"…Miya?"
When she heard the name, Uchiha Hikari paused, a subtle expression crossing her face.
Could it be…
Was Karin's dad named Uzumaki Hiroshi?
Meanwhile, Karin cautiously reached out to touch Hikari's finger but quickly pulled back. "Are you a ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village? I heard those people earlier say…"
"No, I'm not from any ninja village."
Hikari pointed to her smooth, unmarked forehead and added, "But I'm staying in the Leaf for now."
"Huh?"
Karin's mouth dropped open, her face a picture of confusion.
Hikari didn't bother trying to explain everything in a few sentences. She nodded to the red-haired woman who had just opened her eyes, then stood up slowly. "This isn't a safe place to stick around. Let's find somewhere else to talk."
And so, it was decided.
Hikari called out for the Flying Nimbus.
While waiting for the cloud to arrive and helping the red-haired woman onto it, several squads of Grass ninja, alerted by the commotion, rushed toward the hospital.
But Hikari merely let out a casual Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame, engulfing a hundred meters around her in a blazing inferno. The twenty or so Grass ninja who tried to counter with their Water Style techniques were like droplets hitting a volcano—evaporated instantly, their bodies consumed by the flames.
The Grass Village was just a small ninja settlement to begin with.
Eri's two Judgment commands, combined with Hikari's earlier Susanoo strike, had already wiped out more than half of the village's chunin and above.
After casually dispatching these last few squads, no one else dared to get in their way.
With those annoying flies out of the picture, Hikari whisked everyone away on the Flying Nimbus, soaring through the air until they landed by a serene, picturesque stream. "This'll do."
"…Okay."
Hikari gave a quick rundown of who she was.
When the Uzumaki mother and daughter learned she was the "head" of the Uchiha clan, their faces lit up with a mix of awe and surprise.
"So you are from the Leaf! Thank you so much for saving us!"
"No need for thanks. What's your plan now?"
"We…"
The Uzumaki pair hesitated.
Hikari spoke up again. "If you haven't figured it out yet, how about sticking with me for a while?"
Compared to someone like Orochimaru, Hikari and Eri had a much friendlier vibe. Plus, after the horrific ordeal they'd just endured in the Grass Village, the mother and daughter didn't need much convincing. They nodded almost immediately.
And so, the group heading to the Land of Rice Paddies became four.
"…Lady Hikari, is this cloud made with a ninjutsu? It's so cool…"
"It's not a jutsu. Think of it more like a summoning beast."
"Huh?"
"Um, is Lady Eri really not an Uzumaki? Her hair color looks so much like mine and Mom's!"
"Well… there are a few redheads in the Sand Village too, so red hair doesn't always mean Uzumaki."
Karin, being only six or seven, couldn't help her curiosity despite her mother's warnings to behave. She peppered Hikari with questions.
Hikari answered casually, while Eri occasionally held up her little notebook to join the conversation.
Meanwhile, back in the now-chaotic Grass Village…
Two pale, white Zetsu emerged from the ground, eyeing the ruins of the Grass Village hospital.
"Well, well, what a mess," one said.
"Facing the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan, a crushing defeat like this is only natural."
White Zetsu like them were stationed in every major ninja village, though a small place like the Grass Village only had a handful. These spies allowed Black Zetsu to get wind of major events across the ninja world almost instantly.
"…That girl from earlier, could she be the Uchiha Hikari the organization's been looking for? She's the only one in the Leaf who can still use Susanoo, and her age matches up."
"We need to report this to Black Zetsu and Obito, fast…"
After a brief exchange, the two White Zetsu sank back into the ground, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Three days after taking in the Uzumaki mother and daughter…
Hikari arrived in the Land of Rice Paddies.
Finding the Sound Village took some effort since it didn't exactly have a neon sign pointing to it. Hikari eventually tracked down the daimyo of the land, hit him with a quick Tsukuyomi, and "persuaded" him to spill the rough location of the Sound Village.
During this time, Eri received two doses of a serum to counteract the side effects of her Judgment ability.
Thanks to the "Judgment incident," Eri had become completely devoted to Hikari. Whether they were eating or bathing, the moment Hikari spoke, Eri would drop everything and rush to her side, obedient as a kitten.
But with Eri's eyes practically glued to her, Hikari was starting to feel like she was the kitten…
"…How many times do I have to tell you? Put your clothes on before coming out! You can't just wander around half-naked during a bath—someone might see you!"
"It's fine. Hikari's not a stranger."
Eri held up her notebook with an innocent expression.
Hikari didn't even want to get into the whole "stranger vs. not stranger" debate. She sighed, exasperated. "Even if you don't care about me, think about Miya and Karin! What if a kid sees you?"
"They're not here."
Eri raised her notebook again.
Hikari glanced to the side.
Sure enough, Miya was off in the distance preparing dinner, and Karin, sensing the brewing argument, had scampered off to help her mom gather firewood.
"…"
Hikari let out another sigh, looking at Eri's barely-covered state. Blushing a little, she personally helped Eri get dressed, her fingers brushing soft skin and sending her heart racing for a moment. Then she tidied up the bath, packed it back into a Capsule Corp capsule, and called it a day.
By then, Miya and Karin had finished preparing a full spread of food, calling Hikari and Eri over to eat.
Karin, just a year older than Naruto, was far more mature and well-behaved than most kids her age—probably a result of her rough, nomadic life. She was already showing signs of a budding scientist, with a fierce curiosity about the world.
In the original story, Karin was one of Orochimaru's top assistants. If she hadn't been so obsessed with Sasuke, her scientific achievements might've rivaled Kabuto's.
Hikari's initial plan was just to borrow some blood and tissue samples from the Uzumaki pair to study their unique physiology, hoping to see if it could be combined with Uchiha blood to artificially create a Rinnegan.
But now…
She was starting to wonder if she could train Karin to be her assistant in the ninja world.
"Karin, have you studied any ninjutsu?"
"Just a little bit about chakra refining…" Karin answered politely.
"Okay, then… do you know about science?"
"Huh?"
Karin's face went blank with confusion.
Hikari pulled out a copy of 100,000 Whys and handed it to her. "Take a look at this. If you have any questions, come ask me. And if you're interested in this stuff… I can help you find a teacher to get you started."