Substitute a Plum for a Peach, Steal the Beams and Replace the Pillars
"..."
Seeing the black-robed figure appear and gently extend a hand to place a sphere of light into Hiashi's chest, Hyuga Hizashi's pupils couldn't help but shrink.
Especially seeing Hyuga Hiashi completely unable to resist, his entire body frozen in place, with only the fear in his Byakugan proving he was still conscious, he couldn't help but feel a chill at this bizarre technique.
"My lord."
He respectfully lowered his head, paused for a moment, and licked his somewhat dry lips. "My lord, may I ask... what are your plans for Hyuga Hiashi?"
The black shadow that appeared here was, of course, Hyuga Kumo, who had long been lying in ambush. The one outside was merely a shadow clone.
The plan proceeded without a hitch. Hyuga Hiashi, battered by a storm of complex emotions, didn't notice him at all and was easily caught off guard.
"It seems you can't bear to kill him?" Hyuga Kumo gave Hizashi a deep look.
"No, that's not it," Hizashi quickly shook his head, explaining, "I am not yet familiar with Hyuga Hiashi's habits and behaviors, so I worry my disguise will have flaws. If it affects your plan..."
Hyuga Kumo didn't care about his personal motives. He pulled his palm from Hyuga Hiashi's chest.
Ignoring Hizashi's uncertain and suspicious gaze, he unwrapped the bandage from Hyuga Hiashi's forehead and handed it to Hizashi, saying calmly, "Take off your forehead protector and give it to him. Use the bandage to cover your cursed seal."
Hyuga Hizashi finally noticed the wound on Hiashi's forehead. Countless speculations flooded his mind, filling him with horror.
At this moment, Hyuga Hiashi, still conscious, also gradually realized what Hizashi and the black-robed man behind him intended to do.
This man... he actually wants Hyuga Hizashi to replace him?!
Hyuga Hiashi's pupils trembled slightly, a bone-deep chill almost engulfing him.
When did this all start?
Who is this person? Someone from Kumogakure or somewhere else?
Could it be that even the Kumogakure ninja scratching his forehead with a kunai was part of the calculation?!
If that Kumo ninja hadn't scratched his forehead, he wouldn't have wrapped his wound with a bandage, and Hizashi wouldn't be able to use this bandage to perfectly conceal the Caged Bird Seal on his own forehead...
The more Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi thought about it, the more terrified they became. The latter, however, felt more relief and庆幸, glad that he had been wise enough to choose the right path.
This was no longer a mere conspiracy.
This was toying with them completely as if they were marionettes.
Everyone, including Kumogakure, the Konoha leadership, and the Hyuga clan, was being played in the palm of his hand.
"Don't worry, he'll only enter a state of suspended animation."
Only after Hizashi had tied the forehead protector on Hiashi's head did Hyuga Kumo reply calmly, "His consciousness is still thinking, but his body is no longer under his control. He has become my 'puppet'."
Hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi, who was raising his hand to cover his cursed seal with the bandage, couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
But he quickly thought of something, and a chill went down his spine.
Doesn't this mean that if he loses his value, this lord before him could personally control Hyuga Hiashi to replace him at any time?
"But," Hizashi hesitated, "the Kumogakure side..."
"That is not your concern," Hyuga Kumo interrupted before he could finish. "You only need to play your role well."
With that, he extended two fingers, his chakra surging, and used a Chakra Scalpel to gouge out Hiashi's eyes.
Splurt.
Two bloody Byakugan were gouged out. Hyuga Kumo put them away.
With this, counting the eyes of the Main Family member he had tricked Orochimaru into killing earlier, Hyuga Kumo now had three Byakugan in his possession.
However, the Caged Bird Seal destroys the cranial nerves connected to the Byakugan, not the Branch Family's Byakugan directly.
After activating the cursed seal, the Byakugan would go blind, but it would not disappear.
And this was why Hyuga Hiago and the others were so confident that Kumogakure would not discover the discrepancy too soon.
