It had been a few months since her last visit.
The Sound Village hadn't changed much.
Compared to when Uchiha Hikari left, there was just half a new street, a couple of rows of houses, and about a dozen new faces—probably "talents" Orochimaru had recruited from who-knows-where. A few of them looked vaguely familiar.
Kidomaru, Jirobo, Tayuya…
Yup, the future "Sound Four."
But at this point, they were just a bunch of preteens, not yet branded with curse seals. Their strength was barely at the level of "elite genin"—nothing worth getting worked up about.
Hikari gave them a quick glance before heading straight to the cave behind the village.
This place was a whole different world.
Rows of cutting-edge lab equipment—blood analyzers, centrifuges—lined up neatly, alongside old wooden bookshelves stuffed to the brim with tomes. If you ignored the rough stone walls and stalactites dangling from the ceiling, it could almost pass for a high-tech lab from the Dragon Ball or Dragon Clan worlds.
Orochimaru wasn't around.
Instead, a blonde woman in a white lab coat and black-framed glasses was organizing books.
"…Yakushi Nonou?" Hikari muttered.
"Hm?"
The woman looked up, revealing a gentle, scholarly face.
You'd never guess from her appearance that she was a seasoned spy who'd traveled across multiple nations.
"Who are you?" Nonou asked, pushing up her glasses with a puzzled look. "One of the village kids? This is Lord Orochimaru's lab, not a place for hide-and-seek. You should leave."
"Big Sis Hikari? You're back!"
Before Nonou could finish, an excited voice rang out.
Hikari turned to see a red-haired girl dart forward and hug her waist. Behind her were Kimimaro and Jugo.
Kimimaro looked like he wanted to mimic Karin's hug but held back due to his reserved nature and gender, a faint blush creeping onto his pale face.
"Hey, Karin," Hikari said, ruffling the girl's hair.
She glanced at Nonou, feigning ignorance. "And this is…?"
"Oh, she's Aunt Yakushi, a refugee from the Land of Hot Springs. Orochimaru-sensei took her in," Karin chirped. "She used to be a doctor and knows a ton about medicine and pharmacology, so Orochimaru-sama lets her help out in the lab."
Karin gave a quick explanation, then winked and tugged Hikari toward the inner part of the lab.
Once they reached another room, the little girl pulled a stack of envelopes from her pocket, her expression turning serious. "Big Sis Hikari, these are from Orochimaru-sensei for you."
"Let's see…"
Hikari opened the top envelope, scanning it quickly.
The contents were straightforward—a brief report on Orochimaru's recent work.
Three points stood out.
First, using Nezuko's blood, Tamayo's research, and the bodies of Daki and Gyutaro, Orochimaru had developed a drug that suppressed demons' urge to eat humans, partially countered sunlight's lethal effects, and preserved their Blood Demon Arts. It had already been successfully tested on Daki and Gyutaro.
Nice. Good news for Tanjiro and the Demon Slayer Corps, Hikari thought. Looks like I should swing by the Demon Slayer world to turn Nezuko back.
By the way, after the drug worked, Orochimaru had freed Daki and Gyutaro from their restraints, turning them from test subjects to lab assistants for demon cell research. That was a bit unexpected, but as long as they didn't cause trouble, Hikari didn't mind.
Second, Orochimaru had improved the "suppressor" for dragon blood corruption, but without test subjects, its effects on humans were still unconfirmed.
…I'll pass it to Chu Zihang to test on the Deadpool guys, Hikari decided.
Third, it was about Nonou and her son.
Orochimaru didn't know Danzo had been taken over by "Yatayoi." In his letter, he detailed Nonou's arrival and his plan to use her to dig into Danzo's and the Akatsuki's secrets.
"Oh? Danzo's already joined the Akatsuki?" Hikari mused. "Guess the old geezer's still got some use…"
She skimmed the other letters.
Nothing major—just budgets for future experiments and topics Orochimaru wanted her to pass to Dr. Brief for academic exchange.
Hikari tucked the letters away and pulled several chests of gold and silver from a sealing scroll, stacking them in the lab's corner.
"These are spoils from elsewhere. When Orochimaru gets back, tell him to handle them for the next phase of research funding."
"…"
Karin stared at the mountain of treasure, her small face tense. After a long pause, she cautiously asked, "Big Sis Hikari… you didn't, like, kill all the daimyo of the Five Great Nations, did you? How else do you have this much money…?"
"Huh?" Hikari burst out laughing. "Don't go yelling about killing all the time, kid. I'm not that brutal. Just pass the message to Orochimaru. I'll be back in a few days."
"Got it," Karin nodded, committing it to memory.
Hikari left the lab, pulled out her wristwatch-like Shangri-La, and activated it.
A massive teleportation array flared to life.
Her figure vanished, reappearing thousands of miles away in Konoha, near the Naka River by the Uchiha clan's compound.
"As expected…" Hikari murmured. "Teigu work just fine in other worlds."
She'd considered testing the "Book of the World" too, but since its capacity might be limited, using it in the relatively small and familiar Naruto world felt like a waste. She decided to save it for the One Piece world.
