The twelve backup dancers moved with the singing, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Long legs clad in black stockings traced graceful arcs beneath the lights.
The rhythm of high heels striking the floor matched Itachi's drumbeats, each sound striking straight at the heart.
The three lead singers took turns, each with a distinctive voice.
Chinatsu's passion, Akari's tenderness, Akane's mystery.
The three voices intertwined, bringing the yearning for freedom in "Blue Bird" vividly to life.
As the dance reached its climax, the twelve backup dancers rapidly shifted formations, their black stockings and figure-hugging skirts creating a spectacle that was both sensual and powerful.
These were the girls of the Uchiha.
The female ninja who usually sweated on the training grounds now revealed an entirely different side of themselves onstage.
Uchiha Itachi's hands became blurs over the drums.
Sweat slid from his forehead down his cheeks, dripping onto the drumheads before the next strike shattered it into mist.
The sight completely overturned everything the Uchiha thought they knew.
At the edge of the training grounds, Nami clutched her mother's hand, her eyes wide and her lips trembling.
"This... Genya put all this together?"
She murmured to herself.
"All this time... this was what he was working on?"
Her mother was just as captivated. Only after a long while did she answer softly.
"It seems so. Your little friend... is even more impressive than we imagined."
In the crowd, Uchiha Yashiro and the others wore shifting expressions.
They wanted to find fault, to criticize this "undignified" performance.
But when the singing began, when the dance unfolded, when that yearning for freedom washed over them...
Every word caught in their throats.
A young hard-line ninja opened his mouth and said quietly,
"...It actually sounds pretty good."
The person beside him shot him a glare,