Forced to sell misery

In the stands, everyone was shocked by this duel——

"As expected of the fourth generation's son!"

"Too strong, it can even break the absolute defense of the Hyuga clan!"

“What an incredible talent!”

"So you weren't just bragging, that brat." In the stands, Princess Tsunade, dressed in green, sat proudly in the corner, with the huge word "bet" on the back of her clothes still eye-catching, "You really did it."

"Yes, yes..." Shizune huddled beside him while holding Tuntun, responding to Tsunade's words while looking around tremblingly - why do you have to be so sneaky and cover up when you return to your own village, Lady Tsunade! Although it would be a lot of trouble if caught by the higher-ups... and didn't you refuse it? Return to Konoha to be the Hokage or something...

Ahhh I totally don't understand.

"Let's go, Shizune."

"Eh?" Shizune was stunned, then went crazy, "Are you just leaving like this? You don't want to continue watching? Wait for me, Lady Tsunade!"

Inexplicably, Tsunade suddenly remembered the firm words of that strange Uchiha boy several years ago -

"My Sharingan has the power to look back into the past and see the future."

"So, what kind of future do you see?" She asked with doubt and tentativeness at that time.

"Your future as the Godaime Hokage-sama."

"……impossible!"

"Want to bet?"

"Three years."

"what?"

"In three years, you will be the Godaime Hokage of Konoha. And you will decide to take one last gamble and place your dream of becoming Hokage on a child."

"What if you lose?"

"I have good luck in gambling. I never lose."

What an enviable gambling luck...it even made her a little shaken.

Ignoring the deafening cheers of the arena, Tsunade strode down the road, in a rare good mood.

-

At the last exit of the stands, Itachi, dressed in ANBU uniform, was hiding in the dark. After all, as a member of the ANBU, he had no choice but to be arranged to monitor the venue due to severe shortage of manpower.

Shisui was dressed in ordinary clothes, but he did not stay in the audience seats. Instead, he squeezed together with Itachi.

As early as the time when the Sandaime announced the list of candidates for the third round, Itachi obviously noticed something was wrong, "Sasuke...isn't on the list?"

"Yes, yes." Shisui shuddered at the masked face that Itachi tilted his head to look at, and felt that something bad was going to happen, "... maybe there was some unexpected delay?"

"What are you hiding from me, Shisui?" Itachi asked calmly.

"Sorry..." Shisui looked away guiltily, "Sasuke did not take part in this exam."

What "Except you, no one can deceive him..."

This guy Itachi...

Especially when it comes to Sasuke, how could he be deceived?

Being able to keep it a secret until now is already... the limit.

"Sorry, Itachi." Shisui lowered his head, looking a little helpless.

"You're still not going to tell the truth?" Itachi took off his mask and looked at Shisui calmly with his lowered eyes. "The reason you hid the truth from me...either something happened to Sasuke, or it was because of him."

"…I can't tell you directly, Itachi, but the clan leader…you won't be the victims of the village and the clan, Itachi, I…"

"Then I have both." Itachi put on his mask again and left in an instant.

"Wait, Itachi—" The hand that tried to save the relationship clenched into a fist and hung at his side. Shisui looked at Itachi's receding back and suddenly thought bitterly that the child who used to chase after him and walk side by side with him because of the same ideals has grown up...

You've surpassed me, Itachi.

Although I feel a little reluctant, but... I'm really happy.

Itachi, I hope you can act according to your own will. Because you are such a gentle person who loves Sasuke, Uchiha, and Konoha. So, no matter what happens, I will support you.

----

Infirmary.

The simple wooden door blocked out the thunderous cheers of the crowd outside, leaving only the silent and lonely person inside.

Just like that... I lost. It's so embarrassing.

Neji lowered his head, touched the bandages on his forehead with his shaking hands, and then tore them off -

Time and again, he succumbed to the fate, endured the oppression of the Zong family, was forced to accept his father's sacrifice, and bowed to the people he hated, to the Zong family members who were mediocre but superior...

