HSU: Ch. 302

Hearing Hiashi speak so gravely, the three of them couldn't help but quicken their pace.

This might sound a little cold, but with the current strong alliance between the Hyūga and Uchiha clans, after Hyūga Shijime passed away, Hiashi has played a crucial role in maintaining that relationship.

As the clan leader, Hiashi was the best in managing the complex relationship between the main and branch houses since the clan joined Konoha, and because of that, he had gained considerable prestige.

That didn't stop him from getting beaten up last night, though. To be fair, Hanabi was still somewhat respectful, she didn't punch him straight into a tree, which could be considered giving him some respect as her father.

With two black eyes, Hiashi didn't try to hide the fact that he was beaten up by his daughter. In his eyes, it was actually something to be proud of, "The Hyūga clan has produced a genius too."

However, when he began describing Hanabi's bizarre behavior at night, Masashi, who was listening, started to sense something was off.

Why were there so many familiar terms? In this world, only one other person besides him would know those.

As they spoke, the three of them arrived at Hanabi's current residence. Calling it a "residence" might not be accurate, "station" might be more fitting.

It was a single-story building, and quite a few Hyūga ninjas were stationed outside. Several of them even had matching black eyes like Hiashi. Things had clearly gotten intense.

Upon seeing Hiashi, the ninjas all bowed first, then opened the door for them.

Inside, it was very spacious.

Hanabi was sitting upright in the center. When she saw her father, she showed a joyful expression.

Masashi could tell at a glance, there was confusion mixed in with that joy.

Understandable.

You go to sleep like normal, and then when you wake up, people tell you that you attacked everyone you saw last night, including your own father. And now you're being treated like some violent maniac and put in isolation.

If she wasn't confused, that would be weird.

"Father." Hanabi, though confused, still showed proper manners thanks to her upbringing, addressing Hiashi respectfully and then bowing to the three Uchiha with him.

Having been trained as the Hyūga clan's heir, she was young, but not unaware of the current relationship between her clan and the Uchiha. And the three standing before her weren't just any Uchiha.

After the formalities, her gaze landed on Masashi. She knew this was her sister's jonin instructor. Although their instruction had been temporarily halted due to the war, the mentorship hadn't officially ended, so by principle, he was still technically Hinata's teacher.

"Greetings. Thank you for always taking care of my sister."

"No need for thanks," Masashi replied.

He observed this background character from the original timeline carefully. He didn't know too much about her. What he did know was that Hinata cared about her deeply. And judging by Hanabi's gaze, she cared about Hinata too, otherwise she wouldn't be looking at him that way.

"I'll leave her to you three," said Hiashi, who had just one thought right now: He didn't want to spend another night on edge.

Fugaku nodded at Hiashi, then turned to Shisui.

"Take a look."

Among the current generation of Uchiha, the top three were undoubtedly Masashi, Shisui, and Obito.

In terms of the Uchiha's signature skill, Shisui was always the strongest. Not only was he the best of his generation, but also the strongest in the entire clan. Barring any surprises, he would hold that title until retirement. The other two specialized in different areas: Masashi was a master of elemental jutsu, while Obito excelled in space-time ninjutsu.

Setting aside the anomaly that was Masashi, who somehow jumped straight to the Rinnegan, in normal circumstances, any Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan would have an ability that reflected the type of ninjutsu they were best at.

Kotoamatsukami was currently the most terrifying genjutsu-based ability ever manifested by the Uchiha clan.

He crouched down in front of Hanabi and gave her a warm, friendly smile.

"Can I call you Hanabi-chan?"

No, but saying that would be rude, Hanabi thought this to herself, then nodded with a sweet expression.

"Then can I call you Shisui-oniichan?"

"Of course you can," Shisui said, clearly pleased that the little girl didn't reject him. Her openness gave him a lot more confidence in his treatment approach. Behind him, Fugaku and Masashi exchanged a glance.

I don't think this guy has the personality to be clan leader. You do it.

Don't joke like that!

After their silent exchange, the two returned to smiling calmly as if nothing had happened, focusing their attention on Shisui's treatment process.

"Next I'm going to use genjutsu to enter your mind. Don't be nervous, it won't hurt," Shisui began with psychological reassurance.

Although the Sharingan was the most coveted bloodline limit in the shinobi world, its appearance was indeed creepy, especially to children.

"Okay," Hanabi nodded. "Don't worry, I'll cooperate fully."

