White patterns carved in the sky, transforming into countless flowers drifting down.
Gin reached out and caught a falling snowflake.
"It's snowing."
A layer of white covered the ground.
Though he had only swapped his short-sleeve shirt for a long-sleeve one and his shorts for pants, he didn't feel the cold.
One of the great benefits of basic internal energy cultivation was immunity to extreme temperatures.
Walking down the street, he observed the ninjas passing by. Despite their thin clothing, they had built up the resilience through training, unrelated to chakra.
Ninja Academy started with heat and cold resistance training, instilling endurance to hardships from a young age, making them naturally tolerant.
Not to mention pain tolerance training.
Arriving at the old spot.
The abandoned training ground, now covered in a thick layer of snow.
Only a single wooden stake was exposed.
He saw a figure furiously striking the wooden stake as if venting.
"Hyuga Seiryuu!" Gin called out. (Changed the name as it would be quite close to Sai's name.)
Clad in white, Seiryuu didn't turn immediately but adjusted his headband before turning around.
"Gin." Seiryuu greeted. "I thought you guys wouldn't come anymore."
Ever since becoming a ninja, he had been the only one coming here to train regularly.
It had been a long time since he had seen Gin and his teammates.
Gin walked over and shrugged.
"We've been doing those babysitting missions."
Caring for the elderly, looking after children, transporting goods, planting rice, harvesting wheat.
To him, it was just child's play.
Seiryuu's smile became strained.
Doing simple tasks with teammates was something he longed for too.
Unfortunately.
Gin seemed oblivious to Seiryuu's unease and asked, "Where are your teammates?"
He had fallen asleep before, unaware of Seiryuu's teammates' identities.
Seiryuu fell silent, staring at the snow-covered ground as if he were buried beneath it.
The Hyuga clan was like that; the branch family was like corpses buried in the earth.
He suddenly looked up at Gin.
"Gin, fight me."
"Bang!"
A loud crash, and Seiryuu's body collided with the wooden stake.
The stake broke, and he lay on the ground.
Looking up at the falling snowflakes, he started to laugh, his laughter growing louder.
"Haha... Hahaha!"
Tears streamed from his eyes.
The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony in his heart.
"The gap is huge, you monster."
He hadn't even had time to react before being defeated in one blow.
"I don't agree with your assessment."
Gin stood over him like an insurmountable mountain.
The Uchiha.
Truly terrifying.
"I'm not interested in the Hyuga clan's issues, but if you like being a punching bag, I'm happy to oblige."
Just by looking at Seiryuu's state, he knew it was due to clan issues.
Every year, a Hyuga member would have an emotional breakdown at the Ninja Academy, mostly due to being branded with the Caged Bird Seal, becoming increasingly silent and withdrawn.
Seiryuu breaking down only after graduation was rare.
He was held back for two years, after all.
Gin wasn't surprised anymore.
"Is that so."
Seiryuu, exhausted from laughing, suddenly asked, "Gin, you're a genius at creating jutsu, right?"
"So what?"
"Can you develop a jutsu to break the Caged Bird Seal?"
Gin didn't reply, looking up at the sky.
Seiryuu also looked up, starting to share his experiences.
"The Caged Bird Seal, I didn't care much at first. I just wanted to stay far from the main family, to gain freedom."
"But even with that thought, I couldn't escape."
"In the Genin team assignment, my uncle took me away to be the bodyguard for Hiashi of the main family. 'Bodyguard,' but in reality, I'm just his personal slave."
"My uncle even told me to thank the clan for their great kindness! Hahaha! Isn't that funny?"
Seiryuu's face twisted with rage.
"My parents died for the Hyuga main family. Do I have to follow in their footsteps too?"
"Why should I!!"
Just because he was from the branch family, he had to sacrifice his entire family to protect the main family.
His parents had already died for this.
Wasn't that enough?
Gin looked down at the hate-filled Seiryuu.
How deep was the hatred within the Hyuga clan?
If the Caged Bird Seal disappeared one day.
What would happen? It sounded interesting.
Gin's lips curled into a smile.
"Value, what value can you offer me?"
Seiryuu was stunned, realizing he had just been venting to someone.
But it wasn't that simple.
"You can."
Seiryuu wanted to ask if Gin could really do it, but he had heard of Gin's reputation within the clan.
