Boom—!
On the eastern edge of the Forest of Death, near an unremarkable cliff, a silver-white waterfall cascaded down the rugged rocks, its waters churning violently in the pool below. Fish with pale bellies thrashed helplessly in the turbulent currents.
Within a half-mile radius of the pool—
Withered grass and dead trees lay in decay. Fat crows, their heads severed from their bodies, littered the ground, black blood staining the earth.
A faint breeze stirred the bent weeds, causing them to sway weakly. Thin metallic threads—silver and fluid-like—drifted in the wind, rippling like liquid mercury.
A stunning silver-haired girl with gray eyes stepped down from a massive boulder, her white robes billowing. Beside her stood a shadowy figure clad in Root's black cloak, a massive broadsword strapped to his back—her Yang Release clone. Together, they gazed at the distant figure perched on a tree branch: Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"It's been a while, Master Hiruzen!"
When the girl with starlit eyes uttered the word "Master," for a brief moment, it felt foreign to Hiruzen.
"Hikari!"
His aged voice, weathered by time, barely suppressed his fury as he leaped down from the branch and slowly approached the pair.
One in white, the other in black.
One tall, the other short.
One blindfolded, exuding murderous intent.
The other, with piercing gray eyes, radiant as a deity.
Staring at the two identical yet vastly different versions of Hikari, Hiruzen's anger and shock were eclipsed by sheer confusion. Which one was truly his student? And—
"What in the world are you doing?!"
The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened as he took in the grotesque corpses and withered vegetation around them. Had he not gone to deliver orphan support funds to Naruto this morning, he wouldn't have known about the horrors unfolding in the Forest of Death.
"Why did you come personally?" Hikari sidestepped his question, genuinely curious.
This place was deep within the Forest of Death, far from prying eyes. Logically, the chances of exposure were slim—and even if discovered, with no casualties, it shouldn't have warranted the Hokage's direct intervention.
Hiruzen scoffed.
He hadn't known about the anomalies until this morning. When he arrived at Naruto's home, he found the Inuzuka, Nara, Akimichi, and Aburame kids already waiting outside—even Uchiha Sasuke was among them.
All of them were clad in tight-fitting gear, their pouches bulging with tools. Sasuke even carried a giant shuriken and a coil of steel wire on his back—fully armed for battle.
Realizing something was amiss, Hiruzen pressed them for answers. Reluctantly, they confessed.
After the recent Kumogakure ambush, the Nara boy and his friends had become painfully aware of their own weakness—and the vast gap between them and Hikari. Now that she had left the academy to develop new jutsu, they feared being left behind. Driven by sheer anxiety, they began training in the Forest of Death every weekend, honing their skills against the wild beasts.
But lately, the number of animals had drastically dwindled. Yesterday, they ventured deeper and stumbled upon grotesque, rotting carcasses—beasts that looked as if they had been surgically altered, their bodies twisted in unnatural ways.
With nightfall approaching, Nara Shikamaru, ever cautious, decided against rash action. They agreed to regroup at dawn for a proper investigation.
This morning, when Naruto failed to show up at the meeting point, they went to his house—only to find him still asleep, having stayed up too late in excitement.
As they waited outside, Hiruzen arrived.
Listening to their frantic descriptions of the forest's horrors, he felt both pride (these kids were pushing themselves, inspired by Hikari's relentless drive) and dread.
The Forest of Death was no playground. Even seasoned genin struggled to survive its dangers. If these promising young shinobi had perished inside, the village would have been thrown into chaos.
After sternly reprimanding them, Hiruzen considered sending ANBU to investigate—but the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he grew.
Shikamaru's descriptions didn't match natural decay. Someone was clearly experimenting in the forest—possibly with forbidden Yin-Yang techniques.
And then there was Hikari.
She had recently borrowed medical and cursed seal texts under his authority, then vanished for nearly two months, claiming she was developing a new jutsu.
The pieces fell into place.
Unable to wait any longer, Hiruzen ventured into the forest alone—only to find his worst fears confirmed when he saw the familiar figure standing amidst the wasteland.
Why?
Why chase after forbidden secrets? Just like Danzō. Just like Orochimaru. And now—Hikari.
Disappointment curdled into fury. His voice turned icy, the lines on his face hardening.
"Answer me. What are you doing? Why are your eyes normal? Why are there two of you? Why is she wearing Root's uniform? And why—" His voice rose to a roar, "—are you dabbling in forbidden jutsu?!"
He couldn't understand. With her talent, she could have become one of Konoha's greatest shinobi through conventional means. Why align with Root? Why tread the same dark path as Orochimaru?
She looked like his mirror image.
"Master… I'm dying."
Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Hikari delivered the bombshell with eerie calm.
Boom—!
The waterfall's roar drowned the sudden silence. Hiruzen's anger faltered, his eyes widening.
