"Trust me, Soren — Hikari's seal will be lifted soon."
Uzumaki Minako stepped forward with calm, priestess-like poise. Her fingers flashed through seals with effortless grace, then slammed onto the ancient altar.
Chakra surged.
The Uzumaki runes flared.
The crystalline coffin cracked.
The hard, glass-like mass that had imprisoned the Uchiha girl for nearly a century crumbled into blue dust. Hikari's limp body slipped free—falling—
—straight into Uchiha Soren's arms.
Her instincts roared awake — a battlefield spirit sharpened by war and betrayal. Her hand twitched toward the katana still in her grasp.
But exhaustion tore through her like a collapsing world.
Her vision blurred.
She forced her eyes open just long enough to see—
A gentle smile.
"Welcome home, Hikari."
(…So warm…)
Her fingers slipped from her blade. The katana clattered against stone.
Hikari's body went soft and unconscious in his embrace.
Back to Konoha — or Close Enough
"Soren — is Miss Hikari all right?" Minako asked, voice tight.
She watched Soren check Hikari's pulse with precise medical ninjutsu.
"She's alive. Her chakra network is intact," he murmured. "But she needs proper treatment."
Minako stepped back, composed but flushed.
"We should teleport directly to Konoha Hospital. I… I can return alone."
Soren shot her a sidelong look.
"Nonsense. If I brought you here, I'll bring you back. I don't leave things half-finished."
He held out his hand.
"Give me your hand, Minako. I'll take us both."
She hesitated—
only a heartbeat—
then placed her fingers in his palm.
FLASH.
Flying Thunder God swallowed them in golden light.
They reappeared at the cave mouth — wind cold, sky barely darkening.
Minako blinked, breath catching. Soren gently transferred Hikari's sleeping form into a better hold.
"I'll take Hikari to the hospital. You—"
He pressed a spare Flying Thunder God marker into her hand.
"—you can walk a bit. The next town is in Whirlpool Country."
Minako stiffened.
"You… remembered where I was born?"
Soren's smile was soft.
"I remember everything important. If you need me—touch that kunai. I'll come."
And he vanished, leaving her alone with the swirl of mountain wind and the weight of a kunai that felt far heavier than steel.
Minako stood in the dusk, thinking of her girlhood in Uzushio — the laughter, the temples, the ocean winds. Of the husband who had long since stopped looking at her. Of the daughter she lived for.
And of the Hokage who—just for a moment—made her feel seen.
This must not grow, she told herself fiercely, clutching the kunai.
I am Tsunade's mother.
I am Senju's future matriarch.
Not a woman who strays.
She inhaled deeply, banishing the storm inside her heart.
Konoha Hospital — A New Uchiha Rises
Soren raced through the corridors, Hikari in his arms.
Orders rang out, crisp and absolute:
"Scan her chakra coils.
Check for seal residue.
Prepare a Mangekyō ocular catalyst.
No one touches her without my approval."
Soon four Uchiha elders entered the ward — Sifang, Shana, Hien, and quiet, sharp-eyed Uchiha Seina, the matriarch-keeper of the clan's ancestral rites.
A hushed council formed around Hikari's bed.
"She survived a century in suspended chakra-state…"
"Her Mangekyō must be extraordinary…"
"She's a symbol now, not a weapon."
"We must not repeat the past."
"We'll guard her with our lives."
Zhili arrives
Uchiha Zhili stepped beside Soren, her expression complex. Her eyes moved between the unconscious girl and the Hokage holding vigil.
"Soren… what do you intend to do with her?"
Her voice was blunt — but the meaning behind it cut deeper:
Hikari possessed a Mangekyō.
Mangekyō drew covetous eyes.
Even among the Uchiha.
Soren smirked.
"She's young. I'm not a monster."
Then, careless and earnest at once:
"If she falls for me one day — I'll marry her."
Zhili slapped a hand to her face.
For a moment, all the fearsome titles of Uchiha Soren fell away — the Mangekyō tyrant, the Third Hokage, the undefeated prodigy.
He was suddenly just…
a foolish young man with too much confidence and too big a heart.
Zhili exhaled sharply.
"Out.
Let me take care of her."
Her voice cracked with more emotion than she intended.
Soren blinked, amused.
"Don't push me," she snapped again.
He vanished in a bolt of space-time.
Back Home — A Command for a Cat
Soren leaned back in his study chair, thoughts sharpening.
Love, he realized, was deadlier than any Sharingan blade.
It built nations.
It toppled clans.
It made shinobi betray everything they once swore to protect.
He needed to control what happened next.
A cloud of smoke burst beside him.
"Meow!"
Juno appeared, puffed up and indignant.
"You ran away earlier, didn't you," Soren said lazily.
"Meow?! Meow never runs away!"
Juno lied instantly.
Soren grabbed the fat orange cat's cheeks with both hands, squishing them into a perfect round bun.
"Juno. Listen carefully."
Juno's eyes widened.
"You're going to help me."
A beat.
"With Hikari."
Juno froze.
"…Meow??"
His very soul asked:
WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU EXPECT A CAT TO DO WITH A CENTURY-OLD MANGEKYŌ WAR DEMON, MASTER?!
He stared up.
Soren smirked.
"You'll figure it out."
Juno wailed internally.
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