UK:GSW Chapter 448 – The Great Upheaval of the Hyuga Clan, the Truth of the Caged Bird Jutsu
The Hyuga clan had encountered the most serious clan incident in a thousand years—one wrong move, and they could completely collapse.
For the Hyuga clan—or more accurately, for the religious elders who acted as the rulers and predators of the clan—the ones who would truly "GG" in this turmoil would only be them. The clan's ecological position would not be replaced, and under the leadership of their lunar relatives, the Otsutsuki on the Moon, they would step into a brand new future.
Yes, that was precisely what terrified the predators of the Hyuga clan. When the Otsutsuki on the Moon, due to their deep loathing for the Hyuga clan's internal situation, forcibly intervened in the clan's governance, the Hyuga actually had no room to choose.
Flip the table?
Sorry, but the Moon Otsutsuki's strength utterly crushed the Hyuga clan. And as far as the Hidden Leaf Village's high-ranking officials were concerned, the Hyuga's closed-off and extreme clan environment had long displeased them—borderline disgusted them. After all, the Hyuga clan's caste system was in direct opposition to the ideals on which the Hidden Leaf was founded.
If it weren't for the Hyuga Main House holding absolute control over the Branch House through the Caged Bird Jutsu, and if the Hyuga weren't such an important clan to the Leaf—so that any conflict between them would result in heavy losses with no alternative replacement—Leaf leadership would have taken action against them long ago.
Now, however, the Leaf leadership had brought in the Moon Otsutsuki—same lineage as the Hyuga, stronger, and fully capable of replacing the Hyuga's ecological niche. Why would they need to worry about the Hyuga's resistance or attempts to overturn the table?
Moreover, Orochimaru and his group had already devised a safe method to remove the Caged Bird Jutsu. Once this method reached the Branch House, would those Branch members still willingly remain the Main House's dogs?
Perhaps some who were already completely domesticated would be willing. But many others? Not a chance.
For example, the younger brother of the recently inaugurated Main House head, Hyuga Hiashi—the Branch House head, Hyuga Hizashi. Although he was on good terms with his elder brother, he had no desire to remain a dog, especially when thinking about how his own children would also have to live as dogs. That thought filled him with resentment.
So when the Moon Otsutsuki came knocking, Hizashi, though shocked and at a loss, couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope.
Then, in this very situation, the Leaf leadership quietly approached Hizashi, told him about the method to remove the Caged Bird Jutsu, and asked if he was willing to cooperate.
Hizashi was excited on the spot. But out of affection for his brother Hiashi, he still hesitated.
That's when Uchiha Kei approached Hizashi and told him about the parallel worlds, letting him know about his son—Hyuga Neji.
In that moment, Hizashi awakened. He clearly realized that his brother was his brother, but he was himself. They might be blood siblings, but they were still Main House and Branch House—victims of the caste system. And his son, Neji, would also become such a victim.
Especially when Uchiha Kei told him that Neji possessed Kage-level talent, but because of the Caged Bird Jutsu, that talent could never be realized—Hizashi completely exploded.
From that moment on, Hizashi was no longer merely the Branch House head of the Hyuga—he was a failed father, and a rebel seeking to carve out a new sky for the Branch House.
Thus, Hizashi chose to cooperate with the Leaf leadership, quietly contacting many Branch members dissatisfied with their status and yearning to break free from the Caged Bird Jutsu, forming a secret rebel alliance.
The Leaf, in turn, fulfilled their promise and removed the Caged Bird Jutsu from these people.
When the Caged Bird Jutsu vanished, every one of these Branch members lost control of their emotions—because this was a sensation they had not felt since childhood: true freedom, with their souls and wills no longer bound.
If you weren't Branch, you could never understand this feeling.
Many cried and laughed at the same time, some shed silent tears, while others simply stood there, quietly savoring their newfound freedom.
Undoubtedly, for these Branch members, this was a new day—in every sense of the word—a day of rebirth.
And so, the matter of the Branch House was settled. Meanwhile, the Moon Otsutsuki continued to exert relentless pressure on the Hyuga clan, making life very uncomfortable for them.
They wanted to seek help from other clans, but the Leaf leadership had already informed all internal factions in advance. As a result, even the clans who usually got along well with the Hyuga chose to coldly watch from the sidelines, claiming this was an internal matter of the "Byakugan clan" and they could not interfere.
Truth be told, the Hyuga Main/Branch system had long been disliked by other clans. After all, under this system, Branch members would always outnumber Main members. And since everyone could attend the Leaf's ninja academy, contact between other clans and Branch members was not rare.
In the ninja wars, most of the Hyuga's fighting strength came from the Branch House. Main House members rarely took missions outside and almost never appeared on the battlefield—Hyuga Main House shinobi were a rare sight outside.
For the Leaf, ninety percent of the Hyuga's contributions came from the Branch House.
Yet under the Hyuga's clan system, all the glory earned by Branch members was seized by the Main House, leaving Branch with nothing—because in this caste system, Branch were tools and servants, and in feudal times, everything belonged to the head of the house.
And who was the head of the house?
Naturally, the Main House.
So, who with a normal sense of justice could tolerate this?
Certainly not the Leaf.
