"Mitsuki—sorry, but I need to end this quickly!"
Whoosh. A Truth-Seeking Orb derivative from Tenseigan Chakra Mode condensed in Hanabi's palm. Aimed at Mitsuki.
—Tenseigan: Attraction.
Whoosh.
Under irresistible gravitational force—Mitsuki flew forward. But he didn't just accept his fate. His left eye power activated again.
—Mizuchi's Decree.
Hanabi's gaze sharpened. She immediately changed tactics. The Truth-Seeking Orb derivative before her palm transformed into a hemispherical shield. Blocking the erupting black water.
Mitsuki's right eye power followed immediately.
—Agunushi's Decree.
Whoosh. The Mizuchi water rapidly condensed into refined droplets.
Hanabi was surprised. "His right eye... controls the black water's shape transformation!"
Crack. Crack.
The condensed droplets concentrated their force at a single point. Breaking through the shield. [Reiterating: Tenseigan's Truth-Seeking Orb derivatives are weaker than the original Truth-Seeking Orbs from Six Paths Sage Techniques.]
But Hanabi evaded with incredible speed. Sweeping her sleeve through the air.
—Truth-Seeking Orb Shuriken.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.
A rain of green streaming light descended. Raising terrifying mushroom clouds of light explosions across the ground.
When the explosions subsided—dark golden Susanoo bones covered Mitsuki's small body.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
New bone sprouts kept emerging from the damaged areas.
Hanabi's eyes narrowed. "Susanoo."
Whoosh. Several Truth-Seeking Orb derivatives spun before her palm. Forming a silver ring.
As Hanabi raised her hand—BOOM. A silver tornado roared forth from the ring's center.
—Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion.
The storm instantly destroyed Mitsuki's Susanoo. Protected barely by his sage chakra cloak—Mitsuki was sent flying.
Hanabi condensed another Truth-Seeking Orb derivative in her palm. Crackle. It transformed into a green orb. Aimed at Mitsuki from a distance.
—Tenseigan: Absorption.
Whoosh.
As Mitsuki flew backward—his sage cloak separated from his body. Flowing through the air into the orb before Hanabi's palm.
The orb that absorbed the sage power shimmered with brilliant silver light. Hanabi flicked her finger. And the orb scattered into light particles.
"Huff. Huff. Huff." Mitsuki—his sage power absorbed—crouched on the ground. Breathing heavily.
Hanabi didn't press her advantage. After all—this was just a match. Not a life-or-death battle. She gazed calmly at Mitsuki. "Do you want to keep fighting?"
Mitsuki clenched his fists. Calmly assessing: Right now—winning is almost impossible. But Tōjin hopes I'll win. And wants to fight me. I want to respond to his expectations.
Then—this is the only way.
"Hah." Taking a deep breath—Mitsuki stood. And formed a series of hand seals.
Hanabi didn't interfere. Showing the grace of an elder as she waited for Mitsuki to complete his technique.
In the stands—Orochimaru's serpentine eyes flickered. "Those seals. Mitsuki, he..."
Mitsuki murmured, "According to the Grand Tournament rules—mutual destruction means both lose qualification. But if I coordinate well with that technique—I might just survive."
As the final seal fell—Mitsuki pressed his palms together.
"Uhahahaha!"
An eerie laugh echoed from the netherworld. An ominous white phantom appeared behind Mitsuki.
—Forbidden Technique: Reaper Death Seal.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen shot upright. "Hey, hey! What the hell has that bastard Orochimaru been teaching this child?!"
Hanabi's Tenseigan gazed at the phantom behind Mitsuki. Unable to hide her shock. "That technique. Could it be..."
The Shinigami of the Reaper Death Seal.
Mitsuki's eyes held the resolve to win. "Hanabi-senpai—I'm sorry. I'm desperate for victory. And I'll use any means necessary."
Whoosh.
The Shinigami's wrist—hung with prayer beads—suddenly pierced through Mitsuki's back and chest. Reaching toward Hanabi ahead.
"!"
Hanabi had no time for shock. She dodged with all her might. But that arm followed like a shadow.
Hanabi: "Rather than evading—stopping the caster is better!"
Whoosh. After a feint—she switched from defense to offense. Attacking Mitsuki directly.
Whoosh.
The Shinigami's hand also changed direction. But at this rate—Hanabi's attack would take out Mitsuki first.
Hanabi's thoughts raced: His left eye technique has already been used twice. His visual power is depleted. There's nothing to worry about.
"My left eye power can't be used anymore. But..." Mitsuki's gaze remained calm and clear. When Hanabi closed within ten meters—his right eye suddenly focused on the pool of black water on the ground.
The black water left from the first Mizuchi's Decree.
—Agunushi's Decree.
Whoosh. That flat pool of black water suddenly rose up. Forming a black hand that grabbed Hanabi's ankle.
Hanabi was shocked. "He deliberately led me here. His combat experience is nothing like a greenhorn child!"
Orochimaru said in a low voice, "That child has been receiving my 'prenatal education' since he was in the womb. I wrote the simulated combat experiences from Obito's Daikokuten visual jutsu into Mitsuki's immature hippocampus as neural currents. The number of matches was about fifty thousand. Before consciousness was even born—combat instinct formed first. In terms of combat experience—that child probably won't lose to anyone except Naruto, Madara, and Hashirama."
