian's sake, he took it upon himself to make Hua Lian submit to fate.

"Hua Lian is just immature now, but she will understand my good intentions in the future."

Hinata Iwa felt a pang of shame at the sarcasm in Kirito's words, but he still stubbornly shouted back.

That's right, he did all this for Hua Lian's sake.

Even if Hua Lian doesn't understand him now and might hate him for the rest of her life, he doesn't want to see Hua Lian killed by the main family in the future while trying to break the caged bird technique.

"Don't be so self-righteous. Hua Lian isn't your puppet. Don't impose your ideas on her. She's a person with a free spirit. She has her own pursuits and life. If she really dies one day in pursuit of freedom, I think she'll do it willingly."

Kirito saw that Hinata Iwa was still stubbornly sticking to his own opinion and said coldly.

"You're trying to kill Hua Lian on purpose, you bastard, I won't allow you to do that."

When Hyuga Iwa heard Kirito say that, he roared hysterically, staring intently at Kirito as if he wanted to kill him with his eyes.

He wouldn't allow Hua Lian to needlessly throw her life away in pursuit of that ridiculous freedom.

Absolutely not.

Because everyone's fate is predetermined and cannot be changed.

"That's not up to you. Let me see the reasons you've been unwilling to tell me."

Kirito coldly looked at the impotently furious Hyuga Iwa and said ruthlessly.

After saying that, he reached out a hand and placed it on Hyuga Iwa's head.

A terrifying surge of soul power erupted from his body in an instant.

Hyuga Iwa instantly fainted, and then Kirito extracted a white soul from Hyuga Iwa's body.

Spiritualization Technique: Soul Search!

Chapter 139: Development Ideas for Caged Birds

Spiritualization Technique: Soul Search is a ninjutsu developed by Kirito after he added points to the Spiritualization Technique and gained insights into it. It is used to gather information.

It allows Kirito to directly extract another person's soul from their body, thus ignoring all the ninjutsu that prevent them from reading memories, and directly reading their memories from the root of their soul.

This technique was inspired by the Human Path of Pain's Six Paths, which extracts souls and reads memories. However, he did not rely on the power of the Rinnegan; he directly used the Spirit Transformation Technique to complete this step.

In fact, the art of spiritualization itself has the ability to read memories.

However, doing so would greatly damage the souls of others, because the original ability of the Spirit Transformation Technique to read memories should be called Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Devouring, which directly crushes the souls of others and reads memories by absorbing fragments of their souls.

The Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Search is much gentler than the Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Devouring. It will not seriously harm the soul of others. At most, it will cause people to be mentally exhausted for a few days afterward. Moreover, it will be faster in reading memories and obtain more complete memories.

Kirito held Hyuga Iwa's soul in his hand, then closed his eyes and used his soul power to invade Hyuga Iwa's mental world, quickly browsing through Hyuga Iwa's memories like watching a slideshow.

A moment later, he put the slightly shrunken soul of Hyuga Iwa back into Hyuga Iwa's body, and when he looked at Hyuga Iwa again, a trace of regret and pity appeared on his face.

Just as he had thought, Hyuga Iwa had also rebelled against fate, and to a great extent.

He showed hatred for the main family from a very young age, repeatedly arguing with members of the main family, and even injuring several of his peers from the main family.

Because of this, he was tortured by the Caged Bird Technique many times. If it weren't for Hinatayama's desperate pleas for mercy, he would have been killed by the main family members using the Caged Bird Technique long ago.

Even though he was repeatedly tortured by the caged bird, he never gave up resisting and secretly continued to learn sealing techniques.

Unfortunately, his talent for sealing techniques was mediocre, comparable to that of Rope Tree. He had no hope of breaking the Bird in the Cage technique by relying solely on self-taught sealing techniques.

Finally, in order to find a way to break the Caged Bird Seal, at the age of 12, he risked his life to sneak into the Hyuga clan's secret vault, hoping to find information related to the Caged Bird Seal.