She, too, wanted to know what had really happened. Why did everyone look so shaken when they saw her?

Shisui activated his Sharingan, first the standard three tomoe, which then quickly shifted into the distinctive pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Even though Hanabi kept telling herself not to be afraid under his intense gaze, she still couldn't help but tense up for a moment.

But only for a moment.

Compared to Shisui, her mental defenses were practically nonexistent.

Shisui had only ever failed once, and that was against Masashi.

Within the clan, that story had become a kind of legend: Genjutsu via Sharingan didn't just depend on the eye technique, it also depended on imagination. If you lacked creativity, you might as well turn yourself into a concrete wall and stop trying.

Hanabi clearly wasn't equipped for that level of mental defense, so her mindscape was completely laid bare before him. He proceeded carefully. He didn't want to harm her mind in any way, and he truly had no intention of doing anything beyond observation. Delicately, he extended his consciousness into Hanabi's mindscape. He found that her inner world was still bright and full of light, with very little negative energy.

He continued to go deeper, doing his best to avoid looking directly at her memories. His sole objective was to check if there was any foreign presence within Hanabi's spirit. As he explored, he was struck by the girl's inner strength, and her deep love for her family. It made him feel an even greater sense of compassion for her.

What a mature and well-behaved child...

After looking around and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he prepared to withdraw. But just as he was about to leave, something seemed to catch his attention, causing him to freeze.

As a ninja who had trained in Yin Release to an advanced degree, he instinctively felt, just for an instant, that in Hanabi's mind, there was someone else besides himself and Hanabi.

Following the faint "trail" he had sensed, he returned to investigate.

Suddenly, the surroundings began to shift. The colors representing Hanabi's essence faded away, replaced by a completely different palette.

More specific imagery began to materialize.

---

Kotoamatsukami was a genjutsu that altered the target's thoughts, a reality-warping illusion, and what's more, it could affect multiple targets at once.

Even when not using Kotoamatsukami, just activating his Mangekyō allowed him to subtly infiltrate others' minds to a certain extent.

He was the most dangerous genjutsu user in the entire shinobi world.

Fortunately, he belonged to the Lawful Good camp. Whether to enemies or allies, this was something to be grateful for. Because of this ability, he was the best candidate to conduct a mental examination on Hanabi.

Previously, he had deliberately avoided probing too deeply into Hanabi's mind, so her mindscape appeared fragmented and blurry to him, countless scattered fragments, like a slideshow of memories flashing by. But now, before his eyes, this mental space had been reshaped and tainted by a far stronger spiritual force.

An endless, all-encompassing darkness unfolded before him, a void where one couldn't even see their own hand. This was definitely not Hanabi's own spiritual power.

The Uchiha clan thrived on spiritual energy, and Shisui was arguably the most adept among them at wielding it.

This wasn't Hanabi's mindscape anymore. Now unrestrained, Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan flared to full power, unleashing his immense spiritual energy, ready to use Kotoamatsukami at any moment.

His eyes opened wide, representing his full spiritual force, resisting the invading darkness and trying to expose the entity within. This unusual ocular power caught the attention of the one who ruled this place.

"Hamura... no..."

In the darkness, a spiritual force far beyond Mangekyō-level also took form.

A much larger eye appeared.

Its scarlet hue was deeper, with an abnormal number of tomoe spinning in rings all too familiar, displayed clearly before Shisui. The moment that eye appeared, it overwhelmed his own power. Darkness surged toward his Mangekyō, turning his scarlet into crimson, corrupting his vision.

Before he could even attempt to activate Kotoamatsukami, the scene changed again.

He realized, the opponent had forcibly connected with his ocular power. The other was also a user of eye techniques.

Ocular energy, being a unique type of energy, couldn't be forcibly linked through normal means. So ocular power battles were the fairest, strong was strong, weak was weak.

Shisui didn't hesitate to activate Kotoamatsukami. But to his shock, it wouldn't activate! It felt like a swordsman trying to draw his blade, only to find the hilt blocked. The sword was there, but he couldn't unsheathe it.

In that brief moment, the opposing power crushed through his defenses and invaded his mind.

This is it. I'm finished, Shisui thought.

He wasn't even concerned about dying, what scared him was his memories. Since the Third Great Ninja War, he had been a key figure within the Uchiha clan and knew far too many of its top secrets. Even though Masashi often joked about him, and Fugaku called him not-too-bright, the truth was that he was privy to every major event, even if he hadn't personally participated, he knew all the details.