Whoosh.
From the moment she was caught—it was over. The Shinigami's arm seized Hanabi's soul. Pulling it toward Mitsuki's body.
Almost simultaneously—Mitsuki opened his mouth. And literally vomited out a fresh version of himself.
The authentic Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique.
"Huff. Huff. Huff." Mitsuki lay in a puddle of viscous fluid. Breathing heavily.
Thud.
Ahead—Hanabi. Her soul taken. Her Tenseigan Chakra Mode cloak extinguished. Fell straight down.
After a moment of deathly silence—shocked cries erupted across the venue.
"What? The Hyūga genius with the Tenseigan was defeated by an eight-year-old child?"
"This is way too absurd!"
But Orochimaru's serpentine eyes flickered. "Mitsuki—you've already done incredibly well to reach this point. But the true power of the Tenseigan isn't something you can handle yet."
The fallen Hanabi stood back up.
Mitsuki's eyes widened. "This is...?!"
A "卍" mark appeared on Hanabi's forehead.
She said, "This is the Tenseigan's visual power—Life-Death Talisman. It can eliminate negative effects including death. Essentially the Tenseigan's unique Izanagi. There's no risk of blindness—but the Life-Death Talisman triggers by probability. In the same battle—the first activation probability is one hundred percent. From the second time onward—the probability gradually decreases with each use."
Mitsuki sighed. "I see. In other words—no matter what—you have one guaranteed resurrection per battle."
Hanabi smiled gently. "You can continue. Maybe the next time will succeed."
Mitsuki said, "No chance. That Reaper Death Seal just now was already my limit. You'd never fall for the same trick twice. I've lost."
Hanabi said, "That molting technique earlier. You weren't certain about it either, right? If the timing had been slightly off—the result would've been completely different."
Mitsuki: "..."
Hanabi: "You don't seem like a child obsessed with winning itself. Was it all because of one thing Tōjin said?"
Mitsuki: "You heard that."
Hanabi: "It seems you really care about him."
Murmuring—she raised her hand. And announced to the entire venue: "Hyūga Hanabi... withdraws from the competition!"
"Huh?" The entire venue was shocked. But then understood.
"Probably because the opponent's a child with such talent. As an established ninja—it wouldn't look good to compete to the bitter end."
"True. The Hyūga are a prestigious clan. Naturally they cherish their reputation."
"With the Second Miss Hyūga's strength—Earth Ninja rank is within easy reach anyway."
The entire venue gave Hanabi's gracious concession warm applause.
Mitsuki said, "Is this really okay?"
Hanabi smiled as she turned away. "It's nothing. Promise me you'll be a good partner to Tōjin, okay?"
Watching Hanabi's spirited retreating figure—Mitsuki smiled. "Of course. Hanabi-obasan."
And so—the third Grand Tournament's first round of twelve contestants concluded. The victors—Tōjin, Konohamaru, Suigetsu, Mitsuki, and Nishito—would advance to the second round.
The first match would be:
—TŌJIN VS. SUIGETSU—
On the big screen—Tobi appeared again. "Okey-dokey! I'm back! Thanks for waiting, everyone. It's time for our annual 'ceremony'!"
Every year after the third Grand Tournament's first round concluded—they'd insert an emergency drill for an Ōtsutsuki attack. Each time—Kaguya would appear in an unexpected way. And launch a symbolic attack.
Everyone gazed at the sky with anticipation.
"This time—what kind of surprise will Kaguya-chan bring?"
"Probably punching the air again."
"Hehe. I love watching Kaguya-chan punch. This time I even brought a camera."
Amid eager anticipation—a pitch-black Yomotsu Hirasaka opened in the sky.
An unfamiliar Ōtsutsuki never seen before emerged.
People were confused. "Huh? That's not Kaguya-chan!"
Obito frowned. "Hey. Naruto—what's going on?!"
Clatter.
The cup Naruto was holding fell to the ground. Water pooling at his feet. Completely ignored. The disbelief on his face transformed seconds later into boundless horror.
"Shiki—how could it be him?!"
Ōtsutsuki Shiki gazed coldly down at the entire venue.
"Inferior creatures."
November 13th.
Congratulations to 'Deep as the Sea Firefly Jade [Top Bidder]' and 'A Thousand Miles for One Drunk' for their combined super-powerful character summon, successfully summoning Juan in [Pole Dance Queen Form]. You're each now sitting on a chair, the chair legs welded to the floor, while you're bound tightly with iron chains. Before you... there's a pole, and on that pole, Juan is performing a pole dance. Your eyes are blindfolded with black cloth, and only the delicate friction between skin and pole echoes clearly, all night long... Hehehe.
November 14th.
The peaceful yet solitary writing life never lacks surprises. Thanks to [Capital L] for sending a scorching and magnificent 'Great God Certification'—this is the best recognition of Juan's labor!!
You probably can't imagine Juan's sensitivity to the number 67.99 in the backend—it's become a reflex. Whenever I see that number and that familiar symbol, I fall into an incredibly strange and inescapable state... Then, I stare at the name in front with hazy eyes, unconsciously... cough cough.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━