"You—"
He scrutinized her. Her skin was flawless, her eyes bright, her vitality overwhelming. She looked anything but dying. If anything, he was the one closer to death's door.
The red haze of fury in his chakra dimmed, shifting into startled gray-blue doubt. Hikari knew she had successfully disrupted his emotional momentum.
Break the chain of anger first. Then reason can follow.
It was a principle of war—and of human nature. Rage blinded logic. But once the fire died, even the most infuriating truths became manageable.
Now that she had his attention, Hikari continued smoothly.
"Have you heard of Kekkei Genkai disease?"
As the words left her lips, the storm in Hiruzen's emotions eased further. If she had tried explaining while he was still furious, it would have only fueled his wrath. But now—
"You… have Kekkei Genkai sickness?"
Unaware that his emotions were laid bare before her, Hiruzen's voice lost its edge.
He knew what it was—a rare, incurable affliction that only struck elite shinobi with highly advanced bloodlines.
And if anyone fit that description, it was Hikari.
The shinobi world was mercilessly fair. Those who wielded great power young paid a steep price.
Remembering how the First Hokage's body had rotted from within due to his own Kekkei Genkai, Hiruzen found himself believing her.
"The Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku carries an inherent defect," Hikari explained, her posture relaxing slightly now that his anger had cooled. "First-stage awakening is stable. But by the second stage, the user won't live past twenty. The stronger the bloodline, the faster death comes."
"And your stage—?"
"I've reached the third. Not even the Sage of Six Paths could save me now. I have half a year left at most."
Hiruzen's fury evaporated entirely as he watched her calmly announce her own death sentence. But suspicion lingered.
"These are just your words. Why not get examined at the hospital?"
"It's pointless."
Knowing words alone wouldn't convince him, Hikari closed the Sharingan embedded in her palm, letting the flesh knit itself back together until no trace remained. Then, she willed a single gray finger bone to protrude from her fingertip.
Thud.
The bone dropped to the ground with a heavy, metallic sound.
Fine gray tendrils spread from it like veins, creeping across the earth. Then—
Crack.
Hiruzen's pupils shrank as the infected ground crumbled into dust without warning. A breeze scattered the powder, leaving only the finger bone behind—still sinking, as if it would bore through the planet if left unchecked.
"Every bone in my body is like this now. Even Lady Tsunade couldn't fix me. If this power grows unchecked, I'll turn to ash."
As she spoke, the wound on her finger healed, new flesh weaving itself into sealing patterns to suppress the deadly bone.
Actions spoke louder than words. The disease was real.
(Even if she had already cured it via the Eight Gates' reversal, this was the reason she had rushed her research in the first place.)
Silence.
Hiruzen stared at the bone, his mind reeling. If her entire skeleton was like that, how was she even alive? What kind of agony was she enduring?
"So… you're researching Yin-Yang release to save yourself. Not for power." His voice was hoarse now, all anger gone.
Seeking a cure was understandable. Noble, even.
And she hadn't used human test subjects—just animals and plants. Compared to Orochimaru's atrocities, this was nothing.
The comparison was inevitable.
One disciple had betrayed Konoha for immortality. The other, even facing death, refused to cross that line.
Hiruzen sighed heavily.
"Your eyes?"
Hikari's lips curled. His softened tone told her everything—she had won.
(The disease was under control now. The flesh seals kept the Shikotsumyaku's corruption at bay. Once her Sage Body fully matured, its boundless vitality would neutralize the threat entirely.)
But the "terminal illness" act had served its purpose—giving her an excuse to reveal secrets without rousing suspicion.
"My mother was a Hyūga of the main family—Hyūga Amekki."
She omitted her "body manipulation" ability, focusing only on the Byakugan. She had hidden it out of necessity—to avoid the Caged Bird Seal—not for any sinister agenda.
When Hiruzen learned she was part Hyūga, his shock was palpable. He had dismissed her sensory prowess as a minor trait, never imagining it was the Byakugan!
(Not that he could be blamed. With the Hyūga's strict control over their bloodline, no one would suspect an outsider of having it.)
No wonder her chakra control and perception were monstrous.
As she spun the tale of her mother's escape to Kirigakure and rescue by the Kaguya clan, Hiruzen's frown eased.
He did remember the incident.
The Hyūga main family had been in an uproar when one of their own went missing on the battlefield, risking the Byakugan's theft. They had demanded a retrieval squad, but with the war at its peak, Hiruzen had overruled them, issuing an S-rank mission instead.
The girl's name had been Hyūga Amekki.
Watching the veins bulge around Hikari's eyes as she spoke, Hiruzen reflected on his initial hesitation to take her as a student—due to her Kirigakure origins.
But if she was Hyūga-blooded…
She really is a true Konoha shinobi.
Perhaps he had chosen well after all.
--- (◕‿◕)