Refining chakra while contemplating the issues regarding the Byakugan and the Karma, half an hour quickly passed. Hyuga Yu recovered his strength and opened his eyes.
Before him, Sasori of the Red Sand, who had been vomiting uncontrollably from experiencing high-altitude flight for the first time, had also adjusted his condition. Currently, he was leaning against a tree, repairing puppet components with a screwdriver he had pulled from goodness knows where.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu had taken out a kunai to peel an apple while flipping through a tattered ledger. Hiruko sat alone in a further corner, his head lowered as he stared at the ground, lost in thought.
Hyuga Yu exhaled softly and leaped down from the boulder. The movement quickly caught the attention of the trio. They raised their heads simultaneously, looking at Hyuga Yu with focused yet deeply perplexed gazes.
They were not only confused by Hyuga Yu's sudden decision to evacuate everyone from that desert wasteland, but they were also puzzled by the rumor he had mentioned earlier and his claim that a visitor from the heavens was about to arrive.
Sasori frowned and asked, "Tennin, about the 'visitor from the heavens' you mentioned just now... what exactly does that mean?"
Hearing this, Hyuga Yu turned to look back at the desert wasteland they had come from, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Literally."
Sasori raised his head in confusion, following Hyuga Yu's line of sight.
However, he only saw a cloudless, pristine blue sky stretching far above the forest. He couldn't help but knit his brows. "Literally... what does that even mean?"
"You should be able to see it very soon—" Hyuga Yu shook his head, offering no further explanation. He bent down, pulled a tattered scroll stamped with the character for "Root" from the pouch strapped to his leg, unfurled it, bit his finger, and smeared blood across it in a swift stroke!
Poof!
As the white smoke dissipated, a long whistle engraved with strange cryptographic patterns popped out from the surface of the scroll, which had a massive character for "Root" drawn in the center. This was a single-use consumable used within Root to summon messenger beasts.
Given Hyuga Yu's current high-ranking status in Root, the organization would normally assign him a dedicated summoning beast for emergency communications. However... Yu had been executing various missions outside of Konoha ever since he left the village, so he hadn't had the time to return to the Root headquarters to select a summoning beast and forge a contract.
This specialized Root secret scroll had been forced upon him by Terai when he left the Land of Bears. It contained ninja tools, communication equipment, codebooks, cipher keys, and various other supplies that Root members might need during missions.
At this moment—
Pheeeew!
As Hyuga Yu blew the long whistle, a sharp cry pierced the air. Screeech!
Soon, a puff of white smoke erupted in the sky, and a black hawk flapped its wings in response to the whistle, landing right before Hyuga Yu. Yu took out a pen and paper from the scroll, wrote a line of text on the specialized paper, rolled it up, and inserted it into the message tube tied to the hawk's leg.
Flap, flap~
The black hawk spread its wings and soared into the sky, disappearing past the horizon moments later.
Watching this unfold from the side, Kakuzu asked, "What are you doing?"
Hyuga Yu replied succinctly, "A message back to the village."
"The selection for the Fourth Hokage is about to begin, and internal affairs within Konoha should already be descending into chaos. Facing the current me, the village... will probably need some time to process it all."
From the time he left the village on October 10th of Konoha Year 49 to today, February 21st of Konoha Year 50, nearly half a year had passed. Hyuga Yu's status was no longer that of an ordinary Genin from the Hyuga branch family.
Now, he was the direct heir to Root, the orchestrator of the Kirigakure Collapse Plan, a top-tier powerhouse of the ninja world known as the "Tennin" who had single-handedly suppressed an entire nation and forged an alliance treaty with the Land of Rain—and simultaneously, one of the candidates for the position of Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure.
In just half a year, rising from an obscure Genin to a Hokage candidate whose name shook nations—such a staggering leap would not only awe foreign lands but also leave the Land of Fire and Konoha at a loss as to how to handle this shift.
Standing behind Hyuga Yu were no longer just a few individuals like Hyuga Natsu, Hyuga Tetsu, and Might Dai and his son, but an entire colossal interest group inherited from Danzo Shimura, whose roots ran deep throughout both the Land of Fire and Konoha.
Not only did Hyuga Yu need to swiftly adapt to this change to drive his plans forward, but the interest group backing him—and even the other factions within Konoha—had to make compromises for his upcoming actions.
To this end, Hyuga Yu intended to conduct a simple allegiance test to determine who were friends, who were enemies, who could be swayed to his side, and who harbored ill intent and needed to have their malice smothered in its infancy.
Hyuga Yu had no time for tedious political struggles within Konoha. He needed to leverage this identity quickly to bend the village to his will, converting everything within this ninja village and this nation into the power that would make him stronger!
All before the Otsutsuki of the moon descended upon the ninja world, tracked him down, and brought the true storm upon him!
With this thought, Hyuga Yu looked at the three men beside him and said calmly, "Next, we will proceed on foot, cutting straight across the eastern part of the Land of Rivers all the way eastward to the Land of Fire."
"We will arrive in Konoha in three days. I have already made arrangements regarding your identities beforehand, so you can just enter the village directly with me when the time comes."
