In an instant!
Uchiha Hikari's movements froze, her body stiffening as if her mind had been hijacked, leaving her completely immobilized.
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, a Root ninja lunged forward, driving a short sword with all his strength straight through her back!
The Root ninja's face lit up with triumph.
But the next moment—
Poof!
The "Uchiha Hikari" that had been stabbed dissolved into an afterimage, vanishing into thin air, leaving the sword-wielding Root ninja's pupils constricting in shock.
"A clone?! When did she—?!"
Before he could react, Uchiha Hikari's figure descended from the treetops above with a gust of wind. As she flashed past him, her arms wrapped around his neck—then twisted sharply!
Crack—!
Neck snapped.
Uchiha Hikari casually picked up the Root ninja's short sword, using the corpse as cover to block the Yamanaka clansman's line of sight. Then, with a Body Flicker, she repositioned herself behind a tree several meters away. After completing these actions, she exhaled softly, as if a vast tactical map had unfolded in her mind—
"Excluding the initial two, there are twelve Root assassins in total. Three have already been dealt with... nine remain."
"Their positions are... the closest is about ten meters away, the farthest around forty. That Yamanaka has two Root operatives guarding him. He must be prioritized, or he'll become a major hindrance..."
"There's also the possibility of reinforcements..."
As she rapidly calculated, an unnamed fury surged within Uchiha Hikari—
Danzo. Root.
These sewer rats...
They dare hunt me?! They even think they're qualified to hunt me?!
Fine. Then they'd better be prepared to be buried here!
The next moment, Uchiha Hikari's eyes flickered shut and open again, her gaze now sharp as a blade:
"Amaterasu!!!"
Channeling her ocular power, she leaped from her hiding spot. With just a glance, searing black flames erupted around the Yamanaka clansman, engulfing him. Though he immediately tore off his clothes, the inky fire crawled like a living thing under his collar and sleeves, charring half his body to ash in seconds!
Amaterasu: Kagutsuchi!
A variation of Amaterasu, infused with shape manipulation—similar to Sasuke's technique!
"AAAAAH—!!!"
Even a supposedly emotionless Root operative couldn't endure the agony of being burned alive, his screams piercing the air.
But Uchiha Hikari didn't spare the "dead man" a single glance. She repositioned, flipping onto a tree branch several meters high before turning toward another direction.
Another glance.
Two more Root ninjas burst into black flames. Though their comrades hastily unleashed water-style jutsu to douse the fire, Amaterasu was no ordinary flame—water couldn't extinguish it.
"Six left..."
"Finish this quickly."
Taking a deep breath, Uchiha Hikari willed the black flames to erupt outward in all directions. As the remaining Root operatives scrambled to evade, she charged forward in her Susanoo, shattering an earthen wall with sheer force. Then, the skeletal giant's massive hands seized two Root ninjas at the rubble's edge—and slammed them together!
BOOM!!
A violent gust of wind howled as the two bodies collided under overwhelming pressure, exploding into a mist of blood!
"Four..."
Next, leveraging the Sharingan's hyper-perception, Uchiha Hikari dove into the midst of the remaining Root operatives. Her left hand caught an opponent's blade mid-swing, while her right drove a kunai across his throat. In the same motion, she wrenched the sword free and hurled it—
The blade pierced another Root ninja's skull with a shrill whistle, embedding itself in bone as blood and brain matter sprayed!
"Two..."
From Uchiha Hikari's reappearance to the slaughter of seven Root operatives, the entire sequence took barely ten seconds. Witnessing this, the last two Root ninjas' eyes flickered—not with resolve to attack, but with the instinct to flee.
Uchiha Hikari lunged forward with Body Flicker, darting through the trees like a phantom. She lightly tapped a trunk, then pounced on one fleeing Root ninja with the ferocity of a tiger. As their bodies collided, her shoulder deflected his desperate slash before her kunai found his throat!
THUD—!
Carried by momentum, Uchiha Hikari and the Root ninja crashed against a tree. Using his corpse as a cushion to absorb the impact, she pushed herself up with effort, locking onto the last survivor.
By now, the final Root operative had fled nearly a hundred meters away, on the verge of escaping the forest's edge.
But—
Uchiha Hikari raised her right hand, pointing forward.
A dragon-like roar split the air as a serpentine mass of Amaterasu's black flames surged from her side, tearing through the dense foliage before engulfing the last Root ninja. In an instant, his body was reduced to ashes.
"Zero."
Twelve elite Root operatives—annihilated!
"Hah..."
Uchiha Hikari stood still, taking deep breaths as she coldly scanned the surroundings.
Only after confirming no living presence remained did she deactivate her Mangekyō Sharingan.
As the crimson glow faded, the dark-red Susanoo dissipated into the air, and the black flames of Amaterasu gradually vanished. Silence reclaimed the battlefield, leaving only corpses and a scarred landscape—mute witnesses to the carnage.
It was only then...
That Uchiha Hikari felt a faint sting in her eyes. A damp warmth trickled from the corners—thin trails of blood.
"Come to think of it... these eyes are still just regular Mangekyō, aren't they?"
In the Warring States era, Uchiha Hikari had no siblings, and her parents were ordinary Sharingan wielders.
Meaning—she'd never had the chance to evolve her eyes into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Theoretically, "Yachihoko" could absorb others' ocular power to replenish her own and slow deterioration—after all, ocular power was just a specialized form of chakra. But this method wasn't foolproof; the risk of blindness remained.
Moreover, "Yachihoko's" ability was too fearsome, something no clan would tolerate. If discovered, it would invite endless trouble.
—This was why Uchiha Hikari had been sealed away in the Warring States era.
And why she hadn't used it today.
"I'll need to find a way to resolve this weakness..."
Shaking off her thoughts, Uchiha Hikari wiped the cold sweat from her nose.
After ensuring no further threats approached, she picked up a longsword from the ground and methodically moved among the corpses, delivering final blows to each Root assassin.