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Ame-no-Uzume
Also known as Miyabi-no-Kami, she is the legendary origin of all Kagura and sacred dances. She once used her dance to entice Amaterasu out of the Ama-no-Iwato, and has held the power of charm and control since ancient times.
The moment this name appeared in Uchiha Megumi's mind, she instantly comprehended all the concepts it encompassed.
Controlling desires, and even controlling all actions.
Almost the instant this massive amount of ocular power surged into Uchiha Hikari's brain, a sudden surge of self-destructive thoughts seized control of her body. She became like a puppet, unable to move on her own, only her Kunai steadily advancing inch by inch towards her throat.
If she hadn't also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, she might not have even retained basic consciousness at this moment.
However, at this particular moment, this consciousness was neither good nor bad.
The ocular power unleashed by the opponent in that reckless, frenzied state made her watch helplessly as she stepped closer and closer to death.
Until the very last moment, when the blade of the Kunai was almost touching the girl's pale neck.
Uchiha Hikari suddenly released the ocular power that was resisting it, pouring it all onto the surface of her already shattered Susanoo.
"Buzz—"
The Susanoo skeleton, roaring wildly, re-covered Uchiha Hikari's body, actually forcing Megumi's figure away from inches in front of her at such a close distance.
The moment Susanoo rose, ocular power sufficient to envelop her entire body covered her exterior, simultaneously expelling the distorted ocular power originally imprinted deep within Uchiha Hikari's heart, causing her to abruptly stop her actions.
"Phew."
Uchiha Hikari exhaled with difficulty, a faint stinging sensation subtly emanating from her neck.
She reached up and wiped her throat, feeling a sticky wetness.
Raising her hand, she saw it was stained crimson.
At this moment, Uchiha Hikari's gaze towards the girl opposite her immediately became several shades more serious.
Is she also an Uchiha?
She almost died.
What exactly is this person's obsession?
How could such power be born?
However, just like all Uchiha when they first awakened their Mangekyo, Uchiha Megumi, whose entire brain was now filled with seemingly endless ocular power, completely disregarded the taboos rumored among the clan elders—which naturally included the fact that the Mangekyo Sharingan would gradually steal one's eyesight with each use.
Right now, her mind was solely focused on eliminating this troublesome woman in front of her, this single thought.
Almost as a reflex, Uchiha Megumi's figure shot out towards Uchiha Hikari, supported by a massive amount of newly generated Chakra that could be described as violent. Even though the Limitless that originally enveloped her body had already shattered, she showed no intention of stopping. The Kunai she drew from her waist ignited with flames, moving at an uncatchable speed, attempting to break through Susanoo's defense.
"Die!"
"Boom—"
The roaring flames, like a torrent, crashed against the gradually solidifying skeleton, only to shatter completely against the incredibly hard Chakra entity, spreading out in all directions.
The scorching heat charred the few blades of grass and withered branches on the ground, but it failed to harm Susanoo in the slightest.
At this moment, even Uchiha Hikari dared not underestimate this girl who had awakened the same eyes as her. Susanoo's skeletal giant arm, suddenly converged towards the center.
"Bang!"
A deafening thud echoed.
Uchiha Megumi's speed, however, was far greater than at the start, her figure rolling through the air and leaping over ten meters. As she casually discarded the already molten steel Kunai, she regained a bit of rationality from her awakening frenzy, looking menacingly at the demon-god-like giant before her.
'If she can do it, then I can too… '
Just as this thought arose, the restless ocular power, in accordance with its host's will, surged continuously outwards, forming a tangible entity in the invisible, faintly reflecting a colossal skeletal frame, entirely an ominous black, enveloping her figure in its center.
The moment she witnessed this scene, Uchiha Hikari's gaze couldn't help but falter.
As an Uchiha who also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, she naturally knew best how long it would take for an ordinary Uchiha to adapt from awakening to touching the power of Susanoo.
An Uchiha who first possessed the Mangekyo, let alone Susanoo, would need some time to continue exploring even their own ocular techniques before mastering them.
But this person...
It seems the darkness accumulated in her heart is far more terrifying than I imagined.
She cannot be allowed to live.
It's best to force her to exhaust all her ocular power in one battle.
If there was one major difference between Uchiha Hikari and ordinary Uchiha, it was undoubtedly her seemingly endless total Chakra reserves.
When it came to attrition, she had never feared anyone.
She was clearly not the only one with the thought of deciding the battle in one go.
As Uchiha Megumi struggled to condense this skeletal layer, she realized that her mastery of the Mangekyo was far inferior to that of the woman in front of her, who had long since mastered Susanoo.
In that case, at the cost of her full power, she would decisively break through her armor.
And then—
Kill her!
Sawara is hers.
This one point is an unchangeable rule that no one can touch.
With thoughts as different as heaven and earth, the two women, by coincidence, made almost synchronous choices.
The Susanoo emanating from Uchiha Hikari's body constructed itself at lightning speed, from skeleton to flesh, then to armor and long sword, even her legs and wings subtly beginning to take shape.
Megumi, on the other hand, had no such luxury; for her, ocular techniques were the ultimate trump card.
