"It really is cruel."
Inside Hamura's temple on the moon, Hikaru stood quietly before the enormous Tenseigan, watching its pale golden light flicker.
Thinking back on what Ōtsutsuki Hamura had told him, he could not help shaking his head.
Cruel.
That was the only word Hikaru could think of.
Yet behind that cruelty, he also felt the terrifying will and methods of the Six Paths brothers.
Hikaru had always considered himself someone with decent political skill. Otherwise, he would never have climbed step by step from a mere ANBU operative to the position of Fifth Hokage.
But compared with the Six Paths brothers, his methods were not even on the same level.
Those two had truly calculated the entire shinobi world into their plan.
To achieve their goal, they had not even spared their own sons and nephews.
How much blood had flowed during a thousand years of war?
Hikaru had no way of knowing.
But he had personally experienced the Third Shinobi World War.
Although he had not appeared on the front lines because of his ANBU duties, he had passed through battlefields after the fighting ended while carrying out missions.
He had also seen towns and villages swallowed by war.
Those miserable scenes were still vivid in his mind.
The numb, hollow expressions of the survivors had left no small impact on him.
War was terrifying.
Hikaru had always known that.
Even though he did not particularly care whether the people of this world killed one another, he was still a transmigrator standing in that tragic environment.
It was impossible for him not to be affected at all.
The Third War alone had already been like that.
Then what kind of horror had a thousand years of war been?
Hikaru did not dare imagine it.
However cruel it was, Hikaru had to admit one thing.
What Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura did had been correct.
Leaving aside their grievances with Kaguya, and leaving aside the consequences Kaguya herself had planted, humanity had almost no chance of victory against the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
The gap between individuals was far too great.
To put it bluntly, those Ōtsutsuki were like gods.
They truly stood above all living beings.
A thousand years ago, humans had only just been freed from Kaguya's rule.
Chakra was indeed a power that could protect them, but at that time, humans could hardly be said to know how to use chakra.
As a shinobi, Hikaru understood very well that chakra usage required training.
And the methods of training chakra had only been refined through a thousand years of development and accumulation.
To put it bluntly, without that thousand years of war and development, shinobi would never have reached their current level of chakra control.
War had always been the harshest and most effective way to temper people.
It was also the fastest way to draw out potential and accumulate combat experience.
Driven by the conflict between Indra and Asura, a thousand years of war erupted.
That war brought destruction to the shinobi world.
But it also brought hope.
Hikaru shook his head lightly.
He truly admired the will and methods of the Six Paths brothers.
Sometimes, he wondered seriously: if he stood in their position, could he be that rational and that cruel?
After thinking it over, Hikaru felt he might be able to do it.
After all, he truly did not care much about the life or death of people unrelated to him.
But if his own family were involved, Hikaru felt he might not be so decisive.
Hikaru had never believed he had the template of some great saint.
He really could not sacrifice his own family for the sake of all living beings.
Especially as a transmigrator, that feeling was even stronger.
In the end, it came down to a sense of belonging.
"Forget it. This has nothing to do with me.
"Although I have to admit I was frightened, for now, all of this is not really my problem."
Hikaru sighed softly.
He stopped thinking about it.
He knew his appearance had accidentally helped the Six Paths brothers.
Although he was born into the Senju Clan and was, in essence, a descendant of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, his development in the eyes of others counted as self-growth.
It was reasonable to say he had reached this point because he had been sufficiently tempered in the shinobi world.
This also proved that Hagoromo and Hamura's faith in humanity had value.
Of course, Hikaru also knew he had caused them trouble.
He had grown too quickly.
And by accident, he had lured the Ōtsutsuki here ahead of schedule.
In a sense, that had exposed the shinobi world to the Ōtsutsuki's gaze earlier than expected.
After all, the current shinobi world had not yet faced Kaguya and had no real understanding of the Ōtsutsuki's power.
"But no matter what, things can only move forward step by step.
"Besides, I am much harder to provoke now."
Hikaru muttered inwardly.
The next moment, his system panel appeared before his eyes.
