The team in charge of finding Hanabi had finally succeeded, Hinata was now carrying Hanabi on her back, hurrying back toward the others. It wasn't that Neji had refused to carry Hanabi, but rather that Hinata, as her older sister, insisted on protecting her personally.
The reason they had taken so long wasn't due to slow searching, it was because the palace was huge, and several Ōtsutsuki puppets had been guarding it.
And these puppets were no pushovers. Their considerable strength had seriously slowed Neji's team down due to prolonged battles.
Fortunately, they eventually destroyed all of the puppets and rescued Hanabi. Now, they were heading toward Sasuke and Naruto.
As for the sudden appearance of Umbreon, no one was surprised. Everyone already knew it was a space-time beast, though not known for combat power, it possessed a very unique ability... spatial teleportation. So showing up anywhere was nothing strange.
"It's been dealt with, huh?" Neji muttered, looking at the utterly transformed battlefield terrain, scarred by massive destruction. He couldn't help but glance at Naruto and Sasuke, once again in awe of their strength.
If Naruto and Sasuke were already this powerful…Then what about Natsuro, who stood on a tier above them?
He was probably so strong that Neji couldn't even begin to comprehend it.
At that moment, Neji felt a sense of confusion, what path should he walk from here?
As a ninja, Neji was already considered outstanding. At just over twenty years old, he had reached the level of elite jōnin.
Before the Fourth Great Ninja War, such power might've given Neji some satisfaction. But now…
He could only feel how utterly weak he was. Within the Hyūga clan, there was hardly anyone left who could best him in one-on-one combat.
But if he hoped to change the rules of the Hyūga clan with just this much strength, he was deluding himself.
Neji sighed. If the problem were just a lack of strength, it wouldn't trouble him so much. He could simply train harder.
The real issue was that he could no longer see where his path was heading. Continuing to train might allow him to reach Kage level, but not the legendary Super Kage tier.
The Hyūga clan had once produced a so-called "Heavenly Ninja", likely the level Natsuro referred to as Super Kage.
How did Natsuro achieve that...? Neji wondered. Eventually, his gaze turned toward Toneri.
If that man could fight both Naruto and Sasuke to such a state, then his power had likely already surpassed the Super Kage level, maybe even reaching the Six Paths tier...
Suddenly, Neji realized why Natsuro had sent him along even after dispatching Naruto and Sasuke.
"Tenseigan, huh?" Neji murmured to himself. His heart stirred with anticipation.
But what were the conditions to awaken the Tenseigan? Neji looked at Toneri. Clearly, he needed to start there.
Sasuke, noticing Neji's curious gaze, spoke up, "It wasn't Naruto or me who defeated Toneri."
"Hm?" Neji raised an eyebrow in surprise. Wasn't it just the two of them here? Could it be that Natsuro had shown up briefly and then left?
Sasuke smiled slightly and gestured toward Umbreon, who had now leapt onto Hinata's shoulder. "It was Umbreon who fought Toneri."
Neji froze, stunned. He looked at the adorable creature calmly perched on Hinata, clearly fond of her. Its cutesy appearance didn't exactly scream "powerful."
"Don't underestimate Umbreon," Sasuke said seriously. "Its strength… might even surpass Naruto and me."
His eyes were grave. That Spatial Freeze technique alone had given him a serious sense of danger.
Although Sasuke hadn't been trapped by it, as an observer he could feel that even his Rinnegan ability, Amenotejikara, he couldn't lock onto the space within that golden membrane.
If it was the same from inside, then being caught in that technique would leave him in the same helpless state as Toneri.
Neji fell silent after hearing this, then slowly nodded, somewhat dazed.
Everyone among the "Konoha 12" had seen Umbreon before. It would often show up to play with Hinata, Hanabi, and Ino. Most thought it was just a cute pet Natsuro had picked up for show.
So now, learning the truth about its power, Neji found it hard to accept.
Meanwhile, Hinata wasn't paying attention to their conversation. She had carefully laid Hanabi down on the ground, using her own outer garment as cushioning.
Then she began checking Toneri's condition, not to heal him, but as a routine medical examination before transplanting eyes.
After her inspection, Hinata reported that while Toneri's body didn't suffer many injuries, the one on his face was extremely severe.
When she said this, Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly and averted his eyes, clearly feeling a bit guilty.
"Hinata, is it possible to keep him alive?" Sasuke asked. He still needed to extract chakra from Toneri, if the man died the mission would be a failure.
"Yes, but it would be best to treat him before performing the transplant. Otherwise, given his condition, complications could arise," Hinata replied professionally.
"So what now? Do we return the way we came?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"Yeah, probably," Neji replied. "Our mission is complete. As for the Moon having shifted from its original orbit… that's way above our pay grade. That's…"
He glanced at Sasuke, and seeing the latter nod in agreement, he sighed in relief, at least he wouldn't be proven wrong.
"You've all done well. I'll take it from here."
At that moment, a soft yet authoritative voice echoed in everyone's ears.
Everyone instantly lit up. They all knew that voice well.
A figure appeared beside them, it was the long-awaited Natsuro.
In fact, he had been on Earth until just moments ago. But he had been keeping an eye on the situation here the entire time, specifically on Umbreon's actions.
