"Are you curious about where I came from?"
Seeing Kikyo resting quietly in his arms, her expression gentle, Uchiha Retsu looked up at the fragments of sky occasionally visible through the fast-moving forest canopy and suddenly broke the silence.
Kikyo, who had been leaning quietly against him, blinked softly. Surprise flashed across her face before she slowly nodded.
"You're not from around here, are you?" she said gently. "Not just your abilities—even your everyday habits are completely different from the people here."
Tilting her head slightly, curiosity appeared in her eyes.
"Are you from another country?"
"Another country? In a way, yes."
A complicated light flickered in Retsu's eyes as he spoke quietly.
"I come from the Land of Fire. But to be precise… I'm not from this world. I'm from the Land of Fire in another world."
"Another world?"
Kikyo froze, her eyes widening in shock. She instinctively tried to sit up, but Retsu held her tightly, preventing her from moving.
So she remained leaning against him, looking up in disbelief.
"You mean… somewhere like the underworld?"
"Mm… it's a world completely different from this one."
Retsu scratched his head helplessly.
"To be honest, I don't fully understand it myself. Coming to this world happened in a rather confusing way."
"Then how did you arrive here?"
Kikyo's curiosity had been completely ignited. She grabbed his sleeve unconsciously as she pressed him for more.
"Do you remember the Kamui space I showed you before?"
Retsu's eyes reflected a trace of memory as he looked down at her with a faint smile.
"I remember."
Kikyo nodded firmly.
"That dark and empty place with all those stone platforms. It left quite an impression on me."
"I think my arrival here may be connected to that space."
Retsu explained slowly.
"I told you before that I once sensed I might die. So I prepared several Impure World Reincarnation scrolls in advance for resurrection. I made quite a few of them… and hid one inside the Kamui space."
"And the scroll you used to revive yourself in this world… was the one hidden there?"
Kikyo immediately understood, realization flashing in her eyes.
"Exactly."
Retsu nodded.
"But for some reason, that scroll ended up in this world. And I revived here."
After a pause, he voiced his speculation.
"The Kamui dimension exists because of the Mangekyō Sharingan technique called Kamui.
"My guess is that when Obito—the one who originally possessed Kamui—died, the dimension collapsed. Somehow, the scroll inside fell into this world.
"And because of that… I revived here."
"I see…"
Kikyo stared at him in amazement.
"Your origin is even more mysterious than Kagome's."
"I think so too."
Retsu pulled her closer, his smile warm.
"So meeting you is something truly miraculous.
"I crossed two worlds just to meet you."
His hand gently brushed through her hair as his voice softened.
"So don't say you're alone.
"I left my original world behind and came here alone… and that's how I met you."
Hearing this, Kikyo's heart skipped a beat.
Warmth spread through her chest.
She gazed quietly into his eyes. The sharpness in those pupils had faded, replaced entirely by tenderness.
She nodded softly before asking with sudden curiosity,
"Who is Obito? You said he could also use Kamui?"
"Obito?"
Retsu blinked in surprise at the unexpected question, but he thought for a moment and answered seriously.
"That guy's name was Uchiha Obito. He was also from the Uchiha clan.
"But… he was a lunatic."
After a pause, he added,
"Kamui was originally his eye technique.
"My real Mangekyō ability is called Ame-no-Uzume. Its power is copying other people's ocular techniques.
"That's how I obtained Kamui—from him."
"A lunatic? What did he do?"
Kikyo looked puzzled. Hearing that he was from Retsu's clan had piqued her curiosity.
She hadn't expected such a harsh description.
"Obito and another lunatic named Uchiha Itachi worked together to massacre the entire Uchiha clan."
Retsu spoke calmly, without much emotion in his voice.
"I was eight at the time.
"By sheer luck, another clansman and I survived."
"I'm sorry!"
Kikyo's expression immediately filled with guilt. She hadn't expected such tragedy in his childhood.
She gently grasped his hand.
"I didn't know…"
"You don't need to apologize. It wasn't your fault."
Retsu squeezed her hand back, warmth passing between their fingers.
He smiled lightly.
"Besides, in that crazy world… things like that weren't unusual."
"Can you tell me more about your world?"
Kikyo's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Retsu rested his chin lightly on top of her head, breathing in her faint herbal scent as he began to speak.
"In my world, there are only people called ninja who can use a power called chakra, along with ordinary civilians.
"There are no demons like in this world."
He paused before adding,
"Though we don't have demons, there are nine extremely powerful beings called Tailed Beasts.
"But eventually they were all captured and sealed by two legendary ninja."
After thinking for a moment, he continued,
"There were also some strange things—like the Dragon Vein that allows time travel, or monsters like Mōryō from another dimension.
"But compared to ninja power, those things weren't much of a threat."
"If your world has no demons," Kikyo said thoughtfully, "then people must live more peacefully."
A trace of longing flickered in her eyes.
In this world, ordinary people constantly lived in fear of demons, relying on shrine maidens and monks for protection.
More than once she had wondered how life might be without such creatures.
"Peaceful?"
Retsu's tone held faint mockery.
"Quite the opposite.
"When humans gain power without demons to blame… they become far more terrifying than demons themselves."
He clicked his tongue.
"To be honest, I think this world is pretty nice.
"The only real trouble is the Shikon Jewel—and people like Naraku who chase after it."
He turned to Kikyo with a smile.
"Want to guess what the lunatics in my world wanted to do?"
Before she could answer, he continued himself.
"Two of them planned to use the moon to cast something called the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"They wanted to trap everyone in the world inside a giant illusion—hang them all on a tree and let them live forever in a fake dream."
"To stop them, all the ninja formed an alliance and fought back.
"And I died in that war."
At that, Retsu laughed softly.
"So honestly, compared to those lunatics, someone like Naraku almost seems sane.
"You could even call him a 'reasonable villain.'"
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