Uchiha Hikari was a weapon of war for the Uchiha Clan during the Warring States Period.
She was originally an ordinary girl from the Uchiha Clan, but then she awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan after witnessing the brutal deaths of her parents. Her unique Dojutsu, [Yachihoko], was so powerful that the Uchiha Clan raised her as a weapon of war.
Later, she was sealed away through the combined efforts of the Senju and Sarutobi Clans.
Originally, Menma had speculated that Hikari's sealing location would be near the former territories of the Senju and Sarutobi Clans. Unexpectedly, however, she was buried deep beneath the ruins of the Uzumaki Clan's Uzhushiogakure.
But upon further thought, neither the Senju nor the Sarutobi clans were particularly skilled in Sealing Techniques… so how had they managed to seal Hikari for centuries?
If the Uzumaki clan had been involved, everything made sense.
"You..." Hikari slowly opened her eyes, the fragmented sunlight piercing her pupils as centuries of sealed time shattered in this moment.
She looked around at the ruined scenery, momentarily dazed.
During those endless years of imprisonment, her consciousness had remained clear, yet she couldn't even twitch a finger. That suffocating, torturous cage had held her for hundreds of years!
When Hikari saw the two red-haired women standing behind Menma, her Mangekyo Sharingan instantly contracted, shifting into a battle stance!
'The Uzumaki Clan!'
'They were allies of the Senju!'
Among the Ninjas who had sealed her away, aside from the Senju and Sarutobi Clans, there had also been elite Ninjas from the Uzumaki Clan!
Naturally, Hikari harbored hatred for these enemies.
Or rather, she hated that entire era of war, where flames of conflict raged and the people suffered!
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique!" Hikari formed hand seals and spat out four fire dragons from the ground, attacking the trio from all directions.
The Dragon Flame Release Song Technique was a B-Rank Ninjutsu that required a substantial amount of Chakra to use.
Once launched, the flames homed in on their targets, making evasion impossible… only direct resistance could counter it.
Four ferocious fire dragons roared as they surged from the earth, carrying an unrelenting, tracking force as they lunged at the three.
Menma instantly appeared in front of Uzumaki Kanon and her daughter, his Black Nine-Tails' Chakra erupting and covering his body in a crimson Chakra Cloak.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With swift punches and kicks, Menma shattered all four fire dragons, scattering the flames into the air.
If it were any other Ninja, even a Kage-level Ninja like Tsunade would have expended a considerable amount of Chakra to withstand this technique.
But for Menma, who possessed the Black Nine-Tails' Chakra, this level of consumption wasn't even a drop in the bucket.
"Are you Ninjas from the Uzumaki Clan and the Senju Clan?" Hikari stood atop the broken ruins, her Mangekyo Sharingan brimming with killing intent.
Since she was raised as a weapon of war from childhood, her instinctive hostility toward enemy clans was nearly reflexive.
However, the black-haired young man before her was clad in a Chakra Cloak that felt violent and sinister… almost like a Tailed Beast's Chakra. But since Hikari had never fought a Tailed Beast, she couldn't be certain.
Menma didn't answer. Instead, he formed a single-handed hand seal.
"Nine Mask Svāhā!"
Two dark crimson glowing arrays appeared beside him, and from within the formations emerged the masked Byakko and Genbu.
"Go to a safe place first." Menma said, glancing at Kanon and Karin.
A battle was likely about to break out, and the entire island would soon become dangerous.
"Yes, Menma-sama!" Kanon knew that staying here would only make them a burden. She climbed onto Byakko, and under the escort of the two summoned creatures, they headed toward the coast.
Hikari didn't stop them. She simply stood still, her brows slightly furrowed as she surveyed the ruins around her.
She was somewhat surprised to see that a symbol that appeared to belong to the Uzumaki Clan, half-covered by vines, the rest faded and blurred by years of sea wind erosion.
