Chapter 81

The sound of someone moving around could be heard by his ear.

Naruto Shingo woke up from a daze, trying to open his eyes, but found that his limbs had lost all sensation. The only part of his body that still functioned was his brain.

He didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.

He could hear someone moving around beside him, but he didn't know who it was or where he was.

He could only feel that the place where he was lying was very cold, and a smell similar to disinfectant was seeping into his nostrils, as if he were in a hospital.

A cold and solemn atmosphere enveloped him.

Seemingly noticing the slight movement of Shingo's body on the operating table, a young man in a white hooded coat, standing by a table, looked over at the operating table and then continued to mix the medicine.

This young man was Shiro.

Since the next step was to conduct the experiment to break the Caged Bird Seal, many conditions needed to be prepared in advance.

First, a live body of a Hyuga branch family ninja was required. After all, he couldn't use Ayumi's body for such a dangerous experiment without any safety guarantees.

Although he had previously experimented on human bodies, he found that when the human body lost chakra, it could use natural energy to replace life energy.

However, those were just ordinary human bodies, and he only needed a general conclusion. The details still needed further exploration.

He not only had to save Ayumi's life but also couldn't easily abandon the precious Byakugan.

Therefore, he had the five Insect Men hunt Hyuga branch family ninjas. These ninjas all possessed the Byakugan, and ordinary people and ninjas could not hide from the Byakugan's vision.

In terms of insight, even the Sharingan was far inferior.

However, the Insect Men did not rely solely on chakra for combat. Without chakra, they were only limited in their secret techniques, but their taijutsu was still formidable.

Moreover, natural energy was immune to pressure points.

The Hyuga clan's pressure points could only block chakra flow, giving the Insect Men a natural advantage against Shingo.

Using natural energy for taijutsu rendered Shingo's Gentle Fist ineffective.

In such a situation, Shingo's taijutsu power was greatly reduced, and it was only a matter of time before he was captured.

Ayumi provided the list, but the surveillance was handled by a clay figure named 'Daimyo' by Shiro.

In terms of stealth, Shiro believed that 'Daimyo' was no weaker than the white creatures that combined Wood Release and tailed beast factors.

As long as the location of the Hyuga branch family ninja could be determined, the rest was simple.

After a successful hunt, 'Daimyo' would quietly transport the captured ninja back to Konoha and deliver them to the laboratory for Shiro to handle.

After Shiro finished mixing the medicine, he placed it in a tray with instruments, carried the tray to the operating table, and carefully observed Shingo's body after placing the tray.

Shingo had been delivered here an hour ago. According to the time his team was supposed to return to the village, they should have reported to the Hokage Tower by the evening of the next day or the morning after that.

If Konoha discovered Shingo's disappearance, they would certainly inform the Hyuga clan. What would happen after that, Shiro couldn't guarantee 100%.

To be safe, the time left for Shiro was not very ample.

It was clear that Shingo, lying on the operating table, was very tense. As a jonin, he had already sensed someone watching him.

His forehead protector had been removed, revealing a green cross-shaped curse mark with two reverse green hooks on the sides.

This was the Caged Bird Seal imprinted on the Hyuga branch family ninjas.

It was also the problem Shiro urgently needed to solve.

Shingo's chakra was blocked, preventing him from activating the Byakugan. Additionally, he couldn't open his eyes, so he couldn't see who was standing beside him or where he was.

Shiro picked up a transparent glass bottle from the tray. This bottle was made of a material that easily absorbed chakra and had a seal pattern attached to it. He placed the bottle's opening over Shingo's chest.

Chakra flowed from his palm, triggering the seal pattern on the bottle, immediately creating a strong absorption effect. Shingo's chakra began to flow into the bottle at a visible rate.

As the chakra in the bottle deepened in color, it indicated that more chakra was being gathered.

Shiro ignored this and began to focus, closely observing Shingo's every move.

He needed to use a sensory jutsu to understand how the Caged Bird Seal was activated.

According to Ayumi, the Caged Bird Seal had two activation methods: one was triggered by the main family ninja.

They could choose to make the branch family ninja suffer excruciating pain or destroy their eyes and brain nerves.

This was the active triggering of the Caged Bird Seal.

The other method was passive, where the Caged Bird Seal would automatically destroy the branch family ninja's eyes and brain nerves upon their death or when their eyes were removed.

It was a very terrifying curse.

"Aaaaaah!"

Suddenly, when Shingo's chakra level dropped to a life-threatening point, his body broke through the limits of the specially formulated anesthetic, and he let out a horrific scream.

His curse mark glowed green, producing a form of chakra that Shiro had never seen before.

