White patterns carved across the sky, transforming into a flurry of falling blossoms.
Kin reached out and caught a drifting snowflake.
"It's snowing."
The ground was blanketed in white.
Though he had only swapped his short sleeves for long ones and his shorts for trousers, he felt no chill.
One of the benefits of the Basic Internal Energy Technique was its ability to ward off both heat and cold.
As he walked down the street, his gaze swept over the passing shinobi. Though their clothing was similarly thin, their resilience came from rigorous training—nothing to do with chakra.
From the academy days, shinobi endured heat and cold resistance drills, hardening themselves through hardship until it became second nature.
There were even pain tolerance exercises.
Arriving at the usual spot—the dilapidated, abandoned training ground now buried under pristine snow—he found only a single wooden post peeking through the white.
A figure was there, hammering the post as if venting his frustrations.
"Hyuga Kiyoshi!" Kin called out.
The white-clad Kiyoshi didn't turn immediately. Instead, he adjusted his forehead protector before facing Kin.
"Kin," Kiyoshi greeted, his voice weary. "I didn't think any of you would come here anymore."
Since becoming genin, he'd been the only one who still trained here regularly.
It had been a long time since he'd seen Kin or the others.
Kin shrugged as he approached.
"We've been stuck doing those childish missions."
Babysitting elders, looking after kids, hauling goods, planting rice, harvesting wheat—to him, it was all just playacting.
Kiyoshi's smile faltered slightly.
Even those trivial missions with teammates sounded like a luxury to him now.
But alas.
Kin, feigning obliviousness to Kiyoshi's mood, asked, "Where's your team?"
He'd been asleep during the team assignments and didn't know who Kiyoshi had been paired with.
Kiyoshi fell silent, staring at the snow beneath his feet as if he, too, were buried beneath it.
Wasn't that the way of the Hyuga? The branch family were little more than corpses interred in the clan's soil.
Suddenly, he looked up at Kin.
"Uchiha Kin. Fight me."
BAM!
A violent impact sent Kiyoshi crashing into the wooden post.
The post splintered, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Gazing up at the snowflakes, he began to laugh—softly at first, then louder, wilder.
"Ha... hahahahaha!!"
Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.
The physical pain was nothing compared to the torment in his heart.
"The gap is just too wide... you monster."
He hadn't even reacted. A single strike was all it took to defeat him.
"I don't care for that description."
Kin loomed over him like an insurmountable mountain.
Uchiha.
Truly terrifying.
"I've no interest in your Hyuga clan's petty drama. But if you enjoy being a punching bag, I'm happy to oblige."
Kiyoshi's state was unmistakable—another victim of the Hyuga's cursed system.
Every year at the academy, at least one Hyuga would break under the pressure, usually right after receiving the Caged Bird Seal. Most grew withdrawn, silent.
For Kiyoshi to last until graduation before cracking was rare.
Then again, he had been held back twice.
Kin was used to this.
"I see."
Kiyoshi's laughter faded into exhaustion. Then, abruptly, he asked:
"Kin, you're a genius at creating jutsu, right?"
"What of it?"
"Can you develop a technique to remove the Caged Bird Seal?"
Kin didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked up at the sky.
Kiyoshi followed his gaze and began to speak, his voice hollow.
"At first, I didn't care much about the seal. I thought if I just stayed away from the main family, I'd be free. As long as I kept my distance, I could live my own life."
"But I was wrong. Even then, I couldn't escape."
"For the genin teams, I was taken by my uncle. Now I'm a 'guard' for Hyuga Hiashi of the main family. A guard? More like his personal slave."
"My uncle even told me to be grateful for the clan's 'generosity'! Hah! Isn't that hilarious?"
Kiyoshi's face twisted with rage.
"My parents died for the main family. Must I follow the same path?"
"Why?!"
Just because he was branch family, his entire lineage had to dedicate their lives to protecting the main house.
His parents had already sacrificed everything.
Wasn't that enough?
Kin looked down at Kiyoshi, his expression unreadable.
Just how deep did the hatred run within the Hyuga clan?
And if one day, the Caged Bird Seal vanished—
What then?
It sounded... entertaining.
A smirk tugged at Kin's lips.
"Value. What can you offer me in return?"
Kiyoshi stared at him, stunned. He'd only meant to vent, to spill his grievances to someone.
But this—this was something else entirely.
"You... you can really do it?"
The question died on his lips. Kin's reputation had even reached the Hyuga clan.
The creator of the Basic Internal Energy Technique.
Rumors said countless shinobi were scrambling for merits just to exchange for that jutsu.
