The sun rose over Konoha in soft gold and crimson, casting long shadows across the rooftops. But for Kazuki, there was no warmth in its light.
He sat on the edge of his bed, breathing slow, shallow breaths. The storm mark on his shoulder pulsed like a second heartbeat, sending faint arcs of static dancing along his skin. His muscles were sore, his thoughts fractured, like they'd been caught in the same tempest he barely escaped.
He stood slowly, gripping the edge of his desk just as a jolt of pain lanced down his arm. Lightning flared across the wooden floor, leaving a blackened burn mark. He grit his teeth.
"Tch... it's getting worse."
In the bathroom, he stared into the mirror. The water on his face did little to mask the image behind his eyes—his own reflection, yes, but fractured. One eye hollow, one cheek stained with ash. The phantom of a past life was bleeding through again.
And with it, memories he hadn't asked for.
Kazuki turned away. He was tired of ghosts. But they weren't done with him.
At the Academy, things were no better.
Rumors had taken root like weeds, crawling through the walls. Students whispered in tight groups.
"Did you hear? Ino stayed overnight with him."
"I bet Hinata cried when she saw him with Tenten."
"He's got them wrapped around his finger."
Kazuki ignored it. He'd always been the outsider—he knew how to wear silence like armor. But not everyone did.
At the training field, kunai thudded into wooden posts one after another. Ino stood at the center, her breath ragged, her movements sharp and angry.
"Stupid people. Stupid rumors. I don't care what they say..."
"Could've fooled me," came a voice.
Tenten, walking past with a staff strapped to her back, paused just long enough to look over her shoulder. "You're gonna break your wrist if you keep throwing like that."
"What do you care?" Ino snapped, not even turning.
Tenten's expression hardened. "I care because he does."
That was enough.
Ino stepped forward. "Oh, I see. So now you're the expert on his feelings?"
"Better than pretending he's a prize to win," Tenten fired back. "You're always clinging to him like he's a daydream you don't want to wake up from."
"Better than shutting down every time emotions show up! You think swinging weapons makes you deep?"
Their voices rose. A crowd began to form—students, even a few Chūnin instructors, unsure whether to intervene. But before anyone could, the air shifted.
Kazuki arrived.
He didn't yell. He didn't even raise his voice. But his presence carried the weight of thunder.
"That's enough."
Both girls froze.
"I didn't ask anyone to fight over me," he said. "If you want to stay close to me, then respect each other. Or walk away."
His words hit harder than any kunai.
Tenten turned, lips tight, and left. Ino stayed where she was, trembling. She muttered, almost too quietly to hear:
"Why do you have to be so hard to love..."
That night, in the quiet halls of the Hyūga compound, Hinata sat on her veranda with a journal in her lap. The ink on the page blurred slightly as she wrote.
Everyone else is so bold. So fast. I'm always a step behind.
She stopped writing and stared up at the stars.
"What if... he never sees me that way?"
A soft knock at the window startled her.
Kazuki.
He looked pale, more tired than she'd ever seen him, but his eyes were steady.
"Can we talk?" he asked.
They sat in silence beneath a white-leafed tree in the garden. The crickets filled the gaps between words.
"You were the first person to trust me," Kazuki said. "That means something."
Hinata swallowed, her heart pounding.
"I... I still trust you. No matter what you become."
He looked at her. Slowly, he reached out and took her hand—just for a moment. His grip was light, but it grounded her.
"Thank you."
It wasn't a confession. But it was a spark. And for Hinata, it was enough—for now.
Back in his apartment, the storm returned.
Kazuki collapsed near the window as lightning chakra surged violently inside him. His skin shimmered faintly blue. He gasped, clutching his head, as visions tore through his mind like a hurricane.
The girl again. Violet hair. Storm tattoos. Her eyes full of tears as fire consumed the horizon behind her.
"You promised you'd protect me..."
Glass shattered around him. The lamp burst into sparks. He screamed, every nerve in his body burning from within.
When Yamato found him the next morning—sent by the Hokage to check on his condition—Kazuki was unconscious on the floor, skin fever-hot, the mark on his shoulder flickering like dying lightning.
"His body's rejecting the seal," Yamato muttered, kneeling. "If he doesn't complete the next trial soon... the power will eat him alive."
The Second Raijin Trial lay northeast of the Land of Fire—an ancient field of vertical cliff spires called the Sky Pillars. The winds there were so fierce that only those with wind or storm chakra could navigate them using chakra threads, wings, or gliders.
The trial had a name.
The Trial of Choice.
But before he could leave, they came to him—each girl, in turn, unaware of the others.
Tenten found him training alone, striking wooden dummies with precision. She approached, holding something wrapped in cloth.
"I said some things. I shouldn't have."
"So did I," Kazuki said, wiping sweat from his brow.
She handed him the bundle—a custom weapon scroll, detailed with storm-resistant seals.
"To help you survive the next one."
She hesitated, then added, "You don't have to pick anyone yet. But I'm not backing down."
Then she left.
Later, Ino met him on the road home.
"I'm not good at this," she said, voice trembling with honesty. "But I'm not giving up on you."
Kazuki looked at her, puzzled. "Why me?"
She shrugged, then stepped forward and kissed his cheek, quick and soft.
"Because you're real. And even when you push me away... I want to be someone who stays."
Before he could respond, she turned and walked away.
Finally, at the forest edge, Hinata waited. She didn't speak at first, just watched him approach with quiet courage.
"I know I'm quiet," she said. "And I don't shine like they do. But... I still want to stand beside you."
Kazuki didn't hesitate this time. He touched her shoulder gently.
"You already do."
Far beyond the borders of Konoha, in the shadowed Cavern of Broken Wind, the masked man knelt before a massive, weather-worn statue of the storm god.
"The heir nears the second trial," he said. His voice slithered like wind through cracks in stone. "Let the winds tear his heart apart."
Behind him, three figures stepped from the darkness. Each one bore a twisted Raijin mark—warped, cracked, pulsing with corrupted chakra.
The storm was far from over.