If Uchiha Hikari had mentioned a name like "Obito" or someone else, the Kaguya clan members probably wouldn't have batted an eye.
But…
"Madara?!"
The moment they heard that name, several Kaguya clan members froze in unison.
Before they could react, Uchiha Hikari's figure flashed forward, delivering a swift, spinning kick.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of dull thuds echoed as the Kaguya clansmen were sent flying like ragdolls.
But they were just the first wave to arrive.
The explosion from the dungeon earlier had already drawn the attention of the entire Kaguya clan. More and more members, startled awake from their sleep, began converging on the area, their Shikotsumyaku abilities activating as they moved.
Rip—
With the sound of tearing fabric, countless white bone blades protruded from their bodies, and clumps of condensed bone bullets began forming at the joints above their palms.
As Uchiha Hikari stepped out of the cave, she was met with a barrage of bone bullets raining down like a storm!
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Facing the overwhelming killing intent, Uchiha Hikari gripped her blade with one hand, slashing at a speed barely visible to the naked eye. "Word Spirit: Instant!"
Seventh-tier Instant—128 times god-speed slash!
In that moment, the blade in Uchiha Hikari's hand seemed to vanish mid-motion, her swinging arm almost invisible. It was as if hundreds of fiery sparks burst around her, scattering in all directions. Every bone bullet that came within two meters of her was sliced in half in an instant, losing momentum and dropping to the ground.
In just seven or eight seconds, a pile of white "shells" had accumulated at the cave's entrance.
But the blade in Uchiha Hikari's hand, after thousands of high-speed slashes, was now riddled with nicks and dents, looking like a bone gnawed by a dog, one step away from snapping.
"Tch, is the standard Uchiha clan longsword really this flimsy? I guess I'll have to wait for the one from Totosai…"
As the second wave of bone bullets loomed, Uchiha Hikari sighed, tossed the damaged blade aside, and channeled her ocular power.
Amid the whistling sound of bone bullets cutting through the air, a dark red skeletal giant emerged once more, swinging its sword in a simple, sweeping motion!
Whoosh—!!
The moment Susanoo appeared, the nature of the battle shifted entirely. Even though Uchiha Hikari swung the blade casually, an overwhelming force erupted, sweeping away everything in its path! Shattered bone fragments mixed with broken rocks and debris flew outward, a massive cloud of dust rising to engulf dozens of square meters. Kaguya clansmen were flung in all directions, landing hard, coughing up blood, and turning back in terror.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?!"
"No way, how can it be this strong…?"
"Could it really be the legendary one…?"
Under their shocked and fearful gazes, Uchiha Hikari lifted Kimimaro and soared into the air from the dust cloud. She paused deliberately for a second, letting the Kaguya clansmen get a clear look at her black-and-red-cloud robe and swirl-patterned mask, before letting out a cold huff and rocketing into the night sky above.
…
A few minutes later, Uchiha Hikari, having circled the area, flew back to the hillside where she'd left Eri.
At that moment, Eri was still sitting obediently in place, hugging her knees, head lowered, fiddling with a few blades of grass between her fingers.
Before Hikari even landed, Eri heard the sound of the wind and jumped up with a delighted expression, rushing over to inspect Hikari closely, then sniffing her.
"…What's wrong?"
"There's a smell of blood."
Eri held up her notebook, her pale face tinged with worry.
"Hm?"
Hikari paused, recalling that while slashing the bone bullets earlier, a few might have slipped through. But with her body consciously wrapped in chakra and aura, even the machine-gun-like Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets had only left shallow scratches that healed almost instantly.
She hadn't expected Eri to notice the scent.
"Your hands aren't hurt, are they?"
Eri held up her notebook again.
Perhaps because of the time in the Grass Village when she'd accidentally hurt Hikari's hands with "Judgment," Eri was especially attentive to them. She grabbed Hikari's hands, inspecting each finger carefully and even sniffing them to confirm there were no wounds. Only then did she relax, her gaze shifting to Kimimaro.
"Is this the kid you were looking for?"
"Yeah, his name's Kimimaro. You probably saw him in that manga."
"?"
Eri blinked, staring at Kimimaro for a moment before seeming to recall something. She wrote in her notebook: "Is he that guy who works for Orochimaru? So this is what he looked like as a kid. He kinda looks like a girl."
"…True."
Uchiha Hikari nodded seriously. "This kid, maybe he's suited for women's clothing…"
Joking aside, Kimimaro's appearance was indeed different from the other Kaguya clansmen… or rather, he was in a completely different style. It was hard to imagine that the burly, rough-looking Kaguya clansmen, all sporting ugly topknots, could produce a child as delicate and refined as Kimimaro, with white hair unique to the entire clan…
Perhaps it could only be explained as an atavistic trait.
After all, the original ancestor of the Shikotsumyaku, Kaguya Otsutsuki, had white hair…
"It's getting late. Let's find a place to rest and head back in the morning."
Uchiha Hikari stretched, summoned the Flying Nimbus, and took off with Eri and Kimimaro into the distance.
…
That night, the Kaguya clan's territory was ablaze with lights.
Though a few clansmen questioned whether "Uchiha Madara" could still be alive, the news of "Uchiha Madara's attack" spread like wildfire through the clan.
Even Zabuza Momochi, secretly meeting to discuss the coup, learned of it in the early hours.
This incident was like a stone tossed into water, making the already complicated situation in the Village Hidden in the Mist even more unpredictable.
But…
None of that concerned Uchiha Hikari.
Her main goal this trip was Kimimaro. She'd briefly considered capturing a few more Shikotsumyaku users for research, but after seeing the Kaguya clansmen's appearances, she gave up on the idea.
Her other goal was to stir some trouble for Obito—
With his Kamui ability, finding Obito himself was nearly impossible unless he showed himself willingly.
But when the Kaguya clan, and even other families in the Mist Village, started hunting for a person claiming to be Uchiha Madara, wearing a black-and-red-cloud robe and a swirl-patterned mask, Obito's reaction would surely be entertaining.
(End of Chapter)