"Seems my mission has failed," Obito sneered at the group before him. "But don't mistake that for your victory."
Spiral distortions of space began twisting around his body.
"Stop him!" Fugaku shouted.
Just as everyone prepared to move, Wen Lan raised a hand.
"That's only a shadow clone."
His right Mangekyō activated instantly—Nullification.
In that instant, the chakra of everyone present froze.
Even Fugaku's Susanoo dissipated on the spot.
Obito's body stiffened—
Then burst into smoke.
Silence.
Wen Lan closed his right eye slowly.
"The real Obito already left. This was just insurance."
Minato frowned. "Something feels wrong."
"They made such a big move, infiltrated Konoha—and leave empty-handed? That doesn't make sense."
Wen Lan paused.
He was right.
If Obito had come for the Nine-Tails, he wouldn't withdraw so lightly. With Kamui, unless he made a serious mistake, he was nearly untouchable.
He could have taken civilians hostage.
Forced Minato's hand.
But he didn't.
He left the moment the objective wasn't achieved.
Why?
A flicker of realization sparked—
An ANBU appeared abruptly.
"Lord Hokage! The Rain shinobi have not retreated. They've regrouped and are concentrating their assault on the Hyūga clan!"
"Hyūga?" Everyone exchanged confused looks.
But Wen Lan felt as if struck by lightning.
Everything clicked into place.
"Tenseigan."
His expression darkened.
"Damn it! Move! They're after the Byakugan!"
He vanished in a streak of golden lightning.
The True Objective
The ultimate evolution of the Byakugan—
Was the Tenseigan.
Just as the Sharingan evolved into the Rinnegan, the Byakugan had its own final form.
The Tenseigan required:
A Hyūga Byakugan
Ōtsutsuki chakra
The Hyūga descended from the Ōtsutsuki, but generations of dilution had thinned their bloodline.
Only through an extreme concentration—like Toneri Ōtsutsuki stealing Hanabi's eyes in the future—could the Tenseigan manifest.
And Wen Lan understood immediately.
This wasn't Obito's knowledge.
It was Black Zetsu's.
Kaguya's will incarnate.
If they obtained pure Byakugan—
And combined it with Ōtsutsuki chakra—
A Tenseigan could be born.
And that would rival the Rinnegan.
Hyūga Compound
The Hyūga estate burned.
Collapsed buildings. Screams. Firelight reflecting in pale eyes.
Hyūga shinobi fought fiercely.
Thanks to the Main Branch's mastery of Rotation, casualties were not yet catastrophic.
But in the chaos—
Masked Rain shinobi slipped toward the Main Branch shrine.
Inside the courtyard sat five elderly figures.
The five Main Branch elders.
The youngest was over sixty.
The oldest nearing seventy.
To prevent tyranny within the clan, five elder lineages were exempt from the Caged Bird Seal.
Only the Branch families bore it.
The elders' bloodlines maintained balance against the clan head.
Their eyes—
Were unsealed.
Pure.
Exactly what Obito needed.
The First Elder knelt beneath the shrine eaves.
Behind him, the other four knelt in formation.
"Since you are here," the First Elder said calmly, "there is no need to hide."
"In front of the Hyūga's eyes, infiltration is meaningless."
Five pairs of Byakugan locked onto the shadows.
A low chuckle echoed.
Two figures stepped forward.
A spiral mask.
And a being half black, half white.
Obito.
And Zetsu.
Obito glanced at the elders and asked casually, "You're certain their eyes are enough?"
Black Zetsu's voice slithered through the air.
"Madara told me long ago. With Ōtsutsuki chakra and the Byakugan, the eye can reach its ultimate form."
The elders were shaken.
"Ultimate form?"
"Comparable to the Rinnegan?"
Impossible.
Their clan records contained no such thing.
"Absurd," the First Elder snapped. "The Byakugan is heaven-given. There is no such evolution."
Zetsu's laugh deepened.
"Frogs in a well. The secrets of the Ōtsutsuki are beyond you."
"Enough," Obito said coldly.
Kamui twisted space instantly.
The First Elder felt danger too late.
He leapt back—
But his right arm was ripped away by spatial distortion.
Blood sprayed across the shrine steps.
"Brother!"
The Third Elder activated Byakugan, veins bulging, locking onto Obito—
And froze.
In his vision—
There was only Zetsu's chakra.
Obito's position was empty.
Nothing.
No meridians.
No flow.
Even Zetsu appeared as an irregular chakra mass without normal pathways.
The other elders activated their Byakugan as well—
And were equally stunned.
"Is it a clone technique?" the Fifth Elder muttered.
The Byakugan could see through illusionary clones.
But not shadow clones.
And what they were seeing—
Didn't fit either.
Because Obito wasn't a clone.
He simply—
Wasn't there.
—------------------------------
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