With a roar, two demon gods, one large and one small, one red and one black, charged at each other. The sheer speed generated by their massive sizes alone caused a surge of storm-like waves around the two women, the raging air currents bending distant trees to one side, and the air filled with the buzzing sound of the two tearing through resistance.
Just by standing a little closer, the auditory world of several Anbu members was reduced to nothing but piercing tremors.
Until the very last moment.
The dark red blade and the jet-black bone hand met, one from above, one from below.
"Rumble—!!!"
A violent sound suddenly pierced through everything between the two, and under the reverberating shockwaves, the ground at their point of impact spread out in a massive, spherical depression, like water struck by a pebble. The earth, fragile as paper, was continuously crushed and swept away, kicking up large clouds of obscuring dust.
However, the two opposing sides stopped their movements simultaneously.
In the center of their vision, a figure stood with arms outstretched.
It was Sawara Kiri, who, despite his minuscule size compared to the demon gods, had single-handedly withstood the clash of both sides. The invisible space spreading around him held the blade and bone hand at an 'infinite' spatial distance.
This scene, like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot but then lifting it with its fragile arms, made the two present, and everyone watching from afar, momentarily dizzy.
The one who appeared in the center of the two was Sawara Kiri.
At this moment, the tips of his hair even carried tiny droplets of water, and his expression was calm.
The moment they saw this figure, everyone present immediately felt it made sense.
At the same time, a light of hope couldn't help but show in their eyes.
—Since it's Lord Sawara Kiri, then this battle is definitely stable.
However, at this very moment, they did not know the fear and confusion beneath Sawara Kiri's calm expression.
One must know that even a Ninja, in daily life, is just an ordinary person. Even at Sawara Kiri's level, he cannot escape eating, drinking, relieving himself, and sleeping.
It was late at night, and he had just been soaking in the bath, reading manga, preparing to warm himself up and go to sleep.
But then, the alarm suddenly rang!
And when he arrived, he witnessed this situation.
What's going on?!
Why is Uchiha Hikari here?
Why did my little yandere, whom I painstakingly stabilized, suddenly awaken her Sharingan?
And she even activated Susanoo in one go?
You are all my precious bonds and emotional ties.
Stop fighting!
"Kiri?!"
Again, in unison.
The two women beside him almost simultaneously released their Susanoo and leaped away.
"Ugh."
However, Uchiha Megumi, who clearly had not yet adapted to the Mangekyo Sharingan, couldn't help but let out a difficult low cry the moment she forcibly deactivated Susanoo. Thin trails of blood and tears streamed from her eye sockets, and the intense pain made her involuntarily bend over, clutching her aching eyes.
It wasn't until this sound rang out that Sawara Kiri barely managed to break free from the complex emotions of the previous second. He turned to block in front of Uchiha Megumi, then looked towards Hikari.
Evidently, while in Konoha Village, he still had to speak from the perspective of a Konoha Ninja.
"Why are you here?"
However, the moment he spoke, his gaze met Uchiha Hikari's inexplicably serene and relieved expression, her eyes fixed directly on him.
It sent an inexplicable chill down his spine.
Uchiha Hikari's gaze deepened, and her tone softened: "As expected."
"Compared to that seed, I still wanted to see you again."
That seed?
The shinju seed?
Sawara Kiri's heart first tightened, then his Six Eyes vision suddenly expanded, looking towards the barrier deep within the underground secret chamber.
Only when he confirmed that the protection around the shinju seed was still intact did he let out a huge sigh of relief.
Uchiha Hikari was one of the few talents in the entire Ninja World with unlimited growth potential; as long as she absorbed enough Chakra, let alone someone like Uchiha Madara, she could even kill an Ōtsutsuki right before your eyes.
If the shinju seed were taken by her, then what might happen in the future would truly be unpredictable.
Thinking of this, Sawara Kiri slowly drew his black blade, Akisui, from his waist, pointing its edge towards Uchiha Hikari, his tone calm: "Even if the cost is your life?"
"I don't recall doing anything that would make you go to such lengths."
"...Don't you remember?"
Uchiha Hikari still wore that gentle smile, seemingly casually rubbing her brow—the place he had kissed—her serene voice carrying a hint of emotion: "It seems that you, like an elephant in a house, have also been restricted by this chaotic world."
"That's alright."
"After truly living in this Ninja World for a while, I can somewhat understand your caution."
"?"
Sawara Kiri looked at her, bewildered.
Uchiha Hikari, however, had no intention of explaining, as if treating this inexplicable common understanding as a little secret between them.
Before being sealed, Uchiha Hikari, as the ultimate weapon of the Uchiha Clan, had no personal freedom whatsoever, and her understanding of this Ninja World was naturally limited to the small area she could reach.
It wasn't until she broke free from the seal, forcibly defeated and took control of Takigakure, and gained a general understanding of this world, that she truly, for the first time, understood the immense power she possessed.
Whether it was the main military forces of the Five Great Nations, or the combined forces of various small Ninja Villages, including the underground bounty stations and rogue Ninja organizations...
