"Are you unharmed?!"
Ryan's voice rose, trembling.
"K—Karina..."
I did not answer.
Not because I refused, but because even the smallest movement of my lips felt unbearably heavy.
Most of my chakra had been drained.
"You should have yielded. Look at yourself. You are far too stubborn..."
Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
Just like Mother, he was deeply sentimental.
Our gazes met—those green eyes, gleaming like polished jewels.
My elder brother would have been strikingly beautiful, had he been born a lady.
At times, I had wondered if some error had occurred when fate assigned his form, or if Mother's features had simply been inherited too perfectly.
"Forget it. I have no need for you to call me Elder Brother."
"..."
"You forced yourself, only to end up like this."
"..."
"Karina..."
"..."
"I am no worthy elder brother. Because of my pride, I cast aside your safety."
The more he spoke, the more his expression unraveled.
His composure broke.
He wept.
It was not a sight easy to endure.
I understand your regret, Ryan.
Yet there is one thing you have overlooked.
Father has not stepped in.
Even Mother's advance had been halted by him.
I forced my lips to part.
"Ryan..."
"Karina!"
He began examining my wounds once more, panic evident in every movement.
Because I had reinforced my body to its limits, the damage from that fireball had been greatly reduced.
An ordinary person would have been reduced to ash.
A faint smile formed upon my lips.
"You are a fool."
His hands froze.
He stared at me in disbelief.
"You are a fool."
"What?"
"I have won, you know."
"Enough, Karina. Your body is in this state. Do not push yourself further!"
"It matters not."
"Nonsense! This match is over. We shall continue another time."
"And who are you to declare it so?"
"Forget that. Tend to yourself first. I will take you to Father."
That concern was plain upon his handsome face.
The thought of him being scolded by Mother caused a slight tightening in my chest.
I cared for him deeply.
Yet this envy remained.
To be the youngest was not always a blessing.
Slowly, I mimicked the composure Mother always carried—calm, distant, dignified.
I wished to stand above them all.
Yet no matter how perfectly I imitated her, they still saw me as a child.
I disliked that.
Forgive me, my elder siblings.
One day, I wish for all of you to bow before me.
Ryan helped me to my feet with care.
I leaned close, my lips near his ear.
"It is not over."
"What?"
"You have grown careless."
He turned at once.
His green eyes widened.
His body trembled, the shiver traveling through the arm that supported me.
"Karina! You deceived me!"
"It is called strategy."
"Strategy?"
His gaze locked upon another figure that had appeared before him.
"This... I cannot believe it. How did you accomplish this?"
My steps carried me slowly toward him.
"My body will not move!"
"How, you ask? Genjutsu."
"No! This is no illusion. My perception remains clear!"
I blinked softly as our eyes met.
"Karina!"
In that instant, his sorrow vanished without a trace.
What remained was irritation—clear upon his face at having been deceived by his younger sister.
A quiet laugh escaped me, edged with mockery.
"Would you like to hear it?"
His body struggled, yet to no avail.
He was bound.
Genjutsu.
This was different.
If Elder Brother Ian excelled in tormenting the mind, then I bent it to my will.
At a certain level, bringing down Ryan was no difficult feat once his guard had fallen.
It required time to reach such refinement, yet the result was all that mattered.
Slowly, I stepped before him.
The clone I had created as a diversion began to unravel, dissolving into a flock of crows before vanishing into the air.
My fingers rose, gently lifting the chin of my elder brother.
Warmth brushed against my pale skin.
"Since Elder Brother is curious, I see no harm in telling you."
A stiff smile formed upon his lips.
The helplessness of being controlled by his own younger sister clearly wounded his pride.
To call him Elder Brother in such a moment was not respect.
It was mockery.
Forgive me, Elder Brother.
"What is it? Do you not wish to hear it?"
"Speak."
His teeth ground together. He was truly irritated.
"Listen well, dear Elder Brother."
This plan had begun long before the first blow was struck.
"Before the match even began, I cast a subtle mental Genjutsu. So faint that you never noticed."
"Deceitful."
"I am not like Elder Brother Ian. My Genjutsu does not distort your senses nor your perception of the world around you. Everything feels unchanged, and that alone should have made you more cautious."
His shoulders trembled.
"As the battle intensified, I increased its influence. Your Sharingan is stronger than mine, so I had to be precise, ensuring you would not detect the flow of chakra within my eyes."
"You thought that far ahead?"
I gave a small nod, my palm brushing gently along his cheek.
"The peak came with that swift kick. I was certain you would not be watching my eyes, your focus fixed on defending your chest. In that instant, you were most vulnerable."
"You..."
His gaze shifted slightly.
"And that clone... do not tell me..."