Upon hearing this, Hiruko, who was originally a Konoha ninja, looked relatively unfazed. However, Sasori's and Kakuzu's expressions shifted slightly. They asked, "You're just going to bring a few rogue ninja like us straight through the front gates, in front of everyone in Konoha?"
Hyuga Yu nodded. "From now on, under my leadership, Root will step into the light. It will no longer exist solely as an underground organization responsible for espionage and assassination."
"Root shall grow toward the sun!"
"I will explain the next phase of the plan to cultivate the Tenseigan to Sasori and Hiruko along the way. Furthermore, Mr. Kakuzu—"
Kakuzu immediately responded, "What do you need me to do?"
"Have the members of your 'pawnshop' network head to the overseas Oyashiro Castle to gather all available intel on En Oyashiro. I need to verify something!"
"Verify what?" Kakuzu was slightly surprised. What did Oyashiro Castle, isolated far across the sea, have to do with Hyuga Yu's apparent plan to assemble a scientific research team?
Hyuga Yu's gaze sharpened as his eyes narrowed slightly. He spoke candidly, "Aside from technical expertise, Root must possess a pair of eyes capable of monitoring the movements of the entire ninja world. This network is projected to be formed with your 'pawnshop' and a large number of Root's peripheral ninja as its core. For now, I still need to keep the Root personnel inside Konoha close at hand for deployment, so I need you to temporarily fill this role."
"And regarding En Oyashiro, I want to verify... his relationship with another person, and more importantly, I must confirm whether that person is truly dead!"
"That's all for now. We can discuss the finer details on the road."
Hyuga Yu looked at the group and commanded, "Move out!"
With that, Hyuga Yu turned around and prepared to stride forward.
"Wait, what you said earlier about..." Sasori, still plagued by questions regarding the visitor from the heavens, immediately caught up to Hyuga Yu's pace, wanting to press further.
However, right at that moment!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A violent howling of fierce wind suddenly resounded from high in the sky!
Sasori cut his words short and whipped his head back to stare at the sky behind them. Above the horizon of the desert wasteland, ripples suddenly began to distort the air, as if something were squeezing through the surface of water. A deep, pitch-black void—looking like a depression suspended in midair and seemingly connected to a long, straight "transparent tube"—slowly expanded across the sky!
Immediately after, flap, flap!
Massive flocks of startled birds took flight from the direction of the wasteland, scattering in a panicked frenzy!
Like a falling meteor, a cyan speck of light suddenly materialized from the high heavens. It plummeted at breakneck speed down the "transparent tube," burst through the black void in the sky, and instantly transformed into a massive, visibly dense beam of deep cyan light, hammering violently into the center of the desert wasteland!
Following that—
Rumble!
The earth shook violently, making pebbles dance across the ground! Countless birds were startled into the air!
Even from a distance of three hundred kilometers, a distinct tremor could still be felt!
And as the tremors subsided, an indescribable, terrifying aura exploded from that direction. It was a pressure Sasori had only ever felt from Hyuga Yu when he wielded his "golden light sword"—an absolute dread that felt like a vast, biological disparity rooted in the very essence of life itself!
Visibly to the naked eye, a pale cyan shockwave resembling an inverted bowl swept outward, centering on the desert wasteland at the border of the Lands of Rivers and Wind, instantly swallowing nearly 100 kilometers of land!
Seeing this, Sasori's eyes widened slightly as he sucked in a cold breath. He snapped his head back toward Hyuga Yu, his face so grim it looked as though it could drip ink. Though it seemed he already knew the answer, he still gritted his teeth and asked reluctantly, "Tennin... what on earth is that?"
Hyuga Yu didn't look back. He simply continued his calm stride forward and answered succinctly, "A visitor from the heavens."
Meanwhile, at the center of the desert wasteland along the border of the Lands of Rivers and Wind.
At the center of a massive crater over ten kilometers wide, a cyan cocoon of light—shaped like an egg, reminiscent of a Saiyan space pod—shimmered with a brilliant cyan glow!
Crack! Crack!
Fissures slowly snaked across its surface. A pale cyan hand suddenly punched through the cocoon, shaking the air as it clenched into a fist!
The entire cocoon burst apart, dissolving into cascading ribbons of fluid cyan energy that bloomed outward layer by layer!
A figure with abnormally pale skin, withered greyish-white hair, and clad in a high-collared white haori slowly floated up from the center of the crater. Despite his imposing presence, his face bore an expression of extreme haggardness and exhaustion!
"So this... is the ninja world?" The middle-aged man spoke as he abruptly snapped his eyes open!
Within his eye sockets sat a pair of deep, sapphire-blue eyes that radiated a pristine white brilliance, looking as though they held a pair of miniature blue suns within them!
The moment those eyes opened, a terrifying aura erupted around the withered, white-haired middle-aged man!
Fierce winds howled! Rocks swirled in the air! Flames burst forth! Lightning crackled and coiled!
Intertwined specks of black and white light warped the air around him, forming a ring of invisible, spatial ripples!
