Brother and sister's honesty and persistence
Aoi's appearance, like a faint yet persistent ray of light, suddenly pierced the almost tangible cloud of murder in the meeting room. Her frail figure stood between the murderous Madara and the terrified elders, creating a strange and fragile balance. Yet, the word "voluntary" she uttered was like the dullest, heaviest knife, slowly and persistently cutting into Madara's heart, bringing pain far deeper and more lingering than a direct attack.
"Aoi, get out of the way!" Madara's voice was hoarse and distorted as he tried hard to suppress the anger that was enough to burn everything. He stretched out his hand, trying to pull his sister behind him, using his still strong body to isolate her from this dirty and ugly political game. He didn't want her to speak even a word for those who forced her!
But Aoi remained stubbornly in her spot, even using a gentle yet undeniable force to gently push away Madara's scarred and calloused hand. She didn't glance at the elders, whose expressions varied. Instead, she turned to face them, nodded slightly, and spoke calmly, with an undeniable insistence: "Elders, I'm sorry, but could you please... let me speak to my brother alone?"
The elders exchanged bewildered glances, their gazes finally fixed on Uchiha Hikari. Hikari's penetrating gaze lingered for a moment on Aoi's pale yet resolute face, then swept across Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan, still seething with murderous intent, though clearly suppressed by his sister's presence. He knew that at this moment, Uchiha Madara was a bucket of explosive clay poised to explode at any moment, and Uchiha Aoi might be the only fuse holding him steady for now. A continued stalemate would benefit no one.
He finally waved his hand and said in a low voice: "We'll wait outside the door." Although the other elders were unwilling, worried or angry, under the terrifying gaze of Madara, they could only obey his words and stand up and file out, leaving the brother and sister in the empty, broken and depressing meeting hall.
The heavy wooden door was gently closed by the last elder to leave, making a dull sound, as if separating two worlds.
The moment the door closed, Madara suddenly grabbed Aoi's shoulders again, with such force that Aoi couldn't help but frown slightly, but the devastating brutality in his eyes had faded, replaced by anxiety, heartache and huge confusion that almost overflowed: "Why? Aoi! Look at me! Tell me the truth! Did they force you?! Did those old guys from Huo He use the family and me to threaten you?! You don't have to be afraid! Tell brother! I'm here! No one can force you to do anything you don't want to! I can..."
"Brother," Aoi interrupted softly, her voice still calm, yet trembling with a barely perceptible tremor. She looked up into her brother's crimson eyes, filled with concern, pain, and disbelief. Her own pale, insignificant figure was reflected in them. Seeing the unfeigned, almost searing sincerity in her brother's eyes, her nose suddenly felt sore, and the tears she had been holding back threatened to burst forth again.
But she forced back the tears and instead managed a soothing, extremely difficult smile, even though it was drenched in endless bitterness and despair. "Brother, no one forced me. At least, not the way you think, putting a sword to my neck and forcing me."
She took a slow, deep breath, her gaze shifting from Madara's face to sweep across the now devastated hall that symbolized the heart of Uchiha power. Her voice was soft, yet as clear as a feather, it landed on Madara's heart, each word carrying a tremendous weight: "It wasn't any specific person that forced me... It was the current state of the Uchiha clan, the ever-present threat of the Senju clan, the numbing casualties that grew daily, the growing despair in the eyes of my clansmen, and the tiny sliver of hope they dared not extinguish... It was..."
Her gaze returned to Madara's face, her eyes filled with unspeakable heartache and sorrow, "It's you, brother...it's the heavy burden on you that's almost crushing you, the one that's so heavy it's making you breathless."
Madara's body shook violently, as if hit by an invisible kunai. The fingers that were grabbing Aoi's shoulders subconsciously tightened for a moment, then suddenly loosened, as if afraid of hurting her.
Aoi seemed oblivious and continued speaking. Her voice remained strangely calm, yet it held a tremendous emotional force that could shake a steely will. "I'm back, brother. I really see. I see how tired you are, how hard it's been. The light in your eyes is much dimmer than before, filled with unconcealable fatigue. I heard the tribesmen say privately that you've hardly had a full night's sleep since Brother Izuna left. You've been at the forefront of every battle, no matter how big or small, as if you don't know pain or fatigue... Your old wounds have never healed, and new ones are constantly being added..."
She reached out, her cold fingertips gently touching a fresh, scabbed, yet still quite hideous scar on Madara's arm. The cold touch made his arm muscles subconsciously tense. "I watch, I hear, I feel... but I can't do anything, brother. I can't fight alongside you on the battlefield like Izuna-san did, sharing the heavy bruises with you. I can't handle the suffocating clan affairs for you like the elders do. Even... because I'm away from the clan for so long, even offering you a cup of hot tea or a few words of genuine comfort when you're tired seems so pale and powerless... It seems... I've always been a burden to you, the useless sister who always needs your protection but can never help you in any way."
"You're not!" Madara interrupted her eagerly, almost rudely, his voice rising again with excitement, "You have never been a burden! Protecting you is my responsibility! It's me..."
