Chiya hurried all the way back to Konoha.
The moment he spotted the graceful figure waiting at the village gate, warmth filled his heart.
"You're back!"
Seeing Chiya return, Tsunade finally let go of the worry weighing on her mind.
"Yeah."
Tsunade's gaze shifted to the young girl slung over Chiya's shoulder.
"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go somewhere else."
Knowing what she wanted to ask, Chiya explained first.
Tsunade glanced at the unconscious girl on his shoulder and nodded.
The two immediately disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique.
They returned directly to the private training room and laboratory beneath the Hokage residence, a place Chiya had personally constructed with countless barrier formulas to block detection and stabilize space.
It was the perfect location for secret operations and research.
Originally, he had prepared it for Orochimaru.
Unexpectedly, before Orochimaru ever had the chance to use it, he ended up using it himself.
Chiya gently laid Uchiha Hikari on the platform in the center of the room.
The girl remained asleep, as though everything happening around her had nothing to do with her.
Rather than rushing to break the seal, Chiya first spread out every scroll and notebook he had recovered from Uchiha Sousuke and the Sarutobi Clan's hidden chamber.
Using the actual sealed subject before him, he carefully cross-referenced every record.
He needed to find a flaw in the logic of the Three-Phase Seal...
Or discover the key that could unlock it.
Time quietly passed within the silent chamber.
Completely absorbed, Chiya occasionally paused in thought before writing complicated calculations and seal analyses across the scrolls.
He finally realized that the core of the Three-Phase Seal lay in separation and isolation.
The target's spirit, body, and chakra...
Were forcibly separated and sealed on different layers before the entire sealing formula wrapped around them, cutting all connection between them and trapping them in eternal stillness.
Breaking it by force meant destroying all three layers simultaneously while reconnecting and stabilizing the spirit, body, and power in a single instant.
The difficulty was almost impossible.
The safer approach was to find something capable of resonating with all three layers at once.
Or...
To find an opening from within Uchiha Hikari's sealed consciousness itself.
"Bloodline resonance might work... but is my Uchiha bloodline pure enough for such an ancient seal to acknowledge it?"
Chiya murmured thoughtfully.
Tsunade remained silent, her mind racing as curiosity appeared in her eyes.
"Or perhaps... since I'm also an Uchiha, I could use powerful ocular power to deceive—or awaken—the mechanism buried deep inside the seal."
Chiya's eyes lit up.
That was worth trying.
He immediately cut his fingertip and squeezed out a drop of crimson blood.
Using it like ink, he slowly guided it toward Uchiha Hikari's forehead.
The instant the blood touched her skin, it emitted a faint red glow.
Yet the seal deep within her remained as immovable as a mountain.
"It didn't work. Either my bloodline isn't pure enough, the method is wrong... or perhaps this seal can't be undone through bloodline alone."
Tsunade spoke after seeing the result.
Chiya wasn't discouraged.
He had expected as much.
Taking a deep breath, a sharp light flashed across his eyes.
His deep black pupils instantly transformed into the Rinnegan.
Purple ripples slowly revolved within them, and an indescribable aura of authority filled the chamber.
He intended to use the Rinnegan's power to probe the seal more deeply.
But the moment his gaze focused on Uchiha Hikari...
Everything changed.
The girl lying on the platform suddenly trembled violently.
Although her eyes remained shut, her brows unconsciously furrowed, and for the first time, her peaceful expression twisted into one of unbearable pain and struggle.
Even more astonishing...
A complicated pale-purple mark suddenly appeared beneath the skin in the center of her forehead.
It looked like an intricately intertwined lock.
At the same time, fragments of icy, chaotic thoughts overflowing with endless loneliness and hatred surged backward through the thread of ocular power Chiya had extended.
"Lonely... So dark... Why... seal me... My clan... betrayed me... Hate..."
Countless broken thoughts and overwhelming emotions flooded into Chiya's mind.
So these were Uchiha Hikari's emotions?
Before he could grasp them, they vanished just as suddenly.
Although the contact had lasted only an instant, he had clearly felt the overwhelming negative emotions sealed inside the girl.
Seeing the change in Chiya's expression, Tsunade cautiously asked,
"Did you find anything?"
Chiya nodded.
"Her consciousness... isn't completely asleep. It's only being suppressed by the seal."
It was a startling conclusion.
"And she's still sensitive to outside power."
That was both a danger...
And an opportunity.
Breaking the seal by force was out of the question.
But if they could guide and soothe that violent consciousness, they might find a safe way to release her.
Chiya frowned even more deeply.
Unsealing Uchiha Hikari was proving far more complicated than he had imagined.
Then his gaze shifted to Tsunade.
A thought suddenly struck him.
If the goal was to disperse negative emotions...
