The clone that the Nine-Tails split off wasn't exactly huge, but it still packed a serious amount of chakra.
Rough estimate?
Probably enough to match a few dozen Kakashis.
Uchiha Hikari wasn't exactly short on chakra herself—she had senzu beans and the "Yin Seal" for quick recovery, so stamina wasn't an issue. But this chunk of Nine-Tails chakra could actually boost her chakra cap. Plus, it might even let her develop some moves like a "Perfect Jinchuriki."
Worth a shot later.
For now…
Naruto finally snapped out of the slight daze from the Nine-Tails' mini-rampage and looked at Hikari, totally confused. "Hikari-nee, what just…?"
"No big deal. Just had a quick chat with a certain friend inside you," Hikari said casually. "You've already learned chakra extraction at school, right? Give it a try now, see how it feels."
"Huh?"
Naruto didn't quite get it but followed her lead anyway.
After a couple of tries, the little blond's face lit up with excitement. "Hikari-nee, I did it! I can actually extract chakra now! Must be 'cause you're here—my genius side's finally kicking in!"
"…Tch, dead-last," Sasuke muttered.
Naruto's hair practically stood on end. "I'm talking to Hikari-nee, butt out, you ugly jerk!"
"Dead-last!"
"Ugly jerk!"
Just as the two were about to start bickering again, Hikari swiftly grabbed them by their collars, one in each hand, and pulled them apart. "Alright, cool it, you two. Didn't get enough of this at school?"
"…"
As their "big sister" and "great-grandma," Hikari had plenty of authority over Naruto and Sasuke.
Once they quieted down, she pulled a small booklet from her pocket and handed it to Naruto. "This is something your fa—uh, I mean, I got this ready for you. I was gonna wait till you were older, but whatever, now's fine. It's got the basics of ninja training. Study it, and if you've got questions, come to me… or ask Kakashi or Yugao Uzuki. They're still keeping an eye on you, right?
"If you master what's in here, even if you don't catch up to Sasuke, you'll at least make it to the top few in your class."
To be precise…
This booklet was carefully put together by Minato Namikaze.
Hikari had just turned his digital version into a physical copy.
Back in the Sound Village, she'd shared it with Karin and Kimimaro—with Minato's permission, of course. Now that Naruto's Nine-Tails issue was mostly sorted out, it was time for him to make good use of it too.
As for Kakashi…
As Minato's student, showing him the booklet wasn't exactly a security breach. Who knows, maybe he'd even pick up on some of his old teacher's writing quirks.
Speaking of which…
Minato had asked her a while back to keep his existence a secret from Naruto for now. That was when the chat group only had the original four members.
Hikari figured she'd check in with Minato later to see if he'd changed his mind. If there was some father-son talk he wanted to pass on to Naruto, she didn't mind playing messenger.
That night…
Hikari, Esdeath, and Sasuke hung out at Naruto's place for a bit, playing some poker.
—Sasuke had tried to dip out, but they were one player short, so he got roped into staying.
Naruto initially suggested drawing turtles on the loser's face, probably wanting to see Sasuke's pretty face covered in doodles. But he stopped himself mid-sentence. With Hikari and Esdeath there, if they lost and ended up with doodles, that'd be… awkward.
They played until around eight or nine.
As the moon climbed higher, Hikari yawned and stood up to leave. "Time to head out."
"Safe travels, Hikari-nee! And Esdeath-nee… You don't count, ugly jerk," Naruto called out.
He walked them downstairs, watching as the trio disappeared around the street corner. He stood under the streetlight for a few minutes before heading back home.
On the other side…
On the way back to the Uchiha compound, Sasuke kept glancing up at Hikari, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite spit it out.
"What's up? Got something to say?" Hikari asked.
"…Great-Grandma, that dead-last… I mean, Naruto Uzumaki. Is he really the 'demon fox'?" Sasuke asked hesitantly.
"Hm?" Hikari paused mid-step.
