Chapter 511: Forcibly Breaking the Caged Bird Seal
Among the Uzumaki clan members, only Riori Uzumaki didn't understand what was happening, watching blankly as everyone cut their fingers. She especially didn't get why Chiga was ingesting their blood.
While Chiga was processing the blood, Ishiro beckoned to Riori. "Riori, come here."
When Riori saw Ishiro calling her, she got up and happily took two steps toward him. But then, as if remembering something, she suddenly froze.
*This scene is so familiar. Why do I feel like something bad is about to happen?* Riori stopped and tilted her head, deep in thought.
Ishiro was surprised. *What's this? Riori's gotten smarter? She knows how to think now?*
Riori had indeed recalled the many unpleasant times she had been tricked by Ishiro.
Seeing this, Ishiro spoke again, gently: "Riori, I heard you became an elite jonin?"
Riori nodded, but unconsciously took a step back.
*This tone, this smile... that's it! Teacher Ishiro is going to trick me again!* Riori thought.
Her guard was instantly up. She didn't answer his question. Her small brain began to whir, trying to find a way to escape.
But she forgot where she was. This was her clan's territory, and her elders were all around.
Seeing that Riori didn't even answer the Tsuchikage's question, a middle-aged ninja immediately said, "Riori, Lord Tsuchikage is asking you a question. Why are you backing away?"
"That's right, Riori. Lord Tsuchikage is your teacher. He's just concerned about your training. What are you hiding from?" another elder said.
Hearing her elders, Riori felt wronged. *Teacher Ishiro is clearly the one bullying me.*
But with so many of them pressuring her, she could only look at Ishiro and say, "Yes, Teacher Ishiro. I just became an elite jonin."
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Very good. Come, come, Teacher has a present for you."
He took out a scroll and handed it to her.
Riori reacted instantly. *This scroll must have ninjutsu in it! Teacher Ishiro is going to force me to learn the ninjutsu I hate the most!*
She didn't want to take it. She wanted to run. But when she turned her head, she saw all her clansmen looking at her with encouragement.
Yumi Uzumaki's father even urged her to take it quickly.
Riori could only shuffle over, taking tiny steps, and reluctantly accepted the scroll.
Ishiro patted her shoulder. "Riori, you have to work hard, okay? This scroll contains two A-rank Fire Release ninjutsu. They're very rare. You must learn them well."
Riori's eyes instantly welled up with tears. She felt so wronged!
But her clansmen were all looking at her with envy. These Uzumaki had not been ninja back in the Land of Whirlpools. They had learned all their ninjutsu in Iwagakure. Although the village took special care of them, exchanging for jutsu still required contribution points. An A-rank jutsu was something none of them could afford, yet Ishiro had just given Riori two. How could they not be envious?
Just as Riori was looking for someone to hug and cry on, Chiga finally opened her eyes.
"Alright," she said. "I've located all the Uzumaki clan members."
"Most are in the village, but there are also quite a few scattered across the shinobi world."
"Let me sort this out... these few should be at the Land of Bears branch, and these few at the Land of Waterfalls branch."
Chiga's words immediately drew everyone's attention (except Riori's).
Hearing her list the locations of the clan members on missions, the nine of them became extremely excited.
Finally, Chiga said, "Confirmed. There are about twenty-something Uzumaki clan members scattered outside. One of them is in Konoha! The others are not in the Land of Fire."
Ishiro said, "The one in Konoha is the orphan of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki."
Yumi Uzumaki's father subconsciously asked, "The Fourth Hokage had a son? I've never heard of that."
Ishiro said, "He and his wife died when the Nine-Tails was released during childbirth. Their son is Konoha's new Jinchuriki."
"Born during the Nine-Tails' rampage... so he's a year younger than Karin," Yumi's father said.
Ishiro glanced at him. "Yes. But that's not important. We have no chance of getting him back. Our goal is to bring back the *other* Uzumaki. To let your scattered clansmen stop living in fear, hiding their identities, and worrying about being discovered."
Hearing this, the nine people immediately said to Ishiro, "Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage, for thinking of our Uzumaki clan!"
One of them said, "Lord Tsuchikage, please tell us their locations. We request to go and bring them back immediately!"
Ishiro waved his hand. "Send two representatives, one man and one woman. Plus Riori, three people will be enough. I'm fast. I'll take you there myself and bring your clansmen back."
Hearing that the Tsuchikage himself was going to carry out this mission, the nine of them were incredibly moved. They immediately knelt before him, swearing an oath: "We swear to be loyal to Lord Tsuchikage and to Iwagakure until death!"
Ishiro was very satisfied. His main purpose in coming here was to increase the Uzumaki clan's sense of belonging to Iwagakure.