This chakra, once generated, flowed directly into Shingo's brain, causing significant damage.

It was completely different from the chakra flow when Ruri activated her Sharingan.

Shiro stopped absorbing Shingo's chakra, and the chakra in the bottle began to flow back. The Caged Bird Seal on Shingo's forehead calmed down, and the chakra flowed back into the seal.

Shiro picked up the chakra-absorbing glass bottle, which had visible cracks and shattered in his hand, with pieces falling to the ground.

"Indeed, it's this situation."

Seeing Shingo fall unconscious in extreme pain, Shiro let out a sigh of relief.

The development of events did not exceed his expectations.

So-called 'jutsu' is essentially an application of chakra, regardless of how it evolves.

For example, the Sharingan's genjutsu: achieving the condition of 'eye contact,' using one's chakra to invade the target's brain nerves, and manipulating the target's brain nerves.

In this process, chakra forms the concept of 'jutsu,' allowing control over the enemy's brain nerves.

Powerful genjutsu users can hypnotize the target's brain nerves at will, achieving the desired effect.

This applies not only to the Sharingan but to other genjutsu as well.

Whether triggered by sight, smell, touch, or other sensory genjutsu, the user's chakra must flow into the target's brain nerves to achieve hypnosis.

Depending on the user's chakra control skills and the structure of the 'jutsu' in the target's brain nerves, the types of genjutsu vary.

However, there is one crucial point to note.

All genjutsu have a time limit.

The chakra sent out is not infinite. No matter how hard one tries to maintain it, the chakra will eventually dissipate.

This means that as time goes on, the genjutsu user will run out of chakra, leading to the genjutsu being broken.

Chakra cannot sustain the concept of jutsu indefinitely.

This applies to ninjutsu and curse seals as well.

The duration is crucial.

The flames released by Fire Release jutsu exist for a short time, unless there is something flammable to sustain the flames.

These flames are not real flames but are essentially chakra formed into the concept of 'jutsu.'

The maintenance of a curse seal cannot last forever and must have a 'time limit' mechanism.

However, to achieve the condition of a time limit for the Caged Bird Seal, the observation just now revealed a significant flaw in the activation of the Caged Bird Seal.

Using the Spirit Sensing Technique, Shiro detected that the special chakra generated by the Caged Bird Seal remained in Shingo's brain nerves.

This chakra did not last long in Shingo's brain and had almost disappeared.

Shiro smiled.

The experiment was dangerous, but the results were not too bad.

At the moment of activation, the Caged Bird Seal system generates physical chakra.

This part of the chakra, not being absorbed back by the Caged Bird Seal, was completely consumed.

By repeating this process, the Caged Bird Seal would eventually lose the chakra needed to maintain the 'jutsu' concept and would break down from the inside.

"The Caged Bird Seal was not fully triggered. It seems that the death caused by the disappearance of chakra is also one of the triggering methods of the Caged Bird Seal."

This made things much easier.

The conditions and assumptions were established.

He also had a complete method to replace chakra with a life energy source, ensuring the body's survival without chakra.

Shiro placed his palm on Shingo's forehead to examine his brain condition.

This was the most critical part of the experiment, and the situation was a bit dire.

He had timely stopped the chakra extraction to prevent the Caged Bird Seal from fully activating, but the special chakra had already rushed to Shingo's brain, causing damage.

The challenge was here.

If he could repeatedly conduct the experiment, draining chakra to break down the Caged Bird Seal would not be difficult. However, he needed to ensure the safety of the brain nerves during the activation of the Caged Bird Seal.

Shiro pondered, then squatted down and picked up the glass shards from the floor.

The chakra-absorbing tool had shattered, and on the glass shards, besides Shingo's chakra, there was another chakra residue.

The collision of two different chakras caused the glass bottle to shatter.

"Some of it was attracted, but the absorption power seems insufficient... It seems I need a tool with stronger absorption power."

Shiro walked to a nearby shelf, picked up two chakra bottles, and then took a syringe from the tray, injecting a solution into Shingo's body.

This was a solution to maintain the body's vitality.

Since the next experiment was even more dangerous, Shingo's self-recovery ability needed to be enhanced.

Otherwise, the subject would die before the experiment was completed.

With Shingo unconscious, Shiro began the second experiment.

This time, Shiro prepared to use two chakra bottles: one with regular absorption power, placed on Shingo's chest, and another with stronger absorption power, placed on his forehead.

If the Caged Bird Seal activated again, producing special chakra, he would try to absorb it and see if it worked.

Thus, the operating table was filled with Shingo's painful screams, which echoed continuously.