"Let me finish, brother." Aoi pressed a cool finger gently but firmly against his dry, chapped lips, stopping him from saying anything else. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall, staring at him intently. "But now, brother, I feel like... I finally have a chance. A chance that may be insignificant, but one that might actually help you."
She took a deep breath, as if to gather enough courage to say the next words: "I will use my identity as 'Uchiha Madara's sister' in exchange for an alliance with the Yozuki clan. If my marriage can be like a solid barrier, helping you withstand some of the pressure from the Senju, and lighten the burden on your shoulders even a little; if it can bring a glimmer of respite to the Uchiha clan on the verge of despair, and ease their predicament a little; if it can reduce the number of clansmen sacrificed on future battlefields... then, brother..."
Her tone became incredibly firm and clear, and every word seemed to be engraved with all her strength: "I do. I am willing."
Madara stared at her, stunned, as if truly getting to know his sister for the first time. That little girl in his memory, the one who always needed him to hold her hand, who hid behind him, who would cry over the slightest thing, when had she quietly grown into the girl before him, with clear yet profound eyes, whose words were calm yet imbued with such immense resolve? Her words were not like a violent storm, but like the gentlest yet most persistent trickle, carrying a weighty yet warm power that he couldn't resist, bit by bit, stubbornly washing away the high wall of anger and resistance within him.
He hated this! He hated this damned, sickening reality! He hated that he possessed the so-called power to shock the ninja world, yet he couldn't even protect his sister's happiness! He hated that his sister had to sacrifice her lifelong freedom and happiness to "protect" him! This was worse than being completely defeated by Hashirama Senju! Worse than losing everything! It made him feel an unprecedented sense of defeat and a deep-seated shame!
"I don't need it..." His voice was as dry as sandpaper, with an almost pleading tone, "I don't need you to protect me in this way... Aoi... I can protect you! I can protect the family! I..."
"But you will die, brother!" Aoi's emotions finally fluctuated slightly, but her voice was extremely clear and firm, like an ice-cold awl, piercing through his final struggle. "You will keep fighting! Until the last moment! Until the last drop of blood! We have already lost our father, mother, and brother Izuna... I can't lose you again! You are my last and only relative in this world!"
She took a step forward, closer to Madara, and looked up at him with a burning gaze, filled with an almost tragic earnestness: "Brother, don't you understand? In this cruel ninja world, as long as you are here, I am here! As long as you are strong, no one dares to bully you! If one day... even your brother is gone, then I will truly lose all my support, become a rootless duckweed, and be bullied by everyone! Will I be happier then?!"
These words, like a sharp arrow infused with all of his chakra, pierced through all of Madara's defenses with unparalleled precision! All of his anger, all of his resistance, all of his unwillingness, became pale and powerless before these naked words that revealed the cruelest truth, crumbling away!
He looked at the deep, almost engulfing fear in his sister's eyes, and beneath that fear, the even greater, more resolute, almost faith-like love and protection. He understood completely. The elders had precisely exploited Aoi's deep, all-sacrificing feelings for him, successfully "persuading" her. And Aoi had indeed "voluntarily" done so for him. In a way he could neither refuse nor endure.
A huge sense of guilt and powerlessness, almost completely drowning him, swept over him like a tsunami, instantly destroying all his perseverance. As the head of the Uchiha clan, he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan that made the entire ninja world tremble, but he didn't even have the ability to protect his sister's most basic happiness and save her from such "voluntary" sacrifice!
He suddenly stretched out his hand and hugged Kui tightly, almost crushing her into pieces! His arms trembled violently from the extreme force, as if he wanted to completely merge her thin body into his own bones and blood, never to be separated from her again, and never to be hurt by anything in this world again!
Aoi leaned submissively against her brother's broad yet visibly exhausted chest. She could clearly feel the heavy, rapid beating of his heart, and the uncontrollable grief and powerlessness within that powerful frame. The tears she had been holding back finally slid silently, quickly soaking his clothes, which were stained with dust and blood. But she didn't sob, only gently shaking her head. Her voice, muffled in his arms, was remarkably clear: "No, brother is the most powerful brother in the world. So, please let me... do the only thing I can for my most powerful brother."
After a long moment, Madara's tense body finally relaxed, bit by bit, ever so slowly. Slowly, almost with difficulty, he loosened his embrace. Those Mangekyō Sharingans, always filled with pride, power, and paranoia, now revealed only a bottomless exhaustion and a near-numbing resignation. He raised his hand, his movements incredibly gentle, even a touch of clumsy caution, and wiped the lingering tears from Aoi's cheeks with his fingertips.
"...I understand." His voice was low and hoarse, as if it had been ground by sand and gravel. Every word he said took a huge effort. "If... this is really what you... really feel."
He compromised. Not under the coercion of the elders or the pressure of family justice, but in the face of his sister's "voluntary" decision in the name of love, which was so heavy that it made him breathless, he was forced to succumb to this cold and cruel reality.
But the rage within him remained unextinguished. It simply shifted from being directed at specific elders to this damned world that had forced them to this point! It shifted towards all the enemies who had driven the Uchiha into this situation! It also shifted towards… this incompetent self, powerless to change anything and even needing his sister's protection!
A desire stronger than ever before, to completely break something, was growing wildly in his heart.
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