He helped the nine of them up. "Back then, it was I who proposed to Lord Third that we rescue you from the hands of Kumo, Kiri, and Suna. I know that when you first arrived, you may have had some misunderstandings, perhaps fearing that the village would use you as vessels for the Tailed Beasts."
"That kind of thing can't be cleared up with words. But after all these years, I believe you can all feel how the village has treated you. Iwagakure is one big family. We may not be related by blood, but we share a common philosophy. We all believe in the Will of Stone. We are family."
"The high command and I understand your feeling of living under someone else's roof. I just want to use this to tell you today that the village has always seen you as its own. We just know that sometimes, words are pale and powerless, so I have never said empty things to you like 'treat the village as your home.' What I want to say is, the village has always known what you care about, and we feel your worries. The village has also been trying its best to find your clansmen all these years. Now that we have a definite method, I came to the Uzumaki clan at the first opportunity."
Some of these words were true. For example, Ishiro really hadn't known Karin was in the village and had searched the world for Uzumaki survivors. Yumi's father knew this. But most of it was just brainwashing to promote the Will of Stone. He usually didn't even think about the Uzumaki clan, so how could he "feel their worries"?
After speaking, Ishiro didn't wait for their reaction. "Alright, quickly pick two people, and then follow me to find them."
He then led Chiga and the still-aggrieved Riori out of the living room.
Outside, many Uzumaki clansmen were waiting. Seeing the three of them, they all bowed.
Ishiro nodded to them, said nothing, and created a porcelain platform, stepping onto it with Chiga and Riori.
A moment later, the nine people from the living room also came out. Two of them, under the expectant gazes of the other seven, also stepped onto the platform. One was Yumi Uzumaki's father, whose status was special as he was the only one (besides Riori) with a connection to the high command. The other was a middle-aged female jonin.
How the remaining seven would explain things to the rest of the clan, Ishiro didn't care.
Following Chiga's guidance, Ishiro began to search for the scattered Uzumaki.
The process was very smooth. Ishiro just dropped the three of them off at the destinations, and they were able to bring the people back themselves. The wandering Uzumaki trusted people of their own blood. Especially with the simple-minded Riori there, almost no one refused.
It didn't take long. In just two days, they had found all the scattered Uzumaki.
Ishiro looked at the twenty-odd clansmen and their families on the platform, very satisfied. There were old and young, men and women. But none of them were ninja. In fact, the places they lived had little to do with the shinobi world. No matter which country they had been hiding in, they had all chosen extremely remote mountainous areas. Places where ninja wouldn't go. Perhaps that was why they had survived.
Ishiro said to Yumi's father, "There are still three people scattered outside. One is the son of Kushina Uzumaki. One is Nagato, one of the three leaders of the Akatsuki Organization. The last one, judging by the location, should be in Orochimaru's hands. We can't get the first one back, and the second one wouldn't be willing to come back. As for the third, I will find a chance to negotiate with Orochimaru."
Yumi's father nodded. "Lord Tsuchikage, thank you so much. We are already extremely grateful for what you've done."
Ishiro said nothing and took everyone directly back to the Uzumaki clan's residential area in Iwagakure.
The next day, a few staff members arranged by Ishiro went to the Uzumaki district, registered the new arrivals, and assigned them housing. Iwagakure also allocated them supplies for daily life and said they could rest for a while. After they had recovered, the village would arrange work for them.
Ishiro reviewed the process of handling the Uzumaki and felt there were no problems. After being Tsuchikage for so many years, he was very proficient at promoting the Will of Stone.
Next was to find the Uchiha. But Chiga's ability had a ten-day duration. He had to wait for the Uzumaki to fade from her perception space before she could sense a new clan.
As for these ten days, Ishiro planned to go and see Orochimaru.
For the past year, Ishiro had been cooperating with Orochimaru to study the Caged Bird Seal on Neji's head. Although they hadn't succeeded in breaking it, according to Orochimaru, they had leads.
However, Ishiro was unwilling to perform the most critical experiments on Neji. He had high hopes for him. The key experiments Orochimaru had designed would affect the soul, even if they succeeded. Even with the Yata Mirror, Ishiro was worried Neji would suffer irreversible damage.
But without those experiments, they couldn't truly break the seal.
So, Ishiro decided to make a move on the Hyuga branch members still in Konoha.
Orochimaru's previous actions had already alerted Hiashi Hyuga. Kidnapping them was impossible. In that case, he would just conduct the experiments in the Land of Fire, or even near Konoha.
With Konoha now led by Danzō, a large number of clan ninja had been forced to join Root, the Anbu, or become squad leaders. Thus, there were many Hyuga on missions outside the village.
So, Ishiro took Chiga and went to Snake Den Village in the Land of Whirlpools.
