Although Obito usually seemed a bit foolish, Kakashi still trusted his strength. Someone who could avoid revealing any flaws under those Sharingan eyes had formidable power, one could imagine.
Perhaps because the current atmosphere was tense, Obito wanted to say more to relieve the pressure.
For him,
Witnessing this scene was not very damaging, but extremely relatable.
If the Uchiha Clan implemented such a system,
with Obito's status, he would inevitably have an Uchiha-exclusive 'Caged Bird' branded on his forehead.
This was the first thing he thought of, but he didn't say it out loud.
Just as Hiashi easily subdued Mukai and was about to give an order, several whistling sounds were heard.
The leader was the shared nightmare of everyone in Konoha: Ryuji.
"Mukai!" Tamako, standing behind Ryuji, exclaimed, her eyes filled with uncontrollable worry.
Kakashi stared at Ryuji.
'So, he's the one behind it. Perhaps with his strength, he really has a way to solve the Hyuga Clan's predicament?'
Kakashi's thoughts ran wild.
Meanwhile, Tamako rushed resolutely towards the injured Mukai on the ground. Seeing Tamako approach, Hiashi freed one hand and casually activated the Caged Bird Seal.
But something unexpected happened. The Branch Family's members were almost completely unaffected. The Hyuga Main Family's members who saw this were stunned.
The Hyuga Branch Family's members became even more restless.
When Mukai recruited them for this rebellion, he had mentioned beforehand that person had a way to remove their Cursed Seals. It seemed he wasn't lying.
Hiashi looked up, noticing the longing looks in the eyes of the Branch Family's members.
Even those who supported the Main Family were breathing heavily.
In essence, they craved freedom just like the defectors. The only difference was that some acted on it, while others didn't.
All members of the Hyuga Main Family realized the severity of the situation.
An elder, knowing Hiashi's indecisive nature, simply said to him, "Things have come to this. Act directly. Eliminate them before he removes the Cursed Seals from the other Branch Family's members."
He didn't use overly bloody words, opting for 'eliminate'.
As if trying to downplay the nature of the act.
Hiashi nodded with difficulty.
His thoughts aligned with this elder's; he just couldn't make such a choice immediately.
Otherwise, in the future, during negotiations between Kumogakure and Konoha, he wouldn't have chosen to let his brother die in his place.
With Ryuji's sensory abilities, he naturally noticed their secretive whispering.
"A futile effort."
A few seals flashed. The Hyuga Branch Family's members who had been writhing on the ground suddenly stopped. Though sweat still dripped from their foreheads and their faces were pale, the look of agony was gone.
The elder who activated the seal waved his hands like a clown performing, producing no substantial effect whatsoever.
After deactivating the seals, Ryuji created a little trouble for them.
He also casually removed the Cursed Seals from the Branch Family members who hadn't chosen to participate in the defection.
No particular reason, just wanted to give them something to do, to consume their energy.
"Attack!"
Kakashi, a young Shinobi tempered on the battlefield, made the most correct judgment first. He drew his family's short sword and charged towards Ryuji standing on higher ground.
Ryuji didn't personally intervene. Kuro, beside him, stepped in front of Ryuji.
He raised his right arm horizontally, allowing the blade to cut into his flesh without flinching, even using his muscles to lock the short sword in place.
Kakashi's expression hardened, knowing he had encountered a formidable opponent.
"Break!"
A single word suddenly came from Kuro's lips.
Kakashi's sword actually broke with a snap!
'How was that possible?'
Kakashi instantly turned into white mist, using the Shadow Clone Technique to distance himself from Kuro.
Hiashi's expression was now unprecedentedly grim.
"All Hyuga members, attack!"
At his command, Hyuga Clan's members activated their Byakugan, veins crawling across their faces.
Most charged to fight the defecting Hyuga Branch Family's members.
Hiashi, Hizashi, and several other elders with strength at the Elite Jonin-level attacked simultaneously, charging towards Kuro blocking Ryuji's path.
Ryuji remained calm, simply gesturing. Kuro moved aside to deal with Kakashi.
His body was covered with surging Chakra.
"To deal with you all, I don't even need to use any weapons."
His occasional glance at them was like a peerless master looking at a group of babies crawling towards him.
Mere feeble lambs.
If they dared to attack him, they had to be prepared to die. The goal of recruiting the Hyuga Clan was achieved. Whether others unwilling to follow him lived or died was of no concern.
As for those Branch Family's members who didn't choose to defect, they would pay the price for their hesitation.
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!"
Hiashi and Hizashi attacked Ryuji from front and back simultaneously.
They immediately used their strongest Taijutsu.
Ryuji's fists gleamed with sharp Chakra.
Left and right, two punches.
The two large spinning tops seemed to hit stone pillars, bouncing off and crashing heavily onto the ground in the distance.
"Like grains of rice trying to shine?"
He looked at the miscellaneous troops charging at him.
A buzzing Chakra Sphere slowly rotated on his right hand.
"Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
The Chakra Sphere from his hand swept out. If this hit the crowd, everyone before him would be shredded into mincemeat, their cells unable to remain intact.
At that moment, Obito, who had been slacking off, jumped out.
