Uchiha Hikari shuddered. Her unfocused gaze gradually sharpened, and she turned to stare blankly at the earnest little girl watching her.
"Friends..."
"Yes! I'm Kurotsuchi! You don't look much older than me. Can I call you big sister from now on?"
Uchiha Hikari stared blankly.
She didn't know how to respond.
But...
For Kurotsuchi, an outspoken girl who loved and hated freely, talking to strangers came naturally. Making friends with them was even easier.
Before long, she and Uchiha Hikari were getting along.
The two seemed to hit it off more and more, though Kurotsuchi did all the talking while Hikari listened quietly, a flicker of envy occasionally crossing her eyes.
"..."
Shinji watched them and broke into a broad smile.
"Good... Hm?!"
In an instant,
Shinji's eyes turned sharp.
"What is that?!"
Shisui froze too. He uncrossed his arms and looked toward a spot in the sky, his expression grave and wary...
Uchiha Hikari instinctively tightened her grip on Kurotsuchi's hand.
She looked up.
The sudden surge of Chakra from the three Uchiha left little Kurotsuchi completely bewildered.
She stood rooted to the spot.
"W-what's wrong?!"
Kurotsuchi couldn't sense it. But Shinji Uchiha, whose Space-Time Talent ranked SS, and Shisui, who could learn Flying Thunder God, could.
So could Hikari, who had spent over a century trapped inside a space-time seal.
That disturbance...
It was unmistakable, like a thunderbolt splitting the sky!
As Kurotsuchi stood bewildered and the three Uchiha stared gravely at one point in the sky, a pitch-black spatial passage appeared against the bright blue, its edges folding like black pixels...
Then,
a pale-skinned man with a red fishing rod over his shoulder stepped out. A carefree grin hung on his face, though his eyes seemed to dart about uneasily.
He sauntered forward.
"I am..."
The next