Name: Senju Hikaru
Gender: Male
Birthday: Konoha Year 34, March 24
Level: Kage-level — system evaluation without using special abilities; chakra reserves are abnormally vast
Dōjutsu: Jōgan — Second Stage, development rate 1%
Bloodline Development: Advanced — Senju Secret Arts, Intermediate Yang Release Secret Arts; Kekkei Tōta, unnamed; Second Kekkei Tōta, unnamed; Intermediate Shikotsumyaku; Beginner Yin Release Secret Arts; Yin–Yang Release, can improve as Yin and Yang Release improve
Jinchūriki: Nine-Tails — Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Six-Tails, Eight-Tails; Intermediate, can grow by devouring large amounts of special chakra or by planting advanced Tailed Beast fruit
Seeds: None
Fruits: Advanced Fire Release Fruit ×10, Advanced Water Release Fruit ×10, Advanced Earth Release Fruit ×10, Advanced Lightning Release Fruit ×10, Advanced Wind Release Fruit ×10
Mission: Become the True Final Boss of the Shinobi World — Unique, progress 91%
Optional Mission: Ten-Tails Jinchūriki — currently possesses Nine-Tails, Eight-Tails, Six-Tails, Three-Tails; mutual fusion progress 50%; overall fusion not activated
Looking at the panel, Hikaru nodded to himself.
There were not many changes this time.
The only real change was his eyes.
But to Hikaru, that was already more than enough.
After all, during this trip, he had met someone he had long suspected existed, and that existence had turned out to be real.
He had also obtained a great deal of information about the true nature of this world from that person.
Even without that information, Hikaru would still have been satisfied with this trip.
Because his eyes had truly undergone a tremendous improvement.
…
The improvement to Hikaru's eyes this time was comprehensive.
Although he still needed time to familiarize himself with the power, that was unavoidable.
His eyes had become too powerful.
Their power needed to feed back into his body, allowing his body to adapt and resonate with them.
Apart from that, he also had to train and use these powers frequently before he could control them with greater precision.
But no matter what, those powers were already in Hikaru's hands.
Even if he could not yet control them perfectly, using them to their maximum extent in battle was still something he could do.
In the original story, Ōtsutsuki Toneri had been able to use the Tenseigan's power to the greatest extent even during the eye's awakening period.
Hikaru's eyes were not the Tenseigan, but in some ways, they were greatly similar.
Hikaru believed he could absolutely do the same.
If possible, he would do it even better than Toneri.
And this evolution had brought Hikaru a completely unprecedented experience and level of strength.
Hikaru felt that if he met Ōtsutsuki Urashiki again, he would definitely handle him much more easily.
"After all, the abilities I gained this time are also beyond imagination."
The first time his eyes had advanced, Hikaru had gained enormous benefits.
He obtained four very special techniques.
Although he rarely used three of them at present, the Truth-Seeking Balls had greatly increased his combat strength.
Without the Truth-Seeking Balls, Hikaru was certain that even if he could defeat Urashiki, he would never have emerged almost unharmed.
However, the life-and-death battle with Urashiki had damaged one of his Truth-Seeking Balls, making it currently unusable.
This new evolution of his eyes had given Hikaru another opportunity to enhance them.
From the feedback sent by his eyes, Hikaru knew that once he fully absorbed and mastered this new power, he could use up to six Truth-Seeking Balls at once.
What six Truth-Seeking Balls meant was obvious.
With six of them, Hikaru could face certain enemies with far greater composure.
And these Truth-Seeking Balls did not merely increase in number.
Their appearance would also multiply the power that fed back into Hikaru.
Hikaru fully believed that, through these six Truth-Seeking Balls, his Yin Release would receive tremendous nourishment and improvement.
"At the very least, with this feedback, raising my Yin Release to the system's intermediate level should not be a problem."
Yin Release had always given Hikaru a headache.
And the embarrassing part was that no matter how much of a headache it caused him, there was very little he could do about it.
As a member of the Senju Clan, Hikaru could be said to have poor natural talent in Yin Release.
Even though he was extremely similar to Tobirama in many ways, he was still not Tobirama.
Yin Release remained a weakness for him.
Even as a transmigrator with naturally strong spiritual power, possessing that strength did not mean he could directly convert it into Yin Release.
The reason he had obtained Yin Release at all was because he had extracted power from the Sharingan.
But he had not transplanted a Sharingan himself, so naturally he could not continuously obtain it.
