For many people in Konoha, tonight was destined to be a sleepless one.
Under the moonlight, Hyuga Neji rested a hand on the Great Tenseigan before him. But instead of looking pleased the way others might have imagined, he was frowning deeply, as though burdened by endless worries.
And in truth, he really did have plenty to worry about.
The first problem was Hinata and Hanabi. Neji had no idea how to tell them that Hiashi was dead—or that the Hyuga clan, for all practical purposes, no longer existed.
The second was the Great Tenseigan itself.
After taking control of it, Neji could vaguely sense the Great Tenseigan resonating with something else—something above him, or rather, on the moon.
And once he connected that with what Hiashi had told him before, Neji immediately realized that the Otsutsuki on the moon had probably created a Tenseigan of their own as well.
That one on the moon might not be as complete as the Great Tenseigan in front of him, but for the two to resonate with each other, it clearly couldn't be far from maturity either.
Beyond that, Neji also had to think about what came next for the Hyuga clan.
Should he preserve the old Hyuga system and continue branding people with the Caged Bird Seal… or…
"If we could eliminate the Otsutsuki on the moon, then maybe the Hyuga clan could finally break free of the Caged Bird Seal entirely. But at the same time, the secret of the Tenseigan would have to remain hidden."
"And yet, if we want to get rid of the Otsutsuki on the moon, then unless Hinata awakens her own Tenseigan…"
"To place all our hopes on Hinata, and even force her to carry the guilt of the clan's destruction just to reshape her personality…"
Neji let out a sigh.
He truly didn't want Hinata to bear something like that.
But after coming into contact with the Tenseigan, he could already sense that no matter how long he held onto it, his own Byakugan would probably never evolve to that level.
"If I had the choice, I'd rather Hinata never have to carry any of this at all…"
Neji's head throbbed.
What had happened to the Hyuga clan was too enormous. So enormous that everyone in Konoha who needed to know already knew. And the Hyuga children in the Ninja Academy were still alive—Hinata would find out sooner or later.
Maybe Hiashi had already guessed, before doing any of this, that Neji might try to keep the truth from Hinata?
It wasn't only Neji who couldn't sleep that night.
The Anbu ninja couldn't sleep either. Neither could Uchiha Obito in the Land of Rain.
The Anbu lay awake because today's battle had completely shattered what they thought they knew.
Compared to the fight between Uchiha Chizumi and Hyuga Hiashi, all the battles they had fought in the first half of their lives felt like children's games. Or rather, the power those two had shown was simply beyond normal human understanding.
As for Obito, the reason he couldn't sleep was that he had just finished listening to Black Zetsu's explanation in total disbelief.
He could understand Uchiha Chizumi being powerful—but had Black Zetsu eaten one mushroom too many? What the hell did it mean that Hiashi had gouged out the Hyuga clan's eyes and turned them into some Sage Eye on the same level as the Rinnegan?
What did it mean that this Sage Eye supposedly possessed even greater power than the Rinnegan, enough that if fully unleashed it could split the moon in half?
If the moon got cut in half, then what the hell was supposed to happen to the Eye of the Moon Plan?
And more than that, Obito genuinely couldn't understand—did the Sage of Six Paths have four eyes or something?
Apparently two Rinnegan weren't enough. There also had to be a pair of Tenseigan that nobody had ever heard of?
"Obito, you have to steal the Tenseigan!"
"Believe me, Obito—if there's anyone in the entire shinobi world who can steal the Tenseigan out of Konoha, it's you!"
Black Zetsu kept pumping Obito up.
In his eyes, Obito had been using Kamui completely wrong. Kamui wasn't just good for fighting—it was obviously the perfect eye technique for stealing things.
You could slip in unseen, steal the item, and throw it straight into Kamui space.
"Most importantly, Hiashi never fully brought out the Tenseigan's power!"
"If you can steal the Tenseigan and master it, then your strength will surpass Nagato's. You might even stand a real chance against Uchiha Chizumi!"
Black Zetsu kept trying to brainwash Obito. He planned to trick Obito into stealing the Tenseigan first, then later find a chance to trick him into using it to split the moon apart.
Thank god Obito's brain didn't work very well. And thank god Black Zetsu had spent all these years doing the thinking for him, so he never had to use it.
"You're saying that if I master the Tenseigan, my power would surpass Nagato's… maybe even Uchiha Chizumi's?"
As Obito listened, his eyes visibly lit up.
"Not just you. Nagato himself hasn't fully mastered the power of the Rinnegan either. If he had completely mastered it, how could he possibly have lost to Uchiha Chizumi?"
Black Zetsu let out a sigh.
In the past, he had always thought it was better if Nagato stayed weaker, because if Nagato became too strong, he'd be harder to control.
But now, he genuinely found himself wishing Nagato had been stronger—strong enough to deal with Uchiha Chizumi, ideally.
"I'll go to Konoha, gather intel, and take the Tenseigan!"
Obito sounded full of confidence.
Uchiha Chizumi still hadn't mastered space-time ninjutsu. Obito might not be able to beat him, but there was no way Chizumi could actually catch him either!
If you thought about it that way, then wasn't he basically fifty-fifty with Uchiha Chizumi?
Uchiha Chizumi indeed hadn't yet had the chance to ask Hiruzen Sarutobi for permission to study the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But as this night drew to a close, Chizumi had gained something else.
Or rather—building on Lava Release, he had found a way to create a kekkei tōta that grew out of it.
"This is… the power of the sun!"
As the sun rose, an astonishing sight unfolded inside Uchiha Chizumi's house.
At his fingertip floated a tiny fireball—or rather, a miniature sun.
This little sun radiated such terrifying heat that within only a few moments, Chizumi's house had begun catching fire on its own.
"Radiance Release."
"A new kekkei tōta, born from combining Lava Release and Explosion Release. It possesses the most extreme high temperature imaginable."
"Lava Release and Explosion Release constantly conflict, yet also constantly harmonize. The result is this—Radiance Release."
After extinguishing the flames in his house, Uchiha Chizumi looked at the new Radiance Release in his hand with obvious satisfaction.
Susanoo was powerful. Wood Release was powerful too.
But compared to Susanoo and Wood Release, the power Chizumi loved most was still Lava Release—the power that had stayed by his side the longest, even if it had gradually begun to fall behind his overall growth.
And now, with the birth of this Radiance Release kekkei tōta, that power had finally… regained its place.