This was the terrifying aspect of spiritual battles, the winner took everything. In contrast the Yamanaka, who lacked the Sharingan, often risked their lives just using their own mental techniques.

"Hm?" A surprised voice echoed through the darkness.

This time, because of the spiritual connection, he could hear it clearly, it was a woman's voice. And judging by the voice, a woman in her prime.

As Masashi had liked to say, this was the ultimate mature woman voice, the kind that could make you fall head over heels if she wore black stockings.

Wait a second, why the hell was he thinking about that right before dying?

Damn you, Masashi! You've corrupted me!

"Hmph!" The woman in the darkness let out a clearly annoyed snort. "So rude... Enough! Leave this one's domain!"

Huh? She's actually letting him go?

Shisui felt like he'd uncovered the truth.

"Who are you? You know Masashi-nii, don't you?"

The woman gave no reply. The immense force withdrew rapidly, but just before it vanished, it forcibly expelled Shisui's spirit from the mindscape.

That ejection hit harder than everything that came before.

---

Back in the real world, no one had noticed anything unusual. From their perspective, Shisui had only just activated his Mangekyō, barely a few seconds ago. Suddenly, his expression twisted in pain, blood-tears streamed from his eyes.

"Shisui!" Fugaku cried out in shock.

He might joke around about Shisui all the time, but that didn't mean he didn't care. In fact, he cared deeply. As the others rushed forward, he also activated his Sharingan, ready to intervene, but it was already over.

Both Hanabi and Shisui collapsed backward in opposite directions.

Hiashi caught his daughter, while Shisui was supported by Fugaku.

"Are you okay?" Fugaku asked. He noticed Shisui's Sharingan had deactivated, but thankfully, the blood-tears had stopped. It looked just like the symptoms of ocular power exhaustion.

"I'm fine…" Shisui said weakly, his eyes falling on Hanabi, she had passed out.

Now he finally knew what was wrong with her. This wasn't sleepwalking, this was a spiritual possession by a powerful entity.

His eyes throbbed with pain, and he keenly sensed his vision had worsened, the damage was permanent. If the other side hadn't spared him, the consequences would have been far worse. He'd been careless, nearly lost everything.

Masashi… he's been married for years! How the hell does he still know such a terrifying woman? Can't he make some normal female friends?

"Hanabi? Hanabi?" Hiashi called out, clearly shaken.

Fighting a jonin was scary enough, but now she'd just gone toe-to-toe with a Mangekyō wielder?

"I'm sorry," Shisui said as Fugaku helped him stand, "But Hanabi isn't ill. Her mind was indeed possessed, think of it as an extremely powerful genjutsu."

While most genjutsu users couldn't accomplish this, for an Uchiha, it wasn't so rare. As long as the Sharingan is awakened, genjutsu becomes a standard ability, and the potential skyrockets.

Long before Shadow Clone Technique was invented, the Uchiha already knew how to split and reclaim spiritual power. Of course, the baseline requirement was a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan. Shisui, whose skills were already beyond transplant-level mastery, was very familiar with this, in fact, it was his favorite combat style.

The Hyūga clan, one of the oldest ninja clans like the Senju and Uchiha, also dated back to the time of the Sage of Six Paths. As such, Hiashi understood exactly what the Sharingan could do.

His expression changed.

Don't get him wrong, while he immediately started thinking wild thoughts, he wasn't suspecting anyone present...

"Everyone out!" he barked sharply.

The Hyūga ninjas at the door really wanted to protest that they hadn't even entered the room yet, but the clan leader's tone made it clear he was about to explode, so they quickly shut the door and backed far, far away.

Inside the room, Hiashi looked at Fugaku and took a deep breath.

"Fugaku, there's no outsiders here now. There's something I'd like to ask, though I'm not sure if it's appropriate."

"We've known each other for many years." Fugaku looked at Hanabi, who was lying in Hiashi's arms, and a trace of sorrow appeared on his face. "Hanabi is a child I've watched grow up. If I find out who's behind this, I won't go easy on them."

Masashi wanted to give him a thumbs-up.

So full of emotion. Perfectly delivered. Only problem, he still wasn't saying what the actual issue was.

"Just speak freely. We can all work through it together."

"Then forgive my rudeness." Hiashi took another deep breath, clearly still a bit nervous. "With such a technique, even Shisui couldn't resist. As far as I know, only an even more powerful Sharingan eye could do this… Could it be…"

"Masashi would never do something like that," Fugaku said seriously. "You know him. Despite all the rumors around Hinata, he isn't an outsider. He'd never do such a thing."

