[ Kazahana Koyuki ground her teeth in frustration!
Uchiha Hoshi was like an undying cockroach; no matter how she attacked, it was useless. More importantly, her own attacks were being interfered with by Hoshi. This disgusted Koyuki to no end. That was clearly her Authority, yet it had been pilfered by this thief and used against her!
The thought made Koyuki seethe.
"Fine. Fighting like this is just an endless loop. Get out of my territory!"
Koyuki let out a smile of relief. In reality, she was simply out of tricks. Having just taken control of the Authority of the Void, she wasn't yet proficient with her powers, and her combat experience was virtually non-existent. Although her opponent was in the same boat, the powerful body Hoshi had modified with the Meta-Morph Activator (ICHOR), combined with her stolen Authority, made her an unkillable nuisance.
Koyuki even suspected that the longer they fought, the more familiar that girl would become with her powers, and the more she would steal! Continuing this fight would only result in her own loss. Until she mastered a one-hit kill ability, she had no desire to fight this person again!
Uchiha Hoshi, who was preparing to continue the cannon duel with Koyuki, felt her vision blur. In an instant, she had left the Imaginary Space and arrived in a world of ice and snow.
"This is... I've been kicked out?"
Thud—
At that moment, a heavy object landed beside her. The weight was so immense that the impact sent Hoshi's feet two meters off the ground.
"Whoa! Kakashi-sensei, what happened? Was that an earthquake?"
Before Hoshi could even look around, a boisterous voice rang out nearby. Hearing that familiar voice, the corners of Hoshi's mouth curled into a happy arc.
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
Hoshi casually smoothed her hair, which had been tousled by the battle, and looked toward the source of the voice. As expected, she saw that familiar head of yellow hair.
"Ahahaha~ what a coincidence."
Hoshi laughed. Regardless of whether Kazahana Koyuki had done this on purpose, seeing familiar faces always brought a certain joy.
Don't you agree, Kakashi? ]
Uchiha Izuna: "Look at that! Now that is a true Space-Time Ability. Unlike a certain someone who only knows how to use it for sneak attacks!"
Senju Tobirama: "Heh."
Tobirama said nothing, yet seemed to say everything. Predictably, Izuna lost his cool again.
Uchiha Izuna: "You sneak-attacking coward! You @￥@... DFER, Senju Tobirama, you really deserve to die!"
The latest round of insults between Izuna and Tobirama once again drew a crowd of spectators. Naturally, there was no shortage of people joining in to egg them on.
[ "What!? Uchiha Hoshi!"
Star Eater's landing had also drawn the gaze of Naruto and the others. They looked up to see Uchiha Hoshi smiling at them. But to them, that smile was no different from a devil's grin.
In the past few years, Uchiha Hoshi had been branded as a great demon who sought to destroy the world. Her destruction of Konoha and the statements she made at the time had been carefully edited by Konoha to serve as ironclad proof of her villainy. At the very least, among those who escaped Konoha alive, there wasn't a single person who didn't feel both hatred and terror toward her.
After the escape from Konoha, seventy percent of the Genin and Chunin died from Honkai Sickness. Even among the Jonin, many were tortured by the illness, living in agony. Under the moral kidnapping of the Third Hokage and others—invoking the sake of Konoha and the Will of Fire—they were left in a state where they could neither live nor die. Several of them had even ended up as experimental subjects for Orochimaru or Root!
The sight of their misery had pushed the survivors' fear and hatred of Uchiha Hoshi to its peak. Yet, when they truly stood before her, they found it difficult to even feel hatred. Absolute terror enveloped them, leaving room for no other emotion.
Did they really think the Honkai Energy brought by a Herrscher was something that could be easily dealt with or neutralized? Facing Uchiha Hoshi in person, their minds were filled with images of their comrades' suffering in the hospital.
Would they end up like that, too?
"You all seem quite terrified of me? There's no need for fear; I won't do anything to you. In fact, if Kazahana Koyuki hadn't teleported me right in front of you, I didn't plan on showing myself at all."
Hoshi walked toward the group. Behind her, Star Eater shifted into her human form and followed closely.
Watching Uchiha Hoshi, Uchiha Sasuke's emotions were incredibly complex. There was hatred and confusion, but mostly, there was terror. He could never forget that day, that night. The monsters everywhere, the flames, and that massive silhouette that swallowed all of Konoha!
Fear urged Sasuke to run, but his legs were weak and he couldn't move. At the same time, there were questions in his heart that demanded answers.
Stab—
Hoshi's footsteps halted. She looked down at Sasuke, who had plunged a kunai into his own thigh to steady himself, a look of genuine interest on her face.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're Uchiha Itachi's younger brother? The two of you really look nothing alike."
Looking at Sasuke, Hoshi thought of that ungrateful wolf, Itachi. They were raised by the same parents, so why was the difference so vast?
"Why?" Sasuke lowered his head, his bangs shielding his expression.
"What?" Hoshi blinked.
"Why did you do it? Why did you... destroy Konoha?"
Sasuke snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot and raw. The red wasn't from the Sharingan, but it made him look even more harrowing.
"Oh, that?" Hoshi sounded slightly disappointed. "I wondered what you were going to ask. Though I suppose for you all, that is indeed the question you want answered most."
Before anyone could process their shock at Sasuke's self-harm, every gaze turned to Hoshi, waiting for her thoughts.
"How ridiculous. Why must there be a reason?"
"Since your Konoha was going to destroy our Uchiha, naturally, I was going to destroy Konoha. Does that need a reason?"
Hoshi looked at the group of Konoha ninjas with a mocking sneer.
"I'm not like your hypocritical Konoha, searching for excuses like 'peace' to destroy the Uchiha. Destruction is destruction. It needs no reason!"
"Was it not simply because the Third was too old to suppress the Uchiha? Was it not because Danzo coveted our Sharingan? Peace? Truly laughable."
Hoshi ruthlessly tore away Konoha's veil of decency, leaving them not a shred of dignity. ]