From the top of Hokage Mountain, the world looked so small... almost fragile. The wind blew with unusual gentleness, but in Hinata's heart—now consumed by the persona of Oni—there was no calm. Buried beneath a life constructed of lies, the last spark of the true Hinata remained, watching a world entirely beyond her control. The ideas that belonged to Oni were perversions of her own nature.
Beside her, Danzo Shimura stood silently. He had seen many wars, commanded operations from the shadows, manipulated souls with the same disregard others would use to tear a piece of paper. But in that moment, he was not pleased. Pain's attack was a real threat to Konoha, and without Konoha, all of his plans could unravel. Yet he noticed—the trembling in Oni's hands as she recounted what she saw with her Mind's Eye.
"You cannot interfere," was all he said, not even glancing her way.
Oni's silver eyes gazed across the plains surrounding Konoha. From there, she could see everything: the craters, the bodies, the bursts of chakra. Pain's creatures unleashed their fury—but also, the blood of the innocent, the suffering, the fear… she watched the purest expression of conflict in the world.
She saw Kuro, bravely rescuing innocents. Saw her fighting at the hospital. Saw how, while she was engaged against the Preta Path, the Human Path slipped inside unnoticed.
She saw her friend—her family—struggling against the Preta Path. Saw her body dragged by chakra drained from her, hurled against the hospital walls, her breath ragged as the hand of that abomination plunged into her chest.
Inside Oni, the true Hinata screamed in pain. And though Oni's emotions had been dulled, she did not understand why she was crying... but she continued to report everything Danzo wanted to know.
When Danzo felt the trembling in Oni's voice he just said "This tool is replaceable, we will assign you another Nikken in your charge" I felt Oni's gratitude at his words.
She described Tsunade channeling all her secret chakra reserves to maintain her healing to the village. Jiraiya trying to reach Nagato while saving lives from the monstrous Animal Path summons. Kiba and Akamaru's battle against Kakuzu. Shizune's death at the hands of the Human Path. Sasuke's appearance, saving Kakashi. The imminent destruction of the village at the hands of the Deva Path—averted only by Sasuke's intervention.
Within Oni, Hinata perceived everything differently. Throughout all the death and destruction, she saw the black threads of death—the appearance of the shinigami with each lost soul, every person who chose Yumegakure instead. Every life lost. All of it, a consequence of her inaction. Her weakness.
All of it flowed through Danzo's ears in perfect detail, as he cataloged the losses as acceptable casualties on the road to his inevitable rise.
Oni saw her hands trembling. Saw tears falling from her eyes. She focused to force the shaking to stop.
Then, she watched Jiraiya face his former student alongside Fukasaku. Fighting with all his strength—but the power of the Six Paths together was overwhelming, especially the Deva Path whose power increased with proximity to the real Nagato… and when she saw him fall. And Danzo smiled.
Oni smiled too. And Hinata inside her recoiled in horror… and then she saw it.
She rejoiced when Sasuke arrived on the battlefield, Despite his intelligence, skill and power, she felt only despair as he too was overpowered by the Deva Path. Then Naruto arrived. Danzo scowled, she silently praying that this would prompt him to unleash Oni. But he didn't. He simply observed as Oni continued describing the events.
Naruto's fight—using everything he had learned from her, from Jiraiya, from Sasuke. He demonstrated mastery, defeating one Pain after another with the help of the friend who had motivated him to be stronger to be better. But hope faded when she saw him impaled with black spikes… helpless before Pain's unreasonable power.
She watched Sasuke leap to strike Pain from behind—but the Asura Path warned the Deva Path.
She saw the exact moment the Deva Path pierced Sasuke with one of his black spikes. She saw his life begin to slip away from him.
She heard Danzo's laughter at the news of the last Uchiha brought to death's door. Oni felt joy at serving such a master. And Hinata, inside, shattered.
She saw Naruto begin to lose control. Saw the lines of death wrap around him with certainty, defining a grim fate.
And in that unbearable pain, something broke.
She screamed silently… a scream from within Oni's consciousness. The small glass orb holding the last of Hinata shattered from the inside. The walls that shielded and restrained her from Oni vanished in her despair. The scream of her soul reached her blood—and her blood responded, transcending the boundaries of worlds, passing beyond consciousness and into dreams.
There, Yumegakure no Kai responded. Its pillar was in danger. Its final ember flickered.
Oni clutched her head, reeling from the psychic echo. From her perspective, it was madness and pain, flooding her as it did me.
The Dream World trembled. The Crystal Tower rang with a deep, resonant echo. The people of Yumegakure knelt, not knowing why. The moon shone with an unfamiliar and powerful glow.
And the seed within Hinata, the last spark of true will, fed by hope and unbound by any of the Danzo chains—now free of the barriers between herself and Oni, nourished by the hope of a new world lending true help, it bloomed.
It grew, tearing apart the lies that had plagued her mind, shattered the imposed walls in her spirit. Her consciousness reached to reshape a world drowning in sorrow.
The conceptual chains Danzo had placed to suppress her free will crumbled.
Hinata's blood and her Mind's Eye surged far beyond what was thought possible. Her soul evolved, answered in kind and blood evolved too, transcending her mortality and stepping into the true and natural Silver Stage. Her silver threads now burned around her with radiant intensity, and a small breeze began to rise from her body.
Danzo's laughter stopped when he felt the unnatural breeze. He turned to face his supposed tool…
Hinata had expanded her Mind's Eye beyond earthly limits. She could now see what once remained hidden. She saw forces she had only sensed on the moon with the Tenseigan. She saw the pull of the world drawing her in—a force opposite to the lunar Tenseigan and the same. She perceived new rules, more complex… and understood that if she wished to arrive in time—she would have to break them.
Before Danzo's disbelieving eyes, the Oni mask fell to the ground as Hinata began to float, gravity no longer able to touch her. Her silver eyes gleamed with divine light. Silver threads danced madly around her, defying understanding. And in a single moment, her gaze pierced him—filled with resentment.
He knew he had to attack her. But before his body could react, she vanished—using her threads to hurl herself toward the battlefield of Pain.
And yet, standing before him were two mirages of Hinata. One flew toward Konoha. The other turned to face him, her transcendent silver eyes unwavering.
"We will settle this, later," she said—and launched herself down, just like the other, toward Konoha.