Because of that, Hikaru sometimes lamented that he had dealt with the Uchiha Clan too early.
He should have squeezed out more benefits before handling them.
But that matter was already in the past.
Regret was useless.
Besides, he had now obtained what he wanted.
There was no need to dwell on it.
Even without the Sharingan as a source of Yin Release, the Truth-Seeking Balls were definitely no worse.
It was not that Hikaru thought the Truth-Seeking Balls were inferior to the Sharingan.
In fact, the two were not even comparable.
The value of a single Truth-Seeking Ball was probably greater than digging out every Sharingan in the entire Uchiha Clan.
However, there was an old saying from Hikaru's previous life: every field had its specialty.
The Sharingan itself was a product of Yin Release.
It naturally contained terrifying Yin Release power.
The Truth-Seeking Balls, on the other hand, were a fusion of all chakra natures.
There was an obvious difference between them.
As a source of improvement, the Truth-Seeking Balls could feed back into every chakra nature inside Hikaru's body.
The Sharingan, as a source, could only improve Yin Release.
Unfortunately, what Hikaru currently lacked was precisely Yin Release.
Using Truth-Seeking Balls for that purpose felt a little like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.
It was somewhat wasteful.
"But improvement takes time.
"I can only wait slowly.
"And this time, I gained four powers again."
During this evolution, Hikaru once again obtained four abilities.
Besides the enhancement of his Truth-Seeking Balls, the other powers he received were also very interesting.
The first power was called "Space Manipulation" according to the feedback from his eyes.
To be honest, Hikaru was not yet clear how this ability would manifest in practice.
But he was clear about one thing.
His Flying Thunder God Technique could probably be retired.
Using Flying Thunder God against ordinary enemies was no problem.
But once he faced enemies like Hashirama or Urashiki, its performance became unsatisfactory.
It could even be described as embarrassing.
Flying Thunder God was an excellent technique.
But its method of activation limited its ceiling.
Even though Hikaru had improved it, as long as it relied on marks, there would inevitably be a startup delay.
No one could solve that.
Currently, Hikaru mostly used Flying Thunder God for travel.
But now, he had unexpectedly obtained the ability of "Space Manipulation."
Even if this power required him to activate the Jōgan, it was not a major problem in battle.
As Hikaru encountered more enemies, and increasingly stronger ones, the frequency with which he used the Jōgan had risen rapidly.
Using the Jōgan in combat had already become one of Hikaru's defining traits.
Being able to use spatial power better while in Jōgan mode was what truly mattered.
Hikaru knew very well how powerful spatial ability was.
Even though Urashiki had mostly used it to flee, it had still caused Hikaru no small amount of trouble.
In the original story, Sasuke also relied on the Rinnegan to use powerful space-time ninjutsu.
To be honest, Hikaru was slightly worried that his own power might be like Sasuke's—mostly supportive.
"But even if spatial power is only supportive, it is still terrifying.
"As long as it is used well, such power is unmatched."
This new spatial power still needed research and exploration.
But Hikaru was full of anticipation for it.
As a transmigrator who had watched so much anime, he had his own ideas on how spatial abilities could be used.
If this ability proved useful enough, Hikaru did not mind imitating how others used similar powers.
But first, he needed to understand his own ability.
Only by understanding it could he use it properly.
"Besides literal spatial manipulation, there also seems to be a technique that pairs with spatial power for attacks."
Besides Space Manipulation, Hikaru had also gained another interesting ability.
It seemed to be an offensive technique designed to accompany that power.
Its name was not especially impressive.
It was called Jōgan Piercing Majesty Slash.
To be honest, compared with something like Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, the name was lacking.
But the ability itself left Hikaru quite satisfied.
According to its description, this offensive technique could pierce through space and directly damage an enemy.
This ability immediately made Hikaru's eyes light up.
He had not forgotten how much trouble Urashiki's escapes had caused him.
Now that he had obtained this ability, Hikaru felt he no longer needed to worry about enemies hiding in space or fleeing through spatial techniques.
"With this, I already have offensive power from my Kekkei Tōta, and now I have a power that can break through space.
"It seems my weaknesses are becoming fewer and fewer."
Obtaining this ability naturally pleased Hikaru.