"The Warring States Period… has already ended." Menma said calmly. Today, he wasn't wearing his white three-eyed fox mask, nor had he activated his Sharingan.
"How many years have I been sealed?" Hikari's expression faltered slightly upon hearing that the Warring States Period had ended.
Menma shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure, but it must have been several hundred years."
"While the Ninja World today is no longer in the Warring States Period, war still spreads everywhere. Clans have banded together, relocating their lands to form villages centered around Ninja… these are called Ninja Villages. Each great nation has one as its primary military force, with the Five Great Nations' Ninja Villages being the strongest."
"The establishment of the Ninja Village System marked the end of the Warring States Period. It has been fifty-four years since then."
"But peace has not come to the Ninja World. In those fifty-four years, three large-scale wars have broken out. Compared to the clan-based wars of the past, these conflicts covered wider areas, caused more casualties, and even children as young as a few years old were sent to the battlefield."
"Right now, it's been four years since the end of the Third Great Ninja War. The world is temporarily at peace, but small-scale and regional conflicts still occur."
Menma gave Hikari a brief overview of the current state of the Ninja World, allowing her to grasp the general situation.
"Then… does the Uchiha Can still exist?" Hikari asked solemnly.
She had been a weapon of war for the Uchiha Clan, fighting for them for years. Some lingering attachment to the clan remained.
Yet after being sealed away, centuries had passed without anyone coming for her.
"Ah, I forgot to mention this… the Ninja Village System was proposed by the leader of the Senju Clan. The Uchiha Clan was the first to set aside their hatred and join forces with the Senju Clan to establish the first Ninja Village. After that, clans like the Sarutobi and Hyuga followed suit, forming the Village Hidden in the Leaves… Konoha Village."
Menma's quiet words left Hikari's Sharingan swirling with confusion.
'The centuries-old feud between the Uchiha and the Senju… had just ended like that?'
For some reason, Hikari felt an emptiness in her chest.
Even when she had been treated as a weapon, the younger version of herself had still believed she was part of the Uchiha Clan… their family.
But now, the word 'family' had lost its last shred of meaning to her.
"The Senju clan has since faded into obscurity, becoming ordinary civilians. As for the Uzumaki Clan… they were annihilated seventeen years ago. These ruins are all that remain of Uzhushiogakure, which was once built by them." Menma stood amidst the ruins, gesturing to the broken walls and shattered structures around them.
Hearing that the Senju Clan had disappeared and the Uzumaki Clan had been wiped out, Hikari's expression remained mostly unchanged.
"And what about you?" She lowered her head with a bitter laugh, as if she had lost all purpose in life. Her laughter was soaked in centuries of loneliness and desolation.
"Did you release my seal… because you want to use my power?"
Hikari knew full well that her tragedy stemmed from this very power. Even her own clan, the Uchiha, had feared her abilities… raising her as a weapon, stripping her of freedom, and confining her in a cell lined with sealing tags.
It was as if they had never truly seen her as one of their own.
And the other clans, terrified of her strength, had united to seal her away.
"Your power would indeed help me achieve my ambitions. But right now, you seem lost." Menma raised his head, his black pupils meeting Hikari's bewildered gaze as she stood atop the ruins.
"I think what you need most right now… is a good, hard fight! Consider it a way to stretch your limbs after centuries of confinement!" As he spoke, his right eye shifted into a crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Menma understood that Hikari was in a state of confusion. While he could force her into serving him directly, her loyalty would likely be below 60%. If she encountered someone like Boruto, the inheritor of Talk-no-Jutsu, she might easily be swayed.
So instead, Menma planned to fight her head-on, matching strength with strength, while also opening a dialogue with her.
"A fight…?" Hikari lifted her dazed Mangekyo Sharingan, locking onto Menma's Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
In an instant, Hikari's negative emotions that had been sealed for hundreds of years seemed to have found an outlet, and her fighting spirit was ignited again!
Her Mangekyo Sharingan began to spin!