The Kage and the gathered elites closed in, each wearing a different expression but maintaining absolute vigilance.
Standing on the outer perimeter, Jiraiya stared at the long rectangular box. Judging by the way it had emerged—and the faint, cold, deathly aura it emitted, utterly unlike chakra—a chilling thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"…That doesn't look like a weapons crate," he muttered under his breath. "It looks more like… a coffin."
His voice was low and went unnoticed.
As the final remnants of the deteriorated sealing formula were dismantled under the combined efforts of several master-level sealing shinobi, the dark metal box was finally laid bare—no energy barrier remaining.
But before Tsunade could order it opened—
"BOOM—!"
A thunderous explosion erupted.
The heavy lid was not lifted from outside—it was blasted open from within by overwhelming force.
The thick metal cover spun high into the air before crashing down in the distance, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Fall back! Defensive positions!" Tsunade barked.
She leapt backward instantly, the other four Kage doing the same, spreading out to form a semicircular encirclement around the open box.
The accompanying shinobi reacted with discipline—barriers rose, explosive tags were primed, long-range ninja tools aimed. Every gaze locked onto the dust-filled opening.
"Lady Hokage! There's a chakra signature inside! It's strong—and rapidly stabilizing!" a Hyūga sensor shouted, veins bulging around his Byakugan as he stared into the box, disbelief lacing his voice.
"What?!"
The report struck like lightning.
Chakra… inside?
A person?
The "dangerous weapon" jointly sealed by the Uzumaki and Senju ancestors centuries ago… was a human being?
A chilling, absurd realization seized everyone's hearts.
Suddenly, Jiraiya recalled the venomous murmur from the Heavenly Curtain—"Light" speaking in bitter resentment.
"I never want to be controlled again!"
"I will be the one who controls everything!"
So this was the weapon?
A human weapon—used, then sealed?
Jiraiya's face turned pale.
He was almost certain of it.
Just then, as tension reached its peak, a slightly hoarse yet unmistakably clear voice drifted from within the open box.
"Honestly… that took forever. Sorry about the noise out there, everyone."
The voice paused, as if adjusting to vocal cords unused for ages.
"I've been waiting… and waiting."
It was a girl's voice.
The confirmation sank like a stone in every chest.
Under hundreds of wary gazes, a slender figure slowly rose from inside the box.
Her back faced the crowd.
The first thing they saw was slightly disheveled black hair—
And on the back of her clothing, clearly visible even in the dim light, a red-and-white fan crest.
The emblem of the Uchiha Clan.
She lifted one delicate hand, shielding her eyes from the sun as if unaccustomed to the light.
Then she raised her head toward the sky.
The midday sun shone brightly overhead.
"The sun…" she murmured softly, genuine emotion in her tone. "It's been… so long. Still as warm as ever."
Her movements were natural. Her voice carried the youthful softness of a girl barely in her teens.
The contrast was jarring.
This—this was the "dangerous weapon" sealed for centuries?
"An Uchiha… child?" Tsunade frowned.
She had not yet seen the girl's face, but the clan crest and slight build suggested someone perhaps twelve or thirteen years old.
This was what required the combined power of the Uzumaki and Senju clans at the height of their sealing arts?
Had their ancestors truly gone to such lengths for a child?
For a fleeting second, even Tsunade found herself questioning everything.
Had it been mercy? Were they unwilling to kill someone so young?
…No. That didn't make sense.
If anything, children were easier to eliminate.
The thought flickered absurdly through her mind.
Around her, the other Kage and elite shinobi wore equally complicated expressions.
Moments ago, they had prepared for annihilation.
Now—
A living, breathing Uchiha girl stood before them.
If the box had contained a world-shattering weapon, there would have been grounds for research, control, even dispute.
But this?
This was Konoha's internal matter.
None of the other villages had legitimate justification to interfere. Forcing involvement would risk diplomatic fallout and internal instability.
Ōnoki's aged face twitched faintly.
Had he truly mobilized at his age… for this?
A clicked his tongue in irritation, feeling faintly duped.
Mei exhaled quietly, relief mixing with disbelief.
Rasa's expression remained neutral, though a subtle disappointment flickered in his eyes—this ancient "weapon" would not grant Sunagakure new power after all.
The atmosphere shifted from lethal tension to something far more awkward.
No one knew how to proceed.
And the girl—
She seemed utterly indifferent to the encirclement of hundreds of elite shinobi.
Still facing away, she tilted her head slightly upward, basking in the sunlight as though nothing else existed.
Her slender silhouette looked almost fragile against the brightness—
Yet there was something distant about her.
Detached.
Out of place.
She was Uchiha Hikari.
A "key" deliberately introduced into the world—bearing the memory imprint of the Heavenly Curtain's "Light" and the bloodline of the Uchiha Clan.
And now—
Under countless complicated gazes—
She had made her entrance.
The oppressive tension in the air had dissolved into uneasy silence.
But whether this silence heralded relief—
Or the calm before something far greater—
No one yet knew.
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