Even if he had not yet tested it, he believed this power would not disappoint him.
After all, ever since he had obtained the Jōgan, these eyes had never failed him.
Hikaru had to admit that the Jōgan was truly a priceless treasure.
It was also his guarantee against the Ōtsutsuki.
Without the Jōgan and the abilities it provided, Hikaru would never have been able to kill Urashiki.
"Although I named it rather casually, its abilities have never disappointed me."
Hikaru sighed inwardly.
Then he turned his attention to the final ability provided by the Jōgan.
In Hikaru's view, this last ability seemed somewhat useless.
It was similar to the mental manipulation, sealing technique, and chakra absorption ability he gained during the Jōgan's first stage.
Useful, perhaps, but not something he especially needed.
This ability was Summoning.
According to the Jōgan's feedback, this technique seemed capable of summoning an extremely terrifying being and relying on it for battle.
The problem was that Hikaru already had Summoning Jutsu.
And Hikaru did not believe any summoning technique could truly be that powerful.
Tokagemaru was already a very impressive summon.
During the Nine-Tails incident, the image of Tokagemaru entangling Kurama was something Hikaru remembered clearly.
The people of Konoha who witnessed the battle likely remembered it as well.
But the upper limit of summons seemed to stop around that level.
Naruto and the others' summons in the original story were the same.
Even the stone statue Toneri summoned through the Tenseigan had its limits.
When Hikaru first attacked the moon, he had encountered that monster.
But that stone statue had still been dealt with by his Wood Human.
Moreover, Hikaru had a complete Nine-Tails inside his body.
If necessary, he could fully summon Kurama to help him fight.
Because of that, Hikaru really did not have much interest in this summoning technique.
To him, it seemed somewhat redundant.
"Forget it. I'll look into it later.
"I can only determine its actual effect after summoning it."
Hikaru muttered inwardly.
The next moment, his figure appeared beside Hashirama and Tobirama.
Although he had already obtained Space Manipulation, he did not dare casually try such a power yet.
At the very least, he had to adapt to the power of his eyes first.
"You're out?"
Hikaru's sudden appearance immediately made Hashirama smile.
Although they had been arranging the laboratory, they had always been paying attention to Hikaru's side.
They had clearly felt the power Hikaru released earlier.
Although they were confused as to why Hikaru still had not come out even after that burst of power ended, they also knew that the best thing they could do was wait.
After all, Hikaru's eyes were still too unfamiliar to them.
"Yes, I'm out."
Hikaru nodded lightly.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Everything went smoothly. Everything is over. I also obtained what I wanted."
At this point, Hikaru paused slightly.
He hesitated over whether he should tell the three of them what he had learned from meeting Hamura.
Among the three, Hikaru could not fully trust Madara.
But he absolutely trusted the other two.
Even if he told Madara, Hikaru was not worried that he would cause any trouble.
Setting aside Madara's current lack of ability, even Madara at his peak no longer made Hikaru feel especially afraid.
However, after considering the overall impact, Hikaru ultimately decided not to speak.
After all, the three of them were different from Hikaru.
It was not that they were less cold-hearted than him.
Rather, they were natives of this world.
Their feelings toward this world were fundamentally different from Hikaru's.
Especially since this matter involved both Hashirama and Madara in many ways.
…
As the reincarnations of Asura and Indra, Hashirama and Madara could be considered one of the main causes of the shinobi world's thousand years of war.
Of course, they themselves had also been pitiful.
Strictly speaking, they were merely pieces pushed along by the board.
Standing behind them, silently driving all changes in the shinobi world, were Kaguya's three sons.
To these two, none of that was something they could dodge or push away.
They could only continue along the predetermined script until everything reached a clear conclusion.
Hikaru had to admit their fate was truly tragic.
Or rather, the fates of Indra and Asura were tragic to an excessive degree.
But regardless, this was an unchangeable fact.
Perhaps they would learn all of this in the future.
But at least for now, Hikaru did not intend to say more.
"Even if I tell them, I should wait until they have fully displayed their value.
"But saying it or not doesn't matter too much.
"After all, the new generation of Indra and Asura has already changed."
Hikaru thought silently.
Then he stopped paying attention to it.