All were easily defeated.
Since her debut, apart from Sawara Kiri and Uchiha Madara, no one had been able to withstand her power.
Naturally, after demonstrating this power, she also received gazes of either worship or fear from countless people.
It was precisely because of her delicate and sensitive mind that Uchiha Hikari could better understand the immense pressure such gazes from her surroundings could exert; even a slight display would cause large Ninja Villages like Iwagakure to constantly dispatch assassins to Takigakure for intelligence.
—That was no longer a difference that could be compensated for by the word 'talent,' but the distance between 'human' and 'god.'
Between herself and ordinary Ninja, it was almost impossible to call them the same species.
The moment she realized this, Uchiha Hikari felt that she had completely understood Sawara Kiri.
On that day, when she first met him, how lonely Sawara Kiri must have been in this world.
In the current world.
He had only one 'kindred spirit': herself.
They were both the same, monsters that should not exist in this mortal world.
Furthermore, in the process of achieving her goal of Engraved Tsukuyomi, she also used this monstrous power to kill hundreds and thousands of 'ordinary Ninja' who were as fragile and vulnerable as ants.
A casual swing of Susanoo often meant countless lives lost.
This kind of slaughter brought not only victory but also intense, soul-tormenting pain.
Yet, this was also the inevitable path to rebuilding peaceful order.
Under this line of thought, and recalling what Sawara Kiri had experienced, Uchiha Hikari increasingly found common ground between herself and him.
The only difference was that Sawara Kiri chose to support Konoha to unify the entire Ninja World.
And she, on the other hand, chose another, more 'perfect' path.
However, this 'common understanding' between them was clearly not something that could be easily spoken aloud in such a public setting.
So, when Sawara Kiri cast a questioning look, he only received a mysterious smile from Miss Hikari.
(ω)
As if there truly was some unspoken understanding between them.
For a moment, the Anbu members watching from a distance instinctively turned their heads to look at him.
Sawara Kiri's expression immediately became a bit strained.
Clearly, he now needed to prove his identity as a 'loyal Konoha subject' with concrete action.
Sawara Kiri took a deep breath: "If that's the case, then I can only capture you first."
The matter of their bond can be discussed later; for now, stabilize Megumi's condition before anything else!
Almost the instant these words fell.
Sawara Kiri suddenly took a step forward; the spatial compression brought by Technique Lapse: Blue allowed him to cross dozens to hundreds of meters in a single step, while simultaneously carrying an equally immense inertia, moving so fast that it directly surpassed the capture of a Mangekyo Sharingan, appearing almost by 'teleportation' directly in front of the young girl.
The black blade in his hand sliced through the air, whistling with a cry, and suddenly plunged into her body.
"Pfft."
Sawara Kiri's movement involuntarily halted, and he looked up at the figure opposite him.
The Uchiha Hikari from just now seemed completely unaware of his actions, standing quietly in place, smiling gently at him, without the slightest movement to dodge, allowing the blade to pierce her abdomen.
Blood splattered.
"You...?"
But just as he looked up, his cheeks were cupped by the girl's pale hands.
Even with her palms separated by the thin barrier of Limitless, there was no pause, keeping him in a looking-up posture, his azure eyes still holding a sense of bewilderment.
Then, Uchiha Hikari lowered her head, leaned close to his nose, and whispered: "I have found the correct path."
"Once I complete our shared ideal and reshape the order of this world..."
"I will come here and pick you up."
Hearing this, Sawara Kiri's pupils instinctively contracted.
But before he could even voice the series of questions in his heart.
He saw the girl's face suddenly draw near, cupping his jaw, and, separated by a space so distant it was almost imperceptible, under the gaze of surrounding eyes—
Their lips met.
In that moment, Sawara Kiri felt no romantic thoughts whatsoever; instead, a fine layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back, countless cold beads continuously flowing down.
The girl in front of him, however, merely had a slight blush on her cheeks, as if completely unaware of the pain from her abdomen, and withdrew, looking at Sawara Kiri's figure, before disappearing with a 'bang' in a puff of smoke.
Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
However, Sawara Kiri now had no time to worry about the trivial matter of the enemy escaping.
Even though he had his Six Eyes active, maintaining a 360-degree view, he instinctively turned his head in the direction of the strongest emotion.
Then, he saw Uchiha Megumi kneeling, maintaining an upward gaze, staring blankly in their direction.
In the girl's eyes, fine, viscous blood continued to flow, making the crimson six-pronged scythe deep within her pupils appear even more distinct and brilliant, even faintly continuing to rotate.
Everything that had just happened was clearly absorbed deep within those chilling, crimson eyes.
Uchiha Megumi seemed to have difficulty comprehending, or perhaps was completely unable to accept this fact, tilting her head slightly in confusion, her long black hair fanning out with her movement, casting an even deeper curtain over the already profound night.
Her brain, completely overwhelmed by Yin Release Chakra, was on the verge of breaking.
"Kiri?"
Her eyes were on the perpetrator.
Almost the instant he heard that voice, trembling with fear, Sawara Kiri knew.
He was done for!
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