Creak… creak…
Arata walked slowly along the road, the howling wind and snow echoing endlessly in his ears.
The raging storm from yesterday had finally exhausted itself before dawn, but it had left behind a thick blanket of snow covering the ground.
Thud! Thud!
From afar came dull, muffled sounds, torn apart by the roaring wind. The closer Arata got, the clearer they became.
All paths once walked by passersby had been completely buried under white snow. Only Arata's footprints remained on the ground. It was as if all of Konoha had been cleansed overnight.
Yet the sky was a heavy leaden gray, stingily letting through a faint, bleak morning light that reflected off the snow with a deathly chill.
Neji stood at the center of this white, silent world. He was still wearing that thin black mourning robe, his young face expressionless as he struck a wooden training post in the courtyard.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He had completely abandoned the techniques of Gentle Fist, using only the most primitive and brutal force, throwing punch after punch. Each impact produced a dull, grating sound.
The skin on his knuckles quickly split open, fresh blood seeping out and staining the wooden post, forming patches of glaring dark red.
With every punch, thin streaks of blood were flung into the air, splattering onto the pure white snow beneath his feet like blooming crimson plum blossoms.
Clearly, the boy was once again venting his sorrow and anger through self-destructive training.
"Pitiful, really."
Arata leaned against the courtyard gate with his arms crossed, watching the unmoved Neji with a faint smile.
"Such meaningless venting. What, are you hoping I'll hug you and say something like 'Stop hitting, it's all over'?"
Neji's movements abruptly stopped. He slowly turned to face him, his pale eyes filled with resentment.
"What do you know?" Neji said hoarsely, his voice full of hatred. "You couldn't even protect my father's body. You're just a useless failure, too!"
Arata couldn't muster even the slightest anger toward a child's spiteful words.
But venting anger at a mute wooden post, now that was truly meaningless.
"Genius of the branch family," he said with a smile. "Do you dare make a bet with this 'useless failure'?"
Neji didn't respond immediately. He simply stared at Arata in silence.
So Arata clasped his hands behind his back, slightly lowered his head, and smiled.
"I'll give you both hands. Come on, genius."
His tone of disdain and mockery struck Neji's nerves instantly. Anger finally surfaced on his young, composed face.
He had always looked down on Arata. From Lord Hiashi and his father, he could feel an ever-present pressure, but from Arata, he felt nothing.
And yet this so-called failure dared to claim he could fight without using his hands?
"You bastard!"
The moment his words fell, Neji rushed forward, instinctively using Gentle Fist techniques.
Arata lightly hooked his foot into the snow. As Neji raised his palm to strike, Arata flicked up a spray of snow straight into his face. In an instant, Neji's vision was engulfed in blinding white, like a sudden storm.
Neji swung his left hand, dispersing the snow, only to find Arata had vanished. Reacting on instinct, he struck to his right,
Bang!
Neji guessed correctly.
His palm collided with Arata's raised leg, but the force was like ocean waves crashing against an immovable cliff.
The snow beneath their feet burst outward. Neji staggered back, leaving two dragging trails in the snow.
"What's wrong, genius?" Arata lowered his leg, narrowing his eyes with a cold smile. "Can't even handle that much force?"
'What's going on?'
'The force… it bounced back?'
All of Neji's previous disdain vanished instantly, replaced by growing seriousness.
But unfortunately, that seriousness didn't last long.
Because the fight ended in the very next moment.
Neji's right leg buckled as if struck by an iron rod, forcing him to drop to one knee. Before he could even react, a knee rapidly filled his vision.
Bang! Crack!
After sweeping Neji's leg, Arata leapt forward and drove his knee viciously into Neji's face.
The sound of a breaking nose echoed as Neji was sent flying, blood scattering through the air before he crashed heavily onto the ground, dislodging clumps of snow from the eaves above.
"Ugh…"
Half-conscious, Neji tried to push himself up with his right hand, but it was mercilessly stomped on.
"Pathetic. All you do is harm yourself," Arata said coldly. "At this rate, you don't even need that hand. Someone like you might as well stay in your cage and be a little bird for others to watch and play with."
"No!" Neji cried out, but he couldn't pull his arm free.
"What's wrong? Isn't being a caged bird nice?"
Arata pressed down slightly harder.
"That pitiful, powerless look, who is it for? You think that because of the Caged Bird Seal, your fate is sealed, that you can only be controlled by the main family?"
Neji's lips trembled silently, cracking and bleeding, the blood freezing instantly in the cold air as he shook his head in struggle.
Bullying a child wasn't exactly moral.
Unfortunately, Arata had no such concerns.
He didn't have time to wait for Neji to figure things out on his own. He needed to reignite the boy's desires and defiance.
Thud.
Arata suddenly lifted his foot, and Neji collapsed face-first into the snow.
"Fate is nothing more than a tyrant's tool to shackle minds, and an excuse for fools to comfort themselves."
Looking down at Neji's miserable state, Arata spoke calmly, "If you really want to resist, then crush those arrogant bastards beneath your feet. Make them taste what it's like to have their dignity and freedom toyed with."
"Instead of wallowing here in self-pity, venting your useless rage!"
"Huff! Huff!"
Neji struggled to turn over, his cheek pressed against the freezing snow, gasping for air. The white vapor from his breath was instantly scattered by the wind.
At last, his tears could no longer be held back.
Parting after parting, those who remain suffer far more than those who leave.
The greatest fear of death lies in this: it brushes past us, leaving us behind, alone.