UK:GSW Chapter 343 – Uchiha Sasuke: Feels Like Many Eyes Are Watching Me
Since They had seen it, naturally he had to explain the situation clearly.
After all, although he kept calling himself Karin's stepfather, in truth there wasn't much of a relationship between them. And Kikyo had only just turned eighteen, hardly ready to be a mother, so some things needed to be made clear.
Once she learned everything, Kikyo's expression instantly darkened. She gritted her teeth and said bitterly, "So that's how it is… Without Kei, my fate would have become like this… Heh… The Hidden Grass Village really is a bunch of damnable people!"
Along with those words came Tsunade's comforting presence and her own disgust toward the Hidden Grass, the icy killing intent from Uchiha Naori and the Uchiha guards hidden in the shadows, and Karin's pain and sorrow as if she had just recalled that nightmarish experience.
For Karin, both she and her mother had lived through the hell of the Hidden Grass Village. There was nothing there but a past she did not wish to remember—psychological scars she longed to forget.
Although Uzumaki Kikyo had been rescued before becoming a test subject because of Uchiha Kei's intervention, by the time Kei arrived, Kikyo's parents had already been persecuted and killed. Thus she, too, bore deep resentment toward the Hidden Grass.
If Uchiha Kei and the others hadn't clashed with the Hidden Grass to save Kikyo—killing many of their people, including those Kikyo remembered as her enemies—this matter would never have ended so easily.
Hmm?
With such a diplomatic incident, why didn't the Hidden Grass cause trouble for the Hidden Leaf? Why didn't they demand an explanation or that the Leaf hand over Uchiha Kei and the others to appease their anger?
Well, perhaps it's possible that the young Hiruzen Sarutobi and the old Hiruzen Sarutobi were entirely different, and that the Hidden Leaf before the Nine-Tails' attack was not the same as the Leaf afterward.
What's more, even in the original series, the only time Hiruzen was shown yielding to another village was when the Hidden Cloud provoked them—and that was only a few years after the Nine-Tails' attack, when the Leaf was too weakened to fight.
Normally, let alone in the current main world where the Leaf is overwhelmingly powerful, even back when they rescued Kikyo, the Hidden Grass was not a small village that could extort the Leaf. At that time, Hiruzen's tough, almost hegemonic attitude toward the Hidden Grass allowed Uchiha Kei to see what a "hardline" Hokage—something only ever mentioned in Kishimoto's setting notes—truly looked like.
Yes, many people don't even know that Kishimoto's official setting describes Hiruzen Sarutobi as one of the toughest Hokage—one of only two Hokage with that "hardline" trait, the other being the Second Hokage. None of the others were given that description.
In short, as far as Kikyo was concerned, the vengeance against the Hidden Grass was already complete. Under the Leaf's protection, the Hidden Grass would even send gifts, hoping for Kikyo's forgiveness and fearing she might seek further revenge.
After all, a lone Uzumaki and an Uzumaki protected by a great village are not the same creature at all.
Especially in recent months, people from the Hidden Grass had been making frequent trips to the Leaf. Each one behaved with extreme obedience, constantly pledging loyalty and trying to approach Kikyo, bringing gifts in hopes that she would not continue to pursue past grudges.
If all else failed, the Hidden Grass was willing to become the Leaf's dog—anything for a way to survive.
With the rise of the Genjutsu Game and the Leaf's rapid development, with Kikyo now the editor-in-chief of the Uzumaki Weekly, and with Uchiha Kei—her man—now standing in an exalted position as the famed Uchiha Great Sage and the man of the Fourth Hokage, everything had changed too quickly. Naturally, the Hidden Grass, having once had grudges with these big names, now trembled in fear, feeling as though the sky was about to collapse.
With the firm belief that they must never give these big shots a reason to act against them, the Hidden Grass had been as submissive as could be, visiting and offering tributes every ten days, their main strategy being obedience, deference, and regular tribute.
That was survival instinct maxed out.
Having been through so much, Kikyo had more or less let the matter go. After all, the enemies were all dead, and the Hidden Grass was being so docile. Clinging to the past would seem petty.
Having long considered herself Uchiha Kei's woman, Kikyo didn't want to cause Kei any trouble because of her. With Kei's current status, every word and action of his was under scrutiny, magnified under a lens. Even if Kei himself didn't mind, Kikyo didn't want to hurt his reputation.
And so, just when she thought everything was in the past, another ninja world appeared—and in that world, without Uchiha Kei's existence, the other Uzumaki Kikyo's life was a tragic play that had extended to her daughter.
Even with only a brief encounter, Kikyo had already noticed the bite marks on Karin, proof that she had been used as a test subject for a long time.
Then, seeing Karin trembling from the memories of that nightmare, Kikyo's heart ached again. After thanking Tsunade for comforting her, she stepped forward, hugged Karin, and said gently, "Don't worry! It's all over now. Those nightmare-like experiences won't happen again. From now on, live well here in this Leaf. All of us will help you."
That gentle voice, that warm embrace, and that familiar, comforting scent stunned Karin, making her feel as if she had traveled back in time to many years ago.
It was a time she had long since forgotten—a distant past—but one whose warmth she still could not forget.
Though not perfect, it had carried a sense of safety that could never return.
This feeling left Karin frozen, her eyes inevitably growing moist. Unable to control her emotions, she hugged Kikyo tightly and began to cry, repeatedly calling out "Oka-san (Mom)" in a tearful voice.
Without a doubt, this was the emotional release of a child who had lost her mother and miraculously found her again—even though she knew full well that the "mother" she was embracing was not her real mother, just another person who was the same.
But when emotions overflow, reason often has no control.
