Returning to the clan, healing

"Hundreds of years have already passed, and the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan are both gone?"

"There are still some people left, but not many. They can no longer be considered shinobi clans.

"Oh, right, those Uchiha from back then are all gone, too. Looking at it that way, all your enemies have already been worn away by time."

"..."

Hikari simply looked up at the sky in silence, her eyes filled with confusion and helplessness.

Her heart was like a barren desert, with no direction to be found and no end in sight.

In the time it took her to close her eyes and open them again, the world had changed beyond recognition.

Those she had once shared deep, bitter hatred with were now all dead, while who knew how many generations had passed among those shinobi she had once utterly despised.

Then what exactly was she now? And how would her future unfold?

She did not like being used as an emotionless weapon, yet fighting in that very role was what she excelled at most! It was an immense irony.

"Come back to the Uchiha Clan with me. My name is Seiichi, Uchiha Seiichi, and I'm the Uchiha's current young clan leader.

"Although my father is the current clan leader, most of his authority has actually been gradually transferred to me, the young clan leader.

"As long as you're willing to come back with me, you can live a normal life. I promise you that absolutely no one will come to bother you."

Hearing his words, Hikari could not help sinking into thought.

An ordinary person's life? The thought had never crossed her mind before.

Yet now that she considered it carefully, it seemed rather nice.

"Are there still many battles these days?"

"Although I can't say there are none at all, their number is indeed quite limited. At least compared with your era, there are very few.

"More importantly, with your current strength, you can at most be considered high-level combat power. There's still some distance between you and top-tier combat power.

"So you don't need to worry about being used as a weapon again."

"Hikari, I'll make you a promise here and now.

"I can't give you an absolute guarantee about whether you'll fight again in the future.

"However, what I can guarantee is that if you choose to act again, it will be because you truly want to, because you yourself want to take action, and never because someone else has coerced or forced you.

"From this moment on, you can act as you please. No one can force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Seiichi held Hikari's shoulders with both hands, gazed into her eyes, and spoke solemnly.

Hikari, too, sensed Seiichi's sincerity and seriousness.

She had already made her decision. She looked at Seiichi, a trace of resolve flashing in her eyes.

"I'll go back with you."

Seiichi broke into a delighted smile. He gently took Hikari's hand. "Welcome home."

Hikari's heart was filled with anticipation for her future life. Perhaps this would be a brand-new beginning for her.

Seiichi carefully and gently scooped Hikari into his arms, as though holding the most precious treasure in the world.

Then he used his own powerful chakra to form a sturdy layer of Chakra Armor around them, wrapping them tightly within it.

In the blink of an eye, their figures vanished like phantoms.

The next moment, they appeared in Seiichi's laboratory in the Uchiha Clan Compound.

However, when Seiichi looked around, he was surprised to find the tea room completely empty.

Seiichi froze for a moment, wondering to himself, Where did the grand elder go?

Carrying Hikari, he walked straight toward the Medical Room, but just then, an unexpected sight met his eyes-Mikoto was standing inside, using the Mystical Palm Technique to heal a clan member's injuries.

"Mother? You've woken up?" Seiichi could not help crying out.

An indescribable emotion welled up inside him, and he could not help wondering just how long he had spent in the stone chamber.

"Seiichi? You're finally back." Hearing her son's voice, Mikoto did not stop what she was doing. Only after finishing the treatment before her did she raise her head and look at Seiichi.

However, when her gaze fell on Hikari in Seiichi's arms, she could not help looking surprised and asked, "Who is this?"

"Oh, this is Hikari, Uchiha Hikari. Sorry for the trouble, but please treat her first. We can discuss everything else in detail later," Seiichi said anxiously.

Mikoto carefully examined Hikari's condition and saw that her injuries were distressingly severe.

Without hesitation, she instructed Seiichi to lay Hikari on the bed farther inside, then quickly activated her Mangekyō Sharingan and extended her palm, aiming it precisely at Hikari's body.

Then a translucent Light Shield suddenly appeared, like a mysterious, dazzling radiance, instantly covering Hikari's entire body.

Seiichi's eyes widened. This was the first time he had witnessed Mikoto's Mangekyō Sharingan ability in person.

Curiously, he reached out and gently poked the Light Shield.

Huh? There's no tangible sensation at all! Can it only be seen, but not touched?!

Just then, something astonishing happened-large amounts of black, gray, and red gas suddenly emerged from Hikari's body.

The gases streamed endlessly out of Hikari's body in such quantities that her figure was instantly engulfed, as though she had become a human-shaped Smoke Bomb made of three-colored gas.

Of these, the black gas was the densest, the gray gas slightly less so, while the red gas was relatively sparse.

However, after leaving Hikari's body, the gases rapidly dissipated into the air before they could drift even a meter away, as though they had never existed.

Watching this, Seiichi inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

This was completely different from the red, paw-shaped mass of injuries Tyrant Kuma expelled in "Pirate King." No one else needed to bear these injuries, which was a good thing.

"What's going on here?" Seiichi asked in confusion.

"Oh, through our exploration and research over this period, we've gradually learned what each of these three colors of gas represents."

Mikoto explained, "The black gas represents various negative factors within the body, the gray gas represents old injuries, and the red gas represents recent wounds.

"When no more gas appears, it means the treatment is over.

"It seems this child has quite a lot of negative factors within her."

Seiichi watched the three-colored gas continually emerging from Hikari's body, his brow deeply furrowed.

He turned to Mikoto and said, "Mother, will anything go wrong with Hikari's body if this continues?"

Mikoto shook her head, concentrating on controlling her eye power. She said, "Don't worry, Seiichi. This is a process of dispelling all negative effects in the first place. It won't add any new ones."

After a while, the three-colored gas coming from Hikari's body gradually dwindled before disappearing completely. Mikoto deactivated her Mangekyō Sharingan and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Seiichi stepped forward to check Hikari's condition.

He discovered...