Oh, what a genius... but a wailing bird in a cage. He can only be bound by a miserable fate until the moment of death!

"Knock knock--" there was a knock on the door of the clinic.

"Get out, I don't need treatment!"

But the person outside turned a deaf ear to it and with a creak, the door was pushed open.

"Who is it?!" Neji immediately turned his back and hid the curse seal on his forehead.

"You lose, Neji," the man said calmly.

"I don't need others to deliberately ridicule me—"

The bandage in his hand was wrinkled. Neji turned around, but his eyes widened in shock, "You - Uchiha Kagamiya?!"

"haven't seen you for a long time."

"Why are you here?" While looking at Jing Ye, Neji was secretly on guard. Those rumors and information suddenly disturbed his thoughts - a rebel from the Uchiha clan, an S-level rebel ninja from Konoha who endangered the village... why did he come here?

"Come to visit the sad little white bird?" His eyes swept across the curse seal on Neji's forehead, and quickly and politely moved away, and Jing Ye tested him in an uncertain tone.

"What do you mean..." Neji choked.

"You are unwilling, right?" Uchiha Jingye narrowed his eyes. "Even if you say something like, 'People have to live in a fate they cannot resist', do you really think so?"

"It has nothing to do with you." Neji was a little timid when he saw the dark and deep eyes of Shangjingye who had restrained their aggression. "...Don't say anything more."

"You keep denying other people's efforts, while struggling with contradictions... In fact, you work harder than anyone else, right?" Jing Ye looked directly into Neji's eyes, his tone clearly asking, but he stated the facts calmly and firmly, "Whether it's Hui Tian or Bagua Sixty-four Palms, you practiced these moves just to provoke the main family, right?"

“So what?” Neji turned his head away in embarrassment, not daring to look at Uchiha Jingye who hadn’t activated his Sharingan—even if he didn’t have the Sharingan, he was completely seen through…

He said those words that denied himself and succumbed to fate, but there was a voice in his heart that was unwillingly refutation and struggle...

He suppressed himself and at the same time made a weak resistance in pain.

"So, you didn't lose to others, you just lost to yourself, Neji." Jing Ye paused, looking at Neji's dodging eyes, "But winning or losing is not important. What you really want is..."

"Shut up!" The chakra flow around his body surged, and Neji raised his head, with veins bulging around his eyes. He looked at Jing Ye with hatred, and for the first time, he vented his pent-up resentment and anger unscrupulously, "It's not your turn to lecture me--"

"I'm not preaching, I just want to tell you that fate is something that is born to be trampled underfoot—"

Jing Ye remembered a book he had read a long time ago. There was a sentence in the book that he remembered for a long time and has not forgotten it to this day.

——"Destiny is something that is born to be trampled underfoot. If you don't have it yet, just wait with courage."

"You want freedom, and I want to give you freedom."

"Are you trying to persuade me to betray the Hyuga clan?" Neji sneered, his eyes full of murderous intent, "Why should I believe you?"

"You think the caged bird curse is proof that you are bound by an inescapable fate, so - what if I tell you that the curse can be eliminated?" With scarlet eyes, Jing Ye said softly, "Just tell me your answer."

"I..." His voice seemed to be blocked, and Neji's body began to tremble uncontrollably. After a long moment, he asked in a trembling voice, "Is it because of your eyes? The eyes that can see into the future?"

"Yeah." Jing Ye laughed and didn't deny it. "Do you want to know about your future?"

"It has nothing to do with fate?"

"I've heard of something like fate... who would believe it?" Jing Ye glanced outside the door. "It only has to do with your choice. But my time is limited——"

The wind blew through the window, making a rustling sound.

"Okay, that's all I have to say. If you want to change your fate, then take a different path. At dawn tomorrow, someone will be waiting for you outside the village."

The wind blew through his robes but failed to stir up any waves. Jing Ye's figure in the room became transparent in the increasingly loud wind. "Final advice, no matter what choice you make, you have to pay the corresponding price. Your own destiny must be in your own hands."