Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.
Turning over, Hikari pressed her hands into the grass, clutching the earth as if she were embracing the world itself. She never wanted to return to that lonely, lightless corner again.
After a long while, she pushed herself up, wiped her tears away, and continued running down the mountain.
Her long-dormant thoughts began to stir again. Someone had already set their sights on her—she couldn't relax yet.
Barefoot, she dashed into the forest.
A shadow loomed once more overhead. The more she thought about it, the more her anger flared. Her eyes turned cold again, her heart returning to the same state as before she had attacked.
She glanced back at the burning mountain peak and said coldly,
"I won't ever be anyone's weapon again. Uchiha Itachi… Konoha… I'll remember this!"
Once her words were said—
"Haah…" Hikari sighed, her voice low and weary. "But… how am I even supposed to find them? Hmm… they'll probably come for me first. When they do, I'll take them all out at once… then go somewhere… far, far away."
She looked down at her bare feet and frowned.
"…First thing's first, I need to find some clothes."
Meanwhile, back at the mountain peak—
The Edo Tensei Uchiha captain's body had already regenerated. He stepped toward the edge of the cliff, gazing stealthily at the silhouette of the girl running into the forest below.
He let out a sigh of relief.
"Heh, my acting just now wasn't bad, huh?" one Uchiha said with a grin.
"No kidding. But the old ancestor really doesn't pull her punches!" another replied, cracking his neck with a grimace.
"Let's head back. Our mission's done. Now it's up to Lord Uchiha Yu to take over."
"The way Lord Uchiha Yu disguised himself as Itachi… it really felt like the real thing."
"Come on, move it—if the ancestor suddenly comes back, all our effort will go to waste!"
The reanimated Uchiha forces began their return along the same path.
This was one of the reasons Uchiha Yu had deployed them to "act" — if living people had been sent, no matter how many, they would've all been killed. Reanimated shinobi, however, were different; they could be recycled and reused indefinitely.
…
…
In the western part of Hell Valley, beside a flowing stream—
Tsunade and Uchiha Yu sat near a campfire. A pot hung over the flames, water slowly coming to a boil, and an assortment of ingredients lay beside them.
Both of them had changed into plain clothing.
Yu had also removed his mask, revealing his true face. Calmly, he tended the fire, preparing the broth for hotpot.
As he focused his mind, he opened his Main Quest Panel:
[Main Quest]:
The Uchiha's Ultimate Weapon of War!
[Objective]:
1. Find Uchiha Hikari, break the seal, awaken her, and persuade her to join the Uchiha clan.
[Reward]:
Yasakani Magatama — Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
He had already found Uchiha Hikari and broken the seal to awaken her.
Now came the hard part — persuading her to join the Uchiha. That task sounded almost impossible.
Yu closed the quest interface, sinking into thought. If he didn't know what kind of mental state Hikari was in, he might've thought the task was easy.
But judging by how decisively she had attacked upon seeing an Uchiha, it was clear that — far from joining them — the clan's ancient ancestor probably wanted nothing more than to wipe out the entire Uchiha bloodline herself.
"What a disaster…" Yu muttered inwardly.
He soon noticed Tsunade staring coldly at him.
Earlier, she had followed his suggestion — leaving a shadow clone with him on the mountaintop while her real body waited here for his return.
Recalling the memories from her clone, Tsunade asked seriously, "Her Sharingan… it's the same as yours? I mean that pair — the one that can control others."
Yu nodded slightly. "Yeah."
"So, what's your plan now?" Tsunade asked with genuine curiosity.
By now, her interest in Yu's actions had grown immensely.
After all, he hadn't released that so-called weapon of war just to set her free — his goal was to subdue her.
There was no way he'd allow such a being to roam beyond his control.
And since both Yu and that ancient weapon possessed the same Mangekyō Sharingan ability…
Tsunade couldn't help but wonder — what would happen when two identical ocular powers clashed?
Would they try to control each other? Or drain one another's chakra?
As she pondered this, Yu suddenly reached into his storage space and pulled out a white mask, placing it over his face again.
"Again?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Who are you pretending to be this time?"
Before she could finish, Yu's appearance began to change.
His hair grew long once more — still the trademark Uchiha style, but now covering his right eye. His features sharpened, becoming even more striking, almost heroic.
"You… who are you turning into this time?" Tsunade asked in astonishment.
Tsunade carefully studied Uchiha Yu. She didn't recognize the person he was pretending to be this time, but she could feel an overwhelming pressure emanating from him.
Inside the sealed prison space, when Hashirama saw Uchiha Yu transform into this appearance, his jaw dropped. He shot up from his seat in disbelief and shouted,
"Madara… Madara… Madara!!"
Tobirama's eyes also locked onto Uchiha Yu. The instant he saw him, his pupils contracted sharply, and his whole body trembled.
It was the face of Uchiha Madara.
"Call me Uchiha Madara," Yu said coldly, his sharp gaze slicing toward Tsunade.
"Madara?" Tsunade murmured, then suddenly widened her eyes. "You mean Grandpa's old rival?!"
Yu suspected that as Hashirama's granddaughter, Tsunade might have seen Madara as a child but had long since forgotten—or perhaps had never met him at all.
The broth in the pot began to boil.
A rich aroma filled the air.
"Yes, him," Yu replied casually, gesturing toward the white stone floor beside Tsunade's bare feet, signaling that she could start adding ingredients to the pot.
"…What's your purpose in doing this?" Tsunade asked, frowning as she picked up the nearby ingredients and started putting them into the boiling pot.
Hashirama looked at Yu's Madara-like face, his expression mixed with shock and frustration. He wanted to ask the same question.
Yu simply said, "Because it's interesting."
"…" Tsunade, Hashirama, and Tobirama all fell silent at once.
Hashirama was the first to explode. "You bastard, stop using the dead for your own amusement!"
Tsunade frowned deeply, finally understanding Yu's intention—he wanted to use Madara's face to make contact with that living weapon.
She said in disbelief, "You're going to approach her like this? Aren't you afraid that once she finds out the truth, she'll hate the Uchiha even more?"
Yu's tone remained calm and indifferent.
"The one who dug her out and broke the seal was Itachi. What does that have to do with me, Uchiha Yu?
"The one she'll meet is Madara. The one who'll guide her is also Madara. What does any of that have to do with me?"
At that, a black vein popped on Tsunade's temple. She let out a long sigh.
After a long pause, she muttered, "You… forget it. Whatever makes you happy."
Moments later, unable to resist, Tsunade asked again, "We're more than ten li away from that mountain ridge. How can you be so sure she'll pass through here?"
"There are only two exits from Hell Valley," Yu explained while stirring the pot with his chopsticks. "A swamp in front and a forest behind. Anyone sane knows which way to go."
The rich, savory aroma filled the cave.
Just as Tsunade was about to speak again, her ears twitched slightly. From the forest to their right, she heard the faint rustle of bare feet brushing through the tall grass.
°°°
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