Uchiha Hikari—a living weapon of the Uchiha clan during the Warring States period.
Once an ordinary girl of the Uchiha, she awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan after witnessing the tragic death of her parents. Her unique dōjutsu, 'Yachigahoko,' was so overwhelmingly powerful that her own kin groomed her to be a mere instrument of slaughter.
It eventually took the combined might of the Senju and Sarutobi clans to seal her away.
Menma had initially theorized that her seal would be located near the ancestral lands of the Senju or Sarutobi. He never expected to find her buried deep beneath the ruins of the Uzumaki's Hidden Eddy Village.
Then again, he mused, neither the Senju nor the Sarutobi were ever masters of Fūinjutsu. How could they have kept her bound for centuries?
With the involvement of the Uzumaki clan, the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place.
"You people..."
Hikari slowly opened her eyes. Mottled sunlight pierced her pupils, shattering centuries of sealed isolation in a single instant. She looked at the surrounding ruins, her expression vacant and lost.
Throughout those dark, endless years of imprisonment, her consciousness had remained awake. She had spent centuries in a suffocating cage where she couldn't even twitch a finger.
When her gaze landed on the crimson hair of the two women standing behind Menma, her Mangekyō Sharingan constricted violently. She snapped into a combat stance.
Uzumaki!
The allies of the Senju!
Among the shinobi who had sealed her, there had been elites from the Uzumaki clan alongside the Senju and Sarutobi. Hikari harbored a deep-seated hatred for those enemies—or perhaps, a hatred for that blood-soaked era where the common folk knew only suffering.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Loud Singing Jutsu!"
Hikari's hands blurred through seals. She exhaled four massive fire dragons that tore across the ground, converging on the trio from four directions.
The Dragon Flame Loud Singing Jutsu was a B-rank technique that demanded immense chakra. It possessed a homing instinct; once cast, there was no dodging—only enduring.
The four monstrous dragons roared as they ascended, closing in with relentless intent.
Menma flickered in front of Vanilla and Karin. Dark Nine-Tails chakra erupted from his body, coating his skin in a dark-red, bubbling shroud.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With a swift series of strikes, Menma shattered the fire dragons. The flames dissipated into the air like dying embers.
For any other shinobi—even a Kage-level powerhouse like Tsunade—tanking such an attack would have drained a significant amount of chakra. But for Menma, fueled by the Dark Nine-Tails, this was less than a drop in the ocean.
"Are you shinobi of the Uzumaki and Senju?" Hikari stood atop a crumbling wall, her Mangekyō bleeding with murderous intent.
Raised as a weapon since childhood, the sight of rival clans triggered a near-instinctive bloodlust. However, the chakra cloak on the black-haired youth before her felt volatile and sinister—reminiscent of a Tailed Beast, though she couldn't be certain.
Menma didn't answer. He simply formed a single-handed seal.
"Great Nine Men's Spirit!"
Two arrays glowing with dark-red light manifested beside him. From the seals, the masked avatars of the White Tiger and Black Tortoise lunged forth.
"Go to a safe place," Menma said, glancing back at Vanilla and Karin.
A real fight was about to break out, and this entire island was about to become a danger zone.
"Yes, Lord Menma!"
Vanilla knew they would only be a burden. She climbed onto the back of the White Tiger, and under the protection of the two summons, they headed toward the shore.
Hikari did not stop them. She stood still, her brow furrowed as she scanned the ruins. She was surprised to see the spiral crest of the Uzumaki clan partially hidden by vines, its edges eroded by the salty sea breeze.
"The Warring States period is over," Menma stated. He had removed his mask, and his Sharingan remained deactivated for now.
"How many years... have I been sealed?" Hikari asked, her small face faltering at the news.
Menma shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. Several centuries, at least."
He paced slowly through the rubble.
"The world today is no longer in the Warring States era, but war still exists. The clans banded together, moving their lands to create hidden villages. They call them 'Shinobi Villages.' Each nation has one as its primary military force, and the Five Great Nations are the strongest."
"The village system ended the Warring States era fifty-four years ago."
"But peace did not follow. In those fifty-four years, three Great Ninja Wars have occurred. Unlike the clan skirmishes of your time, these wars cover the entire world. The casualties are higher, and even children are sent to the front lines."
"It has been four years since the end of the Third Great Ninja War. The world is temporarily at peace, though small-scale conflicts still flare up."
Menma provided a concise summary, giving Hikari a rough map of the new world order.
"And... the Uchiha clan? Do they still exist?" Hikari asked solemnly.
She had been their weapon, fighting for them for years. Despite her treatment, some vestige of familial loyalty remained. She had been sealed for centuries, and apparently, no one had ever come for her.
"I forgot to mention. The village system was proposed by the leader of the Senju. The Uchiha were the first to set aside their hatred and join them to build the first village, the Hidden Leaf. The Sarutobi, Hyūga, and others followed."
Menma's soft words left Hikari's eyes glazed with confusion.
The centuries of blood-debt between Uchiha and Senju... cast aside just like that?
A hollow sensation opened up in her chest. Even when she was used as a tool, her identity was tied to the Uchiha. Now, the word 'Family' had lost its final shred of meaning.
"The Senju have mostly integrated into the civilian population; the clan as a distinct entity has faded away. As for the Uzumaki... they were wiped out seventeen years ago. These ruins are all that remains of their village."
Menma gestured to the desolate wasteland surrounding them.
Hearing of the Senju's decline and the Uzumaki's genocide, Hikari's expression didn't change much.
"And what about you?" She lowered her head with a bitter smile—a sound steeped in centuries of loneliness.
"Did you break my seal because you want to use my power, too?"
Hikari knew her tragedy stemmed from her eyes. Even her own kin feared her, treating her like a beast and locking her in cells lined with sealing charms. They never saw her as a person.
The other clans feared her just as much, uniting only to bury her alive.
"Your power could certainly help me achieve my goals. But I see you are lost."
Menma looked up at her, meeting her gaze.
"I think what you need right now is a real, heart-pounding battle! Consider it a way to stretch those cramped muscles."
As he spoke, Menma's right eye shifted, revealing the crimson glow of a three-tomoe Sharingan.
He knew Hikari was in a state of existential drift. He could force her to serve him, but her loyalty would be hollow. To truly win over an Uchiha, one had to speak through strength and shared pain.
"A battle..."
Hikari lifted her dazed Mangekyō to meet his Sharingan.
In that instant, the centuries of negative emotions trapped within her seemed to find a vent. Her fighting spirit, dormant for ages, flared back to life!
Her Mangekyō began to spin.