Days have passed locked in that place, people bring him food as if he were an animal, and Yūji began to lament everything he has committed during that time, his existential doubts in a different place, he even hallucinated, what would have happened if he had lived with Nobara and Megumi?
Them... would they be missing him right now? Eight years, a very short time he has thought of his previous life, always locked in the past.
At least, did his sacrifice save those he loved?
He hoped so, because this suffering is something he would not wish on any of his friends, on everyone he has thought of... no, he would never want them to suffer what he himself is suffering.
Throughout the day and night he spent locked in that place, he has tried to continue searching for his ideal, that conviction that once made him feel strong, can he find it now here?
When he least expected it, a guard opened the door, causing him to almost fall from that place; that guard did not look into his eyes, but looked in that place.
The guard of the castle was surprised that Master Mui had so much confidence in this child, considering that he had been fighting alongside an elite Jōnin; it was truly an enormous surprise.
" they have let you out of here, the castle master Hōzuki has placed you with the same boy from when you tried to escape, come, follow me " his speech is military even toward the child, that he is a child is not important.
For the people in that place, he is already a criminal, and one of the most dangerous; Yūji did not make a sound, he simply left the space, and the guard pushed him forcefully out, causing the boy to fall onto the hard ground, but he only sighed.
This person was only taking advantage of the fact that everything was blocked, he simply pressed his lips together, restraining his impulsiveness to shout at him; they guided him again, it was full of guards and without needing his six eyes he had located people who look like ninjas, and Yūji walked heavily, the chains that were tied to his ankles were now in his hands.
The journey was stressful; wherever he went, he saw several prisoners staring at him in surprise, a child in the great prison? What had he committed for one of the great ninja villages to think he is a threat?
" walk " a guard pushed him again; he could hear their laughter in the end, but unlike before, he did not react, he did not appear combative as he always had been; this time he allowed himself to be treated like anything, his heavy dead eyes staring ahead, the clinking of chains.
Although he was surprised to be in the familiar courtyard he remembered, the one that was destroyed alongside the one they called the tower master looks just the same as before, as if their fight had never happened.
Possibly ninjas who use the earth element fixed everything " you have to get some sun, well, in terms of having sun here, after this you will be directed to your new cell, you have the right to be outside for half an hour " spoke the guard after noticing the curious look of the boy.
" I understand... " after days, Yūji let his voice out, somewhat hoarse and broken, but at least it came out, feeling that annoying guard pushing him again.
" come on, you have to enjoy yourself, because this will be your life from now on here because of the stupidity you have committed " mocked the same guard, noticing the somewhat overwhelmed look of the boy; he simply pressed his lips together in resignation.
Yes, in part he is right, this time he only wants to get some air, try to calm his mind, far from fighting and escaping; this time he sat away from all the prisoners.
When he did, he remained still, taking in his surroundings, all grayish, without a trace of sun, and there was a good wind in the area.
" at least they can forget about everything while here in a monotonous life " he spoke to himself, without a smile in his voice, a voice very different from how he always expressed himself, someone playful and fun, he no longer had that personality.
He had been losing it as he lived more in the ninja world.
" hmm? " he looked ahead, noticing that a man with lilac-colored spots on his face was sitting beside him, with a haughty posture; he did not move away, but he also did not remove his distrustful look, why was he approaching him?
" what did you do to end up here? That is what I ask myself right now, you are so young, boy, you shouldn't be here " that man estimated himself to be perhaps about thirty years old; ashen, dreadlocks hair, a goatee, greenish eyes, dark skin, and a very muscular build, he was such an ordinary man with a good physique, just that. At least, that's what he thought.
Yūji still appeared distrustful, reluctant to open up, but not having Suiren with him, he answered quietly " nothing... I just infiltrated here "
" have you infiltrated this place all by yourself!? " That is incredible, at least among the new lineages that are emerging at this time, you have courage to infiltrate here, do you know anyone here? the branded ninja looked at him smiling; his voice is potent and demonstrates real authority, and he seemed surprised that the boy would open up.
Yūji blinked a little to turn his body to the opposite side " and what do you care about what I do? It's none of your business "
The man let out a good laugh, hitting his knees; Yūji saw nervously that his blows were very strong " ha! What you say amuses me, you remind me of the first prisoners who arrived here, now that you will be with us, well, I think it's good that I help take care of you here, I thought I could have you under my wing, my name is Daigo, do you want to know why I ended up in this place? " it was noticeable that he was a very talkative man, that is what Yūji thought when he heard the man seeming to speak to himself.
Yūji did not answer, but he seemed to pay attention to the man by his side; Daigo simply folded his arms in a haughty manner, although his clothes were open, revealing the tattoos of the celestial prison seal very well.
