Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Search. This is a ninjutsu developed by Kirito after he gained an understanding of Spirit Transformation Technique by adding enhancement points to it.
It allows Kirito to directly extract the soul of another person from their body, thereby ignoring all the ninjutsu placed on the other person that hinder memory reading, and reading the other person's memories directly from the root of the soul.
This technique was inspired by Pain's Six Paths' Human Path's soul extraction and memory reading, except that he used Spirit Transformation Technique to accomplish this step directly without relying on the power of the Rinnegan.
In fact, Spirit Transformation Technique itself has the ability to read memories.
However, doing so would greatly damage another person's soul, because Spirit Transformation Technique's original ability to read memories should be called Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Devouring, which directly crushes another person's soul and reads memories by absorbing fragments of their soul.
Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Search is much milder than Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Devouring. It does not seriously harm the soul of another person, and at most, it will make a person feel listless for a few days afterwards. In addition, it is much more efficient at reading memories and the integrity of the memories obtained is also greater.
Kirito held the soul of Hyūga Ishi in his hands, then closed his eyes and used the power of the soul to invade Hyūga Ishi's mental world and quickly browse through Hyūga Ishi's memories in a slideshow manner.
After a moment, he shoved the Hyūga Ishi soul, which had shrunk a little in his hand, back into Hyūga Ishi's body. When he looked at Hyūga Ishi again, a trace of regret and pity appeared on his face.
Just as he had thought, Hyūga Ishi had once rebelled against his fate, and the extent of his rebellion was great.
He had shown hatred for the head of the clan at a very young age, repeatedly defying the head of the clan, and even injuring several of the head of the clan's peers.
Because of this, he was also tortured many times by the Cage Bird. If it weren't for Hyuga Shan pleading for his life, he would have long since been killed by the people of the clan with the Cage Bird.
But even after being tortured many times by the inhumane Cage Bird, he still did not give up his resistance and secretly studied sealing techniques.
Unfortunately, his talent for sealing techniques was mediocre, on par with Nawaki, and there was no hope of breaking the Cage Bird by relying on his own self-study of sealing techniques.
In the end, in order to find a way to break the bird in the cage, when he was 12 years old, he risked everything and sneaked into the Hyūga clan's secret vault, hoping to find information related to the bird in the cage.
However, the Hyūga clan had the Byakugan, a bloodline with extremely powerful investigative abilities, so Hyūga Ishi's actions were doomed to fail. Before he could even enter the secret vault, he was caught and then tortured for a month by the clan's head using the bird in the cage.
The curse mark of the caged bird acts directly on the brain nerves, causing the victim to suffer the most extreme pain possible. This kind of mental torture can easily drive a person mad.
Hyūga Ishi endured a month of torture, and the pain was unimaginable. It was already a testament to his strong will that he did not go mad.
However, not everyone is an indestructible person of strong will, and can remain unwavering in the face of death. When his will was on the verge of collapse and he was about to die, Hyūga Ishi's survival instinct made him ultimately back down.
His path of resistance as a caged bird came to an end. He began to fear the caged bird and the people of the clan, and eventually gradually succumbed to this fear of the caged bird.
In fact, he still hated the people of the clan immensely in his heart, but out of fear of the caged bird, he no longer dared to rebel against the orders of the clan.
Because of this, he was unwilling to see his beloved younger sister, Hanare, suffer the same inhumane treatment as he did in pursuit of freedom.
Because of this, he became extreme in his actions and his personality became more cynical, believing that one's fate cannot be changed.
Later, he went to war and tasted the taste of relying on strength to dictate the fate of others, and he came to firmly believe that the fate of the weak is to obey the orders of the strong.
Therefore, in his way of thinking, he is a weak person in front of the head of the family, so his destiny is to obey the orders of the head of the family, and Kirito is a weak person in front of him, so Kirito's destiny is to obey his orders.
And the consequence of defying destiny is death.
"He is also a pitiful person, but the problems within the Hyuga clan are even more serious than I thought. Although there is the suppression of the caged bird, the hatred brewing within is enormous. Someday, this hatred, which has been suppressed for countless years, will surely erupt."
Kirito learned about Hyūga Ishi's past and gained a deep understanding of the Hyūga family's internal problems for the first time. He sighed.
What left a deep impression on him from Hyūga Ishi's memories was not only the other person's desperate experience of being tortured by the Cage Bird for a month, but also the many secret manuscripts within the branch families on the research of the Cage Bird's curse mark.