A strange fluctuation appeared before his eyes.
"Kamui!"
'Hmm?'
Ryuji's Rasenshuriken, along with the surrounding space, slowly distorted, eventually disappearing into nothingness. Ryuji didn't interrupt Obito's action, merely watching everything he did with surprise.
'In the original work, he awakened the Mangekyo after witnessing the horror of his beloved being killed by his closest friend. What had he experienced now?'
But now wasn't the time to ponder this. He said playfully, "Saving someone always comes at a cost. With your strength, I'm afraid it's difficult to bear such immense energy, right?"
As he predicted, blood trickled from Obito's eyes.
Despite having both Mangekyo, which sped up Kamui activation, without Hashirama's cells providing immense vitality as support, relying solely on a normally developed 11-year-old... the burden was too great for him.
No, precisely because it was dual Mangekyo, the consumption doubled.
After excessive use of Pupil Power, a splitting headache followed. Obito struggled to stand, his figure gradually fading, being sucked into the distorted Kamui Dimension.
After using the Mangekyo Sharingan, he had done his best. The rest was up to the Third Hokage and the others.
"Kakashi, you must hold on!"
Obito knelt in the dimension, gasping desperately, trying to suppress the pain and rescue Kakashi. Otherwise, with that guy's strength, Kakashi was doomed!
Watching this, Ryuji fell into thought.
'Both left and right eye abilities can be used freely. It doesn't seem like a recent awakening. What happened?'
'The disturbance in the timeline was growing. With the current development, it seemed increasingly difficult for Obito to join the Akatsuki.'
Now, it was time to see how things would unfold.
Although Ryuji very much wanted to kill Obito now, with dual Mangekyo, Kamui activation had almost no delay. If he was determined to escape, it would be hard to succeed.
Besides, mere Mangekyo.
Without Hashirama's cells support, and without a sibling's Mangekyo to evolve into Eternal Mangekyo... not only could he not unleash its full power, but using the Dojutsu a few more times would blind him.
With his current strength, he wouldn't say he ignored such combat power, but at least he didn't take it seriously.
Moreover, in terms of growth, he feared no one.
"Enough playing. Time to go."
With these words, a space portal opened beside him.
Ryuji clasped his hands together. Instantly, the ground cracked, forming a chasm several meters wide, separating the two fighting sides.
Kuro kicked Kakashi away. Cracking sounds came from Kakashi's chest; several ribs broke as he crashed into a corner.
Turning around, Kuro leaped into the personal dimension.
"Go!"
Mukai called out to the others and also jumped in. The remaining hesitant Hyuga Branch Family's members and relatives, seeing this, hesitated no longer and jumped in one after another.
A black metal puppet bird flew out from the Personal Space.
Ryuji stood on the bird's head, swiftly flying towards Sunagakure, leaving behind a scene of chaos and Kakashi, vomiting blood profusely.
A sense of unwillingness and regret flashed in his heart.
'With my strength, I can't even defeat his bodyguard, let alone challenge him!'
At that moment, the Third Hokage and others finally arrived belatedly.
Seeing the wounded Hyuga Clan with their numbers nearly halved, they finally realized the situation was out of control.
They thought that with the Caged Bird Seal, even with Mukai's strength, facing so many Hyuga Clan's experts wouldn't lead to any surprises. They completely underestimated the severity of the matter.
"It seems they came for the Byakugan!"
He naturally checked the most important Main Family's members first. A quick scan confirmed all were present.
"So, only Branch Family's members were taken. That's much better. With the Caged Bird Seal, it's like snatching a moon reflected in water."
Just as he felt reassured, his pupils suddenly contracted, noticing a detail.
A fairly strong Hyuga Branch Family's Jonin's forehead protector had accidentally fallen off during the fight.
The mark on his forehead had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a smooth forehead.
"What is this!?"
He asked in shock.
Hiashi struggled to stand. Ryuji hadn't used his full strength against him, leaving him alive.
It wasn't mercy. In Ryuji's eyes, a living Hyuga Clan with a mess of problems would cause more trouble for Konoha.
"Hokage-sama, the Caged Bird Seal has been broken. All those who left are now free from its bondage!"
As he said this, the Cursed Seal on the other Hyuga Branch Family's members who hadn't defected were also casually removed.
The former Branch Family's members simply lowered their heads, expressions varied, silently planning something.
Once the Cursed Seal were removed, re-applying them would be difficult. The number of Hyuga Main Family's members was extremely small.
Before, it was because of the generationally inherited Caged Bird Seal that Branch Family's members couldn't rise up collectively.
But now, the roles had reversed.
Especially for Hizashi.
He naturally held great respect for his brother. But thinking about the future, he would have his own children. Would his children then also have the Caged Bird Seal branded on them, becoming slaves to the Main Family for life?
Thinking of this, he secretly glanced at the other Branch Family's members who hadn't defected.
Once the thought of contending with the Main Family took root, it could no longer be suppressed.
…
(A/N: To clarify, the reason Mukai was instantly subdued and captured by Hiashi was because everyone else was being suppressed by the Caged Bird Seal. He feared that fighting back would lead to the others being killed, so he didn't resist.)