Now, he glanced at Umbreon. Its red eyes, although a different color, had already morphed into state similar to the Byakugan, and not just any Byakugan… but the Tenseigan.
As soon as Natsuro arrived, Umbreon jumped onto his shoulder, stuck out its little tongue, and licked his cheek, it was clearly showing off.
"Alright, alright, I get it. You did great," Natsuro said with a smile, rubbing its tiny head.
"Natsuro!" Naruto immediately waved and shouted loudly.
"Your Majesty," the others said, more formally, none as informal as Naruto who had never cared about rank or etiquette.
"Mhm." Natsuro had long since given up asking his peers to call him by name. He'd mentioned it before, but aside from Naruto, they all kept using the title. Eventually, he let it go.
Of course, Naruto had always called him that, even before Natsuro ever brought it up…
As for the title itself, he didn't like being called daimyō or anything similar. Instead, he used a title from his own memories, something simple and mostly symbolic.
After all, this world was different. The system from his previous life's country didn't really suit this one. The culture was even more incompatible.
He hadn't changed the written language though, characters like kanji were fine for him to recognize and write in daily life, but rare or obscure ones were another story. Asking him to invent a whole script from scratch...
That would be asking too much. What he did do was standardize the slight regional differences in characters across territories.
So, Natsuro had only changed a few formalities to pay tribute to his past. Everything else was adapted from this world's actual needs.
"Alright then, let's return to Earth. Hanabi's treatment will be entrusted to Sakura," Natsuro said, glancing at Hanabi. Clearly, her body wasn't in a condition for an instant eye transplant, she'd need proper surgery.
"Yes," Hinata nodded. After all, even hospital policy generally prohibits close relatives from performing invasive surgeries on family members, it's considered a kind of taboo.
"Huh? Shouldn't we fix the Moon's orbit first?" Naruto suddenly asked. Tenten, nearby, turned to look as well, she had the same question.
"Idiot," Sasuke sighed. Just as Naruto was about to snap back, Sasuke continued, "The moment His Majesty set foot on the Moon, he used Flying Thunder God to relocate the entire Moon back to its proper position."
After saying this, Sasuke gave Naruto a sidelong glance, his meaning was unmistakably mocking.
"Uh… I see." Naruto scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, while Tenten wiped the sweat from her forehead—thankfully, she hadn't asked the question aloud, or she probably would've gotten mocked too.
Soon after, Natsuro teleported everyone back to Earth, everyone except himself and Umbreon, who stayed behind on the Moon.
"Gula?" Umbreon blinked in confusion at Natsuro, unsure why he was still here.
"No rush. I'm just looking for something," Natsuro replied casually, as if he were simply wandering around the Moon to admire the view.
After a while, Natsuro stopped in front of a stone tablet. Carved into its surface was a giant eye, the Tenseigan.
Umbreon's eyes immediately locked onto the stone. A look of desire shimmered within them.
"Finally found it. Want it?" Natsuro asked with a smile.
Umbreon nodded enthusiastically. It could feel that the stone held immense value for it.
This stone tablet was forged from the collective eyes of the entire Ōtsutsuki branch family, it was the giant purple Tenseigan.
However, after the entire branch clan sacrificed themselves to destroy the main family, the energy within the Tenseigan had been exhausted. Even Kaguya, sealed within Umbreon, hadn't noticed its presence.
But Umbreon possessed enormous ocular power. It could awaken and wield this purple Tenseigan through its own strength.
Which meant, it just gained another power-up.
Anyone else might wonder how Natsuro knew all of this, but Umbreon never questioned such things.
To it, its master knowing everything was only natural.
"Take it," Natsuro said, tossing the massive stone tablet toward Umbreon.
As the enormous tablet flew toward the tiny Umbreon, a ripple in space appeared. The stone vanished into the ripple, a storage dimension created by Umbreon to hold its treasures.
Natsuro looked at Umbreon and its newly acquired artifact, his expression a little odd. He was hit with a strange sense of déjà vu. So... is this the start of collecting thirteen stone tablets to summon an alpaca and create a new world or something?
This purple Tenseigan didn't differ much from the golden one in function, only that it was far more offensively oriented. After all, it had been created specifically to annihilate the main branch of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Its power had to be immense, enough to justify the branch family sacrificing all their Byakugan to forge a single eye.
But their decision had been a grave mistake. Even just the fact that the clan had a main and branch system meant the Ōtsutsuki still had a sizable population.
And now? Toneri was the last one left on the Moon.
You could say the Ōtsutsuki bloodline on the Moon had been effectively wiped out, and the cause of that extinction was likely that very event: The mass sacrifice of Byakugan without a means of replenishing them, leading to the decline and eventual collapse of the entire clan.
"Let's go back," Natsuro said softly.
"Gula." Umbreon nodded and happily nuzzled Natsuro's cheek again, it had gained so much from this trip.
In the next moment, behind Natsuro and Umbreon, a black portal opened, it was Yomotsu Hirasaka a technique that could even open a portal to the gate of the underworld.
Just before stepping into it, Natsuro glanced back at the Moon. From now on, it would likely hold no trace of life.
Because, unlike in the original timeline, he had no intention of letting Toneri return.
As the last pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki… how could he possibly let him go?
Right now, he figured that Orochimaru was probably going to be very happy.
Then, Natsuro took a single step forward, and returned to the Ninja world...
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