Become My Wings

Was the Hyuga Clan wrong?

Was Konoha wrong?

Was even the whole world wrong?

Shingetsu had no idea where this man got so many twisted arguments, but why did she feel so moved by them...

Akashi's shocking words tore the family and the village to shreds. If everyone was wrong, then what was right?

Shingetsu couldn't help asking, "Could the Will of Fire be wrong too?"

"The Will of Fire isn't wrong, but people are."

"Who's wrong? The Third Hokage?" Shingetsu found herself caught up in his argument.

She couldn't believe it, especially coming from him. He was the one in class who understood the Will of Fire best!

Akashi shook his head calmly. "Perhaps things had already gone astray with Hashirama Senju."

"How could that be..."

Shingetsu was stunned, deep confusion showing in her eyes.

Akashi sighed softly. "The First established the shinobi village system, hoping everyone could be protected and live in peace, without having to send children to the battlefield. But reality turned out to be the complete opposite. People went to the battlefield to protect their villages, and countless children still followed in their footsteps.

"What was the original purpose behind founding Konoha? What did the Will of Fire truly mean? Those things had long since been twisted. Hashirama Senju even said, 'If someone threatens the village's interests, then even if they're a friend, they must never be forgiven.'

"Who gets to define what the village is?

"Who gets to decide who belongs to it?

"Whatever the case, Konoha no longer belongs to ordinary people. They're just the fertilizer needed for this great tree to grow.

"This forced sacrifice is exactly like the Caged Bird Seal. Konoha's High Command became the Main House, and everyone else became the Branch House."

Shingetsu was deeply shaken. His words upended everything she had believed.

She had never looked at things from another angle. Yes, the older generation was supposed to make sacrifices to light the way for the future. How had it become a matter of using countless people's blood and bones to prop up Konoha's shell?

The comparison of Konoha's High Command to the Main House... sent a chill down her spine.

"Akashi, your ideas are terrifying."

"I just know a little more than you do," Akashi said coolly.

Back then, Hashirama Senju had stabbed his friend in the back.

Madara Uchiha had accused him of getting things backward and warned that this would become the village's darkness. He hadn't been wrong.

Shingetsu was already lost in confusion.

Too many voices argued in her head. Some called it a shackle, others called it fate. Thinking of all the unfair treatment, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest.

Akashi knew all she needed was one final push.

His voice turned stern. "Even if you understand all this, you still wouldn't dare do anything, would you? Beneath that powerful exterior, you're really just hiding a cowardly soul."

"I'm not..."

"You're not satisfied, but you're afraid to fight back."

"No, that's not it..."

"When you're humiliated, what do you think about? That you'll bear the mark of the Caged Bird Seal your whole life? That you have to endure this because you're Branch House? Why?"

"I..."

"Your Byakugan is empty. There's not a trace of your own color in it!"

"Shut up! You don't understand me!"

Shingetsu opened her Byakugan. Her eyes blazed like the sun, and her chakra surged. She raised her palm, ready to slam it into Akashi's face the next second.

Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Palms.

She had never felt such a surging power before. In an instant, it came crashing down like a mountain flood.

But she stopped short.

Akashi struck head-on with even greater force. His Sharingan spun in its sockets as he used the very same technique!

How could that be?

Had he learned her Eight Trigrams Palms while they were sparring?

The thought vanished in an instant. The match was already decided.

In just two seconds, Akashi had subdued Shingetsu, gripping her wrist tightly and pinning her down with his knee against her lower back. Without the Byakugan, she couldn't unleash the true power of the Gentle Fist. But against the exact same Eight Trigrams Palms, he only had to overwhelm her with greater strength.

"You've been hiding your true strength this whole time!"

"So what?" Akashi let go. "Feeling clearer now?"

"You..."

Shingetsu was at a loss for words. Once her anger had flared and passed, she really did feel clearer.

She thought back on what Akashi had said, her spirits sinking.

Yes. Why?

Why should she let fate control her?

She still remembered how her parents had looked when she cried and refused to accept the Cursed Seal as a child. They had tried to comfort her, but the sorrow on their faces was impossible to hide.

Shingetsu finally admitted it. The Branch House respected the Main House, but beneath that respect was fear, and beneath that fear was anger.

But what did understanding that change?

What could she do about it?

She let her body relax, dejected, and said softly, "I'm sorry... Even if everything you said is right, it won't help. No one can undo the Cursed Seal."

"I can help you."

Akashi stood before her and held out his hand. "Every jutsu that's been developed has a flaw. One day, the birds in the Birdcage will be able to spread their wings. I want you to take me up into the sky and show me what it looks like."

"Y-You want me to oppose my family?"

"No. I'm not capable of that. I just saw what you were like and offered some advice." Akashi gave her a charming smile. "In the end, everyone chooses their own path. Whether you stay where you are or move forward is up to you. What can I do about it?"

It wasn't realistic to expect a single conversation to completely change Shingetsu's mind.

So Akashi didn't directly stir her up against the Main House or urge her to make a rash move. He simply showed her another path she had never considered.

What people feared most was waking up after a night's sleep to find their dream gone and no road ahead.

He had to awaken her, but he also had to give her a path to follow.

Akashi smiled. "I'll fill the emptiness in your Byakugan, and you'll become the wings that let me fly. How does that sound?"

"I have just one question. Why are you helping me?"

"Because, in the eyes of Konoha's High Command, the Uchiha are Branch House too." Akashi spoke each word deliberately. "I know how you feel."

Shingetsu took a deep breath and answered with resolve, "If you can break the Caged Bird Seal, I'll do anything."

"Next time, I hope you'll pin me down. If you can manage it."

Akashi nodded, satisfied.

You didn't have to get too personal to move a girl. What mattered was hitting the mark.

He knew he had struck a nerve with Hyuga Shingetsu.

For now, he'd seize the opportunity. As for the Caged Bird Seal, it might well involve the Otsutsuki Clan on the moon. He couldn't say for certain whether it could be undone.

There was no need to rush. They had plenty of time.

The Hyuga Clan's compound.

At thirty-one, Hyuga Hiashi had finished a busy day. He sat cross-legged in a quiet room, gazing into the courtyard.

Beside him, birds chirped away inside an ornate cage.

He was already the clan head.

He bore great responsibility, yet felt little pressure. He held a high position, yet felt little happiness.

From the moment he was born, his fate had already been written.

Hizashi had no choice, but did he?

The Main House and Branch House were divided by a powerful consensus within the clan. The clan elders and many of their predecessors had all faithfully upheld this ironclad rule. It wasn't something one person could change.

The larger the clan grew, the more important stability became.

Everything he did was for the sake of stability, and the best way he could think of was to preserve their traditions.

Perhaps they were stuck in their ways, perhaps they lacked ambition, but at least the Hyuga family had survived to this day.

It had even become the strongest clan in Konoha, at least in name.

"Clan Head, would you like dinner now?"

A voice came from behind him. It belonged to his maid, a descendant of the Branch House in the Hyuga Clan.

She was exceedingly respectful, almost servile.

"Wait a little longer. I'm not hungry yet."

"Yes."

The maid left, and once again he was alone in the empty room.

Hiashi was used to it by now.

It was just that, when he sat quietly, he sometimes thought—

His younger brother hadn't come to see him in a long time.