Hashirama, Tobirama, and Madara were relieved to know Hikaru was fine.
The three of them also knew Hikaru now needed time to familiarize himself with his power, so after a simple conversation, they did not disturb him further.
Even Madara, who was eager to return to the shinobi world, understood priorities and did not bother Hikaru too much.
Hikaru was very satisfied with this.
In the following days, aside from adapting to the improvements his eyes had brought, he also began experimenting with the abilities he had gained.
In particular, he carefully trained Space Manipulation and the space-piercing slash again and again.
The power of Space Manipulation exceeded Hikaru's expectations.
This ability truly allowed Hikaru to manipulate everything within the space near him.
To put it bluntly, within the range he could control, he was the ruler of space.
He could easily change the stability of a designated space.
He could also make a designated space undergo complete distortion.
He could even shatter the space around him and tear his enemies apart with it.
This level of control was something Hikaru had not expected.
But this level of power was something Hikaru had dreamed of.
It was too strong.
Even if it only worked over a small area, that was already enough.
"And my eyes are still growing.
"How far this range can expand in the future is still unknown.
"Perhaps one day, it will grow to a truly astonishing level."
This ability to manipulate space was extremely powerful.
And Jōgan Piercing Majesty Slash, the ability that pierced space, was no weaker.
The essence of that technique was that it could directly attack enemies hiding within space or using space as defense, rendering their spatial arrangements useless.
After all, its ability was to directly pierce space and make the attack land on the enemy.
When paired with Hikaru's Space Manipulation, this technique would definitely produce unexpected effects.
Not only that, Hikaru also discovered that this technique paired extremely well with another passive ability of the Jōgan.
"The Jōgan itself has extraordinary insight.
"And this ability has actually been evolving continuously as my strength rises and my eyes evolve.
"Especially after obtaining spatial ability this time, the things my insight can see have increased even more.
"Even within space."
Being able to see people hiding within space, or those currently using spatial abilities, was something Hikaru had only just discovered.
It happened by coincidence.
While Hikaru was familiarizing himself with the Jōgan and training his new techniques, Tobirama suddenly came over.
It was during that accidental moment that Hikaru clearly saw Tobirama's movement trajectory through space.
This discovery allowed Hikaru to understand the current level of his Jōgan even more clearly.
It was undoubtedly a tremendous surprise.
With this ability, he would have much greater confidence against enemies who loved using spatial power.
"However, while my eyes have improved greatly, the seeds are still taking forever. That is rather annoying."
The growth of his eyes was exciting.
But obtaining seeds gave Hikaru a headache.
While familiarizing himself with his abilities, he also retrieved what he wanted from Urashiki.
He had specially found a quiet corner inside the moon and created a place for planting the seeds he had obtained.
However, ever since he inserted the seeds into trees created by his Wood Release, a full two months had passed.
And the seeds still had not borne fruit.
Even though Hikaru had expected this possibility, he was still somewhat displeased.
At first, he suspected that because the trees had been created by ninjutsu, they might not possess the ability to nurture seeds.
But as time passed, Hikaru discovered immense chakra fluctuations inside those trees.
Then he knew his Wood Release could indeed complete the process.
The reason it was so slow was probably because Urashiki's abilities were too powerful, raising the time cost of gestation dramatically.
But Hikaru had time.
He could wait.
At least for now, the shinobi world should have no problem.
If something truly happened, his shadow clone would definitely pass the information to him.
"I wonder what I will obtain this time."
This time, Hikaru had inserted only two things into the trees.
One was one of Urashiki's Byakugan.
The other was a small piece of flesh from his body.
These two were basically the best choices from Urashiki's body.
Hikaru did not know exactly what he would obtain, but he firmly believed the result would not disappoint him.
"It is time to take a look.
"After all, quite some time has passed."
After ending his training, Hikaru decided to check the "plantation" he had built on the moon.
Just like in the shinobi world, this plantation was protected by many seals.
After all, among the people on the moon, two possessed extraordinary sensory abilities.
Hikaru could not afford to be careless.
Chakra stirred slightly.
Hikaru's figure appeared at the very end of a forest inside the moon.
However, the moment he appeared, his expression changed slightly.
Inside the sealing barrier, an immense chakra was gathering.
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