Eri might look soft and delicate, but her appetite was no joke. Maybe it was Minato's secret sauce working its magic, but she polished off an entire plate of grilled meat all by herself.
Uchiha Hikari, meanwhile, finished the remaining half-plate.
When the two stepped out of the barbecue joint, a familiar figure was already waiting for them.
"Izumi?"
"Great-Grandmother-sama."
Uchiha Izumi bowed immediately, her expression respectful. "Fugaku-sama heard of your return and sent me to check in. If there's anything you need, just say the word."
"Oh."
Hikari didn't have any orders to give. She just asked casually, "Anything happen in the clan while I was gone?"
Izumi hesitated. "…Yes. A few clan members have gone missing."
"Missing?"
Hikari raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah."
Izumi glanced at Eri before lowering her voice. "Ever since the Nanga River attack, things outside the village have gotten shaky—especially near the Land of Fire's borders. Ninja squads sent there on missions have been ambushed multiple times. Several people have vanished, including some Uchihas…"
She elaborated further:
Late last year, the Uchiha clan had struck a deal with Konoha, sending some members to the Ninja Academy and jōnin squads. A few even started leading teams on missions outside the village.
Everything had been going smoothly.
The Uchihas chosen by Fugaku and approved by Konoha's F3 (the three top advisors) were skilled and level-headed. Sure, there were minor squabbles with teammates during missions, but it was just verbal spats—nothing serious. Their mission success rate was solid.
But after the Nanga River incident, these teams started running into trouble. It seemed like someone was deliberately targeting Uchihas leading missions outside the village.
"They're pulling *that* card, huh?"
Hikari didn't need long to figure out who was behind it. "What's Fugaku saying?"
"Fugaku-sama wants to pause all missions outside the village until you're back to discuss it, but some clan members aren't happy about it… While you were gone, Hokage-sama sent people to ask for the clan head's input. They've already dispatched Anbu to investigate the border situation. Jiraiya-sama and Shisui from our clan are part of it."
"…"
Hikari frowned.
Obito targeting Uchihas on external missions caught her off guard, but it made sense when she thought about it.
He'd already crossed paths with her once and likely knew she wasn't an easy target. Plus, with Danzō in the hospital and Itachi still lacking his Mangekyō Sharingan, scrapping the original Uchiha extermination plan for a slower, pick-them-off-one-by-one strategy was a smart move.
With her skills, Hikari could easily demand to take charge of this mess.
But…
"Tell Fugaku he's gotta make this call himself."
"If the Uchiha clan wants to climb higher, the person in the clan head's seat can't be a spineless pushover. When it's time to decide, he needs to stop overthinking. If I, your 'Great-Grandmother,' have to handle everything, what's the point of you younger generations?"
Hikari paused. "How many clan members are missing?"
"Three."
"Oh…"
That's not worth stepping in for yet.
Compared to the Uchiha massacre crisis in the original timeline, this was a minor loss. She'd been shielding the clan for long enough—it was time for the younger generation to step up and handle their own problems.
Besides, with Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui—two Kage-level shinobi—investigating, it should be fine, right?
Her thoughts shifted. "Is Tsunade still in the village?"
"Huh?"
Izumi thought for a moment, then answered hesitantly, "I'm… not sure. But Hokage-sama recently announced Danzō's arrest. He's been moved to a prison near the Police Force building. They're waiting for medical ninja to heal his injuries before his sentence starts. I heard from the clan head that Tsunade-sama had a hand in pushing for it."
"Got it. You can head off now."
Hikari's question about Tsunade wasn't random.
She had something she needed Tsunade's help with—
Eri.
This seemingly sweet, harmless girl was actually a dangerous hybrid with the "Judgment" Dragon Speak ability. In the *Dragon Clan* world, it was a conceptual "forced death" power, manifesting as cutting energy, only resistible by higher-tier dragon bloodlines.
If they were enemies, Hikari wasn't sure her regenerative abilities could counter it.
The cost of such power? Eri's body was dangerously unstable. Her dragon blood constantly eroded her, risking a total loss of control.
The *Dragon Clan* world didn't seem to have a fix for this.
At least, not on the surface.
But in the *Naruto* world, two people might be able to help—
Tsunade and Orochimaru.
Tsunade's medical ninjutsu was unmatched in the ninja world—well, back in her prime, at least. To get her help with Eri's dragon blood issue, they'd first need to cure her hemophobia.
Hikari didn't have a solid plan for that yet.
As for Orochimaru…
Hikari had considered making a deal with him before.
As a leading figure in the *Naruto* world's tech scene, Orochimaru had plenty of valuable assets—an improved Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation), the Ryūchidō contract scroll, even soul-transfer jutsu. Hikari, in turn, had things that might catch his interest, like the demons from *Demon Slayer* or Saiyan blood.
But deals with him were risky.
Orochimaru's greed and lack of morals made Danzō look tame. If he got his hands on a demon sample, he'd likely round up live humans to feed them, studying their energy conversion. Human experiments like Dr. Gero's? That was just another Tuesday for him.
In theory, none of that was Hikari's problem—she wouldn't be the one ordering it.
But if her actions led Orochimaru to conduct gruesome experiments that didn't exist in the original story, she couldn't just shrug it off with "not my fault."
So…
"Guess it's about time to test the 'Yasaka no Magatama' on a living person, see how it rewrites consciousness."
"Danzō's worthless life… might finally be useful."