" well, I come from the hidden village among the clouds, there they gave me a somewhat moral mission, I was accompanied by three more ninjas, the mission they asked of us was to steal an artifact from an anonymous town, that anonymous town had a few capable ninjas, three elite Jōnin and five Chunin, I took charge of stealing the guarded artifact, but my team was a Jōnin and two Chunin even though I didn't need them, the Raikage assigned them to me... in the end, for not being with them, they were killed, and I took it upon myself to kill the ninjas, however, I could not touch the town... they were ignorant of what was happening and of the artifact they had; when I arrived with the bodies of my companions, in the end" the only thing I received was to be in the castle Hōzuki for the rest of my life... in part, I deserve it for neglecting that team, we did not expect to find powerful ninjas " Daigo was amusing in what he recounted, although in part he felt bad about the death of those comrades even though it was a long time ago.
But then Yūji reacted; he turned to look at the man blinking skeptically " but, you fulfilled your duty! You took that artifact to your village, what sense was there in condemning you? They were just people who didn't know they had something important, it doesn't make sense, moreover, you took the bodies of your companions... and you killed those ninjas. " That was an injustice, a very great one!
Daigo was surprised that that boy, whom he had judged wrongly, thinking he was not talkative, shouted at him in his face; the man smiled again " well, in the end they condemned me for not doing my mission well, and also my mission, besides taking the artifact, was to kill the entire small town, from babies to the elderly, I couldn't do it, aside from the fact that they blamed me for the death of the team that was given to me... despite doing other missions perfectly and being the best ninja of Kumogakure, they really didn't care " Yūji did not remove his surprised expression; with his eyes wide open, he sat again in his area.
" I don't understand... you... took the most important, I don't think it justifies that you killed people "
" I thought the same, but nothing mattered that I said, Raikage's orders, everything is obeyed " he shrugged playfully, remembering A, his disappointed and furious gaze still imprinted deep down as he wanted to laugh as many times as possible, also because of B, despite his glasses, he appeared sad, he cannot blame them " I feel that living here is better now that I do not have to carry out such crazy missions, Kumogakure is a place of constant fights, suffering, and stress, but here they give me free accommodation, free food, and without doing missions, one gets used to it, so you should not fear " The man smiled playfully watching how the boy processed everything he said.
" but... you are not free "
" believe me, it's better to hide than to go out into a world of lunatics, although before I didn't hide and people feared me, I think I prefer tranquility, I... saw firsthand what humans are capable of doing just for a little more land " he looked up at the sky, recalling what he had to live through in his youth; since he was a child he suffered brutal training from his father with his older brother and to this day he continues training but now without performing jutsus, because of the celestial prison.
Yūji finally became curious " what have you experienced to say that? "
" hmm, now do you want to know? You are a very rude brat, perhaps you should have felt curiosity earlier " a drop of sweat passed on his face, and Daigo found it amusing how the red-haired boy's face tensed.
Despite his intimidating appearance, his personality is very gentle.
" so then don't say anything! I don't want to know your stupid story " he turned away again, trying to ignore him; by giving him his back, he heard his voice once more.
" I lived the war firsthand, the third great ninja war " That did interest him; he turned to see how the dark-skinned man's face contorted slightly in sadness, a raised mouth.
" living a war is the worst that can happen, in all my life, since childhood, I was a part of the war... this era, although not the best, at least I can be at ease without thinking that at any moment they will attack me, although of course, they would never kill me, I am very strong " he mocked while looking at the cloudy sky, his face appearing serene; Yūji thought that this man was also similar to Gojo-sensei, but he continued listening " I have spilled so much innocent blood, ninjas like me fighting for the purpose of our Kages, I do not know how many lives I have ruined over the years, but in this time that I am locked up here, at least I can ignore everything and enjoy the meager life I can give myself... far from slaughter and death, I suppose that is the only thing I can say about having a peaceful life " he crossed his strong arms, ignoring the boy. Daigo, for as long as he could remember, was the only thing he desired, to continue having inner peace and never get involved with slaughter again, unlike his older brother who is arrogant, gets irritated easily and is very selfish, even though before being separated from him he had always been disappointed in him.
