Eastern Border Forest, Land of Fire.
The barren, dusty road was littered with battered and broken kunai and curved blades. Two dense clusters of crimson threads, like willow catkins, drifted lightly in the breeze before catching on the trees lining the path.
As the wind rustled the leaves, the bloodstained threads swayed among the branches, creating an eerie yet strangely beautiful contrast of red against green.
Team 7 had no time to admire the scenery, however. They stood in a loose circle, watching with concern as Hikari treated Tazuna at the center.
The gravely injured Tazuna lay on his back, his left hand clutching a straw hat over his face to shield himself from the scorching sun. His collapsed right shoulder was now encased in a layer of hardened earth—a makeshift "cast" molded perfectly to his injury, matching the color of the dirt road beneath him. Clearly, Hikari had used Earth Release to fashion it on the spot.
A vibrant green glow emanated from Hikari's hands, and Tazuna's body immediately tensed. His left hand clenched the straw hat tightly, his veins bulging as he suppressed a scream. Though his face was hidden, his pain was unmistakable.
None of them had ever seen Hikari use medical ninjutsu before, let alone knew how skilled she was. At this point, they had no choice but to trust her.
The emerald chakra flowed like water, spreading across Tazuna's shoulder as Hikari expertly guided the Mystical Palm Technique. With the precision of her Byakugan, she meticulously repaired the shattered bones.
Since mastering the Eight Gates Reversal Technique, she hadn't practiced medical ninjutsu much. Even the most refined skills could grow rusty with disuse.
But mending bone injuries was child's play for her. As an inheritor of the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse), she was an undisputed authority in orthopedics—surpassing even Tsunade-hime in this field.
As the healing glow faded, Tazuna's body relaxed slightly. The team's tension eased, and murmurs about Hikari's medical prowess grew louder.
---
"When did Hikari even learn medical ninjutsu?" Naruto elbowed Sasuke, his face scrunched in confusion.
He'd never seen her train in it, nor had she ever visited Konoha's hospital. She could invent other techniques on her own, but medical ninjutsu? That wasn't something you just figured out.
"She has Shadow Clones to help her train. One day for her is like a hundred for anyone else. It's no surprise she picked it up," Sasuke muttered, eyeing the dense chakra in Hikari's hands with envy.
The Uchiha clan wasn't lacking in chakra reserves, but compared to freaks like Hikari and Naruto, he always felt pathetically weak.
Once, he'd tried using Shadow Clones to speed up his training. He summoned four at once, nearly draining himself dry. When they dispersed, the backlash of exhaustion left him bedridden for a week. In the end, his "efficient training" plan backfired spectacularly.
The only upside? The extreme fatigue stimulated his brain, fueling negative emotions that accelerated his Sharingan's evolution. Even without life-or-death battles, his eyes had progressed steadily—now at two tomoe, inching closer to three.
Hearing their conversation, Kakashi shook his head.
His students might be inexperienced, but he wasn't.
A healing technique this effective? That was the A-rank Mystical Palm Technique.
And the way she wielded it so effortlessly? That spoke of mastery.
In Konoha—the birthplace of medical ninjutsu—those capable of using the Mystical Palm were exceedingly rare. Among the already scarce number of medical-nin, Hikari stood out as one in a million.
Her combat prowess was monstrous enough, but now she had medical ninjutsu on this level? Kakashi didn't know if there was anything she couldn't do. A true all-rounder.
---
"How does it feel?"
The green glow dimmed as Hikari withdrew her hands, careful not to touch Tazuna further. She let him test his newly healed arm himself.
Tazuna lifted the straw hat from his face, his beard damp with sweat. Though his expression was no longer twisted in pain, the ordeal had clearly taken its toll.
He moved his arm tentatively. A dull ache lingered in the joints, but compared to the agony of shattered bones, it was nothing.
"It really doesn't hurt anymore! Thank you, Hikari-san—you're a miracle worker!"
Tazuna's voice trembled with gratitude. He'd been ready to sacrifice his arm for the sake of Wave Country's peace, but fate had other plans.
"No need to thank me. I'm the one who hurt you in the first place," Hikari waved him off. If she'd controlled her strength better, he wouldn't have been injured.
"No, no! Without you, I'd be dead. Forget my arm—those two would've killed me!"
After witnessing Hikari's terrifying power, Tazuna's attitude had shifted drastically.
That technique—the one that turned shinobi into minced meat in an instant—was beyond anything he'd imagined. His hopes now rested entirely on Team 7. Even if they demanded his life in exchange for protecting his family, he'd pay it without hesitation.
---
"You killed them too fast, Hikari. I wanted to interrogate them for intel," Kakashi sighed, eyeing the bloodstained threads in the trees.
Tazuna was just a civilian. He didn't know how many enemies they were dealing with—only that their leader was a jōnin.
