Chapter 103: Uchiha Hikari
Land of Water, in a dark, damp cave.
"Madara," Zetsu's head emerged slowly from the ground, "the Kirigakure army has collapsed. Even the Six-Tails Jinchuriki has been captured."
Obito, who was sulking in his Kamui dimension, was interrupted by Zetsu and spoke resentfully, "A bunch of trash!"
In Obito's view, the Kiri army just needed to pin down Kumo's Eastern Front to be a major threat. If they had just dragged the war out, victory was in sight. He never imagined that eight thousand Kiri ninja would be so inexplicably and utterly crushed.
"What's the plan now?" Black Zetsu asked in his raspy voice.
Obito mused for a moment, then said coldly, "What else can we do? Reorganize the troops and fight them again. This time, have the Fourth Mizukage go himself."
The Fourth Mizukage was a trump card Obito couldn't play lightly. If anything went wrong and the world learned that the Mizukage was being controlled by a powerful genjutsu, it would cause a massive uproar. The Kage of the Five Great Nations would inevitably launch a deep investigation, and the Akatsuki could be exposed prematurely. This was why, despite controlling Yagura for so long, Obito had been reluctant to deploy him.
But times had changed.
First, the Akatsuki was strong. Nagato had successfully created the Six Paths of Pain, killed Hanzō of the Salamander, and now held the Land of Rain in his grasp. The Akatsuki also had powerful assets like Kakuzu, Hidan, Hiruko, Shinnō, and Yomi under its command.
Second, this was an opportunity that couldn't be missed. The current three-village war was a result of his and Danzō's joint efforts. Danzō had expended great effort to convince Hiruzen to deploy troops to the Land of Hot Water. If they couldn't crush Kumogakure now, they would never get such a perfect chance again.
Once Kumogakure was destroyed and the Uchiha clan was buried with it, the Akatsuki could officially emerge and begin collecting the Tailed Beasts.
Kumo Eastern Front, Command Tent.
Yugito, looking every bit the seasoned commander, sat in the main seat with a jacket draped over her shoulders, her eyes a bit hazy. She took a deep breath, steadying herself.
The instigator of her condition, Neji-kun, crawled out from under the table. He picked up a file that had fallen to the floor, placed it on the desk, and muttered, "Salty, and prickly!"
Yugito used a hair tie to gather her messy hair, a faint blush on her face. She organized her thoughts and said, "Neji-kun, Lord Raikage wants me to lead the army to reinforce the Land of Hot Water front, but he didn't specify your arrangements. What's your plan?"
"Kiri may be beaten, but they won't stay down," Neji-kun said, tidying the files. "I have to make a trip to Kirigakure."
"Kirigakure?" Yugito frowned. Their army was crushed and their Jinchuriki captured. How could they possibly launch another effective attack? Their initial invasion was baffling enough. Who knew what the Fourth Mizukage was thinking?
But seeing Neji-kun's confident expression, she didn't ask further.
After leaving the command tent, Neji-kun gathered his gear and departed, leading Samui, Pakura, and the others toward the Land of Water.
One day later, on a nameless island in the eastern sea.
Poof!
With a puff of white smoke, the Maneki Neko (beckoning cat) ran out. It waved at Neji-kun and called out, "Two thousand ryō, please!"
Neji-kun's face twitched. He pulled out the money, handed it over, and took the intelligence scroll from the cat.
He opened it and scanned the contents, his eyes instantly lighting up.
It was intel from Uchiha Mikoto. She had found the sealing location of Uchiha Hikari.
Neji-kun took a sharp breath. He immediately changed course, abandoning his trip to the Land of Water. He and his team now headed for the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
According to the records Mikoto had found, about two hundred years ago, the Uchiha clan launched a surprise attack on the Senju's ally, the Uzumaki clan. However, the plan was exposed, and the Senju clan learned of the Uchiha's movements in advance.
The Uchiha fell into a carefully prepared trap set by the Senju and Uzumaki.
