According to Hyūga Sounmei's explanation, the Caged Bird Curse Seal had three trigger methods.
This was slightly different from what Tobirama Senju had recorded and described, though not by much.
It could be imagined that Tobirama must have put in great effort when researching it.
The trigger methods of the Caged Bird Curse Seal were divided into Chakra-Triggered Mode, Spiritual Energy-Triggered Mode, and Five Senses Genjutsu-Triggered Mode.
As for the first two modes, Satori Hyūga didn't find either particularly remarkable, but the Five Senses Genjutsu-Triggered Mode raised some questions.
The five senses included taste, hearing, smell, sight, and touch.
Even if a Branch House member used sealing techniques to block the Caged Bird Curse Seal, the Five Senses Genjutsu-Triggered Mode could still unconsciously activate the Caged Bird.
Precisely for this reason, over hundreds and even thousands of years, no Branch House member had ever managed to escape the lifelong chain of the Caged Bird.
"What a sturdy prison brimming with chains—it doesn't give people even the slightest chance to escape!"
Satori Hyūga expressed sincere admiration for the ancestor who had created the Caged Bird Curse Seal technique.
These three modes were truly far more difficult to crack than the anti-theft locks on bank vaults from his past life.
Not to mention how tightly the Main House now restricted the Branch House, preventing them even from learning sealing techniques.
To break free from the bindings of the Caged Bird Curse Seal, a Branch House member would need to either be a transmigrator or receive blessings from the ninja world.
After parting ways with Hyūga Sounmei, Satori returned home. In reality, he used [Shadow Clone Jutsu] to once again reach Orochimaru's experimental base.
He planned to use the base's advanced equipment for experimentation and research.
The Caged Bird Curse Seal was intricately interconnected, its three modes tightly interlocked, making it extremely difficult to decipher.
Since his skill in sealing techniques wasn't sufficient, he needed the help of instruments and equipment.
Involving Kushina had never crossed his mind.
Although she understood sealing theory slightly better than him, she was far behind in practical application and innovation.
Therefore, Satori had no intention of inviting her or Minato along.
Besides, this was a secret matter—the activation methods of the Caged Bird Curse Seal being especially critical. Not even Orochimaru-sensei would hear a word of it.
He wasn't foolish enough to test someone's loyalty directly.
He gathered numerous test subjects and marked them with seals similar to the Caged Bird.
He didn't apply the real Caged Bird Curse Seal itself—mainly because Satori didn't even know how to do so.
That was a secret known only to the Clan Leader and Elder Motoi.
Satori created seals resembling the Caged Bird, which were divided into three types:
One with a Chakra-Triggered Jutsu.
One with a Spiritual Energy-Triggered Jutsu.
And one with a Five Senses Genjutsu-Triggered Jutsu.
Using these three as examples, Satori began attempting to decipher them.
Boom!
A test subject on the table unknowingly touched a certain point of the seal and instantly exploded into a red mist.
Satori cleaned it up without hesitation, picked up the next test subject, and continued experimenting.
One after another, they died repeatedly, failure after failure, until the thirty-eighth mouse—it wasn't until then that Satori finally cracked the seal.
"Phew, breaking through a cursed seal like this is really tough work."
Satori Hyūga had selected a sealing formula resembling the Caged Bird Seal—though far less powerful than that notorious cursed seal. Yet it still presented a significant challenge for him.
Both his understanding and analysis of sealing techniques, as well as his ability to precisely control his own chakra, needed to reach an extremely high level.
Satori had thought his abilities were already quite strong and his techniques already quite solid.
Yet he never expected that deciphering even a basic technique could be this difficult.
This frustrated him a bit, but at the same time, it ignited his determination and awakened his latent potential.
"If I was able to refine the Eight Gates Technique—even if only its early stages," he mused, "then I shouldn't have any problem with this!"
"Come on, keep pushing forward! This is both a challenge and valuable training. My chakra control has improved quite a bit already," Satori encouraged himself.
He grabbed another white mouse from the cage and resumed his decoding efforts.
His relentless persistence terrified the mice. They trembled and huddled together in a corner of the cage.
As chakra-activated seals were cracked open, Satori moved on to studying spiritual energy-triggered formulas.
After mastering spiritual energy-triggered seals, he shifted his focus to sensory-type genjutsu techniques.
His gradual accumulation of experience, expertise, and advancement all came at the expense of these poor lab mice—piling their tiny bodies into a growing heap.
When his research finally concluded, Satori had gained a much deeper comprehension and mastery of sealing formulas.
Unfortunately for the white mice, their casualties formed a small mountain of dead bodies.
"Waaah! That evil giant finally stopped! He surely won't hurt us again, right?" one mouse lamented silently.
But in the next moment—
Satori grabbed one of the white mice and began inscribing new sealing formulas onto its body.
This time, he was attempting something far more complex: compound formulas.
He designed them to activate via dual triggers: chakra and spiritual energy simultaneously.
If the mice failed to maintain perfect control during the decoding process, the seal would trigger instantly, detonating the mouse.
Rubbing his eyes, which had started to ache from exhaustion, Satori gulped down a Chakra Supplement before diving back into his experiments.
The supplement continuously produced chakra inside his body, allowing him to maintain high-intensity research and experimentation continuously.
This unique ability enabled him to remain focused and productive throughout prolonged periods of experimentation and training.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With the difficulty drastically increased, the complexity of decoding rose exponentially.
One by one, wave after wave of brave little white mice died bravely, serving merely as tools for Satori's progress.
For several days straight, countless mice gave their lives until, at last, Satori deciphered the dual-mode system.
The dual system combining chakra and spiritual energy truly multiplied the difficulty exponentially.
No matter which seal he attempted to break first, there was always a risk of activating the other interconnected formula.
The two systems were interdependent and intricately intertwined.
"Finally succeeded!"
Gazing at the lone surviving mouse darting about energetically, Satori's eyes brimmed with excitement.
Out of hundreds of test subjects, this one lucky rodent lived against all odds.
"You've borne witness to my growth... I'll spare you this time."
He placed the special white mouse in its own separate cage.
When he turned to check on the other test subjects, most of the once densely packed mice were gone, leaving only two or three behind.
Satori Hyūga slapped his forehead in frustration and said, "Man, this experiment burns through mice like crazy."
"If I were using Branch House members for research instead, I'd probably wipe them out before even coming close to cracking the Caged Bird Seal."
This really shows how incredibly difficult and complex the Caged Bird Seal is.
At that moment, a small white snake suddenly slithered out from beside him and moved into the pile of dead mice, beginning to devour them hungrily.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru's crisp, low voice echoed in Satori's ears.
"Satori, your way of breaking it really is quite brutal."
"Though using mice for experiments isn't a bad idea—they're expendable, after all."
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