Having once again finished her sparring duties for the Main Family, Hyuga Mio returned to her room and attempted to undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark on her forehead, stopping just as it was about to be released.
"Enough..." Hyuga Mio's eyes held hatred for the Main Family. She was now 14 years old. Branded with the Caged Bird Curse Mark since the age of three, she went from ignorant to hating her fate, hating the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and Branch Family system, then to resignation, until she met Orochimaru and finally saw hope.
I want to change the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and Branch Family system!
Hyuga Mio made up her mind. For this, it took her several months just to master how to undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark and Orochimaru's improved Caged Bird Curse Mark. From the warm spring to the hot summer, she practiced on herself, finally mastering the method to undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark, as well as Orochimaru's improved Caged Bird Curse Mark.
Hyuga Mio started with the Branch Family members she knew best and had the closest relationships with. She created coincidental encounters outside Konoha, removed their Caged Bird Curse Mark outside Konoha, and then applied the improved Caged Bird Curse Mark.
All of this had to be done without alerting the Main Family. Hyuga Mio and the Branch Family members were extremely cautious, developing their plan little by little. Given enough time, they could replace all Branch Family members' Caged Bird Curse Marks with the improved Caged Bird Curse Mark. This way, the Main Family would no longer be able to control the Branch Family through the Caged Bird Curse Mark.
And the Main Family members, who did not have the Caged Bird Curse Mark on their foreheads, were the ones being targeted. Hyuga Mio really wanted to know what those arrogant Main Family faces would look like then!
"Is your strength only this much? Branch Family members are just Branch Family members, their strength is nothing special!"
In the Hyuga Clan's Main Family dojo, Hyuga Kojin of the Branch Family, serving as a sparring partner for Hyuga Tsuruoka of the Main Family, had to endure Hyuga Tsuruoka's constant insults. The long-suppressed anger began to burn uncontrollably. The thought that even if he injured Hyuga Tsuruoka, the Main Family wouldn't be able to punish him with the Caged Bird Curse Mark, made his rage burn even fiercer.
An elder of the Hyuga Clan, who had come to watch Hyuga Tsuruoka and Hyuga Kojin, couldn't help but scold, "Tsuruoka, focus!"
"Ultimately, the Branch Family's strength is inferior to the Main Family's."
Hyuga Tsuruoka looked at Hyuga Kojin with contempt and struck out with a palm.
Inferior to the Main Family's strength, huh... The veins beside Hyuga Kojin's eyes bulged slightly, but he suppressed them. He closed his eyes and took Hyuga Tsuruoka's attack head-on. He had to prioritize the bigger picture, so how could he expose that the Caged Bird Curse Mark on his forehead was not the previous Caged Bird Curse Mark?
"Young Master Tsuruoka, I lost."
Hyuga Kojin said respectfully, head bowed.
"Branch Family members are inferior to the Main Family in talent, and also in ability. This is why you are branded with the Caged Bird Curse Mark."
Hyuga Tsuruoka said with disdain.
Boom—!
Hyuga Kojin felt a boom in his head. He could no longer suppress the anger in his heart, and the veins beside his eyes bulged. He struck Hyuga Tsuruoka in the chest with a palm.
Bang—!
Hyuga Tsuruoka flew backward, crashing heavily onto the floor, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.
"Is this the arrogance of the Main Family! My father protected you with his life, is this your attitude towards the Branch Family!"
Hyuga Kojin roared, emitting an angry killing intent. He truly wanted to kill the ungrateful Hyuga Tsuruoka.
"Hyuga Kojin, what are you trying to do! How dare you attack the Main Family!"
The elder shouted loudly and immediately activated the Caged Bird Curse Mark, but he found that the always effective Caged Bird Curse Mark seemed to have no effect this time. Hyuga Kojin showed no reaction at all, as if there was no Caged Bird Curse Mark on his forehead.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the elder, without thinking further, rushed out of the dojo to call for people to capture Hyuga Kojin. Old and frail, he might not be able to subdue Hyuga Kojin quickly, and it would be bad if he escaped.
Hyuga Mio and the others saw Hyuga Kojin expose himself and faced a dilemma: either abandon Hyuga Kojin and continue their plan, or rush forward and stand with Hyuga Kojin to make the matter as big as possible, preferably to involve Konoha's higher-ups.
Hyuga Mio and her group chose the latter. As Branch Family members who also suffered oppression from the Main Family, how could they abandon Hyuga Kojin?
The rest of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family members were stunned, wondering how they managed to use their Byakugan to fight when the Main Family activated the Caged Bird Curse Mark!
The Main Family members were even more bewildered. How did they manage to undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark, which had been passed down through generations of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family?
"Escape—!"
Hyuga Mio shouted in a low voice. If they were left in the clan and the matter wasn't blown up, everything would be over.
They had to escape to the Village and make the matter known to everyone!
Hyuga Mio and her group took advantage of the Main Family and the Branch Family members, who were ordered by the Main Family to surround them, to escape towards the outside of the Hyuga Clan compound.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Hyuga Hatsume, the current head of the Hyuga Clan, struck out with a high-density Chakra palm, knocking one person out of the air. When he tried to strike another palm, the fleeing person had already escaped the attack range of the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
Hyuga Hatsume saw the Branch Family members who remained standing still and shouted, "Why aren't you chasing them! Do you want the Hyuga Clan to become the laughingstock of Konoha! Or are you saying you want to betray the Hyuga Clan?"
Hyuga Hatsume formed a hand seal with one hand. All Branch Family members were familiar with that seal; it was the seal to activate the Caged Bird Curse Mark.
Despite their reluctance, the Branch Family members had no choice but to pursue Hyuga Mio and the others who were fleeing.