The Uchiha squad leader, to ensure his clansmen could retreat safely, heartlessly abandoned the "Ultimate Weapon" he had spent years cultivating, Uchiha Hikari, leaving her as the rearguard. By the time the main Uchiha force arrived, Hikari had already been sealed by the Uzumaki clan.
Perhaps because this defeat stained their honor, the Uchiha clan history only mentions the incident in passing: "Encountered ambush, lost 'Nameless'."
Mikoto had cross-referenced this with the Uzumaki clan records that Kumogakure had seized from the ruins, and those records contained a detailed account of the event.
However, as time passed, the Senju, the Uzumaki, and even the Uchiha themselves gradually forgot about Hikari. With the fall of the Land of Whirlpools, the retirement of the Senju clan, and the Uchiha's deliberate concealment, the location of Hikari's seal was lost to history.
If Neji-kun hadn't known from his past memories that Uchiha Hikari was a real person, he would have never paid any mind to the cryptic mention of "Nameless."
Uchiha Hikari's Mangekyō was ridiculously powerful. Although it wasn't an Eternal Mangekyō, it had no risk of blindness. Her unique dōjutsu was called Yachihoko. Like Shisui and Obito, she had only awakened a single, unique technique. Once someone was marked by Yachihoko, Hikari could ignore distance to perfectly control their chakra and mind. Likewise, she could use the mark to freely transfer her own chakra to the marked person, regardless of distance.
Besides this incredible dōjutsu, two other techniques had been transplanted into her Mangekyō: Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. When she used them, they were significantly enhanced, becoming Kagutsuchi (Blaze Release) and Marking Tsukuyomi.
Kagutsuchi was the Blaze Release ability Sasuke later awakened, allowing for perfect control over Amaterasu's form. Marking Tsukuyomi was even more insane. When activated, it projected its power onto the moon. Anyone bathed in the moonlight would receive a Tsukuyomi mark on the back of their hand. Even those hiding from the moonlight would still be controlled. Its power was only slightly inferior to the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
After traveling nonstop, Neji-kun and his group arrived at the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools and found Uchiha Hikari's sealing location.
"Is this it?" Neji-kun looked at the tall, man-sized stone. His Tenseigan sensed a powerful sealing force emanating from it, still potent even after two hundred years.
"Two Eight Trigrams Seals, one Contract Seal, one Five Elements Seal, and two others I don't recognize..." Neji-kun murmured, touching the stone.
Samui, Pakura, and the others watched, completely bewildered. They could clearly see that Neji-kun was extraordinarily excited—more so than when he had captured the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.
"Stand back," Neji-kun ordered.
Once they had moved a safe distance away, Neji-kun's hands flew through seals: Rat - Ram...
"Eight Trigrams Seal: Release!"
"Contract Seal: Release!"
"Five Elements Seal: Release!"
After undoing the three seals, Neji-kun pressed his palm against the Sealing Stone, pouring Tenseigan chakra into it, intending to brute-force the last two unknown formulas.
A moment later, with a burst of smoke, a small, delicate girl appeared before him.
"Who are you?!"
The moment she was free, Uchiha Hikari leaped backward, putting distance between them. Her hand shot to her waist, grasping for a ninja pouch that wasn't there. She had used up all her tools fighting the Uzumaki.
Hikari snapped into a combat stance, her large, bright eyes instantly shifting from three tomoe to her Mangekyō. Three twisted scythe-like patterns appeared, and terrifying Yin chakra gathered in her left eye. She stared at Neji-kun, ready to unleash Amaterasu at the slightest threatening move.
Seeing the three-scythe pattern, Neji-kun's muscles tensed. The Sharingan, Byakugan, and Rinnegan were the three great dōjutsu. The Mangekyō was the Sharingan's ultimate form, but the Rinnegan was not simply its superior. Generally, the Rinnegan's power was on a completely different level... but Uchiha Hikari was an exception. Her Yachihoko was no weaker than a Rinnegan ability, and most terrifyingly, her Mangekyō had no risk of blindness.
