"The Uchiha couldn't have been completely wiped out," she shook her head, denying the old Star Shadow's conclusion.
She brought the topic back to the Uchiha massacre once more.
The old Star Shadow sighed.
"I know the truth may be cruel to you, but the Uchiha really have been destroyed. Otherwise, those villages would never have dared to move against Konoha."
Seeing how firm his stance was, Hikaru asked in a low voice:
"Other than the Uchiha ninja taken away by Uchiha Yu, were there no other Uchiha left in Konoha at all?"
The old Star Shadow's eyes lit up as he thought for a moment.
"There actually were some left, but as for how many remain in Konoha now, I'm not sure."
"So that's it..."
Hikaru's expression grew solemn.
What she most wanted to investigate now was still the incident of the Uchiha clan's extermination.
What Uchiha Yu had done completely overturned her understanding of her own people.
The Uchiha had always been extreme, but never to this extent.
Many things could only be clarified if she spoke to him face-to-face.
At the same time, she had also come to a realization — the Uchiha likely had indeed been destroyed.
But after the massacre, the survivors had split into two factions.
One faction still belonged to the so-called Konoha, which explained why a war-weakened Konoha had urgently sent Uchiha Itachi to awaken her.
The other faction consisted of Uchiha Yu and the others who had defected.
After questioning the old Star Shadow, Hikaru now had a rough grasp of the current state of the shinobi world.
To her, this shinobi world centuries later seemed not all that different from the past.
Except for the annihilation of the Uchiha clan.
What surprised her most was that the Uchiha had once chosen to reconcile with the Senju and establish Konoha Village together.
And yet now...
The Uchiha had instead met such a tragic end. Hikaru didn't know how to judge the choice her people had made back then.
But she understood one thing clearly — the shinobi world of today was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.
Next, she would escort Madara and his wife back to Konoha, then set off alone to investigate the truth behind the Uchiha clan's destruction.
In truth, who had destroyed the Uchiha wasn't that important to her.
She simply wanted to know the real truth — and witness with her own eyes the downfall of the Uchiha.
If possible, go find the remaining Uchiha and have a talk with them?
Hikari felt that she should go find that Uchiha Yu and speak with him — perhaps there would be unexpected gains.
"Talk about you instead."
Hikari looked straight at the old Star Shadow.
"Me?" The old Star Shadow immediately turned to look at the red-masked ninja lying dead on the ground.
Coming to his senses, he replied:
"It's like this — the Star Shadow Building was ambushed by ninjas sent from the Hidden Cloud of the Land of Lightning. They came for the meteorite."
The old Star Shadow was extremely certain of the invaders' identities.
The Land of Lightning was very close to the Land of Bears, and recently he had also heard that the Land of Lightning had suffered a defeat at Konoha.
Given the nature of the Hidden Cloud…
They were surely now scouring nearby small ninja villages for bloodline-limit ninjas and special items like the Star Meteorite to strengthen their forces.
After all, that was how the Hidden Cloud had risen to power in the first place — the old Star Shadow knew their crimes all too well.
"..." Hikari showed no interest in this. She turned and walked toward 'Madara' and Tsunade outside the door, saying to the old Star Shadow before leaving, "You've already lost the meteorite. I suggest you disband the village and relocate."
She did not waste words explaining the negative effects of the meteorite.
Leaving the Star Shadow Building.
Hikari released the control of Eight Thousand Spears over the more than three hundred Star Nin. The crowd of Star Nin stood there in a daze.
To her, these Star Nin were truly weak — whether to kill them or not was merely a matter of a single thought.
After a moment, the Star Nin, filled with fear, made way for her, allowing Hikari to walk toward 'Madara' and Tsunade.
Quite a few Star Nin rushed into the Star Shadow Building.
Under the Star Shadow's orders, the Star Nin seized the two remaining masked mysterious ninjas.
"Execute them on the spot!"
The old Star Shadow sighed.
"Lord Star Shadow, aren't we going to interrogate their identities?" a Star Nin asked.
"These three are Cloud Nin who do dirty work for the Hidden Cloud. Confirming their identities would only bring us trouble!" the old Star Shadow said solemnly.
These ninjas who carried out kidnapping and trafficking for the Hidden Cloud — even if outsiders killed them during their dirty work, the Hidden Cloud would have no legitimate reason to retaliate.
"Yes—"
The Star Nin drew their kunai, preparing to strike.
Suddenly, the old Star Shadow stopped them and took the kunai himself. "I'll do it personally!"
He remembered how these three had just beaten him until his face was swollen and bruised, utterly humiliating him — and anger immediately surged within his chest.
"N-no… don't!"
"You can't…"
Seeing the old Star Shadow approaching with the kunai, the two masked mysterious ninjas cried out in terror.
Puchi——
The kunai rose and fell.
Blood splattered.
The old Star Shadow paid no attention whatsoever to what the two intruders were saying. He handed the bloodstained kunai to the Star ninja beside him.
"Haah—" After executing the intruders, the old Star Shadow looked toward the light departing through the main entrance.
After letting out a sigh, driven by curiosity, he casually removed the masks from the two mysterious ninjas.
"It's you… it's you!!"
The old Star Shadow's pupils widened as he froze in place, his expression completely collapsing. His mouth split open as he broke down into loud, anguished sobs.
The crying was utterly miserable.
Seeing their Shadow like this, then looking at the two people on the ground whom he had personally executed, the Star ninjas were completely stunned.
Outside, hearing the heart-wrenching cries coming from the Star Shadow Tower, Uchiha Yu, who had just reached the gate, frowned and looked at the approaching light in confusion.
"You beat someone so hard they cried?"
Tsunade also glanced curiously toward the Star Shadow Tower.
There was the same confusion in Hikari's eyes. She turned her head to look back and shook it.
"Not me."
Uchiha Yu grabbed a Star ninja who had just run out of the tower and asked:
"What happened inside?"
The Star ninja hesitated and stammered as he described everything that had occurred inside the building.
After hearing it, Uchiha Yu, Tsunade, and Hikari all showed expressions of disbelief.
The old Star Shadow had originally assumed the three invading ninjas were from Kumogakure. But after personally executing the remaining two masked ninjas, he discovered…
One of them was his eldest son, who had left the Star Ninja Village years ago after falling out with him over meteorite management and storming off in anger!
As it turned out, the old Star Shadow hadn't been entirely wrong either. His eldest son had indeed defected to Kumogakure. Because he could use the Peacock Mystic Technique, he was now highly valued there, and his true identity was a Cloud ninja.
"How absurd," Uchiha Yu mocked silently to himself, then looked at Guang. "Did you find the information you wanted?"
Hikari nodded. "Yeah. My memories have recovered a little… I probably need to make a trip to... Konoha."
"Perfect timing."
Uchiha Yu's eyes lit up.
°°°
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