White patterns carved through the sky, scattering into countless falling petals.
Gin reached out and caught a drifting snowflake.
"It's snowing."
A thin layer of snow covered the ground.
Though he had only switched from short sleeves to long sleeves, and from shorts to long pants, he didn't feel cold at all.
One major benefit of basic internal energy cultivation was immunity to heat and cold.
Walking down the street, his gaze swept over the passing ninja. Though their clothing was fairly thin, their resistance came from rigorous physical training rather than chakra.
At the ninja academy, they began endurance training for heat and cold from a young age, getting used to hardship early on, making it easier to bear.
They also trained to endure pain.
Gin arrived at the usual spot.
The abandoned and dilapidated training field was now buried under a blanket of white snow.
Only one wooden stake poked out from the snow-covered ground.
He spotted a figure furiously striking the wooden post, as if venting anger.
"Hyuga Kiyoshi!" Gin called out.
Dressed in white, Hyuga Kiyoshi didn't turn around immediately. He adjusted his forehead protector before finally looking back.
"Gin," Hyuga Kiyoshi greeted with a faint smile. "I thought none of you would come anymore."
Ever since becoming a ninja, he had been the only one coming here to train.
It had been a long time since he last saw Uchiha Gin and the others.
Gin walked over, shrugging.
"We've been busy with those silly missions."
Watching over the elderly, babysitting children, transporting goods, planting rice, harvesting wheat.
To him, it all felt like playing house.
Hearing this, Hyuga Kiyoshi's smile grew a bit strained.
He also longed to do missions like that with his teammates.
Unfortunately...
Gin, seemingly oblivious to Kiyoshi's mood, asked casually, "Where are your teammates?"
At the time, Gin had been asleep and hadn't even seen who Kiyoshi's teammates were.
Kiyoshi fell silent, staring at the snow underfoot, as if he himself were buried beneath it.
The Hyuga clan was like that — the branch family buried alive beneath the main house.
Suddenly, Kiyoshi lifted his head to look at Gin.
"Uchiha Gin, fight me."
BAM!
A loud crash rang out as Hyuga Kiyoshi's body slammed into the wooden post.
The stake snapped, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Staring up at the falling snow, he suddenly burst into laughter, the sound growing louder and louder.
"Heh... hahahahaha!"
Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes as he laughed.
The pain in his body didn't even compare to the pain in his heart.
"The gap is just too big... you're a monster."
He hadn't even registered the attack. One strike was enough to defeat him.
"I don't agree with that description," Gin said, standing tall above him, like an insurmountable mountain.
Uchiha.
A name that could strike fear into anyone.
"I don't care about the Hyuga clan's internal mess. But if you enjoy being a punching bag, I'm happy to oblige," Gin said coldly.
He could tell at a glance that Kiyoshi's current state was due to some Hyuga clan issue.
Every year, at the Ninja Academy, there was always at least one Hyuga student who emotionally collapsed — usually soon after having the Caged Bird Seal placed on them, turning increasingly silent and withdrawn.
For someone like Kiyoshi to hold out until graduation before breaking down was rare.
After all, he had stayed back two extra years.
Gin had seen it all before.
"I see..." Kiyoshi said, his smile weakening. Then he asked suddenly:
"Gin, you're a genius who can create new jutsu, right?"
"So what?"
"Can you develop a way to undo the Caged Bird Seal?"
Gin didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked up at the sky.
Kiyoshi also stared upwards and began to speak, telling his story.
"I didn't care much about the Caged Bird Seal at first. I thought, as long as I stayed far away from the main family, I could have freedom."
"But... no matter how much I wished for it, I still couldn't escape."
"During the Chuunin division, my uncle took me away. I became the personal bodyguard — no, slave — of Hyuga Hiashi, a main family member."
"My uncle even told me to thank the clan for its great kindness! Hahaha! Isn't that hilarious?"
Kiyoshi's face twisted with rage.
"My parents died protecting main family members. Am I supposed to follow the same path?"
"Why?!"
Because he was from the branch family, he had to sacrifice everything for the main house.
His parents had already paid that price.
Wasn't that enough?
Gin looked down at Hyuga Kiyoshi's face, twisted with hatred.
The internal hatred festering within the Hyuga clan... it ran deep.
If the Caged Bird Seal were ever truly removed...
What kind of chaos would erupt?
It sounded... entertaining.
Gin smirked.
"Value. What value can you offer me?"
Kiyoshi stared blankly at Uchiha Gin. He had only meant to vent, but it seemed things weren't so simple.
"You really can...?" he muttered.
He wanted to ask if Gin could really do it — but he had heard of Gin's reputation even within the Hyuga clan.
The creator of basic internal energy cultivation.
It was said many people were desperately grinding achievements just to exchange for that jutsu.