For Kikyo, it was a bit awkward. She wasn't ready to be a mother yet. She had fantasized about having several children with Kei, but that was just fantasy—and they would be Kei's children.
But what was with Karin? This was purely the child of another tragic her from another world and some unknown man. This was truly awkward and uncomfortable.
Still, seeing Karin's grief, Kikyo couldn't bear to push her away. She hesitated slightly, then instinctively glanced at Uchiha Kei.
Kei understood what she was worried about. Smiling, he nodded at her—wordlessly assuring her that the other world's Karin and her mother were from that other world. In this world, Kikyo was Kikyo, and she would inevitably become Uchiha Kikyo.
Kei saw it clearly: this world was this world, the other world was the other world. He wouldn't mix the two.
If one were to obsess over such things, then every world traveler would be both a cuckold and the most self-inflicted of all, and the only solution would be to "destroy all worlds" for peace of mind.
Kei was just a man who liked to enjoy things—not someone who would lose his mind over this.
This attitude set Kikyo's mind at ease, and she began gently comforting Karin.
Kei quietly recorded this heartwarming scene, storing it in his mental network world as a keepsake for future reminiscing.
After a while, Karin calmed down. Seeing that she had dampened Kikyo's clothes with her tears, she became embarrassed, her face flushing red as she repeatedly apologized. She was flustered and clearly afraid her actions had made Kikyo dislike her.
Timid, self-effacing, and utterly lacking in confidence.
Such a sight made Kikyo's heart ache again, for she saw herself in Karin.
In the past, she had been just like this—until, under Kei's protection and care, with Kushina Uzumaki's help and encouragement, and the company of others, she had grown confident and achieved what she had today.
But what did Karin have?
Nothing.
With pity in her eyes, Kikyo smiled again, offering more comfort and once again emphasizing that Karin could stay in the Leaf under its protection.
At those words, Karin's face showed clear yearning—but her gaze shifted to the companions who had been lying on the ground, forgotten since earlier. Her expression grew conflicted.
Seeing this, everyone looked toward the three people lying on the ground, their expressions turning complicated.
They had indeed completely forgotten about the three unconscious boys.
Then Tsunade, who had been silent until now, turned her gaze to the Uchiha Sasuke lying there. "So this is the last Uchiha of another world?"
As she spoke, Tsunade felt it was absurd. In the main world, the Uchiha were thriving; the entire Leaf wished there were more of them. In every workshop, there weren't enough Uchiha to handle the precision work, and in every department, having a Sharingan-wielding Uchiha could solve countless problems. Every field wanted more of them.
In such an environment, Tsunade—one of the Leaf's leaders—wished the Uchiha would reproduce more, so she couldn't even connect the Uchiha with the idea of "last survivor."
She could only think: the other world's Leaf really knew how to waste—wiping out such a useful clan.
Seriously, if you didn't know how to make use of them, could you have given them to us? We need Uchiha!
Instead, you idiots killed them all—a complete waste.
With people like that, how could you possibly govern the Leaf well?
Thinking this left Tsunade exasperated, wanting to give that other Leaf a withering glare.
Kei nodded at her question. "Yeah, it's this kid—Uchiha Sasuke. A bit of a tsundere, using a cold exterior to protect himself. In reality, though, he's just a big guy longing for family."
"I see," Tsunade mused. "A very typical Uchiha."
Kei both nodded and shook his head. "He is indeed a typical Uchiha, but his mental resilience is far greater than most—he's on the level of an Uchiha endurance king."
At that, everyone who knew Kei well had subtle expressions; they knew exactly what "endurance king" meant. Only Karin looked confused, unable to understand what the term implied.
Then Tsunade's mouth twitched as she remembered something. "Wait—you said before that the stronger an Uchiha's mental resilience, the harder it is for them to awaken their eyes. If this kid is the endurance king, doesn't that mean his Sharingan evolves very slowly?"
Kei nodded. "Exactly. Even experiencing his clan's massacre only gave him a one-tomoe. Without the stimulus from his good buddy Naruto, it would've been hard for him to even reach two or three tomoe.
"As of now, though he talks about killing the man responsible for the Uchiha massacre in his world—his brother, Uchiha Itachi—he's only at the three-tomoe stage. He's developed them to the limit, but still hasn't awakened the Mangekyo.
"It's not that he lacks the talent. His Sharingan is extremely powerful—at least on par with Madara Uchiha in potential. But because of his incredible resilience, he's shown no signs of awakening the Mangekyo so far.
"I figure, if we hadn't intervened, to awaken it he'd have to either watch Naruto die before his eyes or kill Itachi himself."
Everyone pondered that. Karin, most of all, listened intently—after all, it concerned the boy she liked.
Then the girls glanced at Kei with slightly odd looks.
Best friend and brother equally important—how very Uchiha.
At least, the bond between Kei and Minato Namikaze was such that if Minato were to fall, Kei would undoubtedly blacken and awaken the Mangekyo.
Konoha friendship—it's something special, isn't it?
Of course, now Kei already had the Mangekyo, and Minato was so strong that few could kill him, so such hypotheticals were just that.
Then Kikyo crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes, and said, "So, this boy is right at the edge of awakening—just needs one good push, right?"
Kei smiled and nodded. "Correct."
The others nodded in unison, expressions saying they completely understood, murmuring, "I see."
This reaction left Karin utterly bewildered, in a state of: "What exactly do you understand? Will you tell me? Or are you planning to do something to Sasuke?" She opened her mouth several times to ask, but didn't know how—or whether—she should.
Even in sleep, Uchiha Sasuke suddenly shivered, as if he had just dreamed of something terrifying.
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