"Just as you suspect. I had already switched places with the clone that had been observing from beneath the ground."
"When?"
"Just before I leapt into the air. You did not notice, for you had already begun to underestimate me. To me, it was the perfect opening."
"Damn it..."
"I wished for everything to appear seamless. As though you were the victor."
It was not easy for him to accept.
This defeat had come far too suddenly.
"You are lying, Karina. And Mother? I heard her clearly. Was that also part of your design?"
"Mother?"
My gaze shifted toward Father and Mother.
They were smiling.
Mother, who had been panicked before, now appeared calm.
Father must have soothed her.
"I merely refined my method. Mother's voice was real. However..."
"..."
"There is a difference between what you hear and what your mind chooses to process."
My finger rose, touching his forehead lightly.
"A command, embedded within your thoughts, to halt under certain conditions, triggered the moment those conditions were fulfilled."
His teeth clenched once more.
It defied reason.
His eyes were stronger, yet from the very beginning he had been led, guided, controlled, without ever truly realizing it.
"You went this far against me, Karina?"
"Why should I not? The result is what matters most."
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"How cunning. You are worse than Elder Sister Charlotte."
I did not deny it.
"Mother's voice... are you not curious how it truly sounded? Perhaps it differed from what you perceived."
His eyelids trembled faintly.
"From the very beginning, I have been dancing in your palm."
"..."
"I believed myself to hold the advantage, when in truth I was merely following your design."
"I told you, I needed to perfect my method."
"A cursed method. You are as obsessed as Elder Sister Charlotte with her fists, or Elder Brother Ian with his blade."
I shook my head gently.
My hand rose, resting upon the crown of my elder brother's head, stroking softly as though to offer comfort.
His pink hair shimmered beneath the sunlight, long strands swaying with the passing wind.
Beautiful.
"Listen well. Mother cried out my name out of concern. Nothing more."
Ryan's expression darkened.
He remained bound.
The trigger I had planted was too strong—a command absolute, forcing him to freeze the moment he perceived my true body.
It was only natural he felt confusion.
His body refused to respond, while his senses insisted nothing was amiss.
To even recognize it as Genjutsu would be nearly impossible for him.
Ryan was strong.
If I had faced him in pure physical combat or Ninjutsu, I would have stood no chance.
Thus, I chose to fight beyond the bounds of what he expected.
Something that would never have crossed his mind.
"Release me, Karina."
"I refuse."
"I admit defeat! Release me at once."
"No."
"You—"
My figure flickered for a fleeting instant.
"Do not go! Karina!"
I left him standing within the crater, my steps light as I made my way toward Father and Mother.
"Father! Mother!"
His desperate cries behind me were of no concern.
This taste of victory was sweet.
My heart raced, each beat echoing with exhilaration.
My thoughts had already drifted toward my next targets.
Elder Sister Charlotte. Elder Brother Ian.
It would likely take far longer, given the vast difference in strength.
Yet my confidence did not waver.
One day, all of them would fall under my control.
All I needed was patience.
A soft laugh escaped me as I approached my parents.
***
Amidst the crater, where heat still lingered in the fractured earth, I stood in silence.
Everything should have gone according to plan.
I was certain of it.
Then why had the outcome turned so completely against me? I had been utterly defeated.
Karina was a genius in Genjutsu, much like Elder Brother Ian.
Because of that, I had exercised extreme caution.
Every one of my senses and perceptions had been sharpened to their limit.
I was certain I would notice even the slightest disturbance if something was amiss.
My experience watching the battles between Elder Sister Charlotte and Elder Brother Ian had deepened my understanding.
I had seen, time and again, how Ian deceived Charlotte.
Because of them, I believed my awareness stood above Karina's.
I was mistaken.
My plan had failed completely.
From the very beginning, I had been nothing more than a piece in her game.
Truly humiliating.
Karina's expression lingered vividly in my mind.
Though she was my younger sister, the gaze she wore—one that mirrored Mother's, yet far colder—sent a chill through me.
And it was not only that.
There was something deeper.
She showed affection in a manner that unsettled me.
Her touch was gentle, sincere even, yet her eyes declared that I was merely a piece upon her board.
Her words were cold, though wrapped in softness.
It was the first time I had seen that side of her.
Until now, she had always been so composed, her emotions difficult to read.
But earlier, it was different.
Her feelings were visible, and that was precisely what made her feel unfamiliar.
As her elder brother, I must be cautious.
My instincts cried out in warning.
Perhaps I should cease forcing her to call me Elder Brother.
I was not as capable as Elder Sister Charlotte.
She could always keep pace with Ian, no matter how intricate his schemes became.