Perhaps the chakra of Tsunade's grandfather, the God of Shinobi, could accomplish it.
A faint smile appeared on Chiya's lips.
"You've thought of something?"
Noticing the change in his expression, Tsunade asked.
"Yeah."
"Her consciousness is suppressed by the seal, but it's overflowing with hatred. If we force it open, she'll lose control."
"So we need warm chakra to awaken her."
"Using that, we'll try to reach the core of her consciousness, calm her, guide her, and create an opportunity to safely remove the seal."
Warm chakra?
Tsunade blinked.
Medical ninjutsu?
Chiya didn't explain further.
Gentle chakra gathered within his palm like warm spring water.
He slowly lowered his hand above Uchiha Hikari's forehead as the chakra flowed into her body.
At first, the seal remained just as stubborn, rejecting all outside power.
But the chakra Chiya sent in this time was completely different.
It carried no aggression whatsoever.
Only pure warmth and sunlight.
This was Asura's chakra.
Gradually...
The icy seal finally showed the faintest sign of loosening.
Uchiha Hikari's tightly furrowed brows relaxed ever so slightly.
Although she still hadn't awakened, the intense pain seemed to lessen.
"It's working."
Chiya's eyes narrowed.
Focusing completely, he continued pouring more chakra into her while gently soothing her consciousness.
Second by second, time passed.
As he carefully observed the seal's changes, he noticed that under the constant nourishment of his chakra, tiny cracks, like fractures spreading across ice, had appeared in the layer representing her spirit.
Now!
Chiya shouted softly as the Rinnegan activated once again.
This time, instead of imitating any offensive or connecting force, he compressed his ocular power to its absolute limit.
It became an invisible, perfectly precise key.
Following the narrow passage opened by the warm chakra, it pierced directly into the crack within the spiritual layer of the seal.
Crack!
The sound didn't exist in the physical world.
It echoed directly within the souls of both Chiya and Tsunade.
Uchiha Hikari's eyes suddenly snapped open.
Yet there was no confusion.
No curiosity.
Only icy indifference and endless hatred that had survived countless years.
Her gaze immediately landed on Tsunade.
The unmistakable chakra of the Senju Clan instantly pierced through her sealed memories.
"Senju!!!"
A dry, hoarse scream overflowing with hatred burst from her throat.
Without even getting a clear look at Tsunade's face, her instinctive hatred toward the Senju Clan drove her to attack.
But Chiya had already anticipated it.
The instant she opened her eyes, he stepped in front of Tsunade.
At the same time, he deliberately concealed the aura of his Rinnegan while releasing only the pure chakra of the Uchiha bloodline.
Sure enough...
Feeling that familiar bloodline aura, Uchiha Hikari abruptly froze.
Her crimson eyes locked onto Chiya.
Yet instead of fading, the hatred within them exploded even more violently.
"Uchiha!!!"
Her scream was even more desperate than the one directed at Tsunade.
The pain inflicted by her own clan far exceeded anything done by outsiders.
To her, every Uchiha was an accomplice.
Every one of them had helped imprison her.
"Amaterasu!"
Without warning...
Without forming a single hand seal...
The crimson eyes of Uchiha Hikari instantly transformed as her Mangekyō Sharingan emerged.
Her gaze fixed on Chiya.
Her pupils suddenly contracted.
Pitch-black flames carrying the power to burn everything into nothingness erupted around Chiya out of thin air.
It was a Mangekyō Sharingan technique.
Yet she used it as naturally as breathing.
"Chiya!"
Tsunade cried out as she rushed forward.
"Don't move. Leave this to me."
Chiya's voice remained frighteningly calm.
Facing the black flames of Amaterasu, he didn't even attempt to dodge.
The instant the flames were about to touch him, the power of his Rinnegan erupted.
"Shinra Tensei!"
An overwhelming repulsive force exploded outward, instantly blasting the black flames away.
One of the Rinnegan's most basic abilities completely countered the attack.
Uchiha Hikari's pupils shrank violently.
For the first time, disbelief appeared on her face.
Her Amaterasu...
Had been neutralized so effortlessly?
"It seems spending so long sealed away has left you completely ignorant of the power that exists today."
Chiya's calm voice carried overwhelming pressure.
Step by step, he walked toward her.
The pressure of the Rinnegan descended upon her like a mountain.
"Damn it!"
Uchiha Hikari screamed as the battle instincts engraved into the Uchiha Weapon were fully awakened.
Her hands flew through hand seals so quickly that only afterimages remained.
Fire Release.
Lightning Release.
Wind Release.
One advanced ninjutsu after another poured toward Chiya like a raging storm.
Every attack carried immense chakra and overwhelming killing intent.
The entire chamber shook violently.
