It might have been fate, or maybe just coincidence, but at that very moment, Hyūga Akane's thoughts were fixed on one name—Shigure.
Shigure… I've always been the weak one, haven't I? Always slowing you down. I want to be stronger! I won't give up—I'll keep standing! I'll hold out until you see my efforts with your own eyes.
Why was she thinking of him now, when her body screamed in pain, when defeat seemed certain? Yet instead of despair, the thought lit an unbreakable fire in her pupils. In her pale eyes, the sheen of determination blazed brighter than ever.
Across from her, Matsuyama Hideichi was breathing heavily. His size and strength had carried him far, but now even his monstrous physique showed fatigue. His breath rasped through grit teeth.
"You're really stubborn, lady of the Hyūga clan!" he bellowed, clutching his fists together as if brandishing weapons. "But what happens if I really hit you? Won't your proud clan retaliate? Hah! Weak little princess. You know what builds a real shinobi? Sweat, training, perseverance. Me! Every cut and scar is victory! Look at this body—muscle and strength earned with discipline!"
He flexed and snarled like a beast. "How many missions do you pampered kids have under your belts? None worth speaking of! You're too soft for real combat! You—you call that so-called Gentle Fist without Byakugan activated? It's a joke!"
"Enough!" Hizashi's voice cut sharp as kunai. His pale eyes burned. "Do not insult the Hyūga clan lightly!"
A hush struck the edges of the field. The clan name was always sensitive ground for outsiders.
Hideichi paled slightly—then forced a grin, pretending contrition. "Ah, forgive me, Hizashi-sensei. I didn't mean the entire Hyūga. Just your little student!" He jerked his chin back at Akane, sneering.
"Hatake Kusuo already lost. Uchiha Shigure is supposedly the bottom of your class too, isn't he? The last to graduate? This whole squad ranks at the bottom. You're the weakest of the weak!"
Akane froze. Sweat stung her brow. Her voice cut low, nearly trembling. "…What did you just say? Repeat it."
"Didn't you hear?" Hideichi laughed, oblivious. "You're the weakest class!"
"Not that." Akane's voice was like ice. She stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "The line before."
That jolted him. "You mean… Uchiha Shigure? Yeah, I said he's nothing special. Scraped by out of luck."
The moment his name left Hideichi's lips again, Akane's aura shifted. Her spine straightened, her fists curled. Energy shivered off her in an unfamiliar rhythm. The ground beneath her sandals cracked.
And then—her pupils bloomed into their full form.
In the blink of an eye, the dormant Byakugan exploded awake, veins rising sharply around her eyes.
She vanished.
Hideichi barely blinked before she was in front of him. Her fist smashed forward, faster than his massive body could even react. His breath halted, eyes bulging as for the first time in his life, true fear clawed up his chest. The coldness of her activated gaze pinned him where he stood.
"No one," Akane whispered, her voice low, chilling, "slanders Shigure."
The sudden terror drowned Hideichi's will. His thoughts melted into white noise, his heart hammering. Then his knees buckled—and he crumpled in complete unconsciousness.
The Awakening
"Akane?!" Kusuo's eyes widened.
"The Byakugan!" Hizashi's lips parted in shock. "She actually awakened it here?"
It was true. The girl's stubborn resistance under despair, her unyielding words, and the insult against the one she held closest… all had catalyzed her first awakening. She had torn open her clan's ancient power.
But activating such a dojutsu for the first time came with a harsh toll. The veins at her temples receded quickly as her chakra flared and flickered, overdrawn. Her Byakugan dimmed. Her body trembled—and faltered.
She started to collapse.
But before the ground could reach her, strong arms steadied her from behind.
"Shi…gure?" She groaned faintly, vision hazy. And within her blurred sight, she saw pale-white hair, and eyes both gentle and fierce.
"It's me." Shigure's voice, calm and steady. He didn't miss a beat. "Rest now. You did well. From here, leave everything to me."
