Swish—

just as Uchiha Fugaku rescued Hinata Hanabi, the shadow of Ōtsutsuki Toneri appeared again.

This time, Ōtsutsuki Toneri opened his hollow eyes and looked at Uchiha Fugaku.

"Descendant of the Six Paths Sage, the Ninja World is a failed world created by the Six Paths Sage. You will eventually be destroyed!"

"Let me destroy you!"

Uchiha Fugaku chuckled, not taking Ōtsutsuki Toneri's words to heart.

He gazed at the luminescent pool, knowing that the other end must lead to the moon.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Using the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a shadow clone carried Hinata Hanabi back the way they had come. With a puff, he himself jumped into the pool, preparing to travel through it to the moon.

"Don't even think about it!"

Noticing Uchiha Fugaku's intention to reach the moon through the pool, Ōtsutsuki Toneri declared.

Then, the luminescent pool suddenly lost its glow, and the space within it vibrated.

When the shaking stopped, Uchiha Fugaku had vanished from this dimension and reappeared in the original cave.

The cave was identical to when he entered, the only difference being the glowing pool of water, which had vanished.

"The spatial passage is closed!"

Uchiha Fugaku's face darkened, realizing immediately that the spatial passage had been blocked by Ōtsutsuki Toneri, making it impossible to reach the moon.

He had finally found the spatial passage to the moon, but he hadn't expected Ōtsutsuki Toneri to forcibly close it, denying him the opportunity to enter the moon and kill him.

Swish—

Ōtsutsuki Toneri's shadow reappeared, his hollow eyes fixed on Uchiha Fugaku.

"Descendant of the Six Paths Sage, sooner or later I will destroy this failed ninja world!"

"You? You're just a little mouse huddled at the other end of the passage. Don't boast!"

Uchiha Fugaku replied in a gloomy tone.

"Descendant of the Six Paths Sage, you're too arrogant."

Ōtsutsuki Toneri's face chilled, angered that the great Byakugan clan was being called a mere rat.

"If you refuse to accept, then descend in person,"

Uchiha Fugaku prodded.

The spatial portal was closed, leaving him with no way to reach the moon. If only he could provoke Ōtsutsuki Toneri into opening it and entering the ninja world in person.

"Your clumsy provocation, I won't fall for it,"

Ōtsutsuki Toneri remained unmoved.

If he had succeeded in acquiring the pure Byakugan and evolving it into the Samsara Eye, he wouldn't mind a visit to the ninja world before destroying it, to see the world that was about to vanish.

But now that he had failed to acquire the pure Byakugan, and the Six Paths Sage's descendant was so powerful, he naturally wouldn't enter the ninja world.

Swish—

to avoid further provocation from the Six Paths Sage's descendant, Ōtsutsuki Toneri chose to vanish.

After waiting for a long moment, with no sign of Toneri Ōtsutsuki reappearing, and no sign of the passage to the moon, Uchiha Fugaku reluctantly gave up and exited the cave.

Outside, Inuzuka Hana had already revived Hinata Hanabi, who had been entrusted with Uchiha Fugaku's shadow clone.

She was skilled in medical ninjutsu, and while she specialized in treating ninja dogs, she was also capable of providing simple medical treatment to humans.

Upon seeing Uchiha Fugaku emerge from the cave, Inuzuka Hana and Hinata Hanabi approached.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, for rescuing me."

Hinata Hanabi, though young, was not shy of strangers, unlike her sister Hinata.

Displaying a maturity belying her age, she performed an ancient ritual, practiced only by members of ancient families, to express her gratitude.

"No need for that. The Hyuga Clan is an important member of Konoha, and I naturally cannot sit idly by."

Seeing the little girl acting a bit like an adult, Uchiha Fugaku forced a smile, his gloomy mood slightly brighter.

The three of them, along with their ninja dog, returned the same way, with Inuzuka Hana carrying Hinata Hanabi on her back. Uchiha Fugaku didn't use Susanoo to help him, as that was too extravagant.

Even with the chakra of a Tailed Beast, he couldn't afford to waste it like that.

"Hokage-sama."

On the way, they encountered several other rescue teams that had arrived after receiving the signal, and together they returned to Konoha.

By the time they arrived back in Konoha, it was already morning.

This search and rescue operation had lasted all night.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama! On behalf of the Hyuga family and as a father, I thank you for your help."

Upon learning that Hinata Hanabi had been successfully rescued, Hyuga Hiashi, who hadn't slept all night, rushed over and showered Uchiha Fugaku with gratitude.

"Hyuga Clan Leader, there's no need to be so rude. The Hyuga family is an important part of Konoha, and I'm doing this as a duty."

Uchiha Fugaku waved his hand.

A night of hard work had some benefits; at least it had made the Hyuga family more loyal to him.

...

A few days later, in the underground chamber.

Uchiha Fugaku took a sealed scroll from a spore clone and untied it. More than ten corpses appeared in the underground secret room.

