Illusion and Reality

Illusion and Reality

"Hey, hey, hey, cheer up. Today's your big day."

"Do I look unhappy?" he asked his friend in confusion.

"Of course. Look at you—your brows are all knotted up. With that miserable face, the bride's going to be unhappy too."

He glanced at the mirror. The man reflected in it was tall and handsome, standing in a lavish hotel banquet hall surrounded by chatting relatives and friends. There was a towering nine-tier black swan cake, a bed of red roses larger than a car... Quite a few people had taken selfies, edited them, and posted them on Facebook.

The man found this scene familiar... yet strangely alien.

"Cheer up. You're marrying the woman you love most." Facing the mirror, he pinched the corners of his mouth and pulled them upward with force, making himself smile.

The man in the mirror bared his canine teeth. His expression was twisted and bizarre, like a grinning beast.

He shuddered and did not dare look at the mirror again.

Dun~ dun-dun~ dun-dun~

The wedding march thundered through the hall as flowers fluttered through the air.

He turned around instinctively. At the end of the red carpet, the bride in a white wedding dress walked gracefully toward him.

So beautiful... The man stared at her blankly, only coming back to himself when she reached his side.

"What's wrong with you?" The bride giggled.

"It's like you're seeing me for the first time."

"...I just think you look beautiful today."

"Oh? More beautiful than I was yesterday? Which one is prettier?"

"Uh..."

"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you... you silly fool." The bride seemed delighted.

"Look, even our little prince is smiling."

"Little prince? We have a son?" The man was dazed for a moment before noticing the swaddled infant in the bride's arms.

The baby had a plump little face, soft delicate skin, and an adorably round body. He was looking at him and smiling.

"My child..." An indescribable tenderness welled up in the man's heart. He reached out, wanting to poke the baby boy's cheek.

The next moment, the man froze in place.

On the infant's tender white forehead, he saw a hideous fluorescent-green symbol carved into the skin.

It was the humiliating mark of a slave, meaning this child, like him, would become a bird in a cage.

This cursed fate would be passed down from generation to generation. Even at the end of the world, it would not change in the slightest.

His whole body went cold, as though he had fallen into hell.

The resplendent banquet hall suddenly twisted into savage, jagged cliffs. His best friend, the guests, the bride, the swaddled daughter... everyone became monsters. They cackled, their voices shrill and miserable.

"Once a bird in a cage, forever a bird in a cage, for all eternity a bird in a cage... There is nowhere for you to escape. Your soul and body will never have even a moment of freedom. This is a sorrowful fate that not even death can change..."

The man's eyes split wide. Somehow, courage surged through him. Raising his fist high, he charged at the monsters with mad, unwavering resolve.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Then I'll kill every last one of you! Kill until no one dares trap me in a cage again!"

"Even if I kill until I'm the only person left in this world, I'll still..."

Hyuga Yuto suddenly felt an intense pain.

The pain came from his mouth—more precisely, the tender flesh beneath his tongue.

The illusion collapsed, and reason returned to Hyuga Yuto.

He quickly realized what had pierced his tongue and mouth... Before taking the brunt of the explosion, he had taken out a shortened fine needle and tucked it beneath his tongue.

Good thing I formed such a useful habit... Hyuga Yuto thought wryly.

Suddenly, he felt something damp on his face.

He opened his eyes and saw a head-sized slug lying on him. The eyes at the tips of its antennae looked at him with glistening moisture. It was a little frightening, but also a little cute.

"Oh, Yuto, you're awake." Katsuyu's voice was as gentle as ever.

"Mm..." The branch family youth groaned and asked indistinctly.

"Lady Katsuyu... How long was I unconscious?"

"A day and a half."

"Damn Munashi Jinpachi..." Hyuga Yuto snorted coldly.

"Even before dying, he wanted to drag me down with him."

"Yuto, getting angry slows your body's healing... Hm? Your voice sounds a little strange."

That's because my tongue hurts, Hyuga Yuto sighed inwardly, casually brushing it off.

Thinking back on everything that had happened that day, the branch family youth felt a lingering chill.

The power of twenty thousand explosive tags was far too great, almost no different from a Tailed Beast Ball. In the instant before the blast struck, Hyuga Yuto had only managed to do three things.

He tucked the fine needle into his mouth to keep himself from saying the wrong thing while unconscious.

He summoned Katsuyu and hid her on his body so she could treat him after he lost consciousness.

He desperately used Lion Fang Severance, placing it before himself so the shockwave would not kill him on the spot.

The facts proved that Hyuga Yuto's choices had been incomparably correct. He had survived. Though he was in terrible shape, both his arms and legs were still intact, and he had not been crippled. That was a blessing amid misfortune.

As Tsunade's disciple, he naturally carried something his teacher had left him for saving his life—Tsunade had placed her own chakra inside Katsuyu. Once summoned, she could automatically release the Mystical Palm Technique. This was a clever application of Katsuyu's splitting and chakra transfer abilities. Tsunade's attainments in the two fields of support and medical ninjutsu ran extremely deep.

"I still can't underestimate anyone. Munashi Jinpachi... Even someone who barely had any screen time after being revived through Impure World Reincarnation in the Fourth Shinobi World War possessed such terrifying decisiveness and secret techniques." Hyuga Yuto frowned as he began reviewing the gains and losses of this battle.

"I'm still not proficient enough with Heavenly Guard Foot. The best place to use this ninjutsu is on land. I should have struck first and attacked him in that shop."

"I gave Rotation too much chakra, causing the enemies to fly too far away. If I could have captured those Hidden Mist Village chunin alive and thrown them at Munashi Jinpachi, I might have delayed the scroll's explosion. Then I would have had a chance to use the Body Flicker Technique and take his head."

"I don't have any long-range ninjutsu. I'll be at a severe disadvantage when fighting experts. Although Lion Fang Severance has a very fast burst of speed, my arms' ability to withstand it remains a major problem..."

In this battle, Hyuga Yuto had come very close to death. In fact, he had not talked in his sleep for a long time. The fact that the fine needle had just awakened him also showed that his condition had deteriorated to the extreme—he had lost even his instinctive vigilance.

He thought for quite a while, caught his breath, and tried to stand up and move around a little. Yet as he rose, he discovered that his body felt very tight.

Hyuga Yuto looked down and only then saw the bandages wrapped all over his body.

Katsuyu couldn't possibly have tied bandages around me with her antennae...

He could not describe how he felt and simply stood there in a daze.

Just then, a voice came from the entrance of the cave.

"My adorable disciple is finally awake... Oh? What's wrong? It's like you're seeing me for the first time."

The blonde woman tossed Hyuga Yuto an unfamiliar fruit and chuckled.

"We're going home, my jonin disciple."