Orochimaru was somewhat surprised and wary of Ishiro's personal arrival. Ishiro's authority and strength had grown, and Orochimaru was cautious of him. Especially since his style was no different from Danzō's—he was the type to stab you in the back while cooperating with you.
What Orochimaru cared about most was that after a failed backstab, Ishiro would just calmly say: "If you can't even handle this, you're not worthy of cooperating with me." He had the perfect aura of a final boss.
But Orochimaru also had his trump cards. After his loss to Fugaku, he had focused on researching several forbidden jutsu. He was now confident that he could quickly finish Fugaku in a rematch.
Ishiro got straight to the point. "Thank you, Senior Orochimaru, for the Hyuga clan's hematopoietic stem cells you provided a few days ago. With these, I can locate all Hyuga clan members within ten kilometers in five days."
He didn't say the rest, confident Orochimaru would understand.
Sure enough, Orochimaru's eyes lit up, and he licked his lips. "The Tsuchikage is going to the Land of Fire to directly attack branch members on missions? Are you sure you can capture a large number of them at once?"
This was very important. If he could get results with just one or two, Orochimaru would have gone himself.
Ishiro nodded. "Senior Orochimaru understands me. Time is limited. How about we go to Konoha right now?"
A glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. "Lord Tsuchikage, you go first. I will arrange some village affairs and follow shortly."
He didn't want his village to be wiped out by Ishiro's subordinates while he was gone. Although he wasn't too attached to this village, it still contained a lot of secret data that needed to be moved.
Ishiro had no objection. "Then I will wait for you outside Konoha. However, I hear you have an Uzumaki clan member under you. I wonder if you'd be willing to part with him."
Orochimaru's eyes flashed. *How does he know about that?*
But his expression didn't change. He said lightly, "I do have a child. His talent is average. Is the Tsuchikage interested?"
"The Uzumaki clan has already joined Iwagakure," Ishiro said. "As for their members scattered outside, I have the right to bring them back."
His words were rather domineering, and Orochimaru was displeased. The special Uzumaki constitution was an important part of his research; he didn't want to give it up.
Seeing him silent, Ishiro didn't want to push too hard. He smiled. "I can trade for him. Is there anything you need, Senior Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru thought for a moment. "Counting the Hyuga stem cells from before, I want partial genetic material from three deceased Kage-level ninja."
Ishiro's smile froze. *Orochimaru is already researching Edo Tensei?*
If it had been before, he definitely wouldn't have made this trade. The old Orochimaru was like an unofficial member of Konoha; helping him get stronger was aiding the enemy. It wasn't worth it for an Uzumaki child of unknown talent.
But things were different now. The enmity between Danzō and Orochimaru was probably no less than his own with Obito. Orochimaru would never work for Danzō.
"Done," Ishiro said. "I will give them to you when I return to the village. Three Kage: Chiyo, Pakura, and Hanzō."
"A deal," Orochimaru nodded, then sank into the ground.
Watching Orochimaru casually sink into the ground in his own village, Ishiro was speechless. *Did he build an underground village?*
A moment later, Orochimaru emerged from the ground. This time, a giant snake was coiled around him, holding a red-haired boy of about five years old.
Ishiro used his porcelain to take the boy, and without another word, left Snake Den Village with him and Chiga.
***
Konoha Village. Lord Danzō, who had just suppressed the major clans, was facing a troublesome matter.
The source of it was the yellow-haired brat in front of him.
That's right, it was Naruto.
The first thing Danzō had done after taking power was to use his authority as Hokage to take custody of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. He had immediately placed the Tongue-Cursing Seal on him.
But after some time, when he saw Naruto again, he found the seal had vanished.
This shocked him. This had never happened before. The seal was the foundation of his control; it couldn't fail.
He quickly checked the seals on others and found no problems, which was a relief. He then investigated the Root members monitoring Naruto, but they were all loyal.
He placed the seal on Naruto again, this time keeping him by his side. But after a few days, he found the seal weakening daily until it disappeared.
*Is it because of the Nine-Tails?* Danzō was unsure. He had never used it on a Jinchuriki before (except Kinoe, who got the seal *before* becoming the Jinchuriki).
What he didn't expect was that in these few days, Naruto had grown familiar with him.
"Grandpa Hokage! Why can't I learn the Clone Jutsu?!" Naruto yelled from nearby.
Hearing this, Danzō's face darkened. Naruto's ninjutsu talent was appallingly bad. If this were any other Root member, he would have been abandoned as cannon fodder long ago. But this was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the village's strategic weapon.
But Danzō had clearly lost all patience with him. In truth, if it wasn't for observing the seal, he would have dumped him on someone else long ago.