The dozen or so corpses, dressed in white, kimono-like clothing, all had their eyes obliterated by some form of magic.

They were all members of the Hyuga branch clan who died the night the Ōtsutsuki puppets attacked the Hyuga clan. After their burial, they were secretly exhumed by Uchiha Fugaku's spore clones.

The goal, naturally, was to obtain the Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai.

Having failed to kill Ōtsutsuki Toneri on the moon, Uchiha Fugaku could only first obtain the Byakugan before considering how to proceed.

"If I gain the Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai, will I, like the Hyuga clan, live with Byakugan?"

Looking at the corpses of the dozen or so Hyuga branch clan members, Uchiha Fugaku hesitated.

The Hyuga clan's eyes were too distinct and impossible to conceal. He worried that if he gained their Kekkei Genkai, he would also bear the same unobstructed Byakugan as the Hyuga clan members.

In that case, anyone would be able to guess he had stolen the Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai.

Every clan holds their Kekkei Genkai in high regard. Seeing theirs stolen would likely resent even the Hyuga clan, now dependent on him.

"The battle with Nagato a few days ago proved that my current strength is insufficient to defeat him."

"To defeat Nagato, I must acquire even greater power. I cannot miss any opportunity to strengthen myself!"

Finally, he made a decision. Even if it meant being unable to conceal his Byakugan, he could not miss the opportunity to strengthen himself.

In the worst-case scenario, he could claim to have an eye disease and, like the Aburame clan, wear sunglasses to conceal his eyes.

Or, he could use the Disguise Technique to disguise the position of his eyes.

Of course, this would require constant maintenance of the Disguise Technique, much like Hatake Kakashi's Sharingan, which would constantly drain his chakra.

However, the Disguise Technique's chakra consumption was minimal to begin with, and with the chakra of a Tailed Beast, this was a drop in the bucket, far less than his rapid chakra regeneration rate.

"Corpse Melting—"

Having made his decision, Uchiha Fugaku activated Corpse Melting.

A pitch-black vortex appeared in the air, and he dropped the corpse of a Hyuga branch family member into it.

The corpse immersed itself in the black liquid and began to dissolve rapidly.

As the corpse dissolved, a special substance similar to cellular matter was produced, which acted upon Uchiha Fugaku's eyes.

Under this cellular substance, Uchiha Fugaku felt his eyes cool and indescribably comfortable.

After a short moment, the production of cellular matter ended, and the cold feeling in his eyes disappeared.

Uchiha Fugaku eagerly took out a mirror and looked into his own eyes to confirm their condition.

What he saw was a pair of blood-red eyes with intricate black patterns. These were his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. At least in this Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan state, the Byakugan characteristic was invisible in his eyes.

He released the Sharingan, returning his eyes to normal.

Swish—

a pair of white eyes, with barely visible pupils, appeared before him.

This was a characteristic of the Hyuga family.

After smelting and acquiring the Hyuga clan's Kekkei Genkai, he could see the Byakugan's characteristics in his normal state.

This was expected, and Uchiha Fugaku quickly accepted it.

"Disguise Jutsu!"

He used the Disguise Jutsu to disguise his eyes. The white eyes in the mirror suddenly changed.

The white eyes disappeared, and a pair of eyes with black pupils and white sclera appeared.

The Byakugan's characteristics completely disappeared, becoming identical to normal ones. No one could recognize them as Byakugan.

Not even members of the Hyuga clan could see them, because the Disguise Jutsu was indecipherable to the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.

"Byakugan—"

Disabling the Disguise Jutsu, Uchiha Fugaku attempted to use his Byakugan, wanting to experience the difference between the Hyuga clan's Byakugan and the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.

In the mirror, a strange transformation occurred. His eyes turned bluish-white, with veins bulging around them, giving him a slightly sinister look.

As his eyes changed, a 360-degree field of vision appeared, appearing directly in his mind.

Even though the object directly behind him was clearly invisible, he could see it clearly.

This was the Byakugan's 360-degree vision.

His gaze moved forward, effortlessly piercing the rock wall.

Extending outward, he could see the Uchiha clan residence outside the secret room, the Uchiha clan members moving about within, and even the chakra channels within their bodies.

His vision reached its limit only after reaching a full mile.

This was the Byakugan's clairvoyant power.

After experiencing the difference between the Byakugan and the Sharingan, Uchiha Fugaku released his Byakugan, his eyes returning to white, the bulging veins around them disappearing.

"My eyes are certainly not pure Byakugan now. Continue smelting the bodies of the Hyuga branch clan."

Uchiha Fugaku activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and began melting the bodies of the Hyuga branch clan members once again.

After the bodies of over a dozen Hyuga branch clan members had been smelted, a pair of extremely pure white eyes appeared.

They resembled those of Hinata Hanabi; they were undoubtedly pure Byakugan.

"We already have the pure Byakugan. All we need is Ōtsutsuki Toneri's bloodline limit to achieve the Samsara Eye. Besides the space tunnel, is there really no other way to reach the moon?"

(End of this chapter)