Pulling the Sword of Kusanagi: Chokutō out from Fuguki Suikazan's chest, Kuugetsu dropped ungracefully onto the ground, sitting heavily with exhaustion.
Though awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan had elevated her strength to the level of a Kage, the battle against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
Especially during the final fight with Fuguki—when her chakra was suddenly drained away—the weakness had been almost unbearable.
If not for the fact that her left eye's ability Higan drew only upon her Mangekyō's ocular power and not her chakra, she might really have died at Fuguki's hands.
As this thought crossed her mind, a sudden pain stabbed at her left eye. Her vision blurred. Alarmed, Kuugetsu instinctively clutched at it.
But the pain did not lessen. It only grew worse—sharper, more piercing. Weakened as she was from having her chakra drained, the agony overwhelmed her. With a muffled groan, Kuugetsu collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Roughly ten minutes later, Might Duy finally rushed over. Seeing both Fuguki and Kuugetsu lying motionless, his heart leapt into his throat. He hurried to check her breathing—only when he confirmed she was merely over-exerted did he sigh in relief.
Supporting Kuugetsu and carrying her only a few steps, he saw Tsunade approaching, flanked by a squad of Anbu.
"You two, take Kuugetsu to the Konoha Hospital for treatment. Duy, tell me exactly what happened here."
After listening to Duy's recounting, Tsunade couldn't help but gasp softly:
"She awakened a mysterious power after Hokushin's death?"
This description might not mean much to others, but Tsunade, who grew up hearing stories about Hashirama and Madara, felt a shudder of alarm.
She knew all too well what that "mysterious power" meant. Her grandfather and great-uncle had left records about it: the Mangekyō Sharingan.
To raise a mere jōnin's strength in so short a time to the level where she could crush the Seven Ninja Swordsmen… this was the terror of the Mangekyō.
No wonder her great-uncle had clung so fiercely to the policy of suppressing the Uchiha until his dying breath.
Still, in this case, Tsunade felt little cause for concern. As Hoshiyomi's disciple, Kuugetsu's loyalty wasn't in doubt.
Perhaps this could even be an opportunity. If Kuugetsu truly gained power far beyond that of her clan, maybe she could serve as a bridge—mending the rift between Konoha and the Uchiha.
Yes, blood might be shed along the way. But with Kuugetsu, casualties could be kept to a minimum.
In just a few short minutes, Tsunade had thought all this through. She raised her head and said to Duy:
"Alright, I understand. Your son Guy and his teammates must be shaken by all this. Take them to eat something—help them relax."
Once Duy departed, Tsunade turned to the Anbu beside her:
"Make sure Hokushin's body is preserved properly. He was a hero of the village, and his sacrifice must be remembered.
Also, collect the corpses of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—and their swords. Those weapons will be put to use. Hmph. They dared attack Konoha—now they will pay the price.
Finally, send word to the front lines. If the situation there isn't urgent, have Hoshiyomi return to Konoha at once. There's something important I must tell him."
That last order, of course, was for Kuugetsu's sake. Tsunade knew well the bond between Hoshiyomi and his disciple.
It wasn't romance—it was something closer to father and daughter.
When Kuugetsu had been at her most isolated and helpless, Hoshiyomi had taken her in, trained her, and even helped her overcome her split personality. To her, Hoshiyomi was practically a second father.
That much was clear from the fact that only in front of him would Kuugetsu ever set aside her cold, guarded mask.
Now that Hokushin had died right before Kuugetsu's eyes, her feelings could well be imagined. At such a time, the only one who could truly comfort her… was undoubtedly Hoshiyomi.
…
Roughly two days later, Hoshiyomi received the news on the Fire Country's border.
When he finished reading Tsunade's message, his first reaction was sheer disbelief; his second was deep concern.
What shocked him was how the "famous battle" of Might Duy in the original story had been replaced—becoming instead the awakening of Kuugetsu's Mangekyō Sharingan. The fallen hero of Konoha was no longer Duy, but Hokushin.
Even more outrageous—the original outcome where four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were killed and three escaped had been rewritten into total annihilation. All seven dead. It was almost beyond comprehension.
But what worried him was Kuugetsu's state of mind. Every awakening of the Mangekyō came at the cost of immense psychological trauma.
And Kuugetsu already had a history of dissociative tendencies… who knew whether this awakening might destabilize her spirit further?
Even if it didn't trigger a return of her second personality, Hoshiyomi still needed to return to see her. Both to honor the promise he'd made with Hokushin to protect Kuugetsu—and to examine her Mangekyō himself.
After all, to fight one-against-seven and defeat the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, she must have relied heavily on its powers. Hoshiyomi needed to warn her about the dangers of overusing the Mangekyō before she ended up blind.
Still, Hoshiyomi wasn't too anxious about the blindness itself. Together with Orochimaru, he had already developed a highly stable version of Hashirama's cells through their research on Nawaki's and Hashirama's tissue.
It had even been proven that his Yin Release chakra promoted better fusion with those cells.
With both his chakra and the stabilized cells, transplanting Hashirama's cells into Kuugetsu would be nearly foolproof.
Just look at Obito and Danzo in the original story—once they had Hashirama's cells, they could spam Mangekyō techniques recklessly. The boost those cells provided was terrifying.
With the regenerative ability of Hashirama's cells, as long as Kuugetsu didn't go around "opening Gundams" (i.e., constantly overuse powerful techniques like Susanoo) every day, her eyes should last safely until well after the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Having thought it through, Hoshiyomi didn't hesitate further. He left the Iwagakure battlefield immediately. This time, he didn't show off by using his flying swords—instead, he sought out Minato in the Kumogakure battlefront.
After all, Minato had Flying Thunder God markers engraved right on the Hokage's office doors. With him around, Hoshiyomi didn't need his swords at all—he could simply hitch a ride through Flying Thunder God and return directly to Konoha.
More importantly, this way Iwa wouldn't notice his absence and try anything funny.
And if trouble did arise, Minato could instantly teleport him back to the front lines to prevent any major losses for Konoha.
In short: with "Minato Express," who needed a flying sword?