"Tomorrow, your real training begins. The High Division lasts three years — and it includes grade retention. My standards will not bend."
"We won't let Teacher Soren down!"
Five young voices rang with the confident, hopeful fire of children who wanted to become Konoha's future.
Uchiha Soren watched them leave with a rare, quiet satisfaction.
These children… they may truly become the pillars of the next age.
Then a messenger hawk landed on his arm.
Sarutobi Sasuke's mark.
Soren scanned the chakra signature of the Flying Thunder God kunai — no interference, plenty of chakra reserve. He looked at Uzumaki Mito, then at Uzumaki Minako.
"Secretary Minako," he said smoothly.
"It's time for fieldwork."
Minako bowed with a soft flutter of her sleeves.
The Border of Fire Country and the Land of Whirlpools
A cold wind swept across a lonely cliff face.
There, Sarutobi Sasuke and three elite jōnin knelt beside a Flying Thunder God kunai embedded in the ground.
In a blink—
Soren and Minako materialized from thin air.
"Hokage-dono!"
Sasuke bowed deeply.
Three jōnin followed suit.
Soren inhaled sharply — even his powerful reserves felt the strain of this instant long-range travel.
Minako stepped to his side and steadied him lightly — almost instinctively, almost too quickly.
Her fingers brushed his wrist.
A tiny, unbidden warmth passed between them.
Soren's Mangekyō flickered open.
The left-eye ability, Tenchō Ritsuzon, expanded outward—
2,200 meters of flawless spatial perception.
Stone.
Sand.
Empty caverns.
Buried talisman structures.
And then—
A hidden altar beneath the mountain.
A seal glowing faint blue.
An ancient array carved with Uzumaki precision.
And at its center:
A girl.
Not a corpse.
A girl.
Sixteen years old. Wrapped in a crystalline sarcophagus of condensed chakra.
Long black hair. Uchiha robe.
A katana resting in her hand.
Her expression… peaceful, as though death had merely paused her.
Uchiha Hikari —
the nameless prodigy of the warring era.
Soren closed his Sharingan and turned to Sasuke.
"Captain Sasuke. Good work. Return to Konoha, rest, and prepare for the Lightning Country campaign. Secretary Minako will brief you."
Sasuke bowed.
"As you command, Hokage-dono."
The Sarutobi vanished into the dark trees.
The Descent
Only Soren and Minako remained.
They slipped into a side passage, following the flicker of blue beneath the earth.
And then—
Their hands brushed.
A fleeting touch.
Minako flinched inwardly, heat rising behind her ears.
It was only to hand over the kunai.
Do not think otherwise.
But still…
Her palm tingled.
Soren shaped the earth with a low hum of Doton, clearing a path.
The ground sloped sharply.
He reached reflexively.
"Careful," he murmured.
"There's a drop. I'll hold your hand."
Minako's breath hitched.
"Soren-san…?"
Her fingers trembled.
She should have pulled away.
She knew she should have.
Years of marriage had taught discipline — emotional restraint.
But the gentle steadiness of his grip…
the warmth of a hand offered without demand…
For a woman quietly starving for kindness…
It felt like safety.
Like being seen.
So she let him hold her hand.
Only until the ground leveled.
Only until her heart steadied.
Only until the ache faded.
That was all.
Just that.
They said nothing, but the air between them carried a soft, unspoken tension.
The Sealed Girl
The cavern finally widened.
Blue light pulsed from the crystal sarcophagus, painting the stone walls in ghostly hues.
Inside, the girl slept —
caught between life and death.
Minako covered her lips with one elegant hand.
"Soren-san… who is she?"
"A relic of the warring age," Soren answered quietly.
"An Uchiha girl raised as a weapon. Abandoned. Forgotten."
His voice grew heavier.
"Uchiha Hikari."
The crystal shimmered with ancient chakra —
not dissipating, but feeding Hikari with a slow, steady stream.
Enough to preserve her body.
Enough to keep her Mangekyō dormant, but alive.
Not enough to free her.
Not enough to wake her.
Not for centuries.
Soren studied the sealwork.
A terrifying technique.
Eight-Thousand Spears —
a Mangekyō power that transformed stored chakra into a continuous respirational flow.
It kept the body alive.
It kept the eyes alive.
It kept the soul anchored.
But her own will refused to break the seal.
She lay half-dead by choice.
Waiting.
Sleeping.
Suffering alone.
Soren exhaled slowly and turned to Minako.
"Minako," he said quietly.
"I'm asking this
of you."
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