Ōtsutsuki Toneri's pupils shrank violently as the faint voice reached his ears. He turned, horror etched across his face.
"You… you didn't die?"
Kaito's calm figure emerged from the rippling space, his tone flat.
"Almost. Just a little bit dead."
At the moment the golden blade had fallen, Kaito had slipped into space itself, evading the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion entirely. If not for space-time ninjutsu, he might have blocked it with sheer force, but gambling his life wasn't his style. He emerged without so much as a scratch.
His gaze swept across the fractured moon, its surface cleaved apart. He whispered to himself, "The power is impressive… but now it's my turn."
Toneri snarled coldly, his pride wounded. "Hmph! Die!!!!"
The Truth-Seeking Balls surrounding him gathered once more, spinning violently as destructive energy surged forth.
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
But just as his sky-blue eyes flared, the storm collapsed into nothingness. Toneri froze. His Tenseigan Chakra Mode flickered out, his majestic form reduced to that of an ordinary man.
"Not good… don't tell me…?" His face paled. "Could it be because I unleashed too much power? The Tenseigan's instability… it's rebelling?"
Without the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Toneri felt weak, exposed. Against Kaito, he was as vulnerable as a civilian. Panic surged through him. "Damn it! Damn it all!"
Kaito narrowed his eyes. "So, the Tenseigan's unstable state has returned. No wonder you fled instead of finishing me. That makes things easier… I'll simply take your Tenseigan now and spare the Hyūga clan the trouble later."
Space rippled, and in the blink of an eye, Kaito vanished.
Toneri, pale and desperate, staggered into the ancient palace. He believed that within the deepest halls, the mechanisms left by his clan for millennia would keep him safe. Gritting his teeth, he cursed under his breath.
"As long as I survive this period and fully synchronize with the Tenseigan, I'll never let you go—even if I have to descend to Earth myself!"
Yet when he dared to glance back, his relief was short-lived. Space shimmered before him, and Kaito stepped out, eyes calm and voice low.
"You're running because something's wrong with your power. Otherwise, you'd never abandon the fight without a word."
"Damn you!" Toneri spat, fists trembling.
Kaito's expression didn't change. His voice was almost casual. "I'll accept your Tenseigan."
And then, his figure blurred.
Before Toneri could react, two fingers pressed toward his eyes. A sharp sound followed—
Dig!
"AHHH!" Toneri screamed, clutching at his face as blood poured from his sockets. His sky-blue Tenseigan had been torn free.
Kaito stood above him, holding the glowing orbs in his palm. Power radiated from them, immense and pure, vibrating with unfathomable pupil energy. He regarded Toneri with indifference.
"Thank you for the gift."
Without another glance, he turned and walked away, leaving Toneri broken and howling in the dust.
To Kaito, Toneri's strength as a Six Paths-level shinobi was owed largely to the Tenseigan. Now that the eyes were gone, he was no longer a threat.
Crossing his legs, Kaito began channeling chakra into the stolen orbs. For an entire day and night, he sat in silence, absorbing the vast pupil power within. At last, the Tenseigan dissolved into liquid light, seeping into his spiritual essence. He opened his eyes, faint arcs of lightning flickering across them before they settled into calm black once again.
With a flick of his wrist, he tested his gain. A nearby fragment of stone shot into his hand, pulled by invisible force. The corner of his mouth lifted faintly.
"Gravity manipulation. The same as the Rinnegan and Tenseigan…"
He gazed inward, sensing the changes. Within his spiritual body, the absorbed energy had transformed his inner eyes from ordinary black into dazzling blue. With them came mastery over attraction and repulsion, though the ultimate techniques—the Silver Wheel and Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosions—remained locked from him.
"No matter," Kaito murmured. "What I have now is more than enough."
He rose, scanning the battlefield. The once-pristine lunar surface lay in ruins, charred and fractured. "It's time to return. I've gained more here than I imagined. Staying longer serves no purpose."
Yet as he prepared to leave, his expression darkened. His thoughts turned to the legend: that Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had been sealed on the moon. He spread his electromagnetic perception across the barren land, but aside from Toneri's faint, fading life force, he sensed nothing.
"Could the legend have been false?" he muttered. "Or is the seal of the Sage of Six Paths simply beyond my detection?"
He shook his head, then resolved, "One more attempt. If I find nothing, I leave."
Closing his eyes, Kaito let his chakra expand like a vast tide, probing deeper into the moon's silence.
______
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