It was as if the mysteries of all creation were engraved within those azure eyes. Under the convergence of six distinct, bizarre forces, they coalesced into a stream of pale cyan chakra that flowed directly into his eyes.
In the next instant, ripples of pale cyan light radiated outward indiscriminately, centering on the middle-aged man's eyes.
Within mere seconds, like an omnipotent dome descending from the heavens, it enveloped a 100-kilometer radius!
A cold glint flashed across the man's eyes as he adopted a god-like perspective, swiftly scanning everything within this 100-kilometer expanse, seemingly searching for something specific!
However, his expression suddenly shifted, twisted by a sinister darkness. A look of near-maniacal fury flared in his eyes. "That bastard... isn't even here?!"
"Where did he go? Where did he flee?!"
"Hyuga Tennin! You thief! Aaaaagh! I will slaughter you!"
Yet, just as quickly, the expression on the man's face shifted like a face-changing performer in a Sichuan opera. He became grim, calm, and cunning, radiating the slick, calculating aura of an old fox.
He raised an eyebrow and scanned his surroundings once more through the vision of the Byakugan. Spotting something of value, his gaze locked onto it. He tensed, seemingly preparing to rocket into the sky and fly toward his target at breakneck speed!
However, before he could fly for even half a minute, he suddenly halted. "The gravitational pull of the ninja world is actually this heavy? Flight consumes far too much energy... Fortunately, my powers in other aspects aren't heavily affected."
As if talking to himself, the man suddenly barked in a chilly voice, "Tsugushiki, calm down."
"Right now, the most important thing is to locate the real Hyuga Tennin!"
"Furthermore, have you forgotten? The ninja world is not safe! The person who stole the Gedo Mazo is still alive, and this land hides far too many secrets. Before we obtain the ultimate authority, it is unwise to have a direct clash with those hiding in the shadows."
"Our sole purpose for this journey is to capture Hyuga Tennin!"
"I understand, Uncle Tetsuto." Otsutsuki Tsugushiki's face showed a hint of struggle. "But..."
The middle-aged man's expression quickly shifted once more, his brow furrowing. "From this moment on, outside of handling combat, the planning and execution of our actions in the ninja world will be entirely handled by me."
He spoke solemnly, "Do not forget our clan's millennium-long grand plan!"
"I... understand." Otsutsuki Tsugushiki nodded with some reluctance. Soon, the manic aura around him vanished completely, replaced by a steady, composed demeanor. He had effectively transformed into an entirely different person—Otsutsuki Tetsuto.
The most intelligent mastermind of the Otsutsuki branch family, who had personally guided his fellow branch members to eradicate the Otsutsuki main family on the moon.
He drifted down from the air, his bare feet touching the gravel and sand of the wasteland. Slowly raising his head, he stared at the massive, twenty-kilometer-long canyon stretching across the lands of the Rivers and Wind.
"There's no mistake; this destruction was indeed caused by the Golden Wheel Rebirth Explosion."
"In other words, that Hyuga Tennin has once again mastered the application of one of the Seven Paths within a matter of days. This is simply... brilliant beyond measure!"
"He is entirely different from the Hyuga Tennin of the past! Not only did he realize we were targeting him, but he also used some method to actively sever the resonance with the Giant Tenseigan. Knowing he was no match for us, he took the initiative to flee."
"This person... seems to be an extremely troublesome opponent!"
Otsutsuki Tetsuto narrowed his eyes in thought for a brief moment, quickly formulating a plan in his mind. "Currently, I do not possess a complete Tenseigan, nor do I have the ability to pinpoint Hyuga Tennin's exact location. Attempting to seize him by brute force carries too high a risk."
"However, no matter how well Hyuga Tennin hides, he ultimately belongs to the Hyuga Clan and is a ninja from the nation known as the 'Land of Fire.' His traits are distinct. As long as I stay in the ninja world for a while, it won't be difficult to smoke him out."
"But the critical issue is that since Hyuga Tennin already knows of my existence, he must have prepared countermeasures. Today's escape might just be a ruse to lure me toward the Land of Fire."
"Therefore, at a time like this, I should do the exact opposite!"
Otsutsuki Tetsuto made his decision with absolute composure. "I need some leverage and support! Not just to ensure my safety in the ninja world, but to guarantee that I capture Hyuga Tennin without fail."
"In that case, seizing control of a nation's political power to act as my backing in this world is the optimal choice. And then..."
"I will use lunar technology to propel that nation's military power to leapfrog past the Land of Fire. Ultimately, using the geopolitical pressure of a major power, I will force the Land of Fire to hand over Hyuga Tennin! I'll sever all of his support structures and back him into a corner, forcing him to step forward and face me in direct combat!"
With that thought, Otsutsuki Tetsuto immediately discarded Tsugushiki's plan of running around like a headless chicken searching for clues and relying on sheer force. Instead, he slowly lifted his gaze, assessing which local powers within the ninja world could be exploited for his cause!
Soon, Otsutsuki Tetsuto cast his gaze toward two directions—the Land of Wind, and the Land of Demons!
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