He couldn't take it anymore. "Naruto, go back to the academy."
With that, Danzō turned and left, completely giving up on placing the seal on him.
After Danzō left, a Root ninja appeared, picked up Naruto, and took him to the academy.
But the thick-headed Naruto didn't notice Danzō's impatience. After school, he reappeared, blustering, in the Hokage's office.
"Grandpa Hokage! Teach me the Clone Jutsu! I feel like I'm almost there!"
"Grandpa Hokage, I'm hungry! I want to eat at Ichiraku Ramen!"
"Grandpa Hokage, why do you only have one eye?"
"Grandpa Hokage, why are you using a cane? Your legs are fine, right?"
"Grandpa Hokage, I'm gonna beat you and become the Seventh Hokage!"
The next day, Danzō did not go to the Hokage Tower. He worked directly from the Root base.
But that day, although Naruto didn't bother him, an Anbu came to report some bad news.
"Lord Hokage, Squad Tokuma and Squad Homon have both disappeared."
Danzō frowned. "When did this happen?"
"Squad Tokuma left the village yesterday. He was on a mission with three genin. They should have returned by now. The guards at the gate noticed something was wrong, and after an investigation, they found that Squad Homon has also lost contact."
Danzō wasn't particularly concerned about the lives of two branch members and six genin. He was thinking: *Is this a conspiracy? Is someone trying to make trouble for me?* These two Hyuga were ones *he* had forced out of the clan. Was someone using this to attack his new policies, or even him?
He didn't act rashly, but ordered the major clans to be monitored.
The next day, the Anbu reported again. "Lord Hokage, two more squads have disappeared. Both were led by Hyuga."
This time, Danzō had to take it seriously. "Is there any unusual movement from the major clans?"
"No, they are all being very obedient. No one has left the village except for normal missions."
*Is someone targeting the Hyuga clan?* Danzō thought. *Could it be Orochimaru? Is he still researching the Caged Bird Seal? What secret did he discover in the Byakugan?*
He said, "Tell the Hyuga clan not to leave the village for the time being. Recall all those currently on missions."
Ishiro and Orochimaru couldn't get to the Hyuga *in* the village, but those *outside* trying to return? That was a dream.
With the combination of Chiga's blood perception and Ishiro's Mind's Eye, all returning Hyuga squads met with disaster.
In a valley in the Land of Fire, Orochimaru was experimenting on a freshly captured Hyuga branch member. Another lay unconscious nearby. Not far away was a large pile of Hyuga corpses.
His experiments these past few days had progressed greatly. He now had a deep understanding of the Caged Bird Seal. Seventeen or eighteen branch members had already died at his hands.
Fearing Hiashi would find out and perform another remote execution, Orochimaru's experiments were all rushed, with no regard for the test subject's well-being.
Under this high-frequency experimentation, he had obtained a large amount of data. Because these were all dangerous experiments, the risks were high, but the data was also more comprehensive.
Ishiro listened to Orochimaru's explanations, gradually understanding the complexity and terror of the Caged Bird Seal.
But the more he learned, the deeper a thought in his mind grew.
When Orochimaru finally killed this ninja, Ishiro couldn't hold back any longer.
"Senior Orochimaru," he asked, "based on what you're saying, even if the seal is broken, the person will be mentally incapacitated, right?"
Orochimaru just laughed coldly. "Lord Tsuchikage, I am only responsible for breaking the seal. Whether the person becomes an idiot is not my concern."
Ishiro: ...
*After hunting geese all day, I was finally pecked by one.*
At this time, Orochimaru said, "Lord Tsuchikage, watch closely. I am about to break the Caged Bird Seal."
He arranged a large number of fuinjutsu markings on the ground, then placed the last Hyuga member, Hyuga Iroha, in the center.
He then performed a sequence of over a hundred hand seals, and finally, pointed a finger at Iroha's forehead.
Ishiro could sense a large amount of Yin chakra flow from Orochimaru's finger into Iroha's head. At the same time, the surrounding fuinjutsu also surged into the seal.
The next moment, the Caged Bird mark on Iroha's forehead began to writhe violently, as if fighting back. The unconscious Iroha also began to struggle, his eyes rolled back, and drool flowed from his mouth.
This process lasted for a long time. Finally, Ishiro, with his not-insignificant Yin Release mastery, thought he heard a *click*.
With that sound, the ugly mark suddenly shattered and slowly faded away, until Iroha's forehead was smooth.
The process was over. Orochimaru let out a bloodcurdling, joyous laugh.
He then said to Ishiro, "This Hyuga Iroha is a gift for you, Lord Tsuchikage. We were able to capture so many branch members thanks to you. Consider this your payment."
With that, Orochimaru left the valley.
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