The nameless girl bit down hard on her lower lip. "Are you pitying me?"
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails pierced her skin, drops of bright red blood falling and splashing into the dirt.
Uchiha Sōgetsu shook his head and slowly took off his outer robe.
He said nothing unnecessary, instead expressing his thoughts through his actions.
With utmost gentleness, he draped the robe over the girl's shoulders, shielding the glimpse of exposed skin.
After the fierce battle, the white robe was somewhat torn and dirty. Yet Uchiha Sōgetsu's gesture was undoubtedly like a blinding ray of sunlight shining into the girl's dark inner world.
The nameless girl froze, then lowered her head slowly, her eyes complicated.
Her slender, fair fingers gripped the sleeve of the robe, which was somewhat too large for her. Her delicate nose twitched slightly as she caught a faint fragrance.
Seeing her disheveled hair, Uchiha Sōgetsu frowned and reached out to tuck the hair by her temple behind her ear.
"No. I don't need your pity!"
The girl's eyes narrowed. As if she had been violated, she shoved the boy in front of her away with all her strength. Her tone was full of threat as she glared at him, both wary and terrified.
Yet she did not realize that, in Uchiha Sōgetsu's eyes, she looked just like a frightened stray cat, puffing up its fur in a show of bravado to protect her fragile self.
Beneath her messy black hair, her eye sockets glistened with moisture.
Her heart, wrapped in darkness, seemed to have suffered a tremendous shock. Looking at the gentle gaze of the boy in front of her, she felt a long-lost warmth.
"I will neither persuade you to let go of your hatred, nor am I pitying you."
Uchiha Sōgetsu took two steps forward with a smile, raising a hand to stroke the girl's messy black hair. His voice was easygoing and refined. "I cannot understand all the suffering you have endured, so I will not ask you to forgive them. If you want revenge against the Uchiha Clan, I do not intend to stop you either. That is your freedom."
"If you think the world is wrong, then correct it with your own hands."
His voice was calm, but to the girl's ears, it rang like a great bell, striking directly at the depths of her heart.
"You don't intend to stop me?"
The nameless girl bit her lip unconsciously. "Don't you think... someone like me is cruel?"
"Why would I stop you?"
Uchiha Sōgetsu looked at her and said, "If I persuaded you to let go of your hatred and forgive the people who caused you pain, then who would repay the sin of sealing you beneath the dark earth for decades?"
Never having endured another's suffering, do not urge them to be kind.
If it had been him, sealed underground by the Uchiha Clan for decades, his thoughts would only have been more extreme than the girl's.
"Thank you."
The girl lowered her head deeply, her black hair falling loose and hiding her expression.
But from her trembling shoulders, it was clear that the girl's heart was far from calm.
"What do you plan to do with me?"
After a moment of emotional turmoil, the girl took a deep breath, raised her head, and gazed at him. "You have already seen my power. You should understand its value."
Uchiha Sōgetsu smiled and shook his head. "From now on, you are free. No one can decide your future."
"Free?"
The word was far too unfamiliar to her, and the girl could not help but stare blankly.
"That's right. You are free."
Uchiha Sōgetsu gazed at the girl's stunned expression and chuckled. "From now on, you can enjoy your future life as you please. Whether you choose to take revenge on Konoha and the Uchiha Clan or let go of your hatred, that is your freedom. No one can interfere with your future."
"You're not lying to me?"
The girl's lips parted slightly, her pupils trembling again and again. Her delicate face was filled with disbelief.
"Why would I have any reason to lie to you?" Uchiha Sōgetsu asked.
"But... if you let me go, aren't you afraid... of me?" The girl's voice became stammering as she stared with a pair of pitch-black eyes. "You've already seen my Dojutsu. It can control someone's thoughts and memories at any time. Aren't you afraid... that I'll control you?"
She understood too well the threat her Dojutsu, Yachihoko, posed to those people.
It was precisely because the Uchiha Clan feared her power that they had joined forces with the Senju Clan and Uzumaki Clan to seal her in the darkness underground.
"Your Dojutsu is powerful, but it is useless against me."
There was a trace of confidence in Uchiha Sōgetsu's smile.
He would not dare claim much else, but at least on the level of the mind, as a Beyonder of the Spectator Pathway, even Kotoamatsukami, hailed as the strongest Dojutsu, could never alter his will.
"Am I really free?"
The girl looked at her hands. Even now, she still found it hard to believe.
"Yes, you are free."
Uchiha Sōgetsu patiently repeated himself. "Next, you can go do anything you want to do."
"But I don't know what I want to do."
A trace of confusion appeared in the girl's eyes.
Other than revenge, she had never considered what she should do after gaining freedom, or what she wanted to do.
"Hmm."
Uchiha Sōgetsu pondered for a moment and offered a suggestion. "Perhaps you could take a bath, put on some new clothes, and then try the food of this era."
"Can I really do that?"
At these words, the girl seemed tempted, but she was still hesitant. "Like you said, can I really do anything?"
"Of course you can."
Uchiha Sōgetsu teased, "If you want, you could even fall in love."
Love.
A trace of longing appeared in the girl's eyes.
Perhaps she had once lived in darkness, but now she had finally seen the light.
Her gaze became unfocused as she stared blankly at the boy in front of her.
The gentle look in his handsome face was like the sun, dispelling the darkness in her heart and granting her a trace of peace.
She could have endured the darkness, if she had never seen the light.
Cruelty and coldness were like a thick layer of ice, protecting her fragile heart. Anger and hatred were hard armor and a sharp sword, protecting her vulnerable pride.
But... she still longed for salvation.
The deeper one stood in darkness, the more one yearned for light.
It was like a straw placed before a drowning person amid the surging vast ocean. Even knowing that it could not bring salvation, they would still cling to that straw with all their might.
The girl's wavering heart finally firmed up at this moment.
She... wanted to grasp that straw, to grasp that beam of light.
Like a moth flying toward a flame, even knowing that the outcome would be to burn into ashes, at least before then... she could feel the warmth brought by the "flame."
"Can I follow you?"
The girl tugged at the corner of her tattered clothes and asked timidly.
Her cautious eyes contained a trace of expectation and deep fear. Like an abandoned stray cat, she wanted to be taken home, yet feared being rejected once more.
Uchiha Sōgetsu stared at the girl and read dependence in her eyes.
A moment later, beneath the girl's increasingly uneasy gaze, he smiled and nodded. "Alright."
Everything had gone exactly as he expected.
The more someone craved salvation, the easier they were to manipulate and use.
Just like a person dying of thirst in the desert, giving them only a tiny bit of water could nourish their dry, withered heart. The price required was nothing more than cheap "hope."
"Hikari."
Gathering her courage, the girl tugged on his sleeve, lowered her head, and spoke softly.
"What?"
Uchiha Sōgetsu had not heard clearly. Her voice had been too quiet, like a mosquito's buzz.
"Hikari."
The girl raised her head. Tears fell uncontrollably down her delicate face, her nose twitching as she sobbed, "My name... is Uchiha Hikari!"
Thanks to P Club War Criminal: If You Didn't Lose, You're Not a War Criminal for the tip~ Jian Dan begs all you esteemed readers to stay for a moment, make an investment, and help boost the follow-up reading. Many thanks~
Before you continue