"Don't be nervous. I'm the one who saved you. And I'm not Senju or Uzumaki." Neji-kun held his hands up to show he had no ill intent, making sure to distance himself from her known enemies.
As the smoke cleared, Hikari finally got a clear look at him: long black hair, fine features, a tall frame, and a pair of sapphire-blue eyes that held a disquieting amount of dōjutsu.
She scanned him, confirming he bore no Senju or Uzumaki clan crest. She let out a breath of relief, relaxed her stance, and her Mangekyō reverted to a normal three-tomoe Sharingan.
Just then, Hikari noticed Uchiha Izumi nearby, who had nervously activated her own three-tomoe Sharingan. Hikari trembled, like a mouse seeing a cat.
She walked slowly over to Izumi, her two small, pale hands clenched into fists, and held them out, offering her wrists to be cuffed.
Izumi, who had been on guard, was completely stunned by this action. She looked at Neji-kun in confusion.
Neji-kun, knowing Hikari's tragic history as a "weapon," sighed at this deeply conditioned response.
Hikari, seeing Izumi's hesitation, stepped closer, pushing her bound wrists further forward.
A hand suddenly grabbed her wrist. "My name is Hyūga Neji. What's yours?"
Hikari glanced at Neji-kun's Tenseigan, her eyes blank with confusion, before stating impassively, "Nameless."
"Your name isn't Nameless," Neji-kun said, gripping her cold wrist firmly. "Your parents named you Uchiha Hikari. Don't forget that name."
"Uchiha... Hikari?"
Hearing the familiar yet alien name, the girl frowned, tilting her head as if trying to remember.
Neji-kun motioned for Izumi, Samui, and the others to leave. Once they were gone, he pulled Hikari down to sit on a nearby rock.
"Hikari, it's been over two hundred years since your time. The world has changed a lot. Oh, this is for you."
As he spoke, Neji-kun took a skewer of three-colored dango from a storage scroll and held it to the still-shocked girl's lips.
Hikari hesitated, sniffed it, then opened her small mouth and took a careful bite.
The first taste was like discovering a new world. She immediately began to devour it, finishing the entire skewer in seconds. She licked her lips, her eyes fixed on Neji-kun with a look of pure desire.
Seeing this, Neji-kun knew he had her.
Uchiha Hikari was a person from two hundred years ago, but she had been raised as a "weapon" since childhood, starved of affection. What Neji-kun gave her was just dango, but what she received was a rare, precious moment of kindness.
Uchiha, as crazy as they were, were surprisingly pure when it came to their emotions. If you could get into their heart—before they went insane—you could truly be their friend. (After they go insane... well, good luck.)
Neji-kun took out two more skewers. As Hikari ate, she quietly listened to Neji-kun explain the changes to the shinobi world. She wasn't particularly interested in history, mostly just savoring the dango.
However, when Neji-kun mentioned that the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan had allied to found Konohagakure, Hikari's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
Seeing her cheeks puffed out with dango, her eyes "clear and stupid," Neji-kun felt an overwhelming urge to tease her and ruffled her hair.
Hikari started to pull away, but she stopped when Neji-kun produced two more skewers.
He continued his story. When he mentioned that the Senju and Uzumaki clans had both been destroyed, Hikari actually let out a rare smile, her small, pale feet swinging back and forth in the air.
In the Warring States period, the Senju and Uzumaki were the Uchiha's mortal enemies. As Asura's descendants, they inherited his traits: immense chakra, powerful bodies, and genjutsu resistance. The Senju excelled at Water and Earth Release, the Uzumaki at sealing jutsu. They were incredibly strong.
In every battle, Hikari was either the vanguard or the rearguard. She was always outnumbered. Even with her power, she had suffered greatly. Her Tsukuyomi was resisted, her Amaterasu was countered by sealing jutsu. Her only option was to use Susanoo for a head-on fight, using Yachihoko to continuously drain chakra from her marked enemies to replenish her dōjutsu and win a war of attrition. But if her replenishment speed couldn't keep up with her consumption, she would quickly be overwhelmed.