To avoid exposure, Hyuga Kumo took out a pair of blind Branch Family Byakugan from the stock Orochimaru had left him and replaced Hiashi's eyes with them.
Hyuga Hizashi, who witnessed the entire process, felt his reverence for Hyuga Kumo's methods grow, while a trace of pity appeared in his eyes as he looked at Hiashi.
As the proud head of the Main Family, he now had his Byakugan gouged out, was to be replaced by him, a member of the Branch Family, and would finally become a puppet who had lost his freedom...
Thinking of this, a morbid flush appeared on Hyuga Hizashi's face.
Brother, the despair and pain of the Branch Family, can you finally empathize with it now?
In fact, Hyuga Hiashi was indeed feeling it at this moment—the despair, powerlessness, regret, and pain of having his fate manipulated against his will. Everything that had happened today had been such a mental blow that it had nearly broken the clan head.
Especially after hearing that he would remain in this state forever, Hiashi was already screaming silently in his mind, "Kill me."
He would rather have died at the hands of Kumogakure than become a puppet with no control over himself.
But it was no longer up to him.
The moment he, as the head of the Main Family, decided to abandon Hyuga Hizashi, it was no longer up to him to have regrets.
Now, Hizashi was merely repeating what he had done to him.
"My lord."
At this moment, Hyuga Hizashi suddenly knelt, his forehead touching the ground in a deep bow, his plain robe spreading out on the floor. He asked respectfully, "Forgive my impertinence, but I have never asked for your esteemed name..."
Unlike the past, where he was forced to be respectful to Main Family members due to the cursed seal, the kneeling Hyuga Hizashi now genuinely revered this lord.
"My esteemed name?"
Hyuga Kumo's gaze lowered slightly, looking down at the kneeling Hyuga Hizashi. He said slowly, "I have not used my real name for a long time. But speaking of which, your Hyuga clan should also be considered my kin."
Hearing this, Hyuga Hizashi, whose gaze had been lowered to the ground, was startled, not expecting this lord to have connections with the Hyuga clan.
"My surname," Hyuga Kumo said softly, "is Ōtsutsuki."
A tremor, as if from the depths of his bloodline, made Hyuga Hizashi lower his head even further, but his eyes flickered as he tried to recall.
The Ōtsutsuki clan?
Is there such a ninja clan in the world?
Could it be some reclusive clan?
He had no doubt about Hyuga Kumo's lie. He even felt that his own knowledge was lacking and prepared to consult ancient texts after this matter was over.
[Ding!]
[Your lie [Ōtsutsuki Unshiki] has been judged as [Passing off a Fake as Genuine]. Hyuga Hizashi has experienced an emotional fluctuation, reaching the level of [Firmly Convinced], gaining 1000 Manifestation Points.]
[Remaining Manifestation Points: 11651]
Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Hyuga Kumo subconsciously raised an eyebrow.
Should I say, as expected of the "Ōtsutsuki Clan"?
Just by borrowing the surname, I scammed 1000 points.
It seems this lie still holds great value.
————
Click.
The door opened.
A numb-faced Hyuga Hizashi walked out, carrying the "corpse" of Hyuga Hiashi.
He held a scroll in his hand, and Hiashi's body was covered with a white cloth.
Of course, in the eyes of Hyuga Hiago, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the others, it was 'Hyuga Hiashi' who walked out carrying the corpse of 'Hyuga Hizashi'.
"Hiashi, have you destroyed the Byakugan with the cursed seal?" the cautious Hyuga Hiago asked.
Hyuga Hizashi gently placed Hiashi's "corpse" on the ground, his head lowered, and did not answer Hyuga Hiago's question. But Hiago only assumed he was lost in grief.
He bent down, lifted the white cloth from the "corpse," pried open the eyelids to look at the dim Byakugan, and his tense old face finally relaxed slightly. He turned and nodded to the Main Family elders behind him.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.