'The so-called "Ultimate Weapon" of the Uchiha clan . . .' Shiki thought to himself.
He had reached close enough to the sealing site that his Ryugan: Zenchi could analyze it, lacking even the capability to conceal its inside.
A young girl, 12 years of age thereabouts.
Same as the current age of Shiki.
'She looks . . . So Uchiha.' The boy internally commented with a weird smile.
There was truly no more concise and accurate way to describe the girl's appearance.
Even if the famous fan symbol was removed.
Even if the Sharingan was never activated.
Anyone half familiar with the Uchiha clan would never not know her surname.
The typical pupiless black eyes and black hair, straight and smooth in some places, spiky in others, reaching past her shoulder blades and secured by an orange headband.
She wore a black cropped turtleneck and matching capri leggings underneath a blue coat with darker outline, brown belt with silver buckle, dark brown, fingerless gloves and black boots.
If that was not the quintessential Uchiha, Shiki did not know what was.
Like a miniature young female Madara.
Her blue coat bore the red and white fan symbol of the Uchiha clan, a detail she might have removed in the game's timeline due to her hatred of her own clan but sealed during fighting for that very clan, she obviously wore it.
Like many important things in the shinobi World seemed to be, the seal was hidden underground, in a completely sealed chamber.
'In fact, if I don't air out the chamber, she might suffocate after waking up.' Shiki concluded after a brief analysis.
'Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide'
Without any further ado, the boy employed his expertise in Earth Release to open up a large square hole down until the chamber was reached.
As for the displaced dirt and rock, casually thrown aside.
Clearing the air and refreshing it with a pleasant, forested scent using Nirvana Art: Elemental, Shiki jumped down into the uncovered stone chamber.
'Right then. A few preparations first or should I not make a set up?' At the last moment, he stopped himself.
Uchiha Hikari would not know for how long she was sealed.
To her, she was just fighting the Senju and Sarutobi clans moments ago.
In other words, there was a good chance she would wake up hostile, possibly disoriented from the aftereffects of the seal.
'She is a combat veteran though, if I make a set up to handle a possible rampage, she'll sense the threat and ingrained instincts and reflexes will compel her to fight. But then again, she might go berserk anyway.' The boy pondered.
"Ah, screw it. I can handle her if she goes wild, even without a set up." Shiki told himself and moved closer to the seal.
The sealing jutsu was a marvel, as seals of Uzumaki make tended to be.
Just the ability to put a living being in stasis and allow them to survive decades without aging a day, exemplifies a degree of master still completely alien to Shiki.
Even after years of study and with his enormous array of talents, the boy still could not even imagine the level of skill required to devise seals of such caliber.
That said, the Fuinjutsu Grandmasters of the Uzumaki clan knew that barely anyone would ever understand the inner workings of their creations.
As such their seals have inbuilt methods to use them even if you do not understand them.
In fact, just by following the steps, even without truly knowing what one is doing, a competent Fuinjutsu Master might even be able to make inferior copies of the seals.
Then there were their jutsu like the Reaper Death Seal.
Simplified enough that the Third, Fourth and probably the Second Hokages all could perform it but did they all truly understand the precise methods involved in making the literal God of Death work for you?
Shiki doubted it.
Maybe Tobirama knew a little, he created Edo Tensei after all, but that's it.
But I digress.
All this to say, that despite lacking the ability to understand the seal holding Uchiha Hikari, the boy was still skilled enough to manipulate it using the inbuilt methods purposefully left behind by the seal's maker.
'Aaannnnd . . . Done!' Shiki internally exclaimed.
The sealing script flowed in reverse, collapsing into a dense set of glyphs on a stone tablet, likely used due to being longer lasting than a simple paper tag.
Uchiha Hikari was left floating in the air . . . Though not for long.
As the boy put away the sealing tablet, whatever power held the girl's body aloft disappeared but Shiki quickly dashed in, softly catching the descending girl.
Her defenceless sleeping posture in his arms combined with the weak fluttering of her closed eyes as if was struggling to wake from a bad dream, made him feel he had been excessively paranoid in his caution.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Uchiha Hikari opened her eyes, her sight focusing as she took in the light of freedom.
The first thing she saw?
The impossibly beautiful face of a youth notorious for charming Uchiha girls . . .
*
Uchiha Nanashi had what felt like a long dream . . . Or a nightmare.
Fighting.
That is all it ever knew, all it ever remembered.
It was a weapon.
Its designation, "Nanashi", meant nameless, a reminder that she was not an individual but a tool to be used for the sake of the clan.
Such was its role, its immense, inborn power made it so.
It had been just another common day for it.
Kept in a dark, lightless cell until the time for battle came.
Its users came to get her as they often did, deploying her against their greatest enemies, the Senju clan.
Such strong opponents, Nanashi remembered them, they could actually hurt it and it hated them for it.
It hated the Uchiha whose burdens it was forced to bear, it hated the darkness it had to live in and it hated that all it saw when going outside was suffering, misery and bloodshed.
Sometimes, Nanashi wondered why it fought.
But in the end, the answer was simple, it did not want to die.
It was forced into battle but it did not want to die, so Nanashi killed.
Killed any who would kill her.
Perhaps in some corner of its broken, hate-filled mind, a faint dying hope that things would change still lingered and that was why it still fought so hard to live.
But the battlefield was no place for stray thoughts.
As Nanashi stood there lost in thought, blasts of elemental ninjutsu from every variety were launched at it.
And with fiery explosions, cutting gales, bolts of lightning, earthen spikes and crushing water, the Senju shinobi failed to leave even a crack of the crimson red skeletal giant protecting it.
They were no strangers to the Susanoo.
While rare, Mangekyo users did exist within the Uchiha clan.
However, Nanshi's version was larger and far tougher.
It was like the infamous weapon of the Uchiha had endless chakra and ocular power to fuel her abilities.
The pinwheel pattern in Nanashi's eyes began to spin and tears of blood ran down the right side of her face.
'Amaterasu - Kagutsuchi'
Unleashing two Ocular Jutsu in quick succession, Nanashi flooded the battlefield with black flames under her command, caring nothing for the ocular power, chakra and lifeforce she burned in exchange for all that power.
"Damn it! Retreat! We can't beat this monster right now!" A man, one it recognized as the enemy leader shouted.
Her foes were pulling back.
And so Nanashi stopped.
Moments later, a middle aged man with spiky black hair and a crimson red Mangekyo Sharingan of his own, arrived at the battlesite.
"Foolish thing!" He shouted, smacking Nanashi across the face.
It fell, but offered no complaint, no change in expression.
Its hatred had long passed the boiling rage stage, it was now a cold, dark thing seeping into her very soul.
"Why did you not give chase!? WIth your power, you could have easily dispatched them all!" The man continued to shout.
As the expressionless Nanashi got back up, it kept its eyes on the ground . . .
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -