Tempered in Silence

Tadashi Masamune is everything a ninja heir should be: disciplined, obedient, lethal.

No one sees the scars beneath the uniform. After eighteen months on a so-called punishment mission, Tadashi returns to the Masamune clan stripped of his collar but not his trauma. His father sees only a weapon reclaimed. His younger brother sees a stranger who abandoned him. And a cruel speech seal ensures that the truth of what Tadashi endured will never be spoken.

Forced back into academy life, clan politics, and a brutal combat evaluation, Tadashi discovers that returning home does not mean returning to safety. Strength is expected. Silence is mandatory. And endurance is the only acceptable response to pain.

In a world that forbids weakness, is it possible to heal without breaking everything that holds him together?

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