This child's complexion... Malnourished?
Orochimaru looked at the girl's pale face and small, thin body. If not for the seal maintaining her body in the state it was in at the moment of sealing, judging by her condition, she wouldn't have lived much longer.
"Would you mind telling me why you were sealed there?"
The white snake tail transformed into a white snake and swallowed the kusanagi sword in one gulp, hissing as it flicked its tongue.
"I was... sealed by the Senju Clan... and the Sarutobi Clan... working together..."
The girl stammered. Compared to when she first emerged from the cage, her language abilities were recovering at an astonishing rate.
"Senju and Sarutobi? Are you sure it wasn't the Uzumaki Clan?"
Orochimaru was stunned for a moment. He had thought it was the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan who had jointly sealed the girl. He never expected it to be the Senju Clan and the Sarutobi Clan.
The Sarutobi Clan knows nothing about Sealing Technique. If they had an ancestral Sealing Technique, they wouldn't have wanted to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal Shinno and Zero-Tails at that time.
As for the Senju, there's even less to say.
So the Sealing Technique they used to seal this girl... Sure enough, was it still the Uzumaki Clan? "No..."
The girl shook her head, her dark, large black eyes fixed on Orochimaru. Her small body trembled slightly as she calmly asked, "Are you going to kill me?"
"No, I won't kill you..."
Orochimaru frowned slightly. He suddenly perceived the girl's terrible physical condition; multiple Chakras mixed together caused her internal Chakra to be in a very chaotic state, maintained in balance by a special Chakra.
Previously, it seemed the sealing's obscuring effect still lingered on her, so Orochimaru, in Sage Mode, hadn't perceived how chaotic her Chakra was. It was caused by roughly transplanting ocular Ninjutsu that didn't belong to her onto her body.
Even if this child were treated as a weapon, doing that was a bit too much.
This child's lifespan is probably... Orochimaru looked at the girl with complex eyes. He had thought about killing this child before, but now he felt a pang of pity for her.
"Don't look at me with that kind of gaze! What do you understand about me!"
The girl thought Orochimaru was pitying her. In her agitation, her eyes activated the Mangekyo Sharingan, filled with disgust and hatred for Ninja and the Ninja World.
"I've had enough! Ninja... and this world... I hate it, I hate it the most!"
"This world has bad places, but also beautiful places."
Orochimaru bent down and placed his hand on the girl's head. The Eye Sealing Curse Mark appeared on her forehead.
This child's abilities are too dangerous; it's better to seal them with the Eye Sealing Curse Mark.
"You... what did you do to me..."
The girl's eyes regressed from Mangekyo Sharingan to Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"To prevent you from losing control."
Orochimaru looked at the girl's Three-Tomoe Sharingan with surprise.
The effect of the Eye Sealing Curse Mark was quite good. In his expectations, if the Eye Sealing Curse Mark could affect the Mangekyo Sharingan, that would already be good. He hadn't expected it to cause the Mangekyo Sharingan to regress to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"Can you still stand up?"
Orochimaru extended her hand to the girl, her attitude towards her less guarded now. With most of her ocular power sealed by the Eye Sealing Curse Mark, her threat level had plummeted.
The girl shook her head, looking at Orochimaru's hand. After much hesitation, she slowly raised her own hand and placed it in hers. She could feel that the person in front of her no longer held any malice towards her.
"Too light…"
Orochimaru pulled the girl up, holding her in a princess carry. That feather-light weight was not what a child her age should have; Tsunade, at her age, weighed about half again as much as her.
"The crude ocular technique transplanted into your eyes significantly reduced your lifespan. The seal allowed you to survive for a hundred years, but now that the seal is gone, your physical condition will continue to deteriorate. You won't live much longer if nothing is done. The Uchiha Clan of the Warring States Period truly was an evil clan, to lay hands on a child like you."
Orochimaru never believed in condemning an entire group, but the Uchiha Clan was just too prone to madness.
She used to disagree with Senju Tobirama's views, but now she understood a little.
This child's legs… Orochimaru looked at the girl's inconvenient legs. Even with the seal maintaining her physical condition, a hundred years was enough to make anyone lose their ability to move.
No wonder the child had stood still ever since leaving the seal, only moving her head. Had I not noticed this because my attention was focused on her eyes?
"How did you… know?"
The girl looked at Orochimaru with astonishment.