"First, I'll check on Fugaku and the others, then swing by to see Naruto and snap some pics for Minato to show he's doing fine…"
…
That evening, Hikari visited Fugaku's home, meeting with the clan's top brass.
Shisui, Itachi, and Izumi, the "outstanding junior representatives," were also present.
After Fugaku gave a rundown of the clan's recent affairs, Shisui stepped forward, placing a thick stack of bound papers—covered in dense writing—on the tea table in front of Hikari.
"?"
Hikari blinked. "What's this?"
"Great-Grandma, did you forget? This is the homework you assigned us," Shisui said.
"Over the past few months, Itachi, Izumi, and I read all the books you left us. These are our book reports—each one's at least 20,000 words. Itachi's is 40,000…
And this stack is our 'Uchiha Clan Five-Year Development Plan.' We discussed every project in detail. Please take a look, Great-Grandma."
"…"
Hikari remembered now.
Last time she returned from the Dragon Clan world, she'd brought a batch of books for Shisui and the others, appointing Shisui as "librarian." Her goal was to boost the clan's cultural literacy and get them thinking smarter—hoping to avoid boneheaded ideas like "kill the entire clan to prevent a massacre."
And now…
Shisui and the others did seem different.
Calling it "poetry and wisdom shaping their aura" might be a stretch, but compared to the clueless, wide-eyed kids from a few months ago, they were practically new people.
The only problem?
(So I have to grade their homework now?)
Hikari scratched her head and looked at Fugaku. "Fugaku—"
Before she could finish, Fugaku spoke up, looking ashamed. "Great-Grandma, I skimmed through what Shisui and the others wrote… It's a bit too deep for me to fully grasp. But we've started trying out some of the economic ideas in the development plan. It's too early to see clear results, though."
"Oh?" Hikari flipped open the plan, scanning a few pages at Shisui's prompting.
"Flower exhibitions? Food festivals?" she asked. "You guys came up with these?"
"Not just me—Izumi and the others too," Shisui said confidently.
"After heated debates, Izumi and I agreed that the tension between the Uchiha and Konoha stems from both historical and current issues. A big reason is the lack of communication and the stereotypes each side holds.
To fix this, we need to break down barriers and create platforms for interaction. So, we teamed up with the Yamanaka clan for a flower exhibition and worked with Ichiraku Ramen and Yakiniku Q for a food festival. We're also planning a 'ninja beast intelligence contest' with the Inuzuka clan to show the village the real Uchiha."
He paused, then added, "This is also about building a solid foundation with the masses. If most of Konoha's villagers accept the Uchiha, we can secure a brighter future—not trapped by the clan's narrow-mindedness, which could lead to our downfall."
"Hm…" Hikari's face showed a flicker of surprise.
Honestly, Shisui's performance caught her off guard.
The Uchiha's old mindset—Fugaku's generation, especially—was rigid, fixated on climbing the ranks through the police force or Anbu. They didn't realize that path had been sealed off since Tobirama's time.
To be fair, Tobirama had left a door open for the Uchiha—taking Kagami as his student was proof. If things had gone smoothly, Kagami could've at least become an elder like Koharu or Homura, giving the Uchiha some say in the village's leadership. But a series of missteps, plus Danzo's hatred and Obito's Nine-Tails incident, had soured relations further.
Now, though, Shisui saw another path: winning over the masses.
If the Uchiha could build ties with Konoha's clans and civilians, they could carve out a place in the village, even without becoming Hokage. At the very least, it'd minimize the risk of annihilation.
Guess reading books does pay off, Hikari thought.
"Well said," she said, flipping through Shisui's plan before setting it down with a faint smile. "I've got no objections. Go ahead and run with it."
"I'm just a relic of the old era. The Uchiha's future is in your hands. Try whatever you want—don't worry if it flops. You're young; you've gotta take risks. Everything's a first sometime."
"…"
Though Hikari's "Great-Grandma" status was unshakable, hearing her talk about being an "old-era relic" with her teenage face made Shisui, Fugaku, and the others exchange weird looks.
"Uh, Great-Grandma, you're still really young…" Fugaku ventured.
"…Heh." Hikari gave a noncommittal smirk.
Truth be told, telling Shisui to go for it was partly because she didn't want to grade their homework. The "20,000-word" book report was just a casual remark—she never expected them to actually write that much. Reading through all of it would probably take a whole day and night…
"Oh, by the way, I brought some taijutsu manuals I picked up elsewhere," Hikari said, placing a few martial arts scrolls on the table. "I skimmed them, and they seem solid. Give 'em a try."
These were gifts from Najenda after the capital's fall, from the Imperial Fist Temple in the Akame ga Kill world.
In the original story, the temple was just background, but as a millennia-old institution, they had serious expertise in taijutsu. Each generation's strongest "Four Rakshasa Demons" could hold their own against Teigu users using just physical skills.
For Hikari, the manuals weren't super useful. But for Fugaku and the others, they were a goldmine.
"Great-Grandma, you went on this journey to gather these secret techniques for us…" Fugaku said, visibly moved.
"…"
Hikari sighed, giving up on explaining. "Sure, let's go with that."
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