However, the Hyuga clan possesses the Byakugan, a bloodline limit with exceptional reconnaissance abilities, making Hyuga Iwa's mission doomed to failure. Before he could even enter the secret vault, he was captured and subjected to a month-long torture by the main family using the Caged Bird Seal.

When the Caged Bird Seal is activated, it acts directly on the brain nerves, maximizing the suffering of the cursed person. This mental torture can easily drive someone insane.

Hyuga Iwa endured a month of torment, the pain of which can be imagined. It's a testament to his strong will that he didn't go insane.

However, not everyone is an indestructible person who can remain steadfast in the face of death. When his will was on the verge of collapse and he was about to die, Hyuga Iwa's survival instinct made him finally back down.

His path of resistance against the caged bird came to an end. He began to fear the caged bird, fear the main family members, and eventually gradually succumbed to this fear of the caged bird.

He still harbored deep hatred for the main family, but out of fear of being a caged bird, he no longer dared to disobey their orders.

Because of this, he was unwilling to see his beloved younger sister, Hua Lian, suffer the same inhuman pain as him in pursuit of freedom.

Because of this, he became extreme in his actions and his personality leaned towards misanthropy and cynicism, believing that human destiny was unchangeable.

Later, he went to the battlefield and tasted the feeling of controlling the fate of others by force. He then began to firmly believe that the fate of the weak is to obey the orders of the strong.

Therefore, in his mind, he is the weaker one in front of the main family, so his fate is to obey the main family's orders, while Kirito is the weaker one in front of him, so Kirito's fate should be to obey his orders.

The consequence of defying fate is death.

"He's a pitiful person, but the problems within the Hyuga clan are more serious than I imagined. Although they are suppressed by the Caged Bird Seal, the hatred brewing within them is immense. One day, this hatred that has been suppressed for countless years will surely erupt."

Kirito learned about Hyuga Rock's past and gained a profound understanding of the internal problems of the Hyuga clan for the first time, and sighed.

What impressed him most about Hyuga Iwa's memories was not only the other's despairing experience of being tortured by the Caged Bird Seal for a month, but also the many secret manuscripts within the branch family researching the Caged Bird Seal.

The resistance of the branch families against the caged bird has never ceased; countless members of the branch families have been secretly learning and passing on sealing techniques to new members.

Although the main family was aware of this and destroyed a large number of the branch family members' research results on the Caged Bird technique on many occasions, the branch family's research on the sealing technique of the Caged Bird technique has never been interrupted.

Of course, as long as the people who split up the family still exist, the inheritance of this sealing technique cannot be broken. It is their hope for freedom and their only thought while trapped in a dark cage.

Kirito believes that as long as this sealing technique continues to be passed down, or falls into the hands of a powerful sealing ninja, the Caged Bird Seal will one day be broken.

At that time, the main branch of the Hyuga clan will suffer the consequences of their actions, just like the main branch of the Otsutsuki clan on the moon, and will face the fate of being wiped out by the branch family.

"The cursed seal technique that seals bloodline limits is very powerful. However, since the Caged Bird Seal can seal the Byakugan, can it also seal the Sharingan and other bloodline limits? That's something to look forward to."

Kirito suddenly thought to himself.

Once the idea appeared, it took root and sprouted in Kirito's mind like a seed, making him think of many things.

He suddenly developed a strong interest in caged birds.

Bloodline limit is undoubtedly a genetic inheritance, and the Caged Bird Seal can affect bloodline limit, which is undoubtedly a sealing technique applied to genes. This kind of sealing technique is definitely the nemesis of ninjas who have bloodline limit.

If he were to master the Caged Bird Seal and then improve and further develop it, he might be able to create a sealing technique that would strike fear into the hearts of even bloodline limit ninjas.

What did you just do to me?

Suddenly, Kirito heard Hyuga Iwa's voice, which brought him back from his thoughts.

"It's nothing, I just let you sleep for a while. I've thought about it seriously. Since you genuinely care about Hua Lian, I won't take the initiative to find Hua Lian anymore. However, if Hua Lian takes the initiative to find me, I won't avoid him. Can you accept that?"