He also knew Gin had created the Four Forms of Taijutsu.
Titles piled up on Gin's shoulders:
Hidden genius. Tireless genius. A genius rivaling the Second Hokage.
So many titles.
What if — just what if — he really could?
Kiyoshi suddenly knelt in the snow, bowing his head so hard it made a muffled thud.
Blood seeped into the white snow.
"I, Hyuga Kiyoshi, pledge everything to Lord Gin!"
He was willing to gamble everything. No branch family member could resist the lure of freedom from the Caged Bird Seal.
"Not yet," Gin said, shaking his head with a sly, almost malicious smile.
"Wait until I actually succeed. I hope you won't go back on your word."
I hope the Hyuga clan can handle it.
Gin sat on the last intact wooden stake, watching Kiyoshi's retreating figure.
He was confident he could undo the Caged Bird Seal.
After all, he had his "golden finger" (cheat ability). How could something like the Caged Bird Seal possibly stop him?
Still, it wasn't simple.
The Caged Bird Seal was bound to the soul itself — not something that could be undone easily.
"For now, it's going to be tough," Gin muttered, glancing at the proposed solution in his mental simulation.
Switching to a new body, then applying an unsealing jutsu.
Basically... it was the same as dying.
"What are you thinking about, Gin?"
At that moment, Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato finally arrived, late as usual.
"We just saw Hyuga Kiyoshi. He didn't look too happy," Kushina said.
Gin answered casually.
"Yeah, it's been a while since we've seen him," Minato said, glancing toward Kiyoshi's distant figure.
Other ninja squads often ran into each other during missions.
Only Kiyoshi had vanished from sight.
Probably some internal Hyuga clan issue.
Minato didn't know the details about the Caged Bird Seal — it wasn't something that was public knowledge.
"Next time we see him, we should definitely ask what's going on," Kushina added.
She didn't know the full story either; that kind of stuff stayed within the big ninja clans.
"Hopefully," Gin said.
He looked at the two of them — both dressed in plain, light clothing, no extra layers even in this weather.
Absolutely ridiculous.
"So, what are you teaching us today?" Kushina asked excitedly.
Gin rolled his eyes.
"I'm only planning to teach Minato. If you can pick it up too, go ahead."
"Who wants to learn from you anyway," Kushina huffed, sticking out her tongue before shoving Minato forward.
Minato smiled awkwardly.
"By the way, Minato — what's the name of the new move you created?" Gin suddenly asked, his expression shifting.
Minato's face lit up.
"How about this — Dancing Storm Gale Whirlwind! Four Forms! Cool name, right?"
Gin: …
Kushina: …
"What a ridiculous name!" Kushina immediately protested, horrified. "Why so long?!"
Gin rolled his eyes too.
"Never call it that again. You'll get killed before you finish saying it."
Minato scratched his head sheepishly. He thought it sounded awesome.
"From now on, just call it 'Step-Slash.'"
"But that doesn't really fit..." Minato hesitated. "'Slash' sounds like swordsmanship."
He still thought his original name was cooler.
"It fits the move I'm about to teach you," Gin said meaningfully.
He pulled a kunai out of his pouch.
"Let's try it out first."
"Gladly," Minato said, pulling out his own kunai.
The two clashed in the next instant — clang! Sparks flew from the colliding kunai.
Kushina perched on a nearby tree branch, watching the fight.
Gin and Minato crossed paths again, wind swirling around their bodies.
Minato frowned — he felt some of his chakra being drained away.
In the next collision — clang! — they separated again.
He noticed the wind gathering around Gin, and felt even more chakra drain from him.
"What a strange jutsu," Minato murmured.
"Watch carefully now, Minato," Gin said.
Gripping his kunai with both hands, he slashed from a distance — a wide, vertical arc.
"Steel-Cutting Flash!"
A blue wind blade materialized out of thin air.
It screamed through the air, reaching Minato almost instantly.
His eyes widened in shock — no time to react.
He immediately used Step-Slash to leap into the air with all his might.
The blue blade whizzed past.
Shhh!
Looking back, Minato saw a long trench carved through the woods behind him.
"I designed this jutsu to make up for your lack of attack power," Gin said with a grin.
The principle was simple:
First, seal absorbed chakra into the kunai.
When clashing with the enemy, the kunai would steal their chakra.
Then use your own chakra to resonate with the sealed chakra, forming a two-layered wind barrier to stabilize it.
You had to release it quickly though — otherwise, the sealed chakra would dissipate.
The power of the move depended on how well you mastered it.
Gin's cheat ability (golden finger) was unstoppable.
Though creating it took less than ten seconds, mastering it had cost him an entire night.
"So strong!" Minato exclaimed.
(End of Chapter)