"Rather than a Ninja, I prefer to call myself a scientist. I believe science can change the world. Not only that, I'm also a doctor. The idiot you bullied with Tsukuyomi earlier, she is a very excellent Medical Ninja."
"…"
The girl lowered her head, listening to Orochimaru's words.
"It's no longer the Warring States Period. The people who caused you painful memories have long since died. Your hatred shouldn't be directed at innocent people."
Orochimaru carried the girl and walked towards Tsunade.
"I… I'm sorry…" the girl whispered.
"You don't need to apologize to me. The person you need to apologize to is Tsunade. It's because she wanted to dig for treasure that we came here, and you had a chance to get out. She is your benefactor who saved you, and your actions could even be called repaying kindness with enmity."
Orochimaru glanced at the girl. She had been hoping to dig up some Forbidden Technique, but instead, she dug up an antique from the Warring States Period.
"I understand, I will apologize to her."
The girl nodded, looking obedient and well-behaved.
"I will find a way to solve your physical problems."
"Why are you suddenly willing to…"
The girl didn't understand what had made this person, who had wanted to kill her not long ago, change her mind and become so kind.
"Just assume I pity you, a poor little thing born in the Warring States Period."
Orochimaru didn't want to admit she had gone soft. She was just more humane, a normal person, and there was no such thing as going soft.
"Thank you… It's the first time anyone has been kind to me… even though I wanted to kill you earlier…"
The girl gently leaned into Orochimaru's embrace, feeling the warmth beside her and the sun on her skin. It was something she hadn't felt in a very long time.
"Have I really… been sealed underground for a hundred years…"
the girl asked softly.
"I don't know exactly how long, but based on my estimation, you've been sealed there for about a hundred years or more."
Orochimaru thought of Uchiha Madara; he was so old, the girl's age must definitely be over a hundred.
How many years she had been sealed, probably only Black Zetsu knew.
That guy Black Zetsu was probably peeking from the side when this girl was sealed.
If she were the reincarnation of Indra's Chakra, Black Zetsu would have found a way to save her long ago. In terms of ocular techniques alone, this girl was far more powerful than Uchiha Madara, it's just that her life wouldn't be long.
"…"
The girl remained silent, lowering her head, unsure if she was feeling sad or regretting that all the people she hated and resented were dead.
"I forgot to ask your name. My name is Orochimaru, what's yours?"
Orochimaru looked at the silent girl and asked.
"Nameless… They said… weapons don't need names, so my name is Nameless."
The girl stated the name she had as a weapon.
Why didn't you just say your name was Heavenly Sword Nameless?
Orochimaru strongly suppressed the urge to retort. The name given to her by the Uchiha Clan a hundred years ago was just too ridiculous.
"I'm talking about your real name, the name your parents gave you, not the name given to you by those wastes who treated you as a weapon."
Orochimaru didn't want to keep calling the girl "Nameless." If she hadn't seen that anime adaptation, it would be one thing, but she had seen it and remembered it vividly.
"…"
The girl fell silent again, not answering Orochimaru for a long time. She had long forgotten her original name; ever since she could remember, she had been confined in a dark cell.
"Can't remember? If you can't remember, then forget it, but Nameless isn't a very pleasant name, and I don't need you as a weapon."
Orochimaru thought the girl couldn't remember her name, and suddenly felt a bit sorry for her. Being treated as a weapon at such a young age, her impression of the girl wasn't so bad anymore.
"Then I'll give you one. You were sealed underground for a hundred years, a hundred years in darkness."
Orochimaru looked at the sunlight on the grass and suddenly thought of a suitable name for the girl. She didn't like the name "Nameless," and said with a smile, "How about Uchiha Hikari? I wish you a life always lived in the sunlight."
"Hikari…"
The girl looked at Orochimaru's smile, shyly turned her head away, but couldn't resist looking back at her.
"Don't you like it?… I think this name suits you well."
Orochimaru mistakenly thought the girl didn't like the name, and was troubled, thinking of a new name for the girl.
"I'll take this name… This name is very good… Thank you…"
Uchiha Hikari quickly said, a different kind of sparkle appearing in her eyes, making her seem more lively.
"As long as you like it."
Orochimaru carried Uchiha Hikari through the forest, arriving at where Tsunade was resting.
"She is Tsunade, a descendant of the Senju Clan who once sealed you. The Senju Clan no longer exists, and those from the Sarutobi Clan who participated in sealing you have long since died."