Daigo continued sharing his experience, quite relaxed in speaking about something that marked him in his youth " Every mission accomplished brought us one step closer to victory, but also distanced us further from our humanity. I saw how friends, those with whom I shared bread and the hope of obtaining the sufficiency of another village, transformed into soulless weapons, because in war feeling is a weakness. They called us heroes at that time, but what is a hero if not someone who learns to ignore his own pain to inflict it on others? The Great Ninja War was the ultimate proof that peace is nothing more than the truce between one massacre and the next " in the end the ashen-haired man turned to look at him smiling " do you know what is the worst about this? That in the end, all the massacres, everything we committed, was for nothing, because Kumogakure won nothing in this war... all the death and the honored sacrifice went to hell, and so the cycle continues, I don't know how the world is at this time, but seeing a little child like you in one of the best-guarded prisons of all tells me everything " he mocked again, and Yūji appeared irritated by his opinion.
" ah! It was just something important " he stammered, turning his gaze to another direction away from that man.
Daigo smiled amused " yes, surely, I saw that distressed face of yours, is something bothering you? "
Yūji remained silent for a long time; Daigo did not appear angry, in fact, he waited calmly for him to speak, even in that slouched pose.
" well... yes, I have many things, really, I am lost, more than anything in what I desire to be, I don't know... who I can be, clearly you will not understand me "
" uhm, the only thing I understand is that there is no need to think about what you want to be, you're never going to get out of here, nor think about the future "
Yūji tensed angrily, looking at the man who started to laugh, that laugh sounds so irritating! " you old man...! "
Daigo stopped, relaxing his posture, smiling to calm his laughter " I don't know what problems you have, son, and I know it's none of my business, but I'll just tell you something, you don't need to lock yourself in those thoughts, act on your will, not on your thoughts " Daigo indicated as he spoke, his thick lips displaying that sardonic smile.
Yūji blinked a little as he listened, though his mouth was tense " it's just... can I tell you something? It seems that you have a lot of experience " he murmured quietly, not wanting to look at him; then he continued " it's something... deep, if you have had a path that you believe is right, but in the end your ideals as convictions are not what you thought, and when you no longer have a purpose... what would you do? What would you do if you had something very dangerous inside you that at any moment could explode and harm your loved ones? When you have trouble facing your ideals, which are shattered in the very first moment in this world? Some pure ideals, of wanting to help, but... in the end here it does not turn out that way " Yūji opened up a little with that man, not looking at him as he continued speaking.
Daigo listened calmly, a man who has known cruelty since birth, a pacifist influenced by the power of others, recalling his father and his brother, who are alike yet very different from him; no longer looking at the boy, he pondered his words.
Trying to give a realistic answer, he replied " Pure ideals are useless in a world where only the strongest survive. If you want to help, then prepare to keep getting your hands dirty. Because what you desire is not achieved with pretty words or heroic actions, but with control, with strategy, with sacrifice. If you carry something dangerous inside you, do not suppress it… use it. Turn that burden into a weapon. Because in the end, what matters is not what you wanted to do, but what you really achieved "
Yūji opened his eyes upon hearing his words, clenching his hands even tighter; Daigo looked at him out of the corner of his eye, quite calm, possibly helping a poor child who has suffered so much in such a short time " The world is not a simple place, and convictions are not unbreakable. I have seen many walk down a path they believed to be right, only to discover that it was full of shadows. But if you ever felt that your purpose was noble, then somewhere within you that light still exists. Don't let the failure of your ideals make you forget why you had them in the first place. True strength is in getting up even when the world destroys what you believed was right, but realistically, not always like that of a dreamer "
Listening to those words, Yūji finally looked at the man, seeing on his serene face that he still held that smile, now with his mouth closed.
" did those words satisfy you? Everything was experienced in my own life, just be what you wish to be, no one has their own identity, your actions are what are creating it, and no one can steer you away from that " he caressed the hair of the boy, who still had that surprised look.
Yūji still tried to analyze the words the man had told him; after a while, he only needed to talk about this with someone else.
After some time, his heart began to feel a small warmth again.
His face appeared afflicted " I think I always do everything wrong, I distanced myself from my family for fear of hurting them and being someone weak " he whispered quietly.
Daigo analyzed his words, could he be a new-generation jinchūriki? It is strange that he is so afraid.
" you should not be afraid, at least, I think they could be looking for you if you are very important, you should not be afraid " at least that's what the dark-skinned man thought, if he has so many problems, he is a poor child, he needs to clear his mind.
" look, what do you think if I take you to show you around here? " In this place we are all very calm; since this mark was imposed, no one wants to escape, very calm, you have to try to clear your mind " the man lifted him so easily that Yūji became agitated.
He certainly has strength when lifting him by his clothes.
" hey! I can walk, you don't have to lift me like that "
" nonsense, if they see you with me no one will say anything either " the man mocked again, carrying Yūji on his shoulders.
In the end, Yūji smiled very faintly; yes, he would try to calm those thoughts.
Maybe what the man said was so simple, but he felt that his point of view helped him.