Without the powerful barriers protecting it, the room would have collapsed long ago.
Watching from the side, Tsunade couldn't hide her shock.
She could clearly feel that this girl who had just been unsealed possessed overwhelming strength.
Her violent chakra and ruthless fighting style truly lived up to the title of Uchiha Weapon.
Yet before the overwhelming barrage capable of destroying an entire village...
Chiya stood unmoving like an unshakable mountain.
He didn't even bother using flashy techniques.
He simply relied on the Rinnegan's abilities.
"Shinra Tensei!"
"Banshō Ten'in!"
"Blocking Technique Absorption Seal!"
"..."
The difference in strength was absolute.
Like an uncrossable abyss.
Every one of Uchiha Hikari's attacks seemed powerless before Chiya.
She was like a ferocious beast trapped inside a glass cage.
No matter how desperately she struggled, she could never reach the outside world.
Finally, Uchiha Hikari groaned.
Her chakra flow faltered for a split second.
Chiya seized that fleeting opportunity.
Like a phantom, he appeared behind her and struck the back of her neck with a precise chop.
The attack wasn't meant to seriously injure her.
Only to temporarily disrupt her chakra flow.
Her body went limp as she fell forward into Chiya's arms.
She struggled to raise her head.
Her eyes were filled with unwillingness, rage...
And the confusion and fear born from being utterly overwhelmed by absolute power.
"Have you calmed down?"
Chiya asked calmly.
"Kill me! Otherwise, one day I'll kill every last one of you! The Uchiha! The Senju! Everyone!"
Uchiha Hikari's hoarse voice was filled with determination and a desire for death.
Chiya slowly shook his head.
"I felt your emotions."
"But times have changed."
"Destruction won't solve anything."
"It will only throw you back into endless darkness."
Without giving her another chance to resist, he rapidly formed hand seals.
Complicated sealing light gathered around his fingertips.
He intended to temporarily seal her ocular abilities and dangerous techniques.
For now, it was the only way to calm her.
"No! Don't seal me again!"
Uchiha Hikari struggled violently, but Chiya's strength completely restrained her.
Golden sealing formulas spread from his fingertips like chains, wrapping around her eyes and vital points.
She could feel the powerful restraint severing her connection to her own strength.
Her fear and fury reached their peak.
Yet just before the seal was completed...
Chiya suddenly hesitated.
Within the girl's eyes, beyond the hatred...
He saw endless loneliness and despair.
The despair of someone abandoned by the entire world.
He changed his mind.
Instead of using a powerful seal, he replaced it with a much lighter one.
When the light faded...
Uchiha Hikari felt as though the Sharingan that had granted her power while bringing endless suffering had been covered by a thick veil.
She could still see.
But she could no longer draw upon its power.
Even the chakra within her body became sluggish and impossible to control.
She finally fell silent.
Not because she had accepted reality...
But because despair had robbed her of the strength to resist.
She collapsed onto the floor with her head lowered.
Her long black hair hid her expression.
Yet her eyes, now restored to ordinary black, still burned with silent fury as they stared at the ground.
Chiya released her and stepped back, signaling to Tsunade.
Tsunade immediately approached, intending to examine Uchiha Hikari.
But the girl suddenly looked up and glared at her with blazing hostility.
"Don't touch me."
Her voice was as cold as ice.
Tsunade froze before helplessly looking toward Chiya.
He simply waved his hand, signaling her not to approach for now.
Looking at Uchiha Hikari sitting there like a wounded wild animal, filled with vigilance and hostility, Chiya felt no anger.
Only a complicated sense of sympathy. He knew the hatred inside her couldn't disappear overnight.
Words alone would accomplish nothing.
She needed time.
She needed to see this era with her own eyes.
She needed to experience how different it was from the world she remembered.
"Give her some space, Tsunade."
Chiya spoke quietly.
"Prepare a quiet room for her. Post guards, but don't disturb her. Make sure her daily needs are properly taken care of."
Tsunade nodded.
She understood exactly what he meant.
For the time being, Uchiha Hikari would remain under comfortable confinement while time and reality slowly eroded her hostility.
After giving Uchiha Hikari one last glance, Chiya turned and left the chamber.
He knew that releasing this ancient Uchiha Weapon would introduce a new variable to Konoha...
And to the entire ninja world.
But within risk lay opportunity.
How to guide this double-edged sword would become yet another severe test of his wisdom and leadership.
Behind him, hidden within the chamber's shadows, Uchiha Hikari hugged her knees tightly and buried her face against them.
The unfamiliar surroundings.
The power that had been taken from her.
And those two people whose very presence filled her with hatred...
Endless loneliness and anger once again swallowed her like a rising tide.
"Uchiha..."
"And this ninja world... filled with darkness, where no light can be seen..."