The commotion in the Hyuga Clan quickly caught the attention of the Anbu and Root, and soon reached the ears of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura. Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado also learned about it.
They were very puzzled. What exactly was going on with the Hyuga Clan? They were catching Branch Family members, weren't they?
Was the Caged Bird Curse Mark just for show?
Didn't you Main Family members often punish Branch Family members with the Caged Bird Curse Mark?
Why aren't you using it now?
If they didn't understand the Hyuga Clan's ways so well, they would even start to suspect that the Hyuga Clan was engaging in some kind of performance art.
Senju Residence
Orochimaru sat by the window, holding a scroll. An ant-like Kikaichu landed on the scroll, and on the Kikaichu's back was a very small Flying Thunder God Technique formula.
Orochimaru's finger tapped the Kikaichu's body, and she looked out the window in surprise.
Isn't this too reckless?
She had thought Hyuga Mio would be a smart person, so why would she choose such an incomprehensible way to clash with the Main Family?
Wouldn't it be better to lay low?
Wouldn't it be better to reveal everything to the Main Family members once all Branch Family members are on our side?
At that point, the Main Family members wouldn't be able to do anything they wanted, and they'd have to accept reality, wouldn't they?
Orochimaru felt that something she didn't know about might have happened within the Hyuga Clan. Otherwise, with Hyuga Mio's personality, she would never do such a foolish thing; it just wasn't like her.
After deliberately collapsing her own house according to a plan, Orochimaru moved into the Senju Residence at Tsunade's strong invitation. The scrolls in her hands were insights into the Chakra nature transformation of Yin, sent by the Nara Clan.
Orochimaru, who had studied the Iburi Clan, didn't really need these insights. She thought she might gain other insights by looking through them, which was why she made this request to Nara Matsuka. In less than half an hour, the Nara Clan sent dozens of scrolls, all packed with valuable information.
The farce caused by the Hyuga Clan quickly ended with the intervention of the Uchiha Military Police Force and the Anbu.
Originally, Hyuga Mio and her group were to be taken to the Hokage Building, but after repeated requests from the Hyuga Clan, they were allowed to be taken back to the Hyuga Clan.
The Konoha Higher-Ups naturally couldn't just let it go. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Utatane Koharu, and Homura Mitokado, leading the Anbu, arrived at the Hyuga Clan, all for an answer.
What exactly was this farce about? What exactly did the Hyuga Clan intend to do?
As the Hyuga Clan had caused a disturbance in Konoha, they had to, and indeed must, provide an answer.
Hyuga Clan, Main Family's dojo.
In the center of the dojo, Hyuga Mio and her group had their forehead protectors removed. The Caged Bird Curse Mark was still clearly on their foreheads, but no matter how the Main Family members tried to activate it, the Caged Bird Curse Mark on them seemed to be merely drawn on, showing no reaction at all.
Hyuga Hatsume watched this scene with a gloomy expression and asked sharply, "What's going on with your Caged Bird Curse Mark? How did you break free from its restraints?"
Hearing this, the Branch Family members were incredibly shocked. They had thought they would be bound by the Caged Bird Curse Mark for their entire lives, and never expected that some Branch Family members had actually broken free from its restraints.
So they weren't enduring pain after all!
Many among the Branch Family members had thought they were enduring pain earlier, but they never expected that they had used some method to prevent the Main Family from controlling the Caged Bird Curse Mark on their foreheads.
Breaking free from the Caged Bird Curse Mark's restraints?
Doesn't that mean the Caged Bird Curse Mark was undone?
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Utatane Koharu, and Homura Mitokado, who were listening nearby, subtly changed their expressions. They all clearly understood what this implied.
They truly hadn't expected that the Caged Bird Curse Mark, passed down through generations in the Hyuga Clan, would one day be undone.
Was it Orochimaru who did it?
Danzo Shimura thought of the number of times Orochimaru had interacted with Hyuga Mio, and then recalled the books related to curse marks that Orochimaru had requested at that time.
He naturally wouldn't voice such a thought; he would quietly observe how things unfolded.
"Not speaking?"
Hyuga Hatsume saw Hyuga Mio and her group remain silent. This was no simple minor matter, but something that shook the very foundation of the Hyuga Clan.
"If you don't want to speak, then I can only invite the Yamanaka Clan to probe the memories in your minds."
Even if he had to beg, Hyuga Hatsume would invite the Yamanaka Clan to read their memories, to find out how they made the Caged Bird Curse Mark lose the Main Family's control.
"The Main Family's arrogance truly is as consistent as ever! Knowing we're out of control, are you afraid?"
Hyuga Kai, who had previously been struck by Hyuga Hatsume's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, glared at Hyuga Hatsume and the Main Family members with hatred.
"So afraid that you'd abandon the Hyuga Clan's pride and beg the Yamanaka Clan?"
Hyuga Kojin's eyes were mocking as he sneered, "Do you really want to enslave the Branch Family so much? The Hyuga Clan's pride, as spoken by you Main Family members, is nothing more than this!"
"Shut up! Are you no longer members of the Hyuga Clan?"
An elder, unable to bear it any longer, angrily rebuked them.
Hyuga Hatsume saw the Branch Family members present longing to break free from the Caged Bird Curse Mark's restraints. If he couldn't crush that idea in their hearts, they might secretly research and try to undo the Caged Bird Curse Mark once they knew it wasn't an absolutely unbreakable curse mark.
Thinking of this, Hyuga Hatsume looked at the Konoha Higher-Ups listening in and said, "Hokage-sama, Danzo-sama, both Advisors, please do not prevent my next actions."
With that, Hyuga Hatsume formed a single hand seal and activated the Caged Bird Curse Marks of all the Branch Family members present.
Instantly, the dojo was filled with the painful wails of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family members.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"