"..."

After about two hours, seeing Shingo on the verge of death, Shiro stopped the experiment.

Continuing would likely cause Shingo to die from the pain.

Shiro frowned in thought.

During the repeated experiments, he found that the special chakra generated by the Caged Bird Seal had a strong affinity with Shingo's body.

Even with stronger chakra bottles, the effect was minimal.

Continuing this way, even with better tools, it would be useless.

Shingo's ability to endure further experiments was uncertain.

The pain and lethality caused by the Caged Bird Seal's activation far exceeded Shiro's expectations.

"Is this a curse seal specifically developed for the Byakugan?"

If so, it was not hard to imagine the close connection between the Caged Bird Seal and the Byakugan.

Through the experiments, Shiro had a good grasp of how the Caged Bird Seal damaged the Hyuga branch family ninjas and how to control the risks.

"This is taking too long..."

Shiro dared not try to let Shingo die to observe more thoroughly.

This meant Shiro would need to continuously capture Hyuga branch family ninjas. Doing it once or twice might go unnoticed, but more than three times, and the Hyuga main family would realize someone was targeting them.

At that point, the Hyuga branch family ninjas might not leave the village to perform missions.

This would make obtaining subjects very difficult.

Moreover, at this stage, there was no need to study the Hyuga branch family ninjas' bodies further.

Shiro had learned about the connection between the Caged Bird Seal and the incomplete Byakugan, including its activation and response methods.

Now, he only needed a complete sample for observation.

—Hunting Hyuga main family ninjas.

Understanding the differences between the two Byakugan and using the Spirit Sensing Technique to possess their mental world to find the hidden information of the Caged Bird Seal, allowing for reverse engineering of the seal.

This would ensure the experiment to break the Caged Bird Seal was foolproof.

This task could not be left to Ayumi; Shiro had to plan the action himself.

Compared to branch family ninjas, Hyuga main family ninjas rarely left the village for missions. Even when they did, they were likely protected by powerful branch family guards.

"Only the five Insect Men can't handle so many powerful ninjas; they might let the target escape. I need to find an opportunity to leave the village."

Shiro ended the experiment on Shingo and thought about how to hunt Hyuga main family ninjas.

◎

Three days later, in the afternoon.

Konoha jonin Naruto Shingo had gone missing. When the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, saw the report from the Anbu, he frowned.

According to the mission assigned to Shingo's team, they should have returned to Konoha by the morning of the previous day to report at the Hokage Tower.

However, it had been over a day since then.

According to the Anbu operating in the Fire Country, there was no trace of Shingo's team.

Currently, four Anbu were heading to the Land of Waves to investigate the disappearance of jonin Shingo.

The disappearance of a jonin was not a small matter for Konoha.

With the recent peaceful environment, the workload of the Anbu had significantly decreased, and they no longer needed to constantly monitor the Fire Country for threats.

However, the investigation in the Land of Waves would take about four to five days to report back.

Thinking about this, Hiruzen tapped his desk, and an Anbu appeared from the shadows, awaiting orders.

"Deliver this to the Hyuga clan leader."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The Anbu took the scroll from Hiruzen and disappeared from the office.

After the Anbu left, Hiruzen took a deep breath.

Although it was not a major issue for the village, the disappearance of a jonin, especially a Hyuga clan ninja, required timely communication with the clan.

After all, the Hyuga clan's ninjas were unique.

The branch family ninjas, restricted by the main family's Caged Bird Seal, should be allowed to judge the situation themselves.

As Hokage, he was not well-suited to handle such sensitive clan matters.

Time passed, and Hiruzen noticed the sky had darkened outside. He tidied up the documents on his desk and left for home.

Less than half an hour after Hiruzen left, the office was dimly lit, with only a bit of moonlight.

Silence filled the room, and a lump rose from the floor, with a pair of dull golden eyes scanning the office.

The body slowly emerged from the floor, forming a soft, twisted human shape, quietly searching for recent mission reports on the desk.

After an unknown amount of time, a black shadow quickly approached, and a silver blade sliced through the air, mercilessly cutting the twisted human shape in half.

The upper body flew out and stuck to the wall, staring at the sudden appearance of the Konoha Anbu with a pair of dull golden, inorganic eyes.

It spoke in an incomprehensible language, showing no fear.

Then, under the Anbu's surprised gaze, the lower body sank into the floor like a swamp and disappeared.

The Anbu quickly reacted, swinging the blade again at the upper body stuck to the wall.

The upper body, like the lower body, sank into the wall and retreated.

The blade sliced through the air, only to hit the hard wall, leaving a crack.