Aside from Tsunade and a handful of others who maintained necessary vigilance, many shinobi had begun to relax. Some even murmured quietly about what now seemed like an absurd misunderstanding.
Only Jiraiya did not ease.
His face grew paler by the second. Cold sweat gathered at his temples.
His pupils constricted in shock as scattered fragments of information collided in his mind—
The Heavenly Curtain's "Light."
Her self-description as a weapon.
Her hatred toward the Uchiha.
The ancient conflict between the Senju and Uchiha during the Warring States Period.
The fact that she had been sealed as a "dangerous weapon" by the Senju and Uzumaki clans.
The pieces snapped together with icy clarity.
If she had been used as a weapon…
If she had spoken of being controlled…
If she hated the Uchiha…
Then the ones who controlled that "weapon" were likely—
The Uchiha Clan.
And this Uchiha girl, sealed jointly by their enemies—
"She's… Uchiha Hikari!"
The name detonated in his mind like thunder.
He remembered the Heavenly Curtain: the eerie girl who turned Neji into a puppet, distorted perception, and called herself "Light."
She had not simply appeared in some distant "future."
Her origin was here.
In the seal they had just undone.
What they had released was not an ancient tool—
But a living calamity.
A being with the terrifying abilities shown in the Heavenly Curtain.
A girl who might harbor deep resentment toward the Uchiha—perhaps toward the entire world.
Jiraiya felt as though an invisible hand had seized his throat. He tried to shout a warning, but for a moment, no sound came.
He could only stare at the slender back basking in sunlight, as if oblivious to the storm about to break.
Tsunade's voice broke the silence.
"Uchiha child… what is your name?"
The question hung in the air.
Hikari did not turn around. She tilted her head slightly, as if mildly annoyed at having her sunbathing interrupted.
Silence lingered—
"TSUNADE!!!"
Jiraiya's voice finally tore free—raw, cracking with absolute alarm.
The sudden, desperate shout silenced all murmurs. Every head snapped toward him.
He moved instantly.
No explanation. No hesitation.
Hand seals flashed.
"Summoning Technique!"
Boom!
A burst of white smoke erupted as two small yet imposing elder toads—Fukasaku and Shima—appeared on his shoulders.
"Jiraiya-boy? What's this—?" Fukasaku began.
"No time to explain!" Jiraiya's voice was hoarse and urgent. "Elders—full support! Sage Mode! Now!"
He bit his thumb, smeared blood across his face, and began absorbing natural energy at once.
He was preparing to enter Sage Mode.
Immediately.
The fluidity of his actions only made it more jarring.
Against a girl who looked no older than thirteen, Jiraiya—the legendary Sannin—was going all out without hesitation.
Was this… excessive?
Tsunade knew better.
She knew Jiraiya's instincts. Beneath his usual foolish demeanor lay razor-sharp intuition when real danger loomed.
If he reacted like this—without pause—then something was terribly wrong.
"Everyone! Maximum alert!" Tsunade barked the order almost the instant Jiraiya summoned the elders.
She trusted the fear in his voice.
Konoha's shinobi tightened formation instantly. Chakra surged. Defensive stances snapped back into place.
The other villages followed suit, confusion turning into renewed tension.
Then Jiraiya spoke again, his cheeks already marked with toad-like pigmentation as natural energy flooded his system.
"It's her… Light!"
His voice carried a strange resonance as Sage Mode began to take hold.
"The 'Light' from the Heavenly Curtain! I didn't expect it—but she's an Uchiha! We… we just released the future enemy!"
Light?!
The Light from the Heavenly Curtain?!
The one with the grotesque ability to turn people into puppets and erase their existence from perception?
The one who hated the Uchiha?
This sealed Uchiha girl—
Was her?
The realization detonated across the field like an explosion.
Any lingering awkwardness vanished instantly.
In its place rose something colder and far more concrete than the vague fear of an unknown weapon.
They had seen what "Light" could do.
The cruelty with which she toyed with others.
The warped psyche.
The terrifying power.
That memory overlaid perfectly with the slender figure now slowly turning toward them in the sunlight.
They had not unearthed a harmless relic.
They had unleashed a monster sealed by history.
Faces drained of color in unison.
All eyes fixed on the dark silhouette finally rotating to face them.
"That's impossible—!" Tsunade's gasp slipped free, mirrored by the abrupt expressions of the other Kage.
They did not want to believe it.
But Jiraiya's near-panicked certainty—and his immediate transition into Sage Mode—made denial fragile.
Deep inside, that last flicker of hope trembled like a candle in the wind.
And the girl—
Uchiha Hikari—
Finished turning.
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