"The meaning of my name…"
Fragments of long-sealed memories slowly stirred within Uchiha Hikari, but they were quickly swallowed once more by darkness.
In that darkness were figures with Sharingan eyes— clan members who had stripped her of her freedom, stripped her of her name, stripped her of everything.
"AAAAAAH——!!!"
Hikari clutched her head and let out a shrill scream. Her Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly as bloody tears streamed down her cheeks. She stared straight at Wen Lan and screamed hoarsely:
"All of you—DIE!!!"
The black flames trembled violently, then spread like a spiderweb. In the blink of an eye, Amaterasu swallowed the entire space.
Wen Lan's pupils shrank. He used Body Flicker at the last second, barely skimming past the edge of the fire—but even so, a corner of his clothes was burned away.
The ground cracked. Scorched earth rolled and split apart.
Hikari's figure twisted within the inferno, like a vengeful spirit crawling out of hell.
Her voice was low and hoarse, like a blade scraping stone:
"My name… is my past.
You people—are not worthy of mentioning it."
The flames roared around her, reflecting the suffocation and humiliation of her former prison.
Wen Lan dodged Amaterasu while cursing aloud:
"Damn it! Other people's talk-no-technique is god-tier—why is mine completely useless?!"
Suddenly, he felt an intense burning pain in his thigh.
He looked down—
his thigh had already been engulfed by Amaterasu.
Without hesitation, Wen Lan cut off his right leg, then severed his left arm and hurled it toward the corridor.
The severed arm barely flew over the Amaterasu blocking the entrance and landed beside Arashi.
"Arashi!" Wen Lan roared.
"Take my arm and retreat! If I really can't handle this, I'll regenerate using that arm!"
Arashi shouted anxiously, "Third Elder! Retreat! She's completely lost her mind!"
"No!" Wen Lan yelled back.
"This is a debt our Uchiha owe her—we must repay it!"
Though he said that, Wen Lan knew he only had two choices now:
First: Kill Uchiha Hikari.
Second: Make Uchiha Hikari regain her sanity.
As for sealing her—he didn't know sealing techniques.
The reason he couldn't leave was simple:
Hikari was already completely consumed by hatred.
If she left this ruin and used Yasaka no Magatama—Eight Thousand Spears, then forget Konoha—
the entire shinobi world would be reduced to ashes.
Originally, Wen Lan had planned to persuade her while she had just awakened.
But she didn't give him any chance at all.
Her first words upon waking were:
"Amaterasu."
This was way too damn violent.
Wen Lan rolled and gritted his teeth, dragging his shattered body across the scorched ground, leaving a trail of blood.
Supporting himself with one hand and his blade, his left shoulder an empty void, blood pouring out, he still forced out a crooked grin:
"Hikari… you killed me once—that counts as the shinobi world giving you back one life.
That debt is settled.
How about we talk now?"
"Then go die!" Hikari roared.
Amaterasu instantly engulfed Wen Lan's body.
"AAAAAAH——!!!"
Wen Lan let out a piercing scream. The pain of the black flames nearly broke him, but he clenched his teeth as his broken body trembled in the fire.
He wanted to rush forward and kill Hikari, but Amaterasu surrounded her completely—there was no way to get close.
Moments later, Wen Lan's screams weakened…
then stopped.
His body turned to ashes.
Hikari's eyes were still filled with hatred. She was determined to kill everyone in the shinobi world.
But then—
Her pupils suddenly contracted.
Because she saw that child again.
Standing at the entrance, completely naked, one arm missing, his right hand awkwardly covering his groin, Wen Lan walked in once more.
"Uchiha Hikari," he said calmly.
"I just repaid you with one life. Now we continue."
Amaterasu swallowed him again.
"Hikari! I'm here to negotiate—ah, damn it—
I'm here to repay lives!"
Burned to ashes.
"Hikari—"
Burned to ashes.
"Uchi—"
This continued for half an hour.
Hikari was completely stunned.
She stared blankly at the pile of ashes over a meter high, then looked at the same naked Wen Lan walking in yet again through the wall of Amaterasu.
She had never seen anything like this.
It was as if there were countless versions of him.
The problem was—
she couldn't sense any chakra fluctuations at all.
At the entrance, Arashi was completely numb.
He stood there in a daze, watching Wen Lan repeatedly regenerate from a single arm, then cut off another arm and walk back in again.
He seriously suspected that their Third Elder had something wrong with his head.
As for Wen Lan—
he was in pain, but also… exhilarated.
Not because he was a masochist.
But because under the constant stimulation of Amaterasu, he had awakened—
Mangekyō Sharingan.
More importantly, he now had ten good news items and ten bad ones.
Bad news:
His Mangekyō dōjutsu consumed eyesight, and he had no close blood relatives left.
Meaning—his Mangekyō could never evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Good news:
His Mangekyō eyesight could be fully restored using Demon Power.
But Wen Lan had an even crazier idea.
What if he dug out his own eyes and transplanted them into other clan members—
then regenerated his Mangekyō again?
If he did this repeatedly…
Forget the Uchiha clan—
Everyone in Konoha could have Mangekyō Sharingan!
At that point, forget the Four Great Villages—
even the Ōtsutsuki clan would have to kneel before him!
"AAAAAH——!!!"
Hikari screamed again.
This time, it wasn't sharp or shrill—
it was filled with helpless rage, frustration, and exhaustion.
Why?
Because her eyesight had deteriorated severely.
She had already used her dōjutsu too many times.
Meanwhile, Wen Lan kept appearing like a ghost—
and she could do nothing about it.
In her blurred vision, she watched another vague human silhouette walk out of the flames.
Clenching her teeth, she finally asked:
"What… Do you want?"
"I want you to stop living in hatred."
Seeing the Amaterasu extinguish, Wen Lan finally relaxed and stepped in front of her, speaking softly:
"The war is over.
The Uchiha and the Senju have formed a village called Konoha.
There is no more war now.
You can live in an age of peace.
You can pursue the life you want.
You don't need to live for revenge anymore.
That's what your parents wanted.
That's the meaning of your name.
Come with me and see it.
I believe you'll come to love that peaceful forest."
Wen Lan slowly raised his hand toward her.
"Trust me.
I won't disappoint you."
Hikari stared blankly at the silhouette before her.
For the first time, she wanted to see someone clearly— but her eyes could no longer see well.
Other than her parents, no one had ever spoken to her so gently.
She looked at the hand Wen Lan extended.
Her own hand trembled as she raised it.
The moment her fingertips touched his palm, she felt warmth—
Not the coldness of a weapon.
A single tear slid down her cheek.
In a hoarse voice that only she could hear, she whispered:
"If… this is a dream…
then I would rather never wake up."
Hikari's hand slowly closed over Wen Lan's.
She gripped it tightly— as if grasping the only vine hanging down into an endless abyss.
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