I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 65 "A Few Things About the Third Hokage" (Please continue reading~)

The world of Naruto, Konoha Village.

Naruto's family.

It was already late at night.

The entire village was quiet, and the bright moonlight shone on the earth. Except for a few patrolmen from the secret service and the guard force who were still busy, the other villagers had long since gone to sleep.

suddenly.

Uchiha Hikaru's figure appeared in the bedroom without warning.

After briefly checking the bedroom furnishings to make sure no one had touched them, Uchiha Hikaru opened the door, glanced at Naruto sleeping soundly next door, and then brushed his teeth and washed his face while keeping an eye on the messages in the group chat.

[Bulma: I'm home! How's Hikaru doing? Is everything alright?]

[Anonymous: Yeah, I've arrived too.]

[Anonymous@IronHead: Tanjiro, has anything changed over there?]

[Iron-Headed Kid: No, Mom and the others are still here, they shouldn't have disappeared... We're going down the mountain together now. Mr. Purgatory plans to find a place to settle down first, and then see what the lord's arrangements are.]

[Iron-Headed Kid: Also, Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Uzui are discussing who is "Amaterasu" and who is "Tsukuyomi" between you and Miss Bulma. Do you need me to explain this to them in detail?]

Bulma: Huh?

[Anonymous: ...No need to explain, that's fine.]

Although she didn't see the scene in person, Hikaru Uchiha could probably guess what Tanjiro was describing—from the perspective of the people in the Demon Slayer world, many of the methods she and Bulma displayed were indeed like those of gods.

In other words, she didn't reveal her Susanoo in front of the Demon Slayer Corps...

Otherwise, she, Bulma, and Susanoo would have been able to complete the set of the three noble children of Japanese mythology.

In the chat group.

[Yongdai Mei: Why is it suddenly so lively? Is something happening over there that I don't know about?]

[Bulma: It's Mr. Eternal, good evening! I have something to tell you...]

Bulma didn't seem sleepy at all, and enthusiastically pulled Minato Namikaze along to begin recounting her experiences over the past few days.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Hikaru quickly finished washing up, returned to his bedroom, drew the curtains, said "Goodnight" in the group chat, took off his shoes, lay down in bed, and closed his eyes to sleep.

……

A few minutes later.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had fallen into a deep sleep, was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"...You mean, Uchiha Hikaru is back, and he's at Naruto's house right now?"

"Yes, Lord Sandai."

Kakashi nodded and reported earnestly, "Yugao and I were both standing guard outside at the time. We saw her suddenly open the bedroom door and come out. We didn't notice anyone coming in or out beforehand, nor did we sense any fluctuations in chakra..."

I suspect she might have returned using some kind of space-time ninjutsu! When she suddenly disappeared from the village three weeks ago, she likely used the same ninjutsu as well!

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was still sleepy, rubbing his temples to stay awake while listening to Kakashi's report, looking somewhat bewildered.

About three weeks ago, the Anbu had already discovered Uchiha Hikaru's disappearance.

At the time, both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi, who was in charge of monitoring, assumed that the girl had simply slipped away unnoticed. While they were furious at this free-roaming behavior, from another perspective, it was actually a good thing—

This great-grandmother of the Uchiha clan put immense pressure on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He couldn't win in a fight, nor could he deceive them. To make matters worse, the other party had subtle connections with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the Uchiha clan, forcing him to be extremely cautious in handling many things. Some tasks that were originally very simple were forced to become much more demanding.

So the other person's departure actually relieved Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he even hoped that the other person would stay away for a few more months.

Can……

She actually came back?

Did they return using space-time ninjutsu?

What kind of space-time ninjutsu could leave the Konoha barrier team completely unaware? The Flying Thunder God Technique?

"Besides you and Xiyan, no one else knows about this, right?"

"No, I used a shadow clone to come and report to you immediately. My main body and Xiyan are still keeping an eye on things over there."

"Oh……"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment, then raised his head again: "Let's go, come with me to find Jiraiya."

A dozen minutes later.

A tall, drunken man with long, spiky white hair was called to his feet in the hotel room. Quiet chatter began to emanate from the room.

……

The next morning.

The sun is rising.

Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, leaving dappled patches of light on the wooden table and floor.

Because she got home late yesterday, Uchiha Hikari slept in a little longer. When she came out of the bedroom wearing a white sweater, she saw Naruto holding a rag and basin, scrubbing and cleaning in the living room.

Hearing the door open, the blond-haired boy turned around, a look of surprise on his face:

"Hey, Hikari-neechan, you're back!"

"Um……"

In contrast to Naruto's excited expression, Uchiha Hikaru's reaction was calm: "Has anyone come by in the last few days?"

As she said this, her gaze fell on several books on the coffee table—things that Naruto wouldn't normally buy.

Naruto nodded: "Yeah, the old man came by the night before last and brought me some things. There was also a white-haired uncle who seemed to know me, but I didn't remember his name!"

"The white-haired uncle..."

Kakashi?

still is……

Uchiha Hikaru vaguely guessed what was going on, but didn't say anything. He simply walked to the sofa, picked up the books, and glanced at the titles on the covers one by one: "The Will of Fire," "The Tale of the Guru Ninja," "The Story of the Third Hokage," "My Mentor Tobirama Senju," and so on.

"...What kind of nonsense is this?"

Uchiha Hikaru casually flipped through the books a few times, picked out "The Tale of the Rooted Ninja" and put it aside, planning to read what was written in it when he had time. He threw the rest of the books directly into the trash can.

Then, she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

"Speaking of which... isn't it almost New Year's here in Konoha?"

"yes!"

Naruto's cheerful voice came from the living room: "I heard from Grandpa and Uncle Ichiraku from the ramen shop that next Wednesday is New Year's Day, and we need to clean the house thoroughly for the holiday... Uncle Ichiraku also said that the village will be holding a big festival, it should be very lively!"

"oh."

Uchiha Hikaru spat out the mouthwash and looked at the fair and beautiful girl's face in the mirror, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"New Year..."

"Let's go out and buy some New Year's goods after breakfast."

After washing up, Uchiha Hikaru went to the kitchen and fried a few eggs to make sandwiches. He then opened a carton of milk, poured it into two cups, and called Naruto over to eat.

The knocking came just as the two had finished breakfast.

The second batch of group members will be joining soon, but the final selection hasn't been finalized yet. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments section.

(End of this chapter)