In fact, many times, the Leaf wanted to change the Hyuga's situation but couldn't, because it was too unique—there was no way to start.
You could see this in the original story: even Might Guy, the strongest taijutsu user in the Leaf, could do nothing when it came to his own student's situation.
Now, with the Leaf high-ups bringing in another Byakugan clan to solve the Hyuga's thousand-year-old poison, how could anyone or any ninja clan possibly help the Hyuga Main House? If they didn't step on them, it was only because the Leaf had made it clear they would handle it.
Very soon, the Hyuga Main House realized they were isolated. And at that very moment—when they were shocked, furious, and felt abandoned—Hizashi led the Branch House in open rebellion, siding publicly with the Moon Otsutsuki and announcing an end to the old system.
They didn't seek to abolish the distinction between Main and Branch entirely—after all, the Moon Otsutsuki had it too—but they demanded the same dignity of personhood for both sides, with only different divisions of labor. Never again could the Caged Bird Jutsu be used to control the Branch, to make them lifelong servants of the Main House!
The Branch would enjoy the same treatment and honors as the Main House. The Main House could no longer seize the fruits of the Branch's labor without shame!
Frankly, such demands were peaceful—almost abstract—in Uchiha Kei's view.
Based on the thinking of the ancient ancestors, Uchiha Kei felt that if the Branch didn't outright wipe out the Main House, or put the Caged Bird Jutsu on the Main House to let them taste the same treatment, it was almost too theatrical—like something from a female-oriented world.
Still, this was the world of Naruto, and the Leaf was a place woven with bonds, passion, and familial ties since its founding. So the Branch's stance was understandable.
If it were the Hidden Mist, the Main House would probably have faced annihilation by now.
But the Hyuga Main House clearly didn't understand how good they had it. They were shocked and furious, loudly denouncing the Branch's betrayal with the attitude of having suffered the vilest treachery.
They immediately prepared to use the Caged Bird Jutsu to severely punish these rebels, even considering killing a few of the defiant Branch as a warning to others—to show them the fate of traitors.
Of course, the one who did not support such extreme measures was the new clan head, Hiashi, who had only been in position for less than two months. He hadn't yet become a monster of power, had no real authority (since the elders held it), and still had feelings for his brother.
However, what the powerless clan head said meant nothing—the elders didn't listen, and went ahead with their plan.
Then, to their despair and horror, they discovered—
The Caged Bird Jutsu no longer worked on these rebels. And led by Hyuga Hizashi, these Branch members removed the Leaf headbands they always wore.
Originally, the Branch wore headbands to cover the ugly Caged Bird seals on their foreheads. The Main House hadn't noticed the seals were gone because they were always covered.
Now, seeing clean, unmarked foreheads shocked the Main House, then filled them with fear.
This meant their absolute control over the Branch—their condition of lording over them—was completely destroyed. Their good days were forcibly ended.
The predators of the Hyuga Main House could neither imagine nor accept this, because it meant losing their lofty position and the legal right to take everything from the Branch.
Some elders broke down on the spot, shouting furiously and accusing the Branch of betraying their ancestors and the Hyuga ideal. They claimed that without the Caged Bird Jutsu, anyone could steal the Byakugan and the Hyuga would become prey for the entire ninja world.
In short, removing the Caged Bird was portrayed as the gravest of sins—dragging the Hyuga into ruin, making them eternal sinners.
This was moral coercion—standing on the moral high ground and pointing fingers.
And to be fair, these old geezers were good at it—good enough to make some Branch members feel anxious, even guilty.
But this was the case for most shinobi: few were skilled speakers or emotional persuaders, and many could be talked into a corner by mere words.
Still, in this situation, the Main House elders were destined for disappointment.
The Moon Otsutsuki immediately displayed their aggression, directly criticizing and dismantling the Main House's moral arguments—spitting on the so-called high ground they claimed.
The Main House's claim that the Caged Bird was to "protect the clan" was shredded. The Moon Otsutsuki, who held the original form of the Caged Bird Jutsu, revealed that it was designed only to activate if the bearer died or their Byakugan was stolen—destroying the eye to protect it. It never forced control over the bearer, nor was it impossible to remove.
In fact, it was always removable. The Moon Otsutsuki only applied it to clan members when they went on missions outside, and removed it upon their return—purely to protect the Byakugan.
The creator of the technique was the late Otsutsuki Hamura himself, constructed with the help of his elder brother, the Sage of Six Paths—a supremely refined technique, approaching the ultimate level of Yin–Yang Release.
It had been perfect at the start and used unchanged by the Moon Otsutsuki ever since.
The Hyuga also originally received this technique, but a thousand years later, it had become the current Caged Bird Jutsu—clearly the result of the Main House altering it to fully control and enslave the Branch. From today's situation, the Main House had succeeded, deceiving the Branch for generations and turning the Hyuga into a caste-bound clan.
When these truths were revealed, the Main House's moral coercion crumbled—and the backlash was severe.
The Branch's shock turned to extreme anger: at the Main House, for lying to them for countless years; for enslaving them for ages.
That anger ignited at once, beyond even Hizashi's ability to control.
Today was destined to be the Hyuga Main House's day of disaster.
But it was also the Hyuga clan's day of rebirth. From today on, they could cast off their heavy chains and truly begin a new life.
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