He'd also heard of the Four Styles taijutsu Kin had developed.
Titles piled upon titles:
The Hidden Genius. The Hardworking Prodigy. The Second Hokage's Equal.
Too many to count.
So what if—
What if this boy could actually achieve what every branch family member dreamed of?
Kiyoshi scrambled to his knees in the snow and pressed his forehead to the ground with a dull thud.
A streak of crimson stained the white.
"Hyuga Kiyoshi pledges his everything to Lord Kin!"
He would gamble it all. No branch member could resist the temptation of freedom from the seal.
"Not yet." Kin shook his head, his smile laced with something darker. "When I succeed, I'll hold you to that promise."
He wondered if the Hyuga clan could withstand what was coming.
Perched on a relatively intact wooden post, Kin watched Kiyoshi's retreating figure.
He was confident about breaking the Caged Bird Seal.
With his Golden Finger, how could something like this stump him?
But the seal was tied to the soul itself—not so easily undone.
"For now, it's... troublesome."
Kin glanced at the deduction results for the Caged Bird's removal:
Transfer to a new body, then unravel the sealing technique.
How was that any different from dying?
"Kin, what are you thinking about?"
Kushina and Minato arrived late, as usual.
"We just saw Hyuga Kiyoshi. He didn't seem to be in a good mood," Kin replied nonchalantly.
"Kiyoshi? Haven't seen him in ages," Minato murmured, squinting at the distant figure.
Since becoming genin, they'd often crossed paths with former classmates on missions.
Kiyoshi was the only one who'd seemingly vanished.
Something about internal Hyuga affairs, apparently.
Minato knew nothing of the Caged Bird Seal.
Such things weren't common knowledge.
"Next time we see him, we should ask where he's been," Kushina said cheerfully.
She, too, was oblivious to the Hyuga's dark practices—clan secrets stayed within clans.
"Sure."
Kin studied the two. Both wore simple, unlayered outfits—the same style year-round.
How absurd.
"So, what are you teaching us today?" Kushina asked eagerly.
Kin rolled his eyes.
"It's for Minato. You can join if you can keep up."
"As if I'd want to learn from you!"
Kushina stuck out her tongue and shoved Minato forward.
Minato chuckled awkwardly.
"By the way, Minato," Kin suddenly asked, "what's that technique you created called?"
Minato's eyes lit up.
"Whirling Gale Swift Wind Cry! Four Styles! Cool name, right?"
Kin: "..."
Kushina: "..."
"What kind of name is that?!" Kushina recoiled in horror. Why did it have to be so long?
She didn't get it.
Kin sighed.
"Don't use that in battle. You'll get killed before you finish saying it."
Minato scratched his cheek sheepishly. He'd thought it sounded great.
"From now on, call it Steel-Cutting Flash."
"But that doesn't really fit..."
Minato wanted to protest. "Flash" sounded more like a sword technique.
He preferred his own name.
"It matches the jutsu I'm about to teach you."
Kin's tone was ominous.
Drawing a kunai from his pouch, he said, "Let me demonstrate."
"Can't wait."
Minato mirrored him, kunai in hand.
Their figures clashed in the next instant, sparks flying as steel scraped against steel.
Kushina perched on a tree branch to watch.
Kin and Minato crossed paths, a gust of wind coiling around Kin's body.
Minato frowned. His chakra had dipped slightly.
Another clash.
CLANG!
They separated again.
Minato noticed the wind swirling around Kin—and his own dwindling chakra reserves.
"What a strange jutsu..."
"Minato, pay close attention."
Kin gripped his kunai with both hands and slashed downward through the air.
"Steel-Cutting Flash!!"
A blue wind blade materialized out of nowhere.
With a piercing shriek, it shot toward Minato in an instant.
Minato's eyes widened. He barely had time to react.
Activating Steel-Cutting Flash, he threw himself sideways, riding the gust with all his might.
The blue blade whizzed past.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Minato turned to look.
A clean path had been carved through the trees behind him.
"I created this to compensate for your lack of offensive power."
Kin grinned.
The principle was simple: a chakra-absorbing seal applied to the kunai, siphoning the opponent's chakra on contact.
Then, by converting his own chakra into wind and synchronizing it with the stolen energy, he could create a dual-layered pressure—inner and outer—to stabilize the blade.
But it had to be released quickly, or the stored chakra would dissipate.
The power scaled with mastery, pushing the limits of its potential.
Golden Finger, you glorious cheat.
Though the creation had taken less than ten seconds, mastering it had cost him a full night.
"Incredible!" Minato gasped.
(End of Chapter)