Orochimaru looked at the deeply sleeping Tsunade with a hint of helplessness on her face. Her white snake tail extended, gently coiling around her to let her rest in a comfortable position.
"…"
Tsunade stirred her body, hugging the tip of the white snake tail.
"I did something very bad to her…"
Uchiha Hikari looked at Tsunade, thinking about what she had done to her in the genjutsu world. She felt a little guilty. The people she wanted to hate were long dead, and the people she resented were also dead, yet she had unleashed her accumulated resentment on her.
"On that point, you were indeed very excessive. We dug you out from underground, and we unsealed you, yet you attacked us without a word, and almost burned us to death with that Amaterasu."
Orochimaru reproached Uchiha Hikari for her ungrateful behavior.
"I… I'm sorry…"
Uchiha Hikari apologized again, hanging her head like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
"When she wakes up, apologize to her properly."
Orochimaru's voice was soft, with a hint of comfort. "Don't worry, Tsunade is a bit willful and has a bit of a temper, but she's kind-hearted and a good child."
"Mm…"
Uchiha Hikari slowly nodded, secretly looking at Orochimaru. It was the first time anyone had treated her so gently, cared for her.
Orochimaru did not use the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Konoha. On one hand, Tsunade was still asleep, and on the other, she needed to carefully consider how to explain the girl's origins.
A child born to a member of the Uchiha Clan outside the village, whom she encountered?
That's a good reason… Orochimaru thought it was an excellent reason, and enough to silence everyone. It just wasn't very friendly to the Uchiha Clan's reputation, and she would need to convince Uchiha Hikari to agree.
"Is the Ninja World still the same as before…"
Uchiha Hikari held a juice she had never drunk before with both hands, secretly watching Orochimaru, who was deep in thought. She recalled her past experiences, and that terrible Warring States Period, and really wanted to know if the Ninja World was still like that.
"What aspect are you referring to?"
Orochimaru pretended not to understand what Uchiha Hikari was saying.
"Wars of mutual slaughter and such… In the era I lived, wars never stopped…"
The can in Uchiha Hikari's hand was slightly deformed from her grip.
"Friction between countries is constant, and things aren't much better between Ninja villages. War will break out soon, and that won't be a war between Ninja clans, but a larger-scale war between nations."
Orochimaru stated truthfully. Uchiha Hikari would know this after a little research.
"Such a Ninja World is better off destroyed…"
Uchiha Hikari bit hard on the straw, her small face filled with disgust for this world.
Bang—!
Uchiha Hikari clutched her head with one hand, the other holding the juice, staring blankly at Orochimaru, as if asking why she hit her.
"Don't talk about destroying the Ninja World at every turn. You can't even undo the curse mark on your forehead, and you want to destroy the Ninja World? Are you dreaming? You childish fool, still so childish after being sealed underground for a hundred years."
Orochimaru hated people who constantly talked about dominating the Ninja World or destroying the Ninja World, those who shouted loud slogans but didn't even have a concrete plan.
Destroy the Ninja World, and then what?
Indulge in admiring a scarred world?
Such overgrown babies only disrupt other people's lives and research!
If they dared to appear before her, they would definitely be humanely eliminated!
"Then what should I do? All my memories are bad memories of the Ninja World! Such a Ninja… such a Ninja World! You clearly know war is about to break out, why… why won't you let me destroy… such a terrible world…"
Uchiha Hikari clutched Orochimaru's clothes tightly, her voice filled with pain and hysteria, her eyes fanatical and angry.
"If you can undo the Eye Sealing Curse Mark and defeat me, I'll let you go. Unfortunately, you can't, and your current body doesn't support you doing that. Just stay by my side obediently!"
Orochimaru patted Uchiha Hikari's head, and the Eye Sealing Curse Mark on her forehead disappeared. She felt immense pressure having to take care of this Uchiha ancestor-level child.
If Uchiha Madara knew he had an elder, what kind of expression would he show?
Orochimaru thought that scene would be very interesting: the always condescending Uchiha Madara encountering an elder who was older in age but so young in appearance.
"…"
Uchiha Hikari tried to use her ocular power to break through the Eye Sealing Curse Mark set by Orochimaru. However, her Sharingan was as if it had never awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Not only could she not use her own Eight Thousand Spears ocular technique, but even the Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu transplanted into her eyes were unusable.
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