The creator of Basic Inner Technique.
Many were now working hard to earn merits to exchange for that jutsu.
He also knew about Gin's Four Forms taijutsu.
Countless titles were heaped upon him.
A hidden genius, a hardworking genius, a genius comparable to the Second Hokage.
So many titles.
What if!? What if he could achieve what every branch family member dreamed of? Seiryuu quickly stood up, kneeling in the snow, his head hitting the ground with a dull thud.
The snow stained with a hint of red.
"Hyuga Seiryuu pledges everything to you, Gin-sama!" He was willing to bet everything. No branch member could resist the allure of breaking the Caged Bird Seal.
"Not yet." Gin shook his head, his smile hiding a subtle malice.
"Wait until I actually do it. Hope you don't go back on your word."
Hope the Hyuga clan can handle it.
Gin sat on a relatively intact wooden stake.
Watching Seiryuu's departing figure.
He was confident in breaking the Caged Bird Seal.
With his cheat ability, how could he be stumped by the Caged Bird Seal?
But the seal involved the soul, not something easily solved.
"For now, it's hard to accomplish."
Gin glanced at the proposed method to break the Caged Bird Seal.
Swapping bodies and then breaking the seal with unsealing jutsu.
Might as well be asking someone to die.
"What are you thinking about, Gin?"
Just then, Kushina and Minato finally arrived.
"Saw Seiryuu earlier. He didn't seem in a good mood."
Gin responded nonchalantly.
"Seiryuu, huh? Haven't seen him in a while." Minato looked at the distant figure.
The other ninjas in the team often appeared during missions.
Only Seiryuu hadn't been seen, likely due to internal Hyuga issues.
Minato didn't know about the Caged Bird Seal.
It wasn't something everyone knew.
"Next time, I'll ask him what's been going on."
Kushina also didn't know about the Hyuga clan's affairs. Such matters typically stayed within the ninja clans.
"Hopefully."
Gin looked at the two of them. Both wore simple clothes, not dressed warmly, wearing similar outfits all year.
It was absurd.
"What are you going to teach us today?" Kushina asked eagerly.
Gin rolled his eyes.
"I planned to teach Minato. If you can learn it, then join in."
"Who wants to learn from you?"
Kushina snorted, making a face at Gin before pushing Minato forward.
Minato smiled awkwardly.
"By the way, what's the name of the jutsu you created?" Gin suddenly asked.
Minato brightened up at this.
"Whirlwind Dance! Rapid Wind Roar! Four Forms! Cool name, right?"
Gin: ...
Kushina: ...
"What kind of name is that!"
Kushina was utterly repulsed. Why such a long name?
She didn't get it.
Gin rolled his eyes.
"Don't call it that. You might get beaten up before you finish saying it."
Minato scratched his head awkwardly. He thought it sounded great.
"Let's call it Forward Slash from now on."
"But that name doesn't fit."
Minato wanted to refuse. The name sounded more suited to sword techniques.
He felt it wasn't as good as his name.
"It fits the jutsu I'm going to teach you."
Gin said meaningfully.
He took out a kunai from his ninja pouch.
"Let me show you."
"Can't wait."
Minato also drew a kunai.
The next moment, they clashed, sparks flying from the kunai's friction.
Kushina sat on a tree, watching them fight.
Gin and Minato crossed paths, wind swirling around them.
Minato frowned, feeling his chakra depleting.
They clashed again.
This time, Minato saw the wind around Gin, his chakra depleting further.
"What a strange jutsu."
"Minato, watch closely."
Gin gripped the kunai with both hands, slashing the air from top to bottom.
"Steel Slash!!"
A blue wind blade appeared, screeching as it flew.
Minato's pupils dilated, unable to react.
He used Forward Slash, flying with the wind.
The blue wind blade passed by.
The sound of "shh shh shh" echoed.
Minato looked back.
The trees behind him were cut in a straight line.
"To compensate for your lack of attack power, I created this jutsu."
Gin grinned.
The principle involved absorbing chakra into the kunai, then using the wind to stabilize it, releasing it quickly.
The power depended on mastering the jutsu, increasing its potential.
The cheat ability was always reliable.
Though it took less than ten seconds to create, mastering it took him all night.
"So strong!"
Minato exclaimed.
(End of Chapter)