This scene unfolded far too abruptly.
For a moment, everyone turned their attention to the mysterious masked ninja who had been punched to death by Guang.
The atmosphere immediately froze.
"..."
Tsunade's beautiful eyes widened involuntarily as she stared straight at Guang's back inside the Star Shadow Building.
Within the prison-like space.
Tobirama sighed and said,
"Big brother, did you see that?"
Hashirama's expression stiffened. He withdrew the sideways glance he'd been sneaking at Uchiha Yu and fell into deep thought.
Beating someone to death without a word…
Is that really okay?
Hashirama frowned deeply.
Uchiha Yu, currently wearing Madara's appearance, actually felt rather pleased by Guang's decisive and efficient style of action — all he could say was, this really was the Uchiha way.
He was only surprised by what had just occurred inside the Star Shadow Building.
"Mmm—!" Tsunade glared at Uchiha Yu again, signaling him to release her from his control.
With no choice, Uchiha Yu led Tsunade backward, no longer paying attention to what was happening inside the building.
The two stopped beneath a tree in the distance.
After adjusting her tone, Tsunade said:
"I think you alone might not be able to control her. How about this — you release my seal, and I'll act along with you!"
Being unable to speak had been suffocating for her.
"Your acting is terrible."
Uchiha Yu left behind this flat comment, turned, and walked forward again, once more resuming control over Tsunade.
Inside the Star Shadow Building.
The Star Shadow, who had been knocked flying together with the red-patterned masked ninja, was now lying on the ground in utter shock.
He shouted toward the Star Ninjas outside the door, "Save me… Hurry, save me…"
Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention.
The Star Shadow stared blankly at the mysterious ninja beside him whose head had been smashed apart by a single punch. Even as his eyes bulged in terror, he continued begging for help.
The masked ninja had died horribly — red and white matter splattered everywhere, and even the position of his corpse looked grotesquely twisted.
What confused the Star Shadow even more was that the ninjas from his own village outside were standing there as if they didn't even recognize him, dumbfounded and motionless.
He sensed that something was terribly wrong, but at this moment, there was nothing he could do to turn the situation around.
Outside the Star Shadow Building, the civilians, seeing their leader being held captive, guessed that he had been kidnapped. That explained why the ninjas who had left the village earlier had rushed back so urgently.
Everything now seemed to make sense.
Inside the building.
The remaining two masked mysterious ninjas exchanged glances and cried out in shock, "B-Big brother!!"
"Lightning Release—"
One of them regained his composure, forming hand seals in preparation to use a ninjutsu on the ferocious girl before him.
But before he could complete even half of the seals, his hands suddenly seized up, locking rigidly in place like a rusted machine.
A red glow flickered in the pupils of the two masked ninjas. In just a few seconds, their minds were completely seized by Hikari's 'Yasakani'.
"Sha… Sharingan!"
The two ninjas shouted in horror.
Those red eyes with black tomoe filled them with despair. Who could have imagined that they would encounter the Uchiha here? Weren't the Uchiha supposed to have been exterminated?
Hikari's gaze turned icy as she swept her eyes over them and then looked around the spacious hall.
"Who is the Star Kage?"
"The Star Kage?"
Both masked ninjas looked simultaneously toward the old man lying on the ground.
Seeing that she was also here for the Star Kage, the two of them actually felt a slight sense of relief.
Could it be… that the Uchiha had their eyes on the meteorite as well?
Hikari followed the direction of their gazes, her brows knitting tightly. So the two guys she had just sent flying — the older one was actually the Star Shadow.
Good thing she didn't punch the old man to death.
Still, she had only attacked because the other party was using the old man as a hostage and stalling her.
Who would've thought they'd be this weak?
If that guy had just spoken properly to her, he wouldn't have had to take that punch at all.
Hikari controlled a Star ninja and had him enter the Star Shadow Building, where he untied the ropes binding the Star Shadow.
