Kimimaro woke up the next morning.
Uchiha Hikari and Erii were already getting breakfast ready.
"You're awake?" Hikari glanced at him. "The surgery went fine… Toothbrush and towel are over there, brand new. Go wash up and come eat."
"…"
Kimimaro stood still, hesitating as he glanced around before fixing his eyes on Hikari. "Who… are you? Where is this place?"
"Don't worry, you're far from that dungeon you were locked in. As for those clan members who kept you there, chances are you'll never see them again."
"Dungeon…" Kimimaro muttered, lifting his head. He studied Hikari closely, as if recalling something. "Are you… the god who saved me last night?"
"Something like that."
Hikari held up a piece of bread and nodded casually. "I know you've probably got a ton of questions, but they don't matter right now. Don't ask me stuff like 'Why did you save me?' or 'What's the point of living?' Life doesn't have a built-in purpose, but you've got to keep going to find the good stuff—like this bread, or me running into you. Got it? Now go wash up, the milk's getting cold!"
"…"
Maybe because he hadn't gone through the clan massacre from the original timeline, Kimimaro just seemed a bit confused. He wasn't exactly moved by Hikari's speech, which sounded like something Orochimaru might've said.
After standing there for a moment, he finally turned to wash up, then cautiously joined them at the table.
"Sit."
Hikari motioned to the empty chair beside her and handed him a plate with bread and milk.
"Eat up. We've got to hit the road soon."
…
After breakfast, Hikari took Erii and Kimimaro for a stroll through a small town in the Land of Water. They picked up some local snacks and souvenirs.
By the afternoon, she summoned the Nimbus Cloud, and they set off for the Sound Village.
Kimimaro was clearly curious about the Nimbus Cloud, but his reserved nature kept him from asking questions like Karin would've. His face stayed blank, giving nothing away.
They arrived at the Sound Village the next morning, after a few days away.
Back in the village, Hikari handed out the snacks she'd bought in the Land of Water to Karin, Juugo, Orochimaru, and even Guren. Then she introduced Kimimaro to the Uzumaki family, officially marking him as a new resident of the Sound Village.
When Orochimaru's shadow clone saw Kimimaro, he looked completely baffled.
"Lady Hikari, this kid is…?"
"Oh, just someone I picked up on the road a few days ago. His name's Kaguya Kimimaro, a descendant of the Kaguya clan."
Hikari gave a casual explanation.
"…"
Orochimaru's eye twitched, unsure of what to say.
Last time she went out, she "picked up" Juugo with his natural Sage Mode. Now she's back with Kimimaro and his Bone Pulse? What's next—grabbing a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki in a few days?
Also, the Sound Village and the Land of Water are a thousand miles apart. How did she manage a round trip in a week and bring someone back?
Hikari asked a few quick questions about Karin and the others.
Orochimaru pulled himself together and answered with a slightly more serious tone. "You were right about Karin. That girl's got a real knack for research. She's a quick learner."
"Really?"
Coming from a scientist like Orochimaru, that was high praise. Karin was clearly doing well.
Juugo, though? Not so much.
The big guy wasn't the sharpest. Even the most basic lessons were a struggle, and he only barely kept up thanks to Karin's help. Considering Orochimaru was only teaching the basics for an hour a day, any tougher material would probably leave Juugo in the dust.
"No big deal. He can learn what he can," Hikari said, patting Kimimaro's shoulder. "Starting tomorrow, bring him along too. Might as well make it a proper class."
"...Alright."
Orochimaru glanced at Kimimaro, hesitating like he wanted to say something.
Hikari read his mind. "You can study his Bone Pulse abilities, but on one condition—figure out a way to cure his bloodline disease."
The Kaguya clan's Bone Pulse was a bit like the Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Both were powers that grew stronger with use but came with a heavy cost.
While the Mangekyo usually just led to blindness—Itachi being a rare exception—the Bone Pulse's bloodline disease affected the entire body. In the original story, Kimimaro's overuse of his abilities left him on the brink of death by his mid-teens.
If that issue wasn't fixed, his lifespan in this world wouldn't be long either.
"Understood, Lady Hikari."
Orochimaru nodded slightly, taking it in.
Since Hikari arrived in the Sound Village, Orochimaru's research projects had been piling up fast.
Hybrids, demons, Uzumaki physiology, Sage Transformation, Bone Pulse…
Every single one was a major topic that could take years to study.
Add to that his existing projects—like the Living Corpse Reanimation, Impure World Reincarnation, and Hashirama cell cultivation and transplants…
All told, he had about a dozen major projects on his plate.
Even for someone as research-obsessed as Orochimaru, it was overwhelming. For the first time, he worried he might not die in battle but from being buried under all this blessed work.
"Work hard, Snake Uncle. I believe in you," Hikari said, standing on her tiptoes to pat Orochimaru's shoulder. "I'll try to get you some lab equipment, but research assistants? That's on you. Train Karin up fast so she can take some of the load off."
Oh, and by the way—Hikari had already used her "Tsukuyomi Seal" to summon Danzo and give him orders to send Kabuto and his mother to the Sound Village as undercover agents.
But their arrival had to be timed carefully, set up like a real infiltration mission to avoid raising Orochimaru's suspicions.
Hikari's control over Danzo through the "Yasaka Magatama" was her hidden ace. On the surface, she was still Danzo's most hated enemy. No one could suspect that his actions were tied to her. Even she herself had to be on Kabuto's "watch list."
After sorting out the Sound Village's affairs, Hikari took Erii back home the next day. She handed a pre-written shopping list to Chikao Genji in person.
"Get these things for me. Thanks."
"…"
Inside the wooden room at Genji Heavy Industries, Chikao stared at the list, which included items like "nuclear magnetic scanner" and "high-throughput sequencer," and sank into deep thought.
So…
This mysterious "White King" lady didn't just love spicy manga—she was also a Dragon King with a thing for academic research?
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