Under her gaze, Sasuke mustered his courage. "I heard you say you talked to some friend inside him. And a lot of people in the village, even Dad, say Naruto's tied to the 'Nine-Tails Incident.' So…"
Sasuke hadn't awakened his Sharingan yet, so he couldn't see what was inside Naruto.
But he'd definitely felt the brief surge of energy when Hikari met with the Nine-Tails earlier, and it got him thinking.
Hikari considered for a moment. "You ever heard of a 'Jinchuriki'?"
"…What's that?"
"There are nine Tailed Beasts in this world, each with insane power. The people who seal them inside their bodies are called Jinchuriki. Regular folks can't tell the difference between the beast and the person, and they're scared of that power, so they take it out on the human who carries it."
"!"
"So… that's why the village treats Naruto like that? If he's the one sealing the Nine-Tails, doesn't that make him a hero?"
"Pretty much," Hikari said.
Sasuke's expression shifted as he processed her words.
"…Then I won't call him dead-last anymore."
"?" Hikari raised an eyebrow, glancing at the spiky-haired kid.
She'd half-expected Sasuke to worry about Naruto surpassing him after learning about the Jinchuriki thing. But then again…
In the original Naruto story, Sasuke's obsession with power came from the trauma of the Uchiha massacre. That pushed him to clash with Naruto when he saw him getting stronger. But now, Sasuke was still living in a happy family. Even if Naruto passed him up, he'd probably just pester Itachi or Fugaku for extra training to catch up, not go all extreme.
"Speaking of, is Fugaku still as cold to Sasuke as he was in the original story?"
If so…
Maybe it was time to have a chat with him.
Hikari hadn't been a parent herself—obviously not a mom either—but she wasn't a fan of Fugaku's parenting style. Itachi's "Hokage mindset at age seven" was half his fault, and Sasuke's more standoffish traits were largely due to Fugaku's constant neglect.
For the sake of the next generation's mental health…
Hikari decided she'd swing by Eri's place later to grab some parenting books. Not just for Fugaku—plenty of other Uchihas could probably use a read too.
"We're here."
Stepping into the Uchiha compound, Hikari patted Sasuke's head. "Stop overthinking and get some sleep. Oh, and tell your dad I need to talk to him. Have him come by tomorrow or the day after when he's free."
"…Got it."
Sasuke bowed and darted off.
Hikari, meanwhile, led Esdeath back to her private villa near the Naka River waterfall.
After washing up…
As Hikari grabbed some bedding from the closet to set up for Esdeath, she saw the latter step out of the bathroom in a bathrobe, toweling off her hair.
"Hey, you sleeping with me tonight?" Esdeath asked with a teasing grin.
"…Nope," Hikari said, pointing to the next room. "My bedroom's over there, just a wall away. Call me if you need anything… Though, didn't you already stay here once?"
If she remembered right, the last time Esdeath was here was right after she'd been pulled from the Akame ga Kill world. Eri was there too. They'd stayed a couple of days before heading to the Land of Demons.
If that didn't count…
This was technically the first time Hikari had brought Esdeath home alone.
Her eyes couldn't help but drift to Esdeath's chest a few times, her cheeks flushing slightly before she looked away. Couldn't help it—the bathrobe was clearly hiding nothing underneath, and with the top few buttons undone in the warm weather, there was a clear view of a deep valley and snowy peaks.
Sure, they'd already seen each other in the buff at the hot springs in the Land of Hot Water.
But this half-covered look was somehow more tempting.
Esdeath noticed Hikari's gaze, glanced down, and smirked. "What, wanna take a peek? If it's you, I don't mind."
She even tugged her collar down a bit, revealing more snowy skin.
Hikari nearly choked. "Ahem… Just an accidental glance. Button up, will you? Not great if someone else sees."
"Who's gonna see? It's just us here," Esdeath said, unbothered.
"Uh…"
So, I'm one of the "inner circle" now?
Hikari caught the familiar, slightly flirty tone in Esdeath's voice but was too busy setting up the bedding to dwell on it. "…All done. It's past ten, pretty late. Get some rest. I'm gonna need your help training some new abilities tomorrow."
"…Alright. See you tomorrow, then," Esdeath said after a pause. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."