Cradling her carefully, he carried Akane across to Hizashi, meeting the jonin's eyes.
"Teacher Hizashi, she forced open the Byakugan. Her chakra consumption's drained her completely. Take her to the Hyūga estate—she'll need their treatment. I'll handle this battle."
Hizashi studied him for a brief moment, then nodded. "Understood." Without hesitation, he leapt away with Akane in his arms, vanishing through the trees toward the clan compound.
Suzuki Saori blinked in visible surprise. "Leaving? Like that? Another warrior eliminated, and you withdraw? Interesting."
Shigure's Turn
Across the battered grounds, Kusuo staggered upright, clutching his ribs. "Shigure… be careful. Those guys are tough. Especially Sumire—Violet's illusions. I heard she even bested a Chunin once! I couldn't do a thing against it."
"You're wounded. Rest," Shigure ordered firmly.
At the center, he turned to face his opponents. Suzuki Saori's three Genin were waiting—Katori Sumire with violet hair and sharp eyes, her average-looking but unnervingly calm teammate Yoshida Kappei, and Hideichi's unconscious form rolling in the dirt.
"Let's call those last two matches draws," Shigure said coldly. "Both combatants fell."
Then he stepped forward. His body flickered, and in an instant he stood alone in the open dirt arena, his gaze burning across the field.
His words carried like a hammer blow: "So. Will you come at me one by one—or both at once?"
Kappei studied him with unsettling calm. Unlike the others, he didn't sneer or taunt. He only observed. "Arrogant," he commented. "But confident."
Sumire barked a laugh. "Fine. I'll go first. Let me show you what makes me special. The so-called pride of the Uchiha clan, brought down by a Genin girl without even needing to lift a finger."
Disgust colored her eyes as she raised her kunai, spinning it deftly. "Your bloodline means nothing. Without it, you're no better than trash."
Shigure's gaze cooled to ice. "Careful. I've already told you—I am not like the others. Don't confuse me with them."
That faint, cryptic edge unsettled even Sumire for a breath—but pride shoved the hesitation away. She lunged.
Illusion
Shigure's Byakuran glowed faintly. Even before she moved, he felt the disturbance. Threads of genjutsu chakra extended like thin translucent strands, seeping into the field. He tilted his head. Already begun.
To Kusuo and the remaining spectators, it looked simple—Sumire rushed with a kunai, her stance imperfect. But Shigure saw sharply: the physical was just surface. The true strike was intangible.
"I see. A genjutsu cage."
He could already unravel it with his matured three-tomoe Sharingan. His eyes spun, red and black against her swirling trick. To him, illusions were glass.
But instead of shattering it immediately—he pretended. His body jerked, his hands clutching his head, a strangled scream tearing his throat. Then he collapsed to the floor, writhing, as if hopelessly caught in the illusion.
"No!" Kusuo gasped hoarsely from the sideline. "Shigure's… trapped…"
Watching from the edge, Sumire smirked wide, her violet eyes glimmering smug satisfaction. "Too easy. Even the Sharingan fails before me. This is my gift—the one thing that ensures victory."
Her laughter echoed—until she realized the body at her feet was flickering. A faint shimmer, like an after-image.
The Uchiha lying crumpled dissolved into nothingness.
"What—?!" Her voice cracked, panic striking.
Suzuki Saori's voice barked instantly from the sidelines: "Behind you!"
Sumire spun wildly, her kunai slicing the empty air—and froze.
For standing there, behind her shoulder, was Shigure. Silent, scarlet tomoe burning mercilessly in his eyes.
Her breath hitched.
Saori whispered, aghast even as adrenaline surged through her teacher's instincts, "This boy… he not only dispelled the illusion instantly—he mirrored it. He used her own techniques to vanish from her senses. Could it be… he's casting now?"
Sumire's mouth went dry. This wasn't how the script was supposed to unfold.
And now Uchiha Shigure smiled, low and dangerous.
"Do you still think illusions can bind me?"
--
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