"Uchiha Hikari?"
Orochimaru, Kabuto, and the others exchanged glances, all wearing puzzled expressions.
They had never heard that name before.
Seeing their reactions, Yuzuru chuckled softly and said, "According to records kept by the Uchiha clan, there was once a shinobi named Uchiha Hikari during a chaotic era that predated even the Warring States Period."
"After her parents died, she awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Her Mangekyō Sharingan possessed two abilities. One was called Kokuin, and the other was Yachihoko."
"Kokuin projected Dōjutsu Power onto the moon. Anyone illuminated by its light would receive a mark on the back of their hand."
"Yachihoko could ignore distance and use those marks to freely control a person's mind and chakra."
"That included remotely transferring chakra to herself or to others."
After hearing Yuzuru's explanation, Orochimaru and the others stood there with their mouths agape.
There was no need to explain why.
Those two Mangekyō Sharingan abilities sounded terrifying enough on their own.
But how could someone like that have remained completely unknown?
Kabuto could not help asking, "Lord Yuzuru, why has the Shinobi World never recorded anything about this shinobi named Uchiha Hikari?"
Yuzuru let out a quiet sigh before answering, "Because the abilities Hikari awakened were too powerful, the Uchiha clan raised her as an ultimate weapon."
"They implanted her with the powers of Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi, then gave her the codename Nanashi."
At those words, Kimimaro clenched his fists.
Hikari's experience sounded almost identical to his own.
When he had been very young, his extraordinary talent had caused his clansmen to raise him as a weapon as well.
Thinking of his past, Kimimaro asked in a low voice, "Lord Yuzuru, what happened afterward?"
"What happened to Hikari? What happened to Nanashi?!"
Yuzuru motioned for him to calm down.
After gathering his thoughts, he slowly continued.
"Hikari was only around twelve years old at the time, but her overwhelming power had already caused the other clans to fear her."
"To stop her from growing any stronger, the Senju clan and the Sarutobi clan led dozens of shinobi clans in a surprise attack against the Uchiha."
"After a brutal battle, the Uchiha were ultimately defeated and forced to flee as an entire clan."
"Hikari was abandoned. While acting as their rearguard, she was sealed away by the elite shinobi of countless clans working together."
"Perhaps that battle was disgraceful for both sides, so everyone tacitly chose to erase all records of Hikari."
"By now, almost no one remembers that she ever existed."
After listening to Yuzuru's account, everyone fell silent with complicated expressions.
No one had expected such a thing to have happened during that ancient chaotic era.
Kimimaro gritted his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his clenched fist.
Hikari's fate was far too similar to his own, and her final ending filled him with indignation.
Had Lord Yuzuru not recognized his potential back then, his own fate might not have been much better than hers.
"I never expected someone like that to have existed in the past. What a surprise."
"What a pity she was born in the wrong era. With my technology, I would never have allowed her to end up sealed away."
Orochimaru ran his tongue over his lips, then suddenly said with excitement, "Yuzuru-kun, are you planning to unseal Uchiha Hikari and use Yachihoko to gather the chakra of all the clones and transfer it into the Ten-Tails Clone?"
"That would make the Artificial Ten-Tails possible!"
Yuzuru smiled and nodded. "That's right. With Hikari, we will not need to draw life energy from entire planets to fill the Ten-Tails like the Ōtsutsuki clan does."
"As long as we have enough clones, we can mass-produce Ten-Tails!"
Once they understood Yuzuru's true goal, everyone present sucked in a sharp breath.
Sanzu Amado in particular was stunned.
He had not followed Yuzuru for very long, and his impression of him had remained limited to two things: overwhelming strength and an extreme emphasis on scientific research.
But now, Yuzuru had surprised him once again.
Ideas worthy of a genius. Vision that surpassed ordinary people.
And now, he had even made something as absurd as mass-producing Ten-Tails seem possible.
For a moment, Amado became even more hopeful about their future plan to overthrow the Ōtsutsuki clan.
If it was Lord Yuzuru, perhaps he truly could accomplish it.
"All right. Begin researching the Ten-Tails Clone immediately."
"As for the clones, ignore everything else for now. Prioritize increasing their chakra reserves."
Orochimaru and the others immediately nodded with excitement.
"Yes, Lord Yuzuru!"
For researchers like them, being allowed to participate in such a grand project was an incredible fortune.
Seeing their enthusiasm, Yuzuru activated Kamui and vanished from the room.
His plan was excellent, but there was one necessary prerequisite before it could be carried out.
He had to find Hikari.
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Finding Hikari proved far more difficult than Yuzuru had expected.
He mobilized the resources of the entire Shinobi World and spent half a year searching, yet he still found no trace of her.
The incident had happened far too long ago. Neither the Senju clan, the Sarutobi clan, nor any other shinobi clan retained even the slightest record of Hikari.
In truth, if he had not been a transmigrator, he would not have known of her existence either.
"Hikari, where exactly are you?"
Yuzuru set down his rice bowl and stared absentmindedly out the window.
Every plan had stalled because he could not find Hikari.
To be honest, this was the first time he had become unable to eat or sleep over a woman.
Even with the power of Kekkei Mōra, finding a woman who had been sealed and buried somewhere in the Shinobi World a thousand years ago was still like searching for a needle in the ocean.
After a long while, a name suddenly flashed through Yuzuru's mind.
His eyes lit up at once.
Merz!
If he remembered correctly, Merz had been the one to discover Hikari and help unseal her.
Since he could not find Hikari himself, why not let Merz try?