But jōnin varied wildly in strength. In ninja battles, intel was everything. Charging in blind wasn't Kakashi's style.
Too bad the enemies were already chopped into filling.
"We can still ask," Hikari said casually as she finished bandaging Tazuna's shoulder, tying the ends into neat bows.
At nearly sixty, Tazuna's vitality was fading. She'd only healed the critical bones and tendons—the rest would have to recover naturally.
"You're telling me you can resurrect the dead now?" Kakashi deadpanned, pointing at the gory "decorations" in the trees.
Even the best medical ninjutsu couldn't accomplish that.
Hikari didn't answer. Instead, she clasped her hands together dramatically, facing the spot where the two shinobi had died.
"Secret Technique: Impure World Reincarnation!"
BOOM!
The ground trembled violently, rocks and dirt flying as a massive fissure split the road. A perfectly shaped earthen coffin rose from the depths.
Tazuna yelped and scrambled to his feet, his injured shoulder forgotten in his panic.
THUD.
The coffin stood upright, its surface unblemished. Then—
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
A muffled voice came from inside, followed by frantic pounding.
"D-Did she really bring them back?!" Naruto shivered, goosebumps rising on his arms.
"Idiot! Of course not!" Sasuke snapped, though his Sharingan was already active, scanning the coffin alongside Kakashi's.
With Hikari, anything was possible.
Tazuna, a mere civilian, was even more terrified. A girl who could condense atmospheric moisture, turn men into shredded meat, and snap and repair bones at will? He took her very seriously.
"Open!"
With a sharp command, the coffin's door slammed down, kicking up dust.
Kakashi and Sasuke stared.
Through the haze, they could see a figure inside—a shinobi in black, his chakra bright and alive.
Had she actually resurrected them?!
Impure World Reincarnation—a forbidden jutsu that revived the dead?!
No sacrifices, no rituals—just hands together, and poof?
This defied everything they knew.
Hikari dispersed the dust with a gust of wind, revealing the coffin's occupant.
A bound shinobi, his limbs encased in yellow mud, a Rock headband on his forehead.
Not one of the dead attackers—but a third accomplice, very much alive.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
The man thrashed, his mouth sealed shut by earth.
"Who's this?" Tazuna peeked out from behind Hikari.
"Their teammate. He was hiding underground, waiting to ambush me. I sensed him and trapped him with Earth Release," Hikari explained, amused.
Due to her inhuman weight, she always reinforced the ground before walking. This idiot had tried to ambush her from below, only to find the earth as solid as granite.
Stuck and helpless, he'd have suffocated if she hadn't "exhumed" him with her fake Impure World Reincarnation.
"Tch. I actually thought you revived them," Sasuke and Naruto groaned.
Kakashi's eye twitched. For a second, he'd believed her. He'd even hoped—
"Nice name, though. Very convincing," Kakashi muttered, stepping forward. His Sharingan spun, locking onto the trapped shinobi.
"I never said I could revive the dead," Hikari shrugged.
The real Impure World Reincarnation did exist—she just hadn't learned it yet.
She'd seen the Second Hokage's notes in ROOT. The version recorded there was incomplete, producing resurrected beings with no combat ability.
The jutsu's original purpose wasn't battle—it was for intel extraction. The overpowered version from the stories? That was Orochimaru and Kabuto's handiwork.
Once she returned to Konoha after this mission, the real technique would fall into her lap.
---
Kakashi worked quickly. His Sharingan's hypnotic glow locked onto the captive, whose struggles ceased as his eyes glazed over.
Hikari removed the mud gag.
"I ask. You answer," Kakashi said, his usual laziness gone.
"...Yes."
The man's voice was hollow, his will utterly broken.
Tazuna gulped and hid behind Hikari again.
"Name. Affiliation."
"Toya. Missing-nin from Iwagakure."
"Why attack us? Mission details. How many under Gato? Who's the jōnin leader? Intel on him."
"And Wave Country's situation!" Tazuna piped up.
The man—Toya—paused, his drugged mind sluggish.
"Gato hired us to kill Wave's rebels. He insulted the boss... so he's locked in a coffin for a funeral. The leader is... the boss. Black Lightning Raiga. One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Specializes in Lightning Release."
"Wave's under his control. He formed the Black Lightning Gang. Anyone who disobeys... gets a coffin funeral."
Kakashi's expression darkened.
He knew Raiga. A monster among the Seven Swordsmen—elite jōnin a decade ago. Now? He might be Kage-level.
This wasn't some small-time thug.
---
"Huh. Not Zabuza and Haku?"
Hikari's eyebrow arched.
Her main goal in Wave was Hyōton (Ice Release) chakra. But now the boss had changed?
Where did that leave her plans?
---