Old Woman

After returning from that suffocating underground chamber to the tent reserved for tools, Hikari felt as if all her strength had been drained, collapsing limply onto a wooden crate.

Her face was as pale as paper, her forehead slick with cold sweat, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Even though she was a wielder of the Mangekyo, forcing a young girl's body to endure the resentment and ocular power of over a dozen people was a form of extreme, cruel torture.

Just as she closed her eyes, preparing to silently endure the familiar, tearing agony of her spirit as she always did, a familiar and irritating "clatter" sounded in her ears once again.

"Clack!"

A chipped, coarse ceramic bowl, snatched from somewhere a month ago, was slammed heavily onto the crate beside her.

Inside the bowl lay two roasted sweet potatoes, steaming and emitting a faint, sweet fragrance.

"Eat!"

Yue sat sprawled out opposite her, peeling a sweet potato with his hands. As he ate, he grumbled, "Pumping such disgusting, icy chakra into someone's body—it's still churning in my stomach. Hurry up and eat something hot to settle your nerves."

Hikari slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the sweet potatoes in the bowl, which were oozing syrup, then looked at Yue Uchiha, who was covered in soot and blowing on his own sweet potato.

Her usually cold, expressionless face once again displayed that foolish, bewildered look unique to a young girl.

"A weapon... does not need to eat such sweet things."

"Shut your mouth! One more word and I'll knock your head again!"

Yue interrupted her without ceremony, picking up a sweet potato and forcibly shoving it into her cold, small hands.

At the mention of being knocked on the head, Hikari's eyes flickered slightly.

Logically, she had long since ceased to fear pain, yet the mere mention of a head-knock stirred a trace of dread in her heart.

Is it fear of the head-knocks from this other tool before me?

What has become of me?

"Eat it."

Yue's eyes held a gentleness that brooked no refusal. "Fill your stomach, warm your body, and those icy, resentful spirits you absorbed down below will dissipate."

Hikari stared blankly at Yue, holding the piping-hot sweet potato.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally lowered her head and, like a wary kitten, took a tentative bite of the sweet potato.

The sweet, soft, and glutinous texture exploded in her mouth, and a warm current slid down her esophagus into her stomach, miraculously suppressing the cold, churning chakra within her that had been roiling since she absorbed the Spring of Returning Light.

"Haa..."

Hikari let out a soft, warm breath, and for some reason—perhaps from the heat, or perhaps something else—a faint flush appeared at the corners of her eyes.

Why is he not being noisy? I'm really not used to this.

She turned her head to look, only to find that the noisy Yue Uchiha had already fallen asleep.

The Warring States camp at dawn was still permeated with an lingering scent of blood and the musk of damp earth.

The rain that had persisted for days finally ceased, and the pale sun filtered through the thick clouds, stingily casting its light upon this land filled with slaughter.

Inside the drafty tent, Yue Uchiha let out a massive yawn and stretched without a shred of decorum, his bones popping with a "crack-crack" sound.

"Sleeping on this broken crate is going to break my back... Hey, little girl, even if you don't need to sleep, you didn't have to stare at me all night like a wooden post, did you?"

Yue sat up, rubbing his sore neck. As soon as his only remaining eye opened, it met Hikari Uchiha's calm, black pupils.

She was still sitting in the same posture as when she had finished the sweet potato, though the chipped ceramic bowl in her hands had been licked clean, not a trace of syrup remaining.

Hearing Yue's complaint, Hikari looked like a kitten caught doing something wrong; she averted her gaze unnaturally and hid the broken bowl behind her back.

"A weapon... does not need sleep, only to remain vigilant at all times."

Her voice remained cold, but if one listened closely, they would notice that beneath the stagnant, ripple-less surface, there was a faint, infinitesimal trace of living breath.

Yue rolled his eyes in annoyance and made a gesture to knock her on the head, scaring Hikari into taking a step back.

Yue didn't notice this detail; he was still focused on the changes in his eye.

After a night of digestion, the pure ocular power he had absorbed from the Spring of Returning Light yesterday had stopped his left eye from feeling dry or bleeding, and there was even a faint, warm sense of recovery.

Although he was still a distance away from fully restoring his vision and using Yagokoro Omoikane, the situation was at least improving.

The methods used were highly dishonorable, even disgusting to him, but the concept behind them was worth studying.

If he ever had the chance to return, he might be able to develop a way to replenish ocular power that didn't require such cruelty.

Just as Yue was about to drag Hikari off to wash her face and wake up, a very light, steady sound of footsteps came from outside the tent.

Unlike the guards who usually monitored them and were prone to shouting loudly, these footsteps lacked that nauseating bloodlust and arrogance.

"Swish."

The tent flap was gently lifted.

A hunched figure walked in against the morning light.

The visitor was an elderly female Uchiha ninja.

She wore relatively form-fitting, pure white loungewear, her hair cut very short, giving her a capable and sharp appearance.

The most striking feature was her eyes.

They were an extremely rare pair, radiating an indescribable gentleness and compassion, standing in stark contrast to the Uchiha Clan members in this camp, who were filled with madness, greed, and bloodlust.

"It seems you have both recovered well."

The female ninja looked at Yue and Hikari, her voice soft, like a gentle breeze brushing across a battlefield.

She placed the food box she was carrying onto a wooden crate. "These are clean rice balls and a bit of dried meat; they are better than the military rations issued by the camp. Come out after you finish eating, and I will teach you some things."

There was actually someone with such a kind heart among the Uchiha?

Alarm bells rang in Yue's mind. Could there be some kind of conspiracy?

He opened the food box, checked it to confirm there was no poison, then grabbed a rice ball and stuffed it into his mouth before shoving the rest into Hikari's arms.

"Eat. Once you're full, we'll go see what she's really up to."

In the clearing behind the camp, towering trees surrounded the area, shielding it well from view.

The female ninja stood there quietly, waiting for the two to arrive.

"A ninja's combat cannot rely solely on a Kekkei Genkai. The nature transformation of chakra is our most solid shield and spear on the battlefield."

The female ninja looked at Yue and Hikari before her, her hands beginning to form seals with extreme precision and fluidity.

Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive, scorching flame surged from her mouth, instantly transforming into a giant fireball over five meters in diameter, scorching the clearing ahead until it turned charred black.

The heatwave rushed toward them, blowing through Hikari's messy hair.

"The Uchiha Clan is naturally attuned to fire-attribute chakra. This is the most basic Great Fireball, along with the Phoenix Sage Fire and the Dragon Fire Technique. You must learn to inflict the greatest damage with the minimum cost of chakra, rather than resorting to activating the Mangekyo at every turn."

The female ninja turned her head to look at the two. "Hikari, you should have learned most of this already, so just watch from the side for now. As for Yue, you give it a try; I want to see your foundation."