Chapter 35 – Fracture and Flame

Hinata's scream tore through the arena.

Kurenai was already in motion before she hit the ground.

She moved her closer to the exit waiting for the medical team.

Naruto vaulted from the stands, ignoring the cries of the proctors. Kiba and Shino were just behind him.

The cursed seal on Hinata's forehead blazed like a brand. Chakra surged from the mark in violent pulses, her body convulsing, the veins around her eyes and temple swelling grotesquely. Her hands clawed at the ground, her broken staff forgotten beside her.

The world slowed. The scream still echoed.

And Michel moved—threads bursting forward, like light clawing at a dying star.

"No—NO!"

He didn't hesitate.

In an instant, he sacrificed more of himself. A second lash of his spiritual power, tearing apart a piece of his own soul. The silver threads wrapped around her spiritual center, shielding her from the consuming heat.

It was like holding fire in his hands.

"You will NOT take her from me!"

The seal pulsed again. Then—

Silence.

Hinata gasped once, collapsed, and went still.

The cursed seal dimmed… but it didn't vanish. Its presence lingered—like a shadow burnt into flesh.

Kurenai reached her student first.

"She's alive," she whispered. "But barely."

Naruto dropped to his knees beside her, shaking.

"What did they do to you…?"

Kiba and Shino stood in stunned silence. Even Akamaru whimpered.

Michel hovered near her collapsed body, his threads dimmed, frayed. The act of resistance had left cracks in his essence—echoes of a soul stretched beyond its limit.

Across the arena, Neji stood tall again, arms behind his back.

"So," he said coldly, "even her final effort was meaningless. In the end, fate reclaimed her."

Naruto's fists tightened on the stone floor.

"You…" he growled. "You're gonna pay for that."

Neji didn't flinch.

"I don't expect you to understand, Naruto Uzumaki. You live in ignorance of destiny. She was never meant to rise."

Kurenai's head snapped up. Her eyes blazed—but she said nothing. She was too focused on the barely breathing girl in her arms.

Suddenly, Neji froze… not only because of the killer instinct behind him but because his body wasn't responding, he was paralyzed.

Kuro was behind him, standing in his shadow, her one eye shining with anger.

Neji felt death for a moment, breathing down his neck… when he saw a figure in green standing next to him, holding a small dog by the neck in the air near him… Might Guy

"The flame of your youth clouds you little one; you should take care of her instead of looking for culprits where there are none."

With a quick movement of his hand, he gently threw Kuro near Hinata.

Kuro continued to glare at Neji, but she stepped back to where Hinata was, ready to jump on him if he only took another step closer to Hinata.

<<<< o >>>>

Far above, Michel hovered in silence.

He had no voice left. No threads to call upon.

But his mind spun.

Why? Why now?

And then… the pieces fell together.

The Byakugan had always been sealed inside Hinata—not just spiritually weak, but actively suppressed.

Michel remembered now: that unnatural hunger, the resistance, the way chakra would vanish when it approached her eyes. He thought it was imbalance.

But it was Shikashi.

Not just restraining her.

Feeding from her. From him. Every drop of chakra, every echo of soul he infused into her, had trickled into that sealed eye.

And it fought back. It evolved. for twelve years.

When Hinata synchronized—body, spirit, and dream—the girl in the Silver World and the girl in the ring became one. It was no longer Michel dragging her forward.

She chose.

And that choice broke Shikashi's curse.

No longer was Michel being drawn toward her as fuel.

He was… free.

But so was her Byakugan.

In that brief moment, it woke.

And the ancient seal designed to suppress tampering—

—it struck.

Anything the main family deems manipulated must be destroyed.

Hinata had not been manipulated. She had transcended.

And the seal could not tell the difference.

Michel clenched his fists. If he had hesitated—she would be dead.

Fate didn't reclaim her, Neji, he thought.

You tried. And she broke it.

<<<< o >>>>

The murmurs in the crowd were hushed, nervous. Confused.

The Third Hokage stood with furrowed brows, his face shadowed.

"That wasn't the Byakugan," he murmured. "That was… something else."

Anko crossed her arms. "That kid's got fire. And that fighting style—did you see it? That wasn't academy level."

Kakashi, hands in pockets, didn't speak. But his eye never left Hinata.

"Those transitions," he muttered, almost to himself. "They flowed like instinct, not training. As if she'd fought for years… but she hasn't. Not officially."

Even Gai looked toward Neji with a rare seriousness.

"This wasn't just a match," he said. "That was someone breaking out of their shell—exploding past their limits. I don't know how, but that girl was not fighting like a genin anymore."

<<<< o >>>>

Later, in the infirmary wing, Hinata lay unconscious, her body stabilized by the medics. Kuro lay curled beside her, growling if anyone but Kurenai came close.

Naruto stood outside, fists clenched.

"She's not done," he whispered.

Michel sat cross-legged in the Silver World, his body visibly dimmer, paler.

But his resolve?

Brighter than ever.

I failed to stop the seal.

But I saw her rise.

And he knew this wasn't the end.

This was the beginning.

Of something new.