As Uchiha Hikari finished delivering the final blows, several Root operatives' corpses suddenly burst into flames with a "poof", rapidly burning into charred skeletons.
—It was said that the ANBU and Root had a tradition of leaving no bodies behind. These corpses must have been embedded with self-destruct seals.
Uchiha Hikari avoided those remains and gathered the scattered ninja tool pouches.
—The assassins' pouches contained a considerable number of shuriken and explosive tags. Though most had been consumed in the battle or destroyed by fire-style jutsu and Amaterasu, a few were still relatively intact. She collected them all, planning to take them to the Dragon Ball world for future use.
After finishing this, Uchiha Hikari hesitated.
Though she wanted to immediately confront the mastermind behind the assassination attempt, she knew it wouldn't be easy. Whoever dared to send these killers must have prepared for failure. And there was no telling whether Sarutobi Hiruzen or the others were involved.
So...
"Shimura Danzo... I'll remember this grudge!"
After one last deep glance toward Konoha, Uchiha Hikari sent an entry request to Bulma.
[Nameless has requested to enter Bulma's world. Will you allow it?]
...
[Bulma: Minato-san, something terrible happened! Hikari just teleported here from your world—covered in blood!]
[Namikaze Minato: ?]
[Kamado Tanjirou: !]
[Namikaze Minato: Did she get into a fight with someone?]
[Kamado Tanjirou: U-um, do you need me to come over and help? Though I might not be much use…]
[Bulma: I don't know! What should I do? Should I take her to the hospital?!]
[Nameless: …It's just dirty clothes. The way you say it makes it sound like I'm dying.]
—Dragon Ball World, West City, Capsule Corporation.
Uchiha Hikari rolled her shoulders and neck, giving Bulma an exasperated look.
It wasn't Bulma's fault for panicking.
Her current appearance was pretty alarming. Not only were there streaks of dried blood under her eyes, but her clothes were also splattered with blood and dirt. Though most of the blood had come from her enemies during the fight, for someone like Bulma—who lived in a peaceful world—the sight was downright horrifying.
Answering the concerned questions from Namikaze Minato and Kamado Tanjirou in the chat, Uchiha Hikari briefly explained the situation.
[Namikaze Minato: …So it was Root, huh? Those guys really are twisted. Their leader is especially shady—I've clashed with him a few times myself. I never thought they'd target you, Hikari-san.]
[Namikaze Minato: But I'm glad you're safe.]
[Nameless: Not entirely. I used my Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities, and the strain on my body hasn't fully recovered yet.]
[Nameless: Yondaime, I might need you to fulfill your promise sooner.]
[Namikaze Minato: …Understood.]
It was time to call in Namikaze Minato's promise to teach her ninjutsu.
But before that…
Uchiha Hikari snapped back to reality, tugging uncomfortably at her collar. Her skin felt sticky and gross.
She needed a bath.
"Bulma, can I borrow your shower?"
"Hold on!"
A few minutes later—
Bulma, now in a bathrobe, peeked into the room and waved. "Hikari, the water's ready! Come on. After you wash up, I'll put some medicine on you… though I'm not sure if our world's medicine works on injuries from yours."
Uchiha Hikari stood up from the couch. "Coming."
Honestly, it had been a while since Uchiha Hikari arrived in the Naruto world, and she'd visited the Dragon Ball world a few times already.
She'd bathed plenty of times by now. Though she'd been a little curious about her new female body at first—conducting some academic research during her early showers—she'd mostly adjusted by now.
But bathing alone and being watched—or even helped—by someone else were two completely different experiences.
Especially when that "someone else" was a pretty, well-endowed girl like Bulma.
Because of her injuries, Bulma insisted on helping her wash the blood off her arms and back. Though Bulma was wrapped in a towel, there was nothing underneath. Any slightly exaggerated movement risked exposing some very R-rated scenery.
And during the scrubbing process, a lot of physical contact was unavoidable.
For Uchiha Hikari—who had been single her entire past life—this was too much. Her face burned crimson as she desperately tried to look away, only to find her eyes drifting back. Her heart pounded so hard she was sure Bulma could hear it.
Finally, the torture—er, bath—was over.
Bulma helped her into a fresh robe, then brought over a first-aid kit, instructing her to lie face-down on the couch for disinfection and bandaging.
"Hey… Hikari, are you sure you don't want a full-body checkup? Your shoulder looks a little swollen here."
As she applied the medicine, Bulma asked again.
"Hm?"
Uchiha Hikari glanced over at her left shoulder, where the skin was faintly bruised, and smiled. "It's just a bruise. In my world, we wouldn't even bother using medical ninjutsu for something this minor… The real injury is here—you can't see it with the naked eye."
She pointed at her eyes.
"Ohhh, right! You scared me earlier!"
Bulma nodded vigorously. "I don't really get this 'Sharingan' thing, but if you were crying blood, it must've damaged your optic nerves or the muscles inside your eyeballs, right? Want me to take you to the hospital for an X-ray?"
"…It's probably more complicated than that."
Uchiha Hikari thought for a moment. "Medical ninjutsu in my world is actually pretty advanced. It can heal injuries that would normally be fatal. But no one has ever found a way to cure the Sharingan's deterioration. They say these eyes are born under a curse—every time you use their power, your vision worsens until you go completely blind. The only known solution is to transplant the eyes of a sibling to evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō…"
"I'm not sure about the exact science, but it might be a genetic defect? Like, you need compatible DNA to 'patch' the deterioration."
"Genetic defect?"
Bulma scratched her head, processing this. "I don't know much about that field, so I can't say for sure. But how about I ask my dad later? We could take a blood sample and run some tests—maybe we can find a way to fix it!"