She looked at the old man and said calmly:
"I ask. You answer."
"Y-yes, yes, alright…"
The Star Shadow nodded repeatedly, completely submissive. He knew very well how terrifying the strength of that mysterious masked ninja with red patterns had been.
Otherwise, as the leader of a village, he wouldn't have been tied to a chair like that.
And that level of power couldn't even withstand a single punch from this young girl.
Let alone him — an aged Star Shadow — what could he possibly do against her?
Hikari fell silent for a moment, then finally chose to ask the question that mattered most to her:
"Tell me about the Uchiha."
"The Uchiha?"
The Star Shadow's aged face filled with astonishment as his old eyes locked onto Guang's features.
Wait… you came all the way to the Star Ninja Village — just to ask about the Uchiha?
"What? Is there a problem?" Hikari countered.
"N-no, no problem! None at all!"
But inwardly, he sighed.
"With the way you burst in, I thought you were here for the meteorite…"
At first, he truly couldn't understand. But the moment he saw her unmistakably real Sharingan…
The old Star Shadow came to a realization — this girl was most likely a surviving member of the Uchiha clan, left behind somewhere in the shinobi world.
If someone like her were discovered by Kumogakure, it would surely trigger a storm of bloodshed.
Seeing that Hikari didn't react, the Star Shadow finally relaxed, confirming she was truly here for information about the Uchiha.
He carefully recalled everything he had learned recently regarding them.
After a bit of consideration, he realized something shocking.
The recent turmoil across the shinobi world… really did all seem to revolve around the Uchiha.
It perfectly matched that half-joking saying — whether the shinobi world is peaceful or chaotic depends entirely on the Uchiha.
After a long silence, the Star Shadow finally spoke:
"The Uchiha… were wiped out."
Those words left his mouth — and it was Hikari's turn to freeze.
She blinked, almost suspecting she had misheard.
Wiped out?
A clan that powerful… destroyed?
Impossible!
Shock filled her eyes as she stared at the old Star Shadow, making his spine run cold.
In her understanding, even hundreds of years ago when the Uchiha stood alone against the Senju, the Uzumaki, and the Sarutobi clans, they had never been at a disadvantage.
And now, only a few centuries later, a clan blessed with the Sharingan and overflowing with prodigies… had simply been annihilated?
For a moment, Hikari found it almost impossible to accept.
Seeing the look on Hikaru's face, the old Star Shadow quickly said in a deep voice, "My reaction when I first heard this intelligence was the same as yours.
Konoha claimed that the one who annihilated the Uchiha clan was Uchiha Yu, and that after wiping out his own clan, Yu fled Konoha with the last ten remaining Uchiha ninja.
But the real truth behind all this is not something a small village like ours, so far out on the fringes of the shinobi world, could possibly know."
"Uchiha Yu…" Hikaru softly repeated the name she had only heard once before.
Her entire body trembled faintly, her blood inexplicably boiling…
Upon hearing that the Uchiha had been exterminated, she even felt a trace of excitement and exhilaration.
This man called Uchiha Yu had done what she herself had once buried deepest in her heart, something she had long wished to do.
The Uchiha clan that had brought her misfortune had been destroyed — to her, perhaps that was a good thing?
But with the Uchiha gone, Hikaru also felt that her reason for existing in this world had weakened, as if a ship at sea had lost its final anchor.
Silence stretched on for nearly five minutes.
After regaining her composure, Hikaru continued questioning the Star Shadow about the current state of the shinobi world.
She asked about the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and the recent chaos in the shinobi world caused by Yu.
The old Star Shadow spoke at length about the recent wars where Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure had joined forces to attack Konoha.
However, due to the delay in their intelligence network, he was still unaware of the latest events — the fall of Konoha, the relocation of the old village, and Yu's occupation of Konoha.
After listening patiently, Hikaru needed time to digest and assess whether all this information was true.
°°°
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