It was late at night.
Konoha Village lay in silence, wrapped in sleep. Only the lights of the Security Force building still glowed, echoing the sparse, star-like lamps scattered across the village.
*Rustle—*
With a gust of wind, several shadowy figures slipped into the woods near Konoha's prison, splitting up along preplanned routes. They waited for the street patrols to pass before simultaneously channeling chakra and forming hand seals: "Genjutsu: Nirvana Temple Technique!"
Phantom-like feathers drifted silently down.
The guards at the prison entrance felt their eyelids droop, overcome by drowsiness.
"…Something's wrong. Someone's casting a genjutsu!"
The first guard to notice tried to shout, but a kunai slashed his throat.
His body crumpled soundlessly, blood pooling red.
Another figure, a grim man, emerged from the shadows inside the prison, gesturing to the others nearby. "Move quickly. We've got about ten minutes to pull off this rescue!"
…
At that moment, high above the Security Force building, a thumb-sized Uchiha Hikari—wearing a mini bracelet—stood in midair, arms crossed, watching the scene unfold below with a baffled expression.
"What the hell?"
She'd come to witness Danzo's escape, to confirm whether her "Yasaka no Magatama" had worked as intended.
But…
Who were these ninja breaking him out?
Not wanting to reveal herself and still unsure of the situation, Hikari stayed back, observing. She watched as the jailbreakers clashed briefly with the prison guards, then helped an elderly man in a dark kimono—Danzo—escape, fleeing toward Konoha's main gate.
By now, the surrounding patrols had noticed the commotion.
The jailbreakers decisively left two members behind to hold off pursuit, while the remaining two carried Danzo and kept running. Along the way, more reinforcements appeared, relaying Danzo forward in a chain of escorts.
Though some stayed behind, Danzo himself was whisked to the village gate without pause. There, a bespectacled, white-haired Yakushi Kabuto was already waiting.
"…I see."
The moment she spotted Kabuto, Hikari understood.
It was the remnants of Root!
She'd always found it odd. In the original timeline, people like Yakushi Kabuto, Yakushi Nono, and Sai's brother Shin should've been Root members at this point. Yet, neither during her first wipeout of Root's elite nor the second destruction of their base had she seen them.
She'd assumed they'd been absorbed by Sarutobi Hiruzen during the cleanup.
But apparently…
They'd been hiding all along?
"If that's the case…"
From her vantage point in the sky, Hikari glanced at the village, gauging the distance between the approaching Anbu and Security Force members and Kabuto's group. She scrapped her original "Danzo gets captured" plan. Instead, in her miniaturized form, she flew toward Kabuto and the others under the cover of night, activating her Mangekyo Sharingan: "Tsukuyomi Engraving!"
Across from her, Kabuto—carrying Danzo and sprinting swiftly—faltered briefly. He snapped back to reality, startled, and adjusted his glasses with one hand, glancing around.
"What's wrong, Kabuto?"
"Nothing… I think my eyes just played a trick on me."
"…Watch the road. If anything happens to Lord Danzo, you'll never find out what happened to Nono!"
After the brief exchange, the two Root remnants carried Danzo and vanished into the distance.
…
In that "Tsukuyomi" moment, Hikari hadn't implanted any specific commands, only causing Kabuto to zone out briefly and leaving an engraving as a precaution.
The Root remnants' rescue operation was unexpected, but it wasn't a big deal. If even Danzo's most loyal followers couldn't tell his memories had been altered, it would still prove the effectiveness of "Yasaka no Magatama."
The engraving on Kabuto was just a backup.
By now, explosions echoed near Konoha's main gate.
Danzo's escape had been exposed, drawing more Anbu and Security Force members. To slow the pursuers, the Root remnants fought desperately, throwing everything they had—explosive tags, summoned beasts, ninjutsu. One even formed the seals for "Mutual Multiplier Explosive Tags" and charged into the crowd, detonating in a frenzied suicide attack.
Their reckless abandon gave Konoha's forces pause.
Among the pursuers, Hikari spotted familiar faces—Uchiha Yatsushiro, Nanami, Inuzuka Hana…
But she had no intention of meeting them. Instead, she seized the opportunity, using her Sky Dance Technique to fly to the Senju clan's compound. She located the largest courtyard at its center and slipped inside.
"This should be the place…"
Entering the mansion through a window and poking around, Hikari soon found Tsunade, drunkenly slumped by a window.
The woman had clearly been drinking all night. Even now, she looked dazed, wearing only a loose sleeveless top. From the side, Hikari could faintly make out the outline of her ample figure, but Tsunade's eyes were unfocused, almost vacant.
Well, that made things easier.
Hikari used the Transformation Technique to turn into a moth, flitting past Tsunade unnoticed. She cast a split-second Tsukuyomi Engraving, then flew off silently.
—Engraving Tsunade was part of her plan.
Unlike with Danzo, whose will she'd freely manipulated, Hikari didn't intend to tamper with Tsunade's mind. Instead, she wanted to use "Yasaka no Magatama" to erase Tsunade's hemophobia, hoping to later enlist her help in treating Eri.
Maybe she could even take a look at Nezuko from the *Demon Slayer* world.
But that plan wasn't for now.
First, Hikari wasn't entirely confident about using "Yasaka no Magatama" to cure hemophobia.
Danzo was a safe test subject—his life or death didn't matter. If the experiment failed, she could force him to use the "Reverse Four Symbols Seal" to destroy himself and keep her secret. Tsunade, however, was different. Any move on her had to succeed on the first try.
Second, Tsunade was still in Konoha. If Danzo's defection and Tsunade overcoming her hemophobia happened back-to-back, it might raise suspicions from the Third Hokage. While it was unlikely to trace back to Hikari, she didn't want to leave any loose ends.
The engraving was in place, so finding Tsunade later would be easy. There was no rush.
For now, Hikari flew back to her compound. Only after entering her room did she remove the mini bracelet, returning to her normal size.
"Phew…"
The clock on the wall read 3 a.m.
Hikari planned to wash her face and head to bed.
But…
As she passed Eri's room, she suddenly heard a faint rustling sound.