Orochimaru stood to the side, nodding repeatedly. He even put on a solemn expression of shared indignation, his golden slit pupils gleaming with what looked like "understanding."
Though what he was actually thinking was something else entirely.
Take revenge on the Divine River Crab?
Mm. The difficulty rating—and the suicide index—were both off the charts.
Still, Karin's fearless spirit in the face of a powerful enemy was… commendable.
Once Karin's ranting tirade finally began to taper off, Orochimaru smoothly picked up the conversation.
"You're right, Karin. That giant crab truly went too far. Completely lacking in the demeanor of a strong opponent."
He nodded gravely in agreement—then casually changed the subject.
"Being angry won't solve anything. Come, Karin. I'll take you to eat crab."
He paused, as if proposing the most reasonable idea in the world, and even began listing options.
"Steamed, boiled, grilled, stir-fried, made into soup… however you want it, we'll have it that way."
"We'll start with ordinary crabs to vent your frustration. And in the future, if the opportunity arises…"
His tone stretched meaningfully, leaving the rest unsaid.
A substitute for now. Revenge fantasy for later.
Karin's crimson eyes lit up instantly.
Her earlier fury was visibly diluted by the far more immediate appeal of food.
"Really? Orochimaru, you're…"
She sized him up and down, as if seeing him in a slightly better light for the first time—the snake-faced man who was always eyeing her strangely and obsessing over research.
After a brief pause, she blurted out:
"You're actually kind of nice!"
Just like that, Karin stopped dwelling on the distant and unreachable Divine River Crab. She eagerly followed Orochimaru toward the exit.
Kabuto Yakushi, who had been standing quietly and doing his best to minimize his presence, slowly raised his head.
Behind his flat lenses, his eyes were filled with enormous confusion—and a hint of alarm.
He looked at Karin, whose anger had come and gone in record time, now completely distracted by the promise of crab.
Then he looked at Orochimaru-sama, wearing a benevolent smile while leading the way—though who knew what calculations were running beneath it.
Orochimaru-sama…
Something is very wrong.
Since when did you have the leisure to "take a child out for a meal to cheer her up"? Since when were you this considerate?
Kabuto felt question marks piling up in his mind. The harmony of the scene was so unnatural it bordered on surreal.
He silently adjusted his glasses and followed without a word, though warning bells rang in his heart.
Could it be…
This was the real Orochimaru?
Cold, damp air—thick with the scent of soil and stone—rushed into Uchiha Hikari's lungs, dragging her back from the depths of unconscious darkness.
The instant her awareness returned, long-honed instincts—trained on the edge of life and death—took over.
Like a startled leopard, she sprang upright, her back pressed against the cold cave wall. Her dark eyes, freshly cleared, sharpened like a hawk's as they swept across her surroundings.
A natural cavern. Not large.
The entrance was partially concealed by thick vines, allowing mottled daylight to filter inside and barely illuminate the interior.
Rough stone walls. Damp, slick ground. Dead leaves and scattered gravel piled in a corner.
No pursuers.
No ambush.
No detectable chakra fluctuations.
Only the faint, rhythmic sound of dripping water deeper within the cave.
She had survived.
From the combined lethal assault of five Kage-level opponents and hundreds of elite shinobi—
She had lived.
The tension in her nerves eased by a fraction.
Then her gaze fell to the ground beside her.
There, lying quietly—
Was a fruit.
But it was unlike any fruit she had ever seen.
Roughly the size of two adult fists, its shape was grotesquely distorted. Its surface bore chaotic, blended colors, as though multiple pigments had been splashed together at random. Strange spiral wave-like ridges covered its skin.
Most striking of all—
It radiated a faint, indescribable sense of presence.
As though whispering.
As though beckoning.
Hikari's expression stiffened as memory flooded back.
The desperate pursuit.
The brink of annihilation.
That sudden entrance at the edge of the canyon—filled with illusions of carousels, doll piles, candy houses—twisted yet strangely warm.
She had thrown herself into it without hesitation.
Then came a dizzying whirl of light and weightlessness.
And nothing.
This cave was nothing like the toy-filled, laughter-soaked passage she remembered.
She had not been guided into the so-called Toy Kingdom.
She had been… placed here.
Her gaze returned to the misshapen fruit.
Fragments of information from the Heavenly Curtain assembled in her mind.
Devil Fruit.
Actively seeks a host.
Grants unimaginable power.
A clear conclusion formed.
"Was it you… who saved me?"
Her voice echoed softly in the cave—hoarse, but steady.
She was speaking to the fruit.
Or perhaps to the vague existence behind it—the possible "will" within.
No answer came.
Only the drip of water.
Slowly, Hikari stepped forward and bent down, her hand still faintly trembling as she picked up the fruit.
It was cool and firm to the touch. The spiral ridges beneath her fingers seemed almost to pulse.
"So this is… the Devil Fruit the Heavenly Curtain mentioned."
She stared at the grotesque object in her hand.
Fragments of information clicked into place.
Eat it—and gain rule-based power beyond the conventional shinobi system, power originating from beyond this world.
But at the same time—
It would alter one's very nature.
"If I eat this… will I no longer be a 'shinobi'?"
Her voice was soft, carrying a faint trace of confusion—and release.
"Will I finally cast aside everything that comes with being a 'weapon'… a 'tool'… being 'Uchiha Hikari'?"
The thought, once born, spread like wildfire.
What had Uchiha Hikari ever been?
No warmth. No family. No self.
Only endless training. Endless killing. Endless exploitation.
And abandonment.
Shinobi? Uchiha?
Those identities had brought her nothing but pain and shackles.
"Maybe… that's for the best."
She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When she opened them again, only cold resolve remained.
No more hesitation.
With both hands, she lifted the Devil Fruit to her lips.
"You saved me. That scene filled with toys and laughter… was that the future you wanted me to see?"
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