Uchiha Hikari was genuinely curious.
In the history of the Dragon Raja world, plenty of Dragon Kings had been killed, but cases like Attila—taken out not by the Secret Party's elite but poisoned and assassinated by his own wife—were rare. And trying to connect someone like Attila to Xia Mi or Fenrir? That just made things even weirder.
Could it be that Fenrir wasn't always this… dim?
Or maybe…
"W-What's that about Attila?" Xia Mi coughed, her eyes darting away awkwardly. "Never heard of that name. Some random history book try to pin that on me and Fenrir?"
"…Maybe," Hikari said with a knowing nod, letting the topic drop.
…
The next morning, Xia Mi left the Nibelungen to head back to school.
Sure, she'd already passed Cassell College's entrance exam, but she was still a second-year student at Peking University's affiliated high school. She had final exams to tackle, plus two part-time jobs: handing out flyers at a street corner and waitressing at a café, earning a combined 120 yuan a day. The money wasn't the point—she just wanted to mingle with different people, observe them, and hone her acting skills.
Say what you will…
When it came to playing a role, this Dragon King was dedicated.
She'd practically acted her way into a split personality.
By contrast, Hikari, the self-proclaimed "White King," was far lazier. She spent a week wandering around Beijing in 2009, hitting up high-end restaurants she'd never visited in her past life, swiping the Sheqi Bajia's card for lavish meals, and stocking up on snacks, desserts, and a bunch of remote-controlled toys.
—Besides Fenrir, she figured Naruto and Karin would love these gadgets too. Perfect souvenirs to bring back.
Hikari had briefly considered swinging by Shilan High School to track down Lu Mingze. But after some thought, she decided to hold off.
Her "White King" cover story could fool Xia Mi, who'd never known the real White King's era, but Lu Mingze? No chance. The moment they met, he'd probably see right through her, like the Sage of the Six Paths spotting an outsider from another world.
And unlike the laid-back Sage, Lu Mingze wasn't exactly easy to deal with. To him, everyone except Lu Mingfei and his three lackeys was just an NPC in a game.
Heck, with the crazy tricks Lu Mingze had up his sleeve, he might already know about Hikari's existence and everything she'd been up to lately.
So, Hikari decided to sit tight.
If Lu Mingze came looking for her, she'd deal with it then.
If not…
She'd stick to her original plan: train for a bit longer, ideally awaken her Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and then consider meeting him.
That evening, Hikari said her goodbyes to Xia Mi and Fenrir before leaving the Dragon Raja world.
…
Two weeks later, the Sound Village hadn't changed much.
A few new houses had popped up, and a couple more families had settled in.
One thing worth noting: Orochimaru's real body was back from the Land of Water.
When he spotted Kimimaro in the village, Orochimaru shot Hikari a look filled with faint resentment.
"What's up?" Hikari asked, playing dumb.
"…Nothing," Orochimaru said, reining in his expression. "I just didn't expect you, Lady Hikari, to slip off to the Land of Water without a word and bring back the Kaguya clan's 'weapon.' The whole country's buzzing with rumors that Uchiha Madara has risen from the dead. Even the Fourth Mizukage is sending people to investigate. If they knew this was all your doing, their faces would be a sight to see."
"Oh?"
Yagura was hunting for "Madara"? Probably just Obito's latest act to throw people off, Hikari figured.
She brushed it off.
Orochimaru didn't dwell on it either, quickly shifting his focus to the new lab equipment. His shadow clone had already tinkered with the gear and run into a few issues during testing.
After absorbing those memories, Orochimaru compiled the problems into a thick booklet and handed it to Hikari.
Then…
"These two blood samples—are they from those 'dragon' creatures?" Orochimaru asked, holding up a test tube of Fenrir's blood to an oil lamp, squinting at it with a captivated look. "They're definitely not human. There's something… extraordinary in them."
"Yep," Hikari confirmed with a nod. "Dragon Kings, to be exact. They're immortal beings with near-eternal lifespans. Even if they're killed, they can revive through a process called 'cocooning.' The owners of these samples have been around for at least a few thousand years."
"Thousands of years? As long as the White Snake Sage?" Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly.
"Maybe even longer."
That was true.
The Naruto world had a high power ceiling, but lifespans were relatively short. Even the sages of the three holy grounds only lived a millennium or two.
Xia Mi and Fenrir, though? Their age blew that out of the water.
Of course, the three sages were still alive and might keep going for a while, whereas Xia Mi and Fenrir had been cycling through death, cocooning, slumber, and awakening since the 4th century AD. You couldn't exactly count all those years as "living," but both operated on a millennial scale, no question.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with excitement.
The "demons" from the Demon Slayer world were technically immortal too, but they had too many flaws and a lower life essence, falling short of his ideal "immortality."
But these "Dragon Kings"? That was another story.
Having met Eri, Orochimaru knew that beneath her frail appearance lay a physique rivaling a seasoned jōnin. And she was just a hybrid with dragon blood.
So what about the Dragon Kings, the source of that blood?
Orochimaru's expression turned eager, practically itching to dive in.
"Don't worry, Lady Hikari. I'll work as fast as I can to develop a cure for Miss Eri," he said.
"Mm."
Hikari pursed her lips, adding a warning. "You know where 'Deadpool' comes from and how corrosive dragon blood can be to humans. How you use these samples for research is up to you—I won't meddle too much. Just… don't go overboard."
"No need to worry, Lady Hikari," Orochimaru replied with a creepy smile.
After briefing him on the dragon blood, Hikari set off for the Inuyasha world to visit Tōtōsai, the swordsmith she'd previously asked to forge a blade.