The place before them looked nothing like the cities or structures on Earth. It resembled a floating palace suspended high in the sky.
Kiyosuke was the first to charge forward, not bothering with any kind of plan. Right behind him were Naruto and Minato.
"They're going to save Hinata. Sai, we'll save Hanabi!" Neji said decisively, splitting off with Sai to carry out the rescue.
Boom!
A single punch blasted the massive doors apart.
Kiyosuke swaggered in with his usual roguish grin.
"So, who's got the guts to pull this off? You dare kidnap my disciple? Guess you're tired of living. Come out—I wanna see just how many lives you've got to spare."
No one answered.
Instead, a swarm of puppets appeared.
Kiyosuke clicked his tongue in annoyance, opened his mouth, and unleashed a wave of fire.
In an instant, the entire group of puppets was reduced to ashes.
"Let's go."
"Right."
The group followed behind him.
The palace was eerily lifeless—no people, only puppets disguised as servants maintaining daily operations.
When intruders appeared, they transformed into armed guards, countless weapons sprouting from their bodies as they attacked.
Unfortunately for them, being made of wood meant they were utterly helpless before Kiyosuke. Every puppet that approached was burned to cinders. No matter how many came, none could harm them in the slightest.
"They're here."
Naruto pushed open the next door and froze.
Inside, Hinata was calmly knitting a scarf.
"HINATA!" Naruto shouted.
"Na–Naruto?"
Hinata turned around, eyes wide with disbelief.
The moment she saw him—and Kiyosuke behind him—she leapt to her feet and threw herself into Naruto's arms.
"Naruto, I knew you'd come for me!"
She had never doubted that her fiancé would rescue her. And now, he was really here.
"Why not think that your respected sensei would come save you too? Hinata, I'm honestly disappointed," Kiyosuke said with mock sorrow, his tone teasing.
Hinata's face turned crimson.
Kushina reached over and smacked Kiyosuke on the back of the head.
"Enough. You're a grown man—don't pick fights with a girl!"
She wasn't about to let her future daughter-in-law be bullied by this troublemaker.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Kiyosuke muttered. "Hinata, where's that Ōtsutsuki Toneri guy?"
"He… he transplanted Hanabi's Byakugan. His eyes are transforming into Tenseigan."
"Tenseigan?" Minato frowned. He'd never heard of such a dōjutsu.
"Ah, the Tenseigan," Kiyosuke said, nodding. "A power that rivals the Rinnegan—but in terms of pure destructive capability, it surpasses it."
The Tenseigan—an ultimate eye technique equal to the Rinnegan, but attainable only through merging the chakra of the Ōtsutsuki clan with the Byakugan of the Hyūga.
It held the power to destroy or create worlds.
After losing his own Byakugan, Toneri had transplanted Hanabi's and merged it with his Ōtsutsuki chakra—thus awakening the Tenseigan.
"If the Rinnegan is the final evolution of the Uchiha's Sharingan," Kiyosuke explained, "then the Tenseigan is the Byakugan's ultimate evolution—the end point of the Hyūga lineage."
He sighed. "This won't be easy."
"But we still have to take Hanabi's eyes back. The future head of the Hyūga clan can't lose her Byakugan."
Since Hinata was to marry Naruto, she couldn't inherit the title of clan leader. That role naturally fell to Hanabi.
Honestly, Neji would've been the most suitable. His strength and talent were unmatched—if not for being born into the branch family, he'd have made the perfect successor.
"It seems he's here."
Kiyosuke turned toward the doorway.
A white-haired young man with pale skin and icy blue eyes stepped into view. The trademark features of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
He was handsome, clad in ancient robes, with several black magatama beads adorning his collar.
Seeing them, Ōtsutsuki Toneri smiled calmly rather than showing anger.
"Welcome. I am Ōtsutsuki Toneri. If you've come to attend my wedding with Hinata, you're most welcome. I won't be angry about what just happened."
Naruto's eyes widened.
"You bastard! What the hell are you saying?! Hinata is my fiancée! We're getting married soon! You came to my village, kidnapped my bride-to-be—what are you trying to do?!"
"Hinata, the Princess of the Byakugan, is the perfect bride," Toneri said softly. "Together, we'll destroy the world that the Sage of Six Paths created, and build a new one in its place."
His tone was so polite, so gentle, that for a moment he almost sounded like Minato.
Almost.
Except for the part where he was trying to steal someone's fiancée.
What the hell kind of gentleman does that?
"Are you kidding me? Why are all of you like this?!" Naruto roared. "Why does everyone want to destroy the world?!"
How many times had this happened already?
He was seriously losing his mind.
"There are plenty like him," Kiyosuke said casually. "Don't worry about it, Naruto. The world won't end—and even if it does, it won't be by the hands of small-minded idiots like this one."
Toneri's expression didn't change. He simply studied Kiyosuke.
"And who might you be? That power of yours… it's quite interesting."
"Oh, me? Hinata's teacher."
"I see," Toneri replied with a polite bow. "Then I must thank you for training her. She'll make a fine wife."
Kiyosuke sighed helplessly.
"You're unbelievable."
He raised a finger. Flames gathered at the tip, forming into a narrow beam that shot toward Toneri.
But before it could reach him, it struck an invisible wall and dispersed.
"Oh? So that's a repulsive force—like Shinra Tensei? The Tenseigan really is interesting."
"Of course. The Tenseigan's power can rival that of the Sage of Six Paths himself," Toneri said calmly.
"But it seems you're not here to attend my wedding. In that case, I must treat you as enemies. My apologies, Hinata—I didn't wish to stain our ceremony with blood. But this is all for our future happiness."
Even as he spoke, a special kunai appeared beside him—Minato had already moved.
A flash of blue light—
"Rasengan!"
The spiraling sphere bloomed in Minato's palm as he lunged forward.
Toneri raised his hand. In an instant, the Rasengan vanished.
He turned and kicked Minato hard in the chest, sending him flying backward.
"Minato! Are you all right?" Kushina ran to him, eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine… he absorbed my chakra," Minato said grimly.
"Just like the Rinnegan," Kiyosuke muttered. "Repulsion, attraction, chakra absorption… no wonder he's their ancestor. The abilities are similar, yet not quite the same."
He straightened his back. "All right—let's move."
"Yeah!"
Naruto's body flared with golden light as he entered Six Paths Mode. The Truth-Seeking Orbs floated behind him, the power granted by the Sage of Six Paths still coursing through him.
His strength now was beyond imagination.
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