Chapter 103: Uchiha Hikari: No!!!
"Her?"
Temari looked at Uchiha Hikari, who had suddenly deactivated her Sharingan and whose expression had softened considerably, then turned to Shiromo in confusion.
So much time had passed inside the Tsukuyomi world, yet outside, it had only been an instant.
From the perspective of Temari and Gaara, who were watching from the outside, it looked like Hikari had suddenly stared at Shiromo aggressively and activated her Mangekyō, then just as suddenly, with a look of relief, deactivated it.
It was like watching someone with a split personality.
"Yeah. We talked it through inside the Tsukuyomi illusion. She's our companion now."
"We're working together to build a world where weapons like her and Gaara, who are forced to give up their names and emotions, will no longer exist."
Shiromo nodded.
"That's great…"
Gaara smiled in relief.
Aside from Naruto, he had gained another companion… well, maybe not a companion yet. More like someone who walked the same path.
"While we're at it, we'll beat up those overly intimate male-male pairs and tell them not to corrupt the moral atmosphere of the ninja world."
Shiromo added casually.
"..."
Gaara's smile froze.
He couldn't help thinking: his relationship with Naruto shouldn't count as the "overly intimate" kind Shiromo was talking about, right?
The two of them were just close friends. Even if Naruto was his only close friend…
He wasn't Naruto's only close friend!
Thinking of that, Gaara felt a bit sad.
"Why are you making that face? Don't tell me you're also… also in a three-person team, two men and one woman?"
Uchiha Hikari stopped halfway through her sentence and switched to a more tactful phrasing.
"Huh? Yeah."
Gaara snapped back to reality, puzzled as to why three-person teams suddenly came up.
"Ew. Disgusting."
Hikari took two steps back in disgust, moving closer to Shiromo instead.
"?"
Gaara was completely baffled.
This new friend who supposedly shared his fate was already disgusted by him?
If this had been in the past, he would've already lost control.
"Gaara's three-person team consists of his younger brother Kankurō and his older sister Temari, this one right here."
Shiromo stepped in to explain, and also introduced Temari to Hikari.
"Oh."
Hikari nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.
So she'd misunderstood Gaara.
"But you weren't wrong either. He really does share a deep bond with a Konoha ninja. That ninja could, in a certain sense, be considered the reincarnation of Senju Hashirama."
"..."
Hikari had just been about to apologize to Gaara, but upon hearing this, she immediately swallowed the words back down.
"?"
Gaara was even more confused now.
It was true that he shared a deep bond with Naruto.
But why did she react like that the moment she heard it?
Did she have a grudge against Naruto?
…Or maybe against Konoha?
After struggling with the thought for a bit, Gaara let it go.
If that was the case, then keeping a normal social distance would be fine. There was no way he would abandon his bond with Naruto for the sake of a new acquaintance.
Even if he and Naruto had only recently become friends.
—
After subduing the former quasi-legendary Pokémon, "Uchiha Hikari," Shiromo's group set out once more.
Their destination was the Dragon Vein of the ancient ruins of Roran.
On the road.
As the only master so far who had successfully "cleared" an Uchiha, Shiromo knew very well that although Hikari had seemingly agreed lightly with a single "I can help," the emotions contained within those words were extraordinarily heavy.
As a humanoid weapon of the Uchiha clan during the Warring States period, Hikari was certainly aware that the Mangekyō Sharingan would steadily degrade one's eyesight with repeated use, eventually leading to permanent blindness.
Even if no one had told her, after being used as a weapon multiple times against other clans, she would naturally have discovered this herself.
In other words, what sounded like a casual promise was, in reality, the offering up of the light in her own eyes.
Once again.
For Uchiha, don't listen to what they say. Look at their eyes.
For Shiromo, this wasn't a problem.
So he chose to be straightforward.
"You… you know about this?"
"Of course. The Uchiha Madara from that pair of ill-fated lovers I told you about earlier, he transplanted his younger brother's eyes, greatly increasing his ocular power and obtaining eyes of eternal light."
"I don't have any brothers or sisters…"
"I know."
The corner of Shiromo's mouth lifted slightly. "Actually, there's a very simple method right now that would let you freely use your Mangekyō abilities without worrying about going blind."
"Transplanting Senju Hashirama's cells."
"No!!!"
Uchiha Hikari had been listening seriously, but the moment she heard that method, she screamed like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
Shiromo turned to look at her. Hikari was clenching her fists, baring her teeth at him.
"I'd rather go blind than touch anything belonging to those two bastards!"
The most detested Senju clan, plus that most detested dead blue gay, asking her to transplant that guy's cells was worse than killing her!
"Alright, alright. Then don't act on your own and waste your ocular power. Leave minor matters to us…"
As Shiromo spoke, his gaze shifted toward Temari.
Temari had been sneaking glances in his direction. Especially after Hikari shouted "No!" Temari had thought Shiromo had secretly done something weird again.
"You used Mangekyō abilities on me before and gave me a new ability. If we run into enemies later, it'll be a good chance to test it out."
"Huh?"
Hikari tilted her head.
She simply assumed Shiromo had some special bloodline limit.
The group walked on for a while longer.
The Dragon Vein's location had been buried under shifting sands, making it relatively well hidden.
But with a general direction and Shiromo's sensory abilities, the four of them still reached their destination.
However, the ruins of Roran were surrounded by an unexpectedly large crowd.
"That's the daimyō! And his personal guards. The rest should be hired rogue ninja and servants… Why are there so many people?"
Temari immediately recognized the man sitting in an ornate sedan chair at the outer perimeter, shaded by parasols held up by two ninja.
"Ah, no wonder the Land of Wind's daimyō keeps cutting your funding. He's got quite the manpower himself."
Unlike Temari, Shiromo recognized at a glance the man bowing and scraping before the daimyō.
Wasn't that the villain of the Lost Tower, the puppet master, Mukade?
Instead of activating the Dragon Vein to time traveling, he had brought the daimyō here instead. What was he planning?
"See that guy? Let me guess, he plans to use the Dragon Vein's massive chakra to boost military power, get the daimyō's backing, and completely abolish your Sunagakure Village."
Shiromo offered his speculation.
As for why Mukade hadn't activated the Dragon Vein to time travel, it was very likely that time travel was no longer possible.
"This is bad, they've noticed us!"
Temari suddenly spotted distant ninja looking in their direction.
In the desert, there was little cover. If they could see the others, the others could see them too.
"I'll handle it."
Gaara stepped forward. Sand began to rise and swirl around his body.
"Have you made up your mind?"
Shiromo's words caused Gaara's sand to halt mid-motion.
"As the Kazekage, ruler of the Land of Wind, are you prepared to eliminate the daimyō?"
(End of this chapter)