"Yachihoko" and "Heavenly Hand Power" (Please Read On)

"..."

Kakashi was rendered a little speechless by the term "White-Haired Brat," but he still gave Naruto a complicated look before answering Uchiha Hikari's question. "Of course I know him. He's Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha."

"Oh, I thought you didn't know him."

Uchiha Hikari's tone was not without mockery.

Kakashi's relationship with Minato Namikaze had been far closer than hers. It was not a mere "transaction," but a genuine master-and-disciple bond forged over several years. During Kushina's pregnancy, Kakashi, then an Anbu member, had accompanied her as protection. Yet even under those circumstances, Kakashi had never spared a second glance for his mentor's orphaned son, only coming into contact with him nearly ten years later...

Losing family and friends and enduring a difficult life were facts, but that was beside the point.

Given Kakashi's position as an Anbu squad captain, if he had truly wanted to look after Naruto, he would not have needed to do so personally.

Of course...

Minato Namikaze's other disciple was an even bigger deal...

"So, you'll be in charge of surveillance from now on?"

"...You flatter me, Senior Hikari. In truth, we're only protecting you and... him in secret. There are no ulterior motives. If it bothers you, we can keep our distance. Also, if you need any errands run in the village lately, you may give us orders at any time. Yugao and I would both be happy to serve you," Kakashi said politely.

"Oh."

Uchiha Hikari neither confirmed nor denied it.

She could roughly guess why the Anbu had reassigned their personnel. After all... only a Sharingan could deal with a Sharingan. The true Sharingan users, Shisui and Itachi, were both Uchiha Clan members and could not be fully trusted, so they could only settle for the next best thing and put Kakashi in charge.

But it did not matter.

The only things that could truly make her feel threatened were Uchiha Shisui's "Heavenly Hand Power" and that "Kamui" outside Konoha. As for the other pairs of Sharingan, they were all the same to her and required no special attention.

At that moment.

Uchiha Hikari motioned for Kakashi and Uzuki Yugao to step aside, then took Naruto upstairs to their room.

Forever with Sis: Miss Hikari, you should be back in Konoha by now, right? How is it? Have the Root people stopped giving you trouble?

Nameless: No, and they probably won't anymore.

Nameless: I told the Third Hokage about Shimura Danzō secretly arresting villagers for live human experiments, transplanting First Generation Cells, corresponding with the rogue ninja Orochimaru, and digging out the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan. If nothing unexpected happens, Root should be permanently disbanded. Hmm... your disciple Kakashi Hatake was the one who told me all this, so it should be fairly credible, right?

Forever with Sis:?

In a sense, Uchiha Hikari was not lying. She had merely added a little speculation based on the current situation.

Even if Sarutobi Hiruzen was indecisive enough to spare Danzō after all that, Danzō would never get another chance to rise again.

Because...

"Naruto, I know you've been very good lately, so hurry up and eat your ramen before it gets cold. I'm going to sleep for a while first. I'll get up later and cook for you."

Uchiha Hikari rubbed Naruto's head as though coaxing a child. After casually saying a few words to send him off, she returned to her room, lay down, and closed her eyes.

Her consciousness slowly sank.

She entered a space of darkness.

This was the depths of Uchiha Hikari's mindscape, and also the foundation of "Yachihoko." Within the darkness as deep as a night sky, faint glimmers emerged one after another.

Marks

Since awakening from the coffin, Uchiha Hikari had used "Marked Tsukuyomi" to place marks on quite a few people: Sarutobi Hiruzen, Naruto, the Anbu watching Naruto, and Little Goku's group in the Dragon Ball World... But until now, she had never used this power, because she did not want to expose the existence of "Yachihoko."

—Whether it was pulling someone into a genjutsu space regardless of distance or draining another person's Chakra, both were abilities that inspired far too much wariness. Until she was certain she could face the consequences of exposure, she had to keep it strictly secret.

At this moment.

Among the mark fragments of varying brightness, Uchiha Hikari found the one belonging to Danzō. She tried transforming her thoughts into tendrils and began observing it carefully.

There was a reason she had spared Danzō's life in the Root Base.

That reason had to do with another ability of "Yachihoko"—

Aside from draining Chakra, "Yachihoko" actually possessed an even more extraordinary ability: controlling another person's mind!

But this control was extremely crude.

It essentially destroyed the other person's original will, then replaced it with her own. There was little difference between that and killing someone before turning them into a puppet. Although it could preserve most of the target's combat ability, their original memories would vanish completely. Even if the technique was released, they could never be restored.

That would not do.

Uchiha Hikari wanted to see whether she could refine this ability through repeated training, eventually altering someone's will without damaging most of their memories.

That was right.

Her goal was to match "Heavenly Hand Power"!

The reason she had this idea was that there was one talent Uchiha Hikari very much wanted to bring under her command—

Dr. Gero.

Like Bulma and her father, Dr. Gero was one of the Dragon Ball World's foremost scientific geniuses. In bioengineering especially, he could be called the very best—he had even created Androids comparable to Super Saiyans, and more than one at that.

Unfortunately, Dr. Gero was single-mindedly devoted to serving the Red Ribbon Army. Even after the Red Ribbon Army had been destroyed, he remained the same, as though he had been branded with an ideological seal.

Following the Dragon Ball World's storyline, starting next year, the Red Ribbon Army would join the search for the Dragon Balls. As long as Uchiha Hikari remained active in the Dragon Ball World, it was only a matter of time before they clashed. And when dealing with someone like Dr. Gero, if she could not bring him under her control, she had to kill him completely. There was no third option.

So...

If she wanted to subdue Dr. Gero, Uchiha Hikari had to master that ability before confronting the Red Ribbon Army.

To do that, she needed test subjects to help verify her ideas—more than one, to be precise. The margin for error in this kind of experiment was bound to be extremely low. One small mistake could turn the subject into an idiot, so she would need many attempts.

Uchiha Hikari's ideal test subjects were actually the demons of the Demon Slayer World.

Those things possessed absurd regenerative abilities. As long as she did not use a Nichirin Blade, even blowing their heads off would not stop them from recovering. She could tamper with their brains however she pleased without worrying about damaging them.

Still, Shimura Danzō would do.

He had a few things in common with Dr. Gero, and his favorite pastime was conducting all sorts of human experiments on orphans, villagers, and ninjas. So when it came to personally dedicating himself to medical science...

He should have been delighted.