Uchiha En fell into contemplation as he looked at the bluish cross mark and two reverse hook lines on Hyuga Asana's forehead.
The original work provided too little information about the Caged Bird Seal. Frankly, the only confirmed fact was that the Caged Bird Seal was imposed by the Hyuga Main Family to restrict the Byakugan's abilities, and once the seal was placed, members of the Hyuga Main Family could consciously destroy the brain tissue of the person bearing the seal.
"Asana, does the Caged Bird Seal disappear after a person dies?" Uchiha En asked.
Hyuga Asana nodded and said, "It should. I once saw a senior member of the Branch Family who was severely injured on the battlefield and couldn't be saved after being brought back to the clan.
He was a friend of my father's, and our entire family attended his funeral. At that time, the Caged Bird Seal was not on his forehead."
Uchiha En nodded. He also remembered that after Neji died in the original work, the seal on his head slowly disappeared.
However, it was unknown whether the disappearance was due to the seal's Chakra destroying the Byakugan and the brain, or if it was due to the soul leaving the body.
If it was the former, there was a ready-made method to break the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal.
All he needed to do was learn the Living Corpse Reincarnation from Orochimaru, then have Orochimaru help cultivate a clone of Hyuga Asana, and finally transfer her soul into the clone via the Living Corpse Reincarnation. The Caged Bird Seal would then be broken.
But did the Caged Bird Seal only affect the body? Uchiha En felt it wasn't that simple.
Because he remembered a scene also from the original work: when Hyuga Hiashi's younger brother, Hyuga Hizashi, was resurrected via Edo Tensei by Yakushi Kabuto during the Fourth Great Ninja War to fight the Shinobi Allied Forces, the Caged Bird Seal mark was still on his head.
However, during the fight between the Edo Tensei Hyuga Hizashi and Hyuga Hiashi, Hiashi never used the seal, so Uchiha En couldn't be sure whether the seal was truly functional.
If Hyuga Hiashi merely refrained from using the Caged Bird Seal out of guilt or other emotions, it would indicate that the seal did not only affect the body, but was likely deeply etched into the soul.
If it involved the soul, the difficulty of breaking the Caged Bird Seal would increase significantly.
At least at this stage, Uchiha En couldn't think of a second solution besides killing all the Main Family members to prevent anyone from activating the Caged Bird Seal.
"Time is almost up. We should go to school. Let's stop here for today!"
Hyuga Asana's words interrupted Uchiha En's thoughts.
By the time Uchiha En recovered his senses, Hyuga Asana had already re-bandaged her head and turned to leave.
She needed to hurry back to the Hyuga Clan to escort Hyuga Chiwa to school.
In comparison, Uchiha En had plenty of time. He took out the dry rations he had prepared, ate breakfast by the river, and then headed to school.
There was only one week left before the fourth-year students would graduate and head to the battlefield early.
Regardless of their grades, all students were seizing the moment to make their final efforts.
Uchiha En was somewhat unaccustomed to the strong academic atmosphere of Class 4-2.
"En, I have some inside information about the team assignments. Are you interested?" As soon as Uchiha En arrived in the classroom, Yamanaka Teruzuki leaned over and asked.
"What? Did you find partners from the Nara and Akimichi Clans?" Uchiha En asked.
"No. The clan said my partner would depend on whether there were any members of the Nara or Akimichi Clans who had lost their partners on the battlefield.
But the war situation is very tense right now, and many Ino–Shika–Chō members who lose partners re-form teams locally on the battlefield. Even if there are any available, it probably won't be my turn."
"Then who is your inside information about?" Uchiha En asked.
"Lots of people, I heard..." Yamanaka Teruzuki relayed the news he had heard from an unknown source to Uchiha En.
This news covered the team assignments for half the students in the class.
Surprisingly, judging solely by the personnel configuration and complementary abilities, the news seemed somewhat reliable. Uchiha En became a little interested: "Yamanaka Teruzuki, is there any information about my team assignment?"
"Hehe! I thought you could keep resisting the urge to ask!"
"Cut the nonsense. Is there or not?"
"Of course! You, me, and Hyuga Asana are all on the same team," Yamanaka Teruzuki said.
Uchiha En frowned upon hearing this: "Are you sure?"
"Who can be certain about this kind of thing? I just heard it from someone else," Yamanaka Teruzuki replied.
"Someone else? Who told you?"
"It was my uncle. After my father died in battle, my mother and I relied on my uncle for care. He is responsible for intelligence work over at the Hokage Building, so I feel the information should be quite reliable."
After hearing Yamanaka Teruzuki's explanation, Uchiha En no longer had any doubts about the supposed team assignment.
Yamanaka Teruzuki's uncle must have intentionally leaked this news to Yamanaka Teruzuki.
And it was likely done at the suggestion of the Third Hokage.
The Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, the mental strength secret techniques and sensory abilities of the Yamanaka Clan, plus the insight of the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan—this squad was definitely a top-tier reconnaissance team, not inferior at all to the team Hinata was on in the original work.
A top-tier reconnaissance team like this, even if composed of Genin, would be assigned very dangerous missions during wartime.
Informing the squad members of their teammates a few days in advance would allow the team to get some preliminary coordination, or at least become more familiar with each other.
This would be beneficial for executing missions better in the future.
To be honest, if he had a choice, Uchiha En wouldn't want to be in such a squad.
But it seemed he had no choice. Moreover, Hyuga Asana was also in this squad. If it was just the two of them, they should be able to form a rapport more easily, right? This was a blessing in disguise.
He just didn't know who the supervising teacher would be.
A top-tier reconnaissance team like this would definitely be led by someone initially; the teacher would only leave once the squad gradually became accustomed to the rhythm of the battlefield.
"I hope this teacher is competent!" Uchiha En thought to himself.
The next morning, while training by the river, Uchiha En told Hyuga Asana about the team assignments.
Hyuga Asana was stunned for a moment, then said, "It seems my Medical Ninja plan is ruined. I'll have to accompany you on the most dangerous missions."
"Accompany me?"
"That's right! Yamanaka Teruzuki's clan and mine both belong to the Hokage Faction, but you are from the Uchiha Clan. I don't need to elaborate on the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and Hokage-sama, do I?
Furthermore, Yamanaka Teruzuki is the only person in the entire class you could call a friend, and Hokage-sama was already aware of your relationship with me. In a sense, this squad was established because of you."