The sound of footsteps came from beside him.
Hyuga Shingo awoke from a dazed state, wanting to open his eyes, only to find that his limbs were now numb, and the only part of his body still functioning seemed to be his brain.
He didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.
He could hear someone moving beside him, but he didn't know who it was or where he was.
He could only feel that the place he was lying in was very cold, with a hint of a smell similar to disinfectant entering his nostrils, as if he were in a hospital.
A cold and solemn atmosphere surrounded him.
It seemed that someone had noticed Hyuga Shingo's slight movement on the operating table. A boy in a white hooded coat, standing by a table, glanced over at the operating table and then continued to mix his potion.
This boy was Hakushi.
Since the next step was to conduct an experiment to break the Caged Bird, many conditions needed to be prepared in advance.
First, a live subject from the Hyuga Branch Family was required, as he couldn't possibly use Ayane's body for such a risky, unsafe experiment.
Although he had previously experimented on human bodies, proving that in the absence of Chakra, Natural Energy could replace Life Energy.
But those were just ordinary human bodies, offering only a general conclusion, and details still needed further investigation.
He not only had to keep Ayane's life but also had to preserve the invaluable Byakugan.
Thus, he ordered the Insect Man's group to hunt a ninja from the Hyuga Branch Family, as all the ninjas from this clan possess the Byakugan, and it was impossible for ordinary people and ninjas to hide from the Byakugan.
In terms of insight, even the Sharingan was far inferior.
However, the Insect Man's group didn't rely solely on Chakra to fight. Discarding Chakra only limited their Secret Techniques, but their Taijutsu was also not to be underestimated.
Moreover, Natural Energy had no fear of acupoint strikes.
The Hyuga Clan's acupoint strikes could only block the flow of Chakra, giving the Insect Man's group a natural advantage against Hyuga Shingo.
Using Natural Energy to perform Taijutsu rendered the Gentle Fist of Hyuga Shingo, the Jonin, ineffective.
In such a situation, the power of Hyuga Shingo's Taijutsu was greatly reduced, making his capture only a matter of time.
The list was provided by Ayane, while the surveillance was handled by the soil puppet, named 'Earth General' by Hakushi.
In terms of stealth, Hakushi believed that the ability of 'Earth General' was no weaker than that of those white creatures that fused Wood Style and Tailed Beast elements.
Once the movements of the Hyuga Branch Family ninja were confirmed, the rest was quite simple.
After the successful hunt, 'Earth General' would quietly transport him back to Konoha and deliver him to the lab for Hakushi to handle.
After mixing the potion, Hakushi placed it on a tray filled with equipment, carried the tray to the operating table, and began to carefully examine Hyuga Shingo's body after setting down the tray.
Hyuga Shingo had been brought here an hour ago, and given the team's schedule for returning to the village, they were expected to return to Konoha either tomorrow night or the morning after, to report at the Hokage Building.
If Konoha discovered Hyuga Shingo's disappearance, they would surely inform the Main Family of the Hyuga Clan, and Hakushi could not guarantee what would happen afterward.
To be safe, the time allotted to Hakushi was not very ample.
It was clear that Hyuga Shingo, lying on the operating table, was very tense, as he, a Jonin, had sensed that someone was watching him closely.
His headband had been removed, exposing a green cross-shaped curse seal on his forehead, flanked by two inverted green hook patterns.
This was the Caged Bird Cursed Seal engraved on the ninjas of the Hyuga Branch Family.
It was also the issue Hakushi urgently needed to resolve.
The Chakra in Hyuga Shingo's body was blocked and unable to unleash the Byakugan. Coupled with his inability to open his eyes, he could not clearly see who was standing beside him or where he was.
Hakushi picked up a transparent glass bottle from the tray, made of a material easy to absorb Chakra, inscribed with a sealing formula on the bottle, and placed the bottle mouth towards Hyuga Shingo's chest.
Chakra flowed through the palm, triggering the seal on the bottle, immediately producing a powerful absorption effect. At a visible speed, the Chakra in Hyuga Shingo's body steadily gathered into the glass bottle.
As the color of the Chakra in the bottle deepened, it indicated an increasing accumulation of Chakra inside.
Hakushi ignored this and began to perceive, observing every move of Hyuga Shingo.
He wanted to use Perception Ninjutsu to carefully understand the method of emergence of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.
According to Ayane, the Caged Bird Cursed Seal had two trigger forms, one initiated by the Main Family ninja.
They could choose to make the Branch Family ninja suffer unbearable pain or choose to damage the Branch Family ninja's eyes and brain nerves.
This was an active trigger of the Caged Bird Cursed Seal.
The other trigger form was when the Branch Family ninja died, or when their eyes were removed, the Caged Bird Cursed Seal would directly destroy the Branch Family ninja's eyes and brain nerves.
This was the completely opposite passive trigger form.
It was a very terrifying curse technique.
"Ahhhhh!"