Though I knew Ian often held back, to truly suppress Charlotte, he would need to give everything he had.
And my instincts told me that cornering Charlotte would only invite disaster, something only Father could restrain.
My instincts were rarely wrong.
Father himself had acknowledged it as one of my strengths.
Yet this time, Karina's cunning had slipped past me entirely.
It was as though no ill intent had ever existed, leaving my instincts calm even as danger stood before me.
Now, even moving my neck felt difficult.
This cursed mind—at the very least, obey me.
"I truly cannot move."
Each time I attempted to command my body, a foreign thought pressed down upon that command until it vanished.
Karina's ability defied reason.
This was nothing like Elder Brother Ian.
It was entirely different.
She manipulated the mind itself, embedding commands within it.
A suspicion began to form.
Had Father perceived it from the very beginning?
I should have examined my surroundings before approaching her fallen body.
Yet even so, I had been ensnared from the start.
Just as she had said, everything had already been set into motion before that fire technique was ever released.
My defeat had been inevitable.
I felt like a fool for ignoring Father's demeanor.
He had remained calm, as though he knew Karina was unharmed when my flames struck.
It had only been a clone.
Yet I had been deceived.
And that voice of Mother's, echoing within my mind...
'Ryan, you have harmed your younger sister. There will be no allowance for you for a month.'
"Karina..."
She had truly planted that threat directly into my thoughts.
Thinking of it only deepened my irritation.
Karina had truly planted that threat within my mind.
I replayed her words.
"Listen well. Mother cried out my name out of concern, nothing more."
She had foreseen everything, even Mother's emotional reaction.
My younger sister had dissected my psyche with terrifying precision.
She knew Mother's voice would reach me, and she used it as the trigger for that whisper.
Perhaps Mother's cry had been the switch that set the command into motion.
No… it went beyond that.
She had not merely pressured me physically, she had weakened my natural defenses through emotion.
She toyed with my affection.
Cruel.
My concern became the very weapon that brought me down.
And then there was the command that froze my body.
I could not be certain, but that had not been Mother's voice.
One thing was clear, the moment our eyes met, my body locked in place.
The more I thought on it, the more tangled my mind became.
"A cursed tactic! A wretched strategy!"
"Face me honestly, Karina!"
My voice rose once more, calling out to my cunning younger sister.
"Ryan."
The voice came from my side.
Calm. Steady.
Father.
I could not yet turn my head, yet I knew he stood there.
"Father..."
"Karina has troubled you greatly."
"I was careless. She is far too deceitful."
"Such is the nature of battle, Ryan. There is no fairness within it."
"But, Father..."
His steps drew closer.
The sound of his boots against the fractured earth echoed clearly.
"Take this as a lesson. Your younger sister may be weaker in body, yet she made full use of her strengths to claim victory."
A bitter weight settled in my chest.
I did not wish to admit it, yet hearing it from Father left no room for denial.
"Yes, Father."
Now he stood before me.
His hand came to rest upon my shoulder.
He smiled.
Then he raised his hand, forming a seal.
A single word from him felt like a miracle.
In an instant, the bindings within my mind unraveled, as though they had never existed.
"Kai."
I was free.
The pressure gripping my nerves vanished.
Without hesitation, I stepped forward and embraced him.
"Thank you, Father."
His hand moved gently along my back, easing the remnants of tension.
To lose control of one's own body was a terror beyond words.
"It is well. All is as it should be now."
I lifted my gaze, meeting the face that always brought order to the chaos within me.
Yet shame soon followed.
My chest tightened as I recalled that I had been defeated by my youngest sister.
My thoughts wavered once more.
Karina might not mock me outright, yet the way she looked upon me would surely change.
Father let out a soft laugh, as though he had seen through my unrest.
"There is no need for shame. Your younger sister is meticulous. You were not defeated because she is stronger, but because she was better prepared."
"I see..."
"Take this to heart. In any circumstance, you must remain prepared."
His hand brushed through my hair.
"Readiness is the key to avoiding carelessness."
"Yes, Father."
His tone grew firmer.
"Never underestimate your opponent. Remain vigilant, and always prepare a second course should your first plan fail."
"I understand."
"Good. Come. Your mother and your younger sister await us."
"Yes."
I took his hand, and we walked together.
Mother and my younger sister were already waiting.
What transpired today would remain both a mark of humiliation and the most valuable lesson I had gained.
Father was right.
Never underestimate one's opponent.
And give everything until the very end.
I had learned from Karina as well.
My younger sister was right.
In the end, only the result matters.
Not the elegance of the battle, but who remains standing when it is over.
A lesson dearly earned.
Though gained through humiliation, I accept it.
Thank you, Father.
Mother.
Karina.
I hold you dear.