At the gates of the clan leader's residence, the captured Kaguya clan members stood in neat lines under Uchiha Hikari's control, their eyes vacant, awaiting the end of the battle outside.

For the first time having unleashed her Eight Thousand Spears on so many people, the girl was clearly unaccustomed to it. The excess chakra left her head swimming in dizziness.

"You can transfer the excess chakra to me," Uchiha Gin suggested with a smile, unable to hold back a chuckle at her tipsy and adorable expression.

Knowing full well that Gin was trying to help lighten her burden, Hikari activated her Mangekyō, and a blue light flashed. From the markings left during their earlier combination technique, a torrent of chakra began flowing into Gin.

Bathed in the surge of chakra, Gin's weakened body—taxed from using the Mangekyō—felt as though it had been revived, like he'd just been injected with adrenaline.

"Thank you, Gin," Hikari said softly, her cheeks flushed, a hint of shyness on her delicate face. Nearby, his aunt watched them with an amused, knowing smile.

Gin was about to say something when—

"Hikari, there's no need to be so formal—"

"Urgh…"

In the next instant, the previously shy girl's body erupted with a terrifying aura. Her clear eyes clouded over with black mist, and the oppressive pressure radiating from her made everyone nearby stiffen.

Sensing something wrong, Gin reached out, but before he could touch her, the marking on the back of his hand flared violently. His body froze in place, refusing to move.

He could feel his chakra draining at an alarming rate. His mouth refused to open, his eyes darting around in panic. It was then he noticed that his aunt also bore a marking, and she too stood there, dazed, her chakra being forcibly siphoned away.

But the most horrifying part was yet to come. As the black mist in Hikari's eyes thickened, the previously controlled Kaguya regained consciousness.

"What… what's going on?!"

Kaguya Kousuke, their leader, looked around, confused and fearful. His last memory was of the red moon in the sky as the black flames closed in.

"Elder, I can't move!"

Beside him, Kaguya Takuya, the half-blood with the mutated Byakugan, cried out in panic, his body immobile.

"Me neither!"

"Same here!"

All around them, the reawakened Kaguya shouted in fear.

The girl's blank gaze swept over everyone around her before finally fixing on the Kaguya still trapped within the ring of black flames. With just a glance, the flames opened up, and the eerie pattern in her eyes began to spin. Under her influence, the frozen Kaguya found themselves compelled to move.

One Kaguya raised a bony white blade from his palm. His terrified gaze met his comrade's as he struck down, slicing his own brother clean in two, blood spraying everywhere.

"No!!"

The slain man's wide eyes stared back at him, his voice gurgling into silence as blood filled his lungs. His killer collapsed moments later, impaled by another's bone blade, falling lifeless onto his brother's corpse.

Controlled and powerless to stop it, Gin could only watch as the Kaguya butchered one another, their screams and curses echoing as the scene became a blood-soaked hell.

"Elder Kousuke! Stop, please!!"

Compared to the average Kaguya's powerful body, the half-blood Takuya was physically frail. Against Kousuke, who now looked like a human porcupine, he didn't stand a chance. In one swift move, he was skewered through the chest.

[Shikotsumyaku: Willow Dance]

"Don't hate me, Takuya…"

Kousuke's anguished voice barely rose above a whisper as he slaughtered his trusted subordinate, powerless to stop his own body from acting.

"Damn you, Uchiha! I'll tear you to pieces!!"

Bones sprouted from every inch of Kousuke's flesh as he tried to use searing pain to regain control of himself.

"Such a terrifying ability," muttered the old man who'd been watching all along. He'd planted this seed in her mind back at the research facility, using his Mangekyō and the shadow clone Wángliǎng to embed negative emotions deep inside her.

Now, at his will, her emotions erupted, turning her into a living weapon.

"Why… why are you doing this to me?!"

Hikari's mind was awash in memories of being tortured, imprisoned, treated as nothing more than a research subject.

There was no memory of Gin being there.

Her eyes grew darker, her expression twisted in rage, blood trickling down her cheeks from overusing her Sharingan.

Seeing her face contorted in pain, Gin's entire body tensed. His eyes darkened with killing intent.

"Move… damn it, MOVE!!"

With a sudden surge, his Mangekyō flared and shattered the shackles of her Eight Thousand Spears. He staggered, his vision blurring to near blindness. But he didn't care. He stumbled toward her, grabbing her shoulders.

"Hikari, snap out of it!"

He didn't know why she was breaking down, but in this moment, all he could rely on was the one thing every spoiled heir excelled at: Talk-no-Jutsu.

The familiar voice made her pupils tremble, and her body shook as though resisting an unseen force.

"Hikari… it's me, Gin. We promised we'd go to the Land of Water and eat seafood, go to the Land of Hot Springs and soak, watch the snow in the Land of Snow…"

His gentle words, recalling their childhood promises, seemed to reach her. The darkness in her eyes receded, her gaze clearing.

"Gin… what… what did I do…?"

Her legs gave out, and she slumped into his arms, her breath weak, her lips pale as she whispered.

"It's okay. I'm here," he said firmly, unable to clearly see her face anymore, but still reaching up to pat her head, his voice steady and full of conviction.

"He… he's back to himself!"

Kousuke gasped, freezing mid-strike as the mark faded and control returned to him.

The surviving Kaguya looked around in horror at the carnage they'd inflicted on each other. Some fell into stunned silence, while others broke down completely, screaming and running madly through the streets.

(End of Chapter)

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