In fact, the branch families have never stopped their resistance to the bird in the cage, and countless people from the branch families have been secretly learning and teaching the sealing technique to new members of the branch families.
Although the people of the main family were aware of this and destroyed a large amount of the results of the cage bird research of the people of the branch family on numerous occasions, the inheritance of the seal art of the cage bird researched by the branch family has never been interrupted.
This is of course the case. As long as the people of the branch family still exist, this inheritance of seal art cannot be interrupted. This is the light of hope in their pursuit of freedom, the only thought in their dark prison.
In Kirito's opinion, as long as this seal art heritage continues to be passed down, or falls into the hands of a powerful seal art ninja, the caged bird will be broken one day.
At that time, the head family of the Hyuga clan will suffer the consequences of their own evil deeds, and like the head family of the Otsutsuki clan on the moon, they will meet the same fate of being destroyed by the branch families.
"The curse mark technique that seals the limits of bloodline is very strong. But since the caged bird was able to seal Byakugan, can it also seal Sharingan and other limits of blood inheritance? This is something to look forward to."
Kirito suddenly thought to himself.
Once this idea appeared, it took root in Kirito's mind like a seed, making him think of many things.
For a moment, he became interested in the Caged Bird.
Bloodline Limits are undoubtedly a form of genetic inheritance, and the Caged Bird curse mark can affect Bloodline Limits. It undoubtedly seals the effect on the genes. This kind of sealing technique is definitely the nemesis of ninjas with Bloodline Limits.
If he masters the Caged Bird and then refines and deeply develops it, he might be able to create a kind of sealing technique that will make Bloodline Limit ninjas tremble with fear.
"What did you just do to me?"
Suddenly, Hyūga Ishi's voice came to Kirito's ears, and he snapped out of his thoughts.
"Nothing, I just let you sleep for a while. I've thought about it carefully, and since you genuinely care about Hanare, I won't go looking for Hanare in the future, but if she comes to me, I won't avoid her. Is that acceptable to you?"
Kirito saw that Hyūga Ishi had woken up, and he returned his attention to the previous question and answered,
The process of Hyūga Ishi being tortured by the bird in the cage was indeed very torturous. He also felt a little bad in his heart that a young girl like Hanare had been subjected to such torture. In order to prevent Hanare from suffering such torture, it would not hurt to listen to what Hyūga Ishi had to say.
In fact, he usually didn't have the time to get to know Hanare.
And Hanare was a very strong and independent person. Maybe even if she really encountered difficulties, she wouldn't come to him on her own initiative.
"Really, you're not lying to me,"
Hearing this, Hyūga Ishi was overjoyed, and then he looked at Kirito with a suspicious expression and asked doubtfully:
"I don't have the time to lie to you, but believe it or not, and also, what I tell you today, you'd better keep your mouth shut and don't talk nonsense, otherwise, my promise just now is not guaranteed to be effective."
Kirito said coldly.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he released the bonds on Hyūga Ishi's body.
After being severely lectured by Kirito, Hyūga Ishi now dared not make excessive demands on Kirito. Hearing what Kirito said, he said seriously, "I will keep my mouth shut for Hanare's sake."
"I hope you can really do what you say."
Kirito glanced deeply at Hyūga Ishi and said faintly, before giving Hyūga Ishi a meaningful expression.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Hyūga Ishi, but the fact was that Hyūga Ishi had already bowed once in front of the caged bird, and if the people of the clan used the caged bird on him again, it was likely that he would tell the Hyūga Ishi about their conversation.
Kirito wasn't afraid of this, as his conversation with Hyūga Ishi was actually no big deal, and strictly speaking, it was still beneficial to the Hyūga clan.
And Hyūga Ishi had no memory of him searching his soul, as long as he didn't leave any loose ends or evidence, the Hyūga clan would be unable to do anything to him.
The next second, he slapped his hands together, quickly undoing the sealing barriers around him, and then manipulated the iron sand beneath him to quickly bring Hyūga Ishi back to the ground.
By this time, quite a few people had already appeared here.
Among them was his good sister, Tsunade. When she saw Kirito lift the sealing barriers and come down from the sky, she immediately walked up to him quickly and asked Kirito with concern, "Kirito, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Tell your sister, and she'll help you heal."
