The battle erupted suddenly and ended just as quickly. In less than a minute, the upper ranks of the Star Ninja squad were completely wiped out by the very Star Ninjas beneath them.
At the exit of Hell Valley.
This time, Uchiha Yu and Tsunade actually followed Hikari's instructions and stood where they were, waiting for her to return.
The two of them were far from the battlefield.
"Mmgh—mmgh—mmgh!"
Tsunade's beautiful eyes widened as she glared angrily at Uchiha Yu, making muffled sounds to signal him to remove the seal on her.
"..."
Uchiha Yu shot her a glance, and Tsunade suddenly felt that strange sense of mental restraint vanish.
"So now I'm both your 'wife' and a patient, huh? We'll settle this score properly later."
Tsunade said viciously, looking toward the outer forest where screams continued to echo. "You're deceiving her like this — have you even considered what'll happen if she finds out the truth? Lies can't buy real feelings!"
The corners of Uchiha Yu's lips curled slightly as he shook his head. "So what you're saying is, I should just tell her straight out that I'm an Uchiha?"
"..."
Tsunade's mouth opened slightly, unable to find a reply. She only felt that what Yu was doing was wrong, yet she couldn't come up with a better solution.
Not long ago, she had personally witnessed the hatred that 'Nameless' held toward the Uchiha.
If Yu approached her with sincerity from the very start, Tsunade felt that 'Nameless' might literally "tear his heart out" — in the physical sense.
Her hatred for the Uchiha and for ninjas had been carved deep into her very bones.
"Take it step by step. First, erase her fixed impressions of the ninja world, then her impression of the Uchiha. Only time can heal the wounds in her heart."
Uchiha Yu said confidently.
"You really sound like you know what you're doing." Tsunade frowned and muttered, "You don't even look like you've been with many women, yet when it comes to scheming, you've got it all figured out."
Yu ignored her and once again manipulated her mind, forcing her to shut up.
Tsunade could only glare helplessly.
In the forest, Hikari had originally planned to keep Akahoshi and the others alive to question them about the ninja world.
But when she arrived at the battlefield, she was stunned to find that Akahoshi and several other high-ranking Star Ninjas were all dead.
And the way they had died was horrifying.
Especially Akahoshi — after desperately taking down two Star Ninjas with him, he was trampled to death by the enraged crowd.
Don't be fooled by how ninjas seem capable of flying through the heavens and mastering supernatural techniques — when faced with three hundred people encircling them, without overwhelming power or a means of escape, their fate is only to be exhausted and beaten to death.
Akahoshi had also tried to leap between trees, attempting to shake off the pursuing Star Ninjas.
But there were simply too many of them. Star Ninjas surrounded him in every direction, and the moment one of them grabbed his pant leg, his fate was sealed.
It wasn't that Akahoshi lacked the means to absorb the Peacock Method chakra from other Star Ninjas — but that required first obtaining the meteorite.
Unfortunately, this suddenly appearing Uchiha Hikari completely refused to play by the rules!
Even Hikari herself hadn't expected it. All she had done was give the order for these Star Ninjas to surround and kill Akahoshi and the others.
Yet the Star Ninjas, who had long been fed up with Akahoshi's tyranny, erupted with 120% of their strength the moment they faced him.
Hikari swept her gaze over the devastated battlefield and the unrecognizable mess that Akahoshi had become.
She let out a soft sigh and said to the Star Ninjas beside her, "Take us to the Star Ninja Village."
With Akahoshi dead, if she wanted to understand the current state of the ninja world, the only option left was to go to the Star Ninja Village and question that so-called Star Shadow.
With that, she headed toward the exit of Hell Valley, calling over Uchiha Yu and Tsunade, who had just finished their conversation.
The group of Star Ninjas came in with great fanfare — and left in the same manner — as if nothing had ever happened.
Tsunade watched those Star Ninja Village shinobi who were being controlled by Hikari and fell into deep thought.
This was probably the main reason why Yu had insisted on coming here to recruit this 'weapon of war.'
In just a few short minutes.
A single person had managed to control such a massive number of ninjas. In any village, that kind of power would make her an existence of extreme importance.
If the Uchiha could have someone like her, their overall strength would skyrocket.
With a grave expression, Tsunade looked at Hikari's back and thought: if this girl called 'Nameless' had eyes just like Yu's, didn't that mean she, too, could wield that godlike power?
As for whether Hikari could awaken Susanoo…
Uchiha Yu was just as curious.
Based on Hikari's experience, she would definitely be able to awaken it — it was only a matter of whether she wanted to.
Uchiha Yu was also looking forward to the moment Hikari activated Susanoo, as long as it wasn't used against him.
That would undoubtedly be a grand spectacle, one filled with overwhelming destructive power.
…
…
On the outskirts of the Star Ninja Village, mountain ranges encircled the land, with numerous rope bridges spanning between the peaks.
As the Star Ninja forces marched back to the village in great numbers,
outside the village,
various displaced refugees who survived by clinging to the Star Ninja Village hurried back into their crude shacks, only daring to peek outside through the cracks between stones.
Hikari swept her gaze over these ragged, malnourished, skeletal, filthy people, her brows knitting tighter and tighter.
They were like ants — the slightest movement on the ground was enough to send them scattering in panic.
All thanks to war.
This was also a scene she had seen countless times in the ninja world centuries ago when she followed the Uchiha ninja village into battle.
As she thought of this, Hikari looked toward the Star Ninja Village close at hand. Though the buildings within weren't particularly tall and appeared plain and modest, they were far better than the refugees' crude shelters nearby.
Clearly, the inside and outside were two entirely different worlds.
"Sorry, I need some time to understand a few things. Maybe it will help me recover some of my memories," Hikari said in a low mood to the 'Madara' behind her.
"It's fine. Just do what you want to do. Going to Konoha means we have to pass through here anyway."
Uchiha Yu replied.
"Thank you for understanding." Hikari let out a soft sigh.
She was truly grateful to have someone accompany her while she did what she wished.
Inside the prison space.
Hashirama sighed in admiration:
"After seeing how miserable those ordinary people are living, this girl's eyes actually show a different kind of light. Tobirama, look — there are pure-hearted people even among the Uchiha."
"..." Tobirama remained silent.
In his heart, he sighed: "Big brother, that's just because she hasn't gone crazy yet."
Moreover, Tobirama had already sensed that the girl's emotions were beginning to fluctuate.
When faced with things beyond her ability to handle, she appeared fragile and weak.
But when confronting matters she could deal with, it was as if she became a completely different person.
That was Tobirama's impression of her.
Uchiha Yu's voice suddenly echoed within the prison space:
"She's no ordinary girl. The two of your ages combined don't even compare to hers."
"..." Hashirama was speechless.
At this moment, Hikari stopped a thin adult man who hadn't managed to avoid her at the roadside and asked:
"Where did you all come from?"
The man's face was sickly yellow, his whole body trembling as he kept his head lowered.
He pretended not to hear, trying to bolt away, but the approaching Star Ninjas surrounded him.
The man looked around in terror. Seeing he couldn't escape, he finally spoke with a mournful expression:
"I… we refugees around here all fled from the north."
"Why?" Hikari continued.
"Two years ago, two small countries where we lived went to war over a mine. Then last year, a severe drought hit, so we were forced to migrate." The gaunt man sighed bitterly.
"Is it like this everywhere?" Hikari asked again.
Her gaze shifted toward the makeshift shelters.
One of them was nothing more than a few wooden poles crudely put together, with rainwater from the recent storm still clinging to the leaves used as cover.
Inside lay a corpse, bare feet exposed and already showing signs of lividity.
It was impossible to tell whether it was a man or woman — whether they starved to death or froze to death.
Such scenes played out constantly across the ninja world. Only the rich could afford to hire ninjas to solve their problems.
Those without money, once reduced to refugees, would most likely become frozen bones by the roadside — or worse, be captured by heartless ninjas and turned into slaves.
And when Hikari asked about "other places," she meant the rest of the entire ninja world.
"Other places… I don't know. A few months ago, a group of rogue ninjas was stationed in the mountains here. They harassed and plundered us constantly. Even the Star Ninja Village couldn't deal with them. B-but recently, they've all disappeared."
The thin, frail man trembled as he added,
"I heard the villagers of the Star Ninja Village say that recently, a Konoha renegade named Uchiha Yu appeared in the ninja world. No one knows why, but he drew away most of the rogue ninjas and bandits and wiped them all out."
As he spoke of Uchiha Yu, the man's eyes shone brightly, as if he were telling an outsider about the person he admired most.
°°°
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