Chapter 2 — The Caged Bird, Target of All Arrows
After finishing his modest dinner of instant noodles and boiled eggs, Hyūga Ritsu stayed behind in Hiruko's tent to rest.
His teacher, meanwhile, left to "pull some strings" — to seek out the commander of the eastern front, one of the legendary Sannin, the famed genius Orochimaru.
Hiruko and Orochimaru were former classmates — in fact, he had studied alongside all three of the Sannin back in the Academy days.
But while the Sannin soared like phoenixes among the clouds, Hiruko had always been the sparrow perched quietly beside them, content to flutter in their shadow.
He had long since grown tired of being a nameless, colorless man — which was why he had dared to defy Konoha's laws and secretly dabble in the forbidden art known as the Chimera Technique.
He wanted proof — proof that he, too, could touch the domain of genius.
Yet to Ritsu, his teacher was far from ordinary.
Whether or not he could truly stand alongside the Sannin didn't matter. The fact that Hiruko had taken the Second Hokage's original jutsu — a crude technique meant to fuse men and beasts — and refined it into one capable of seizing and harmonizing five Kekkei Genkai was enough to mark him as a man of extraordinary brilliance.
Most shinobi couldn't even comprehend a forbidden jutsu, let alone reinvent it.
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"Caged Bird…"
Ritsu murmured the words as he reached up and removed his forehead protector. He took a small mirror from his pouch and held it before him. Reflected in its surface was the faint outline of an "X"-shaped seal etched into his skin.
That was the Caged Bird Curse Mark — placed upon him by the Hyūga Main House when he was only three years old.
His right index finger brushed lightly over the mark. Even after all these years, the touch of it made his pulse quicken.
From the moment that cursed brand had been burned into his flesh, he had sworn that one day he would destroy it — this symbol of bondage, this mark of servitude masquerading as protection.
To achieve that dream, he had schemed his way close to Hiruko, eventually becoming his disciple at the age of six.
But truth be told, Hiruko hadn't been his first choice.
His original goal had been Orochimaru, the greatest scientific mind of the shinobi world — a man rumored to grasp secrets that even the gods envied.
The Caged Bird Seal had existed for over a thousand years without a single successful removal. That alone spoke volumes of its power. And in Ritsu's mind, if anyone could crack such an ancient curse, it would be Orochimaru.
Unfortunately, at the time he was merely a Branch House child — a minor Hyūga with a "gifted" label and little else. Too young, too low in rank, and far too insignificant to even stand in the same room as one of the Sannin.
So he compromised.
If he couldn't reach the phoenix, then he would start with the sparrow that once perched beside it.
And so he sought out Hiruko — a seemingly unremarkable jōnin, but one whose forbidden research Ritsu knew, from his prior-life memories, would one day shake the shinobi world.
In the movie timeline of this world, Hiruko would ultimately succeed — using his perfected Chimera Technique to absorb four Kekkei Genkai into his own body. He had claimed that acquiring a fifth would grant him true immortality.
Immortality — who could say if it was real or mere delusion?
But Ritsu didn't need eternal life.
All he wanted was to erase the curse carved into his flesh.
That alone would be enough.
After Ritsu became Hiruko's disciple, his teacher dug deeper into the mystery and confirmed what Ritsu had long suspected: the root of the Caged Bird curse was the Byakugan itself. There were two ways to break such a seal. One was to devise an unbinding jutsu surpassing the skill of the seal's creator — an almost impossible task, for the Hyūga ancestor who forged the Caged Bird had been a prodigy of terrifying genius. Hiruko admitted that even with his talents, he could not promise he could invent such an antidote in his lifetime.
Fortunately, there was another approach: cut off the source.
If the Byakugan — the very bloodline limit that the curse latched onto — could be changed, the curse would lose its foundation. Like a tree without roots or a river without a source, it would wither and vanish on its own.
By sheer luck, Hiruko's Chimera Technique targeted Kekkei Genkai. In other words, it might be possible to use the Chimera Technique to alter the Byakugan and dissolve the Caged Bird seal.
"At last… there's a chance to get rid of this thing," Ritsu whispered to himself.
"Hmm? What did you say, Ritsu?" Hiruko pushed aside the tent flap and stepped in.
"Just thinking out loud," Ritsu replied, reaching for his forehead protector and retying it across his brow. He noticed the paper in Hiruko's hand. "Is it ready?"
"Just a word from Orochimaru," Hiruko said, handing the document over. Ritsu unfolded it and scanned the contents carefully as Hiruko continued, "Before I left, Orochimaru told me something: the theft of Hyūga Taisho's Byakugan has stirred a massive uproar in the village. The clan's head — Hyūga Hiashi himself — is traveling to the eastern front."
"Only Hiashi?" Ritsu asked.
"They say several Main House members and a number of Branch guards are accompanying him," Hiruko answered, his expression darkening. "Orochimaru let slip that their arrival is less a condolence visit and more a reckoning. At the Hokage's office they're demanding someone be held responsible for the loss of the Main House's Byakugan — accusing the front-line Branch reinforcements of responding too slowly. The finger points squarely at you, Ritsu."
"Predictable," Ritsu said, calm on the surface. He folded the paper and tucked it into his sleeve.
Hiruko let out a long, helpless sigh. He had underestimated how far the Hyūga Main House would go. He had hoped that, since Ritsu had saved Taisho's life, the Main House would at least preserve a shred of honor and not pin the blame on a Branch boy. But it seemed they needed no honor at all — or perhaps they never truly regarded their Branch families as kin. To them, Branch members might as well be servants, and punishment from the Main House was simply their prerogative. And so Ritsu, who had rushed into battle to pull Taisho from death's door, had become the target of every sharp tongue.
"If Orochimaru hadn't tipped us off out of old school ties," Hiruko muttered, "they would have arrived with no room left to maneuver."
"Ritsu, leave now," Hiruko urged. "Get out of the immediate whirlpool. But you must understand one thing: if you use the Chimera Technique to erase the Caged Bird, you will become a living thorn to the Main House. As your teacher, I have to say this — if it ever becomes absolutely necessary, save yourself. Stay far from the danger."
Those words were awkward, almost unbefitting a shinobi's code. To "stay far from danger" in this case meant abandoning the village without permission — in plain terms, desertion. That Hiruko would say such a thing showed how truly he considered Ritsu like a son.
Ritsu was silent for a few heartbeats, then nodded. "I understand."
"Then move quickly." Hiruko pulled back the flap and peered at the dimming sky outside. "If we leave now, we can reach the laboratory before dawn."