"I'm fine, sister. Although I'm young, it's still hard for others to bully me,"
Kirito said to Tsunade with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Tsunade's face became much less worried, but she still used her hand, which was covered with her Chakra, to feel Kirito's body to make sure he was really unharmed, and only then did she let her guard down.
Then, she turned her head and looked at Hyūga Ishi, who had a very bad complexion, with cold eyes.
She had already learned the cause of the matter from some ANBU members.
The responsibility for this incident lies entirely with Hyūga Ishi. He was the one who provoked Kirito, and he even attacked Kirito in secret. In the end, he was taught a lesson by Kirito.
"Tsunade-sama,"
Hyūga Ishi trembled when he saw Tsunade's cold gaze. He hurriedly bowed respectfully to Tsunade, keeping his head down in an honest manner, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.
On the battlefield of the Land of Rain, the most dazzling Konoha ninja were definitely the Sannin, and the most dazzling of the Sannin was undoubtedly Tsunade. Powerful and beautiful, she was also an outstanding medical ninja. If it weren't for her, the Konoha ninja would have certainly suffered heavy losses in the Land of Rain.
Because Hanzo's poison gas was too terrifying, thanks to the antidote prepared by Tsunade, they were able to ignore Hanzo's poison gas and fight the Ame-Nin in the later stage.
Hyūga Ishi was once treated by Tsunade as well. If he had not received timely treatment from Tsunade, he might already be a disabled person.
Therefore, Hyūga Ishi only has respect for Tsunade.
"Ishi, you brat have really grown some balls, thinking that you're something just because you've returned from the battlefield, and then you can bully the weak? I'll give you a chance, how about we have a contest? I promise I'll only fight you with my bare hands."
Tsunade now gave Hyūga Ishi, who bullied her younger brother, no face and said coldly,
Hyūga Ishi really had no idea about the relationship between Kirito and Tsunade. If he knew that Tsunade would actually recognize Kirito as her sworn brother, he would definitely have politely communicated with Kirito, and would never have dared to think about suppressing Kirito by force.
But it was too late to say anything. He dared not argue back with Tsunade, so he kept his head down in silence, accepting Tsunade's anger in a pathetic manner.
"Tsunade-sama, Ishi was in the wrong in this matter. However, in light of Ishi's contributions on the battlefield of the Land of Rain, please calm your anger. The Hyuga clan will definitely apologize to Kirito properly afterwards."
At this time, Hyuga Kazuma led two elders over and said very politely to Tsunade:
"Hmph, what's the point of saying this now? If something really happens to Kirito, can your Hyuga clan afford to pay? The Senju clan will not let this matter go so easily. You Hyuga clan had better watch yourselves. Don't think that after my grandmother passed away, the Senju clan will be without anyone."
Tsunade simply did not give Hyuga Kazuma, the head of the Hyuga clan, any face, and said directly with a scowl on her face.
Hyuga Kazuma and the two Hyuga clan elders all felt a headache when they heard Tsunade speak so impolitely. They didn't care much about Tsunade's attitude because many years ago, Tsunade was the notorious female bully in Konoha. Her previous personality was many times worse and more domineering than her current one.
However, although Tsunade was a bully in the past, she had no influence and posed no threat to the Hyuga clan.
But now it's different. Not only is Tsunade strong and of noble birth, her personal influence among the Konoha ninja is also super great. So great that if she wants to be the Hokage, the next Hokage will definitely be her, without any suspense.
Now Tsunade is obviously blaming them, the Hyūga clan, for letting Hyūga Ishi go and cause trouble for Kirito, and she is being very forceful about it. This makes them lose all desire to reason with her using the curse mark on Hanare.
Tsunade was so determined to protect Kirito, and if they dared to use the curse mark against him again, they would definitely offend Tsunade to her death.
Like Hyūga Ishi, they never expected that Tsunade would recognize Kirito, an outsider, as her younger brother, and protect him so much that she was willing to use the Senju clan to suppress the Hyūga clan.
Kirito's status in the Senju clan was actually so high.
They did not have this important piece of information.
This was a really bad move.
"Tsunade-sama, please calm down. This is our Hyuga clan's fault. As the clan leader, I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation. Please believe me that the Hyuga clan definitely did not mean to offend the Senju clan."
Hyuga Kazuma, as the clan leader, once again stepped forward at a critical moment. He decisively lowered his stance and took the initiative to appease Tsunade.