"That's not what I meant."

"Could you please let him finish speaking?"

Seriously, thanks a lot. If you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have even realized how suspicious I looked.

"Ahem…" Fugaku awkwardly cleared his throat and fell silent.

Hiashi, meanwhile, felt like the mood had already been ruined. So he got straight to the point. "Could it have been the work of Madara?"

Fugaku was stunned.

Now that he thought about it… that was kind of possible. According to most people, Madara wasn't a villain or a hero, he was completely unpredictable. Even the Uchiha themselves didn't really understand what Madara was up to. And because of that, anything he did could seem reasonable.

"Impossible," Shisui said. "The other party was a woman."

An elegant, mature-sounding woman, he added mentally.

"A woman?" Now it was Hiashi's turn to be shocked.

He still couldn't believe someone like Madara would crossdress. If anything, women disguising themselves as men was more plausible. After all, the Warring States period heavily favored men.

"Who could it be then…" Fugaku said, frowning. He'd never heard of such a powerful woman before.

Hiashi didn't know either.

The two of them dug through their memories, trying to find any clues they might have missed.

"Yeah, who could it be…" As Shisui spoke, he looked at Masashi.

"Why are you looking at me?" Masashi was baffled. The look Shisui gave him was like that of someone eyeing a playboy.

What was that even supposed to mean? He hadn't been a sage for years. Don't sully his name!

"It's nothing. Aren't you going to think about it with us?"

"Ugh, forget it. I'm not arguing with you." Masashi naturally had his own suspicions. The fact that Shisui had been defeated so quickly and thoroughly only added to the evidence.

It was common knowledge: Kaguya wasn't just sealed on the moon.

Hamura and Hagoromo had been extremely ruthless to their mother. They stripped her of the chakra from the God Tree and then sealed both her mind and body.

The mythical Ten-Tails was actually Kaguya. She and the Ten-Tails were both distinct and one and the same. Even after being deprived of the chakra from the God Tree, she still possessed immense spiritual power. This came from how the God Tree had transformed her, or evolved her. It was intrinsic to her now. With help from her two sons, her powerful spirit and her physical body were sealed together.

If it was her, they'd know tonight.

Under Shisui's increasingly strange gaze, Masashi stepped forward. "Rather than speculating here, why don't we just ask her directly tonight?"

"Right, makes sense." Fugaku nodded. "Hiashi, what do you think? Will that be convenient?"

Hiashi felt like Fugaku just wanted to see him get smacked around. Pushing that absurd thought aside, he nodded.

"Of course it's convenient."

Very convenient, actually, he had it all planned out. Tonight, he would do the talking, and the Uchiha would do the fighting. After all, the Uchiha were so strong. Of course, hitting his daughter was absolutely out of the question.

"Please try not to use force."

Fugaku figured Hiashi meant they could only take the hits.

Which was fair, what father would let others hit their child? That feeling, the satisfaction of smacking your own kid, was sacred. No one else could have it.

He started planning out where to stand that evening.

"It's better if I go alone tonight," Masashi said. "Too many people will just make it worse."

If it was Kaguya, who knows what she might see. He had way too many secrets. Best not to let others find out.

Behind him, Shisui's strange gaze upgraded yet another level.

"Isn't that too dangerous?" Hiashi asked worriedly. "How about this, I'll stay nearby. If anything happens, I can help."

"Whatever you think is best," Masashi nodded.

With the plan settled, the group began to disperse, mostly because Shisui had reached his limit. But the look in his eyes still made Masashi want to punch him.

"Go get some rest. You've had a tough day." Masashi raised his hand to cover Shisui's eyes. "There, there. Go to sleep. Close your eyes."

"Stop fooling around, Masashi," Fugaku couldn't take it anymore and pulled Shisui away. "Come with me. You've hurt your eyes already."

These two had been acting weird since the start. They weren't ordinary Uchiha, after all, stop embarrassing yourselves.

Masashi, meanwhile, cheerfully saw them off. Once they were out of sight, he turned to Hiashi.

"Since it's still early, I'd like to visit an old friend or two in the compound. Is that okay?"

Masashi had a number of old acquaintances among the Hyūga.

"Not a problem. Go ahead," Hiashi nodded. "I'll make sure everything is prepared for tonight."