Chapter 102: Ending the World Created by Those Ill-Fated Lovers!
As Uchiha Hikari's worldview was still reeling from the impact, the scene in the distance changed. A blue, complete-form Susanoo rose up and stood tall far away, immediately drawing her attention.
"So this is the battle where they broke apart?"
Uchiha Hikari let out a small sigh of relief.
If it was a fight, then at least there wouldn't be any weird stuff.
"Hashirama!"
"Madara!"
The two men in the distance began shouting each other's names with fervor.
Susanoo swung its blade in a single slash, shaving off the peaks of the surrounding mountains.
The Nine-Tails, under control, fired a Tailed Beast Bomb. Forests were annihilated, rivers cut off midstream.
Seeing this, Uchiha Hikari had to admit that either one of these two men was far stronger than she was.
They were the ones who should have been weapons capable of changing wars. Yet everything about them was completely different from her.
Was it simply because they were both sons of their respective clan heads?
Or… was it because they used their power to change their fate?
[When the mountains lose their edges~ when the rivers no longer flow~]
[When time stands still, day and night no longer divided, when heaven and earth and all things turn to nothing~]
[I still can't break up with you, can't break up with you~ your gentleness is my greatest devotion in this life~]
"?"
Uchiha Hikari's head filled with question marks.
Where did that music come from?
"In this battle, Uchiha Madara was defeated. Senju Hashirama, for the sake of the village, sacrificed his small family for the greater good."
"Later, because he personally killed the love of his life, his heart became knotted with grief. Not long after, he died in deep depression."
As Shiromo explained, the scene shifted to the Valley of the End. Two stone statues stood on opposite sides of the waterfall.
"These statues were erected by later generations to commemorate this pair of ill-fated lovers. The two of them are depicted as a 'married couple bowing to each other.'"
"Beside them, there's even a timeless poem written by a scholar of that era, "
"'Only when mountains lose their edges and heaven and earth unite, would I dare part from you.'"
"..."
Uchiha Hikari's small mouth fell slightly open as she stared blankly into the distance.
Shiromo didn't sound like he was lying. Especially that poem, it clearly wasn't something an ordinary person could casually come up with, so it couldn't have been pure fabrication.
Besides, a place like the Valley of the End, she could just go see whether it existed or not. There was no reason for him to deceive her.
As for Shiromo's side of the story…
He would say that when he passed by the Valley of the End on his way back to the Amegakure Village after the Chūnin Exams, he conveniently helped carve that poem onto the statues.
No need to thank him.
"After that battle, the Nine-Tails, something Senju Hashirama could easily grab with a single Wood Release hand, was nevertheless forcibly sealed into his wife's body under the trumped-up charge of 'your power is too great.'"
"According to obscure and unofficial historical records, the real reason was that the Nine-Tails had once been controlled by Uchiha Madara and even worn Susanoo armor."
"By sealing the Nine-Tails inside his wife, every moment of intimacy between Senju Hashirama and his wife allowed him to feel as though he were close to Uchiha Madara again, recalling their past together."
"However, as time passed and the extraordinarily powerful Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara died one after the other, the overall ceiling of power in the ninja world was no longer so absurd."
"As a result, this 'excuse', sealing tailed beasts into human bodies, truly became the foundation of the Jinchūriki system. The Jinchūriki became the most important combat assets of the major villages, treated as weapons of war."
"The one with dark circles you saw earlier, he didn't lie to you. He is the One-Tail Jinchūriki. From childhood, he was abused by his own biological father, forced to forget emotion."
"Compared to you, he is both fortunate and unfortunate."
"Unfortunate because compared to him you at least still have warm memories of your parents. His memories of his father are nothing but pain and torment."
"Fortunate because he met a man named Uzumaki Naruto, and found someone who could fill the emptiness in both his heart and body."
"There are total nine jinchūriki."
"The nine tailed beasts weren't captured in your era, but you should have at least heard of them, right?"
After Shiromo finished speaking, he looked at Uchiha Hikari. Her eyes were filled with confusion.
As for Gaara, Jinchūriki being weapons just like her, and the fact that there were others who shared her fate, she no longer doubted any of that.
At this moment, however, Hikari's mental CPU was completely occupied by something else.
Not long ago, her understanding of this aspect of the world had still been limited to the beautiful memories of "Dad and Mom" in her mind.
Yes.
In those memories, Dad was male, and Mom was female.
Don't ask why this needs to be emphasized.
Her worldview had taken critical damage.
"Everyone lives within the ninja system created by Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, and to varying degrees, they've all been influenced by the two of them."
"Konoha's Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, in order to erase this disgraceful history and preserve the village's image, carried out a series of reforms."
"Among them was the rule that ninja teams should preferably consist of three members, two men and one woman."
"On the surface, the reason was that female ninja could act as mediators for male ninja, improving team coordination."
"But according to those who knows about it, female ninja were actually included to prevent outsiders from noticing the emotions between the two male ninja."
"After that, countless ill-fated lovers emerged, ill-fated lovers, ill-fated braised chicken, ill-fated spicy chicken, ill-fated saltwater duck, ill-fated roast duck, ill-fated roast goose, ill-fated deep-fried chicken legs, ill-fated finger-lickin' original chicken…"
Shiromo continued his narration.
At the same time, the imagery within the Tsukuyomi space changed along with his words, illustrating his points.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru's team.
Rin, Kakashi, and Obito's team.
Sarada, Mitsuki, and Boruto's team.
…
"…What exactly do you want me to do?"
Uchiha Hikari was starting to feel afraid.
When she had first been unsealed, before learning how the ninja world had changed, she had been filled with hatred and wanted to destroy it.
Now it was different.
She felt like if she looked at this ninja world one more time, she'd get eye infections.
She still wanted to destroy it, but now the ninja world felt like someone who had just crawled out of a latrine, hitting it would only make her feel dirty herself.
"Hikari, you're too kind. With your strength, even if you didn't obey the orders of the Uchiha clan, forget changing the world, you could at least have gained freedom for yourself."
"What do I want?"
"I hope you can assist us, and together change this ninja world."
"A world where Jinchūriki no longer exist, where weapons like you no longer exist, where no one needs to erase their emotions."
"Most importantly, we will create a new ninja world as heterosexuals."
"We will sweep the old ninja world created by Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama into the dust of history!"
"Of course, if you don't want to help, that's fine too. Just like I said earlier, with your abilities, gaining freedom for yourself is no problem at all."
"If you don't want to help, you can simply watch us and enjoy the changes we bring."
"No."
The Tsukuyomi space dissipated.
Uchiha Hikari shook her head, lifted her gaze to Shiromo, and said, "I can help."
For her, ending the world created by the Uchiha and Senju clans she despised, and at the same time ending the world created by those nauseating ill-fated lovers, was unquestionably a wonderful thing.
(End of this chapter)