Chapter 280: What Just Happened?
Hanabi cared a great deal about her own development.
Especially with her elder sister as a precedent, no matter what, she could not bring shame to the Hyuga clan's honor.
Mm.
Many people's impression of Hinata's figure comes from the Shippuden period.
In reality, even before the Chūnin Exams, Hinata was already far ahead in that regard.
In the future, Ino would not be small either, but at this stage, she was still about the same as Sakura. The two of them had even thought about asking Tsunade to teach them how to grow bigger.
From this alone, it was clear that Hyuga Hinata had a certain natural gift. Otherwise, the two sisters would not have become targets of Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
In the Boruto era, Hanabi simply did not know how to develop that gift, having grown used to the idea that when the sky fell, someone taller would hold it up.
As for Hinata, she had completely wasted that gift.
In fact, it was not just Hinata. Everyone had been wasting their talents.
In the ninja world, chakra has many effects.
A lack of chakra can leave someone as emaciated as Nagato.
In the original story, after the battle with Pain, Tsunade ate frantically in order to replenish her chakra.
It was similar in principle to the secret techniques of the Akimichi clan.
Viewed this way, Yang Release secret techniques, which represent the physical body, are fundamentally similar in nature.
Mm, although the Strength of a Hundred Seal is called "yin" seal, what drives it is still Yang Release.
Therefore, the amount of chakra a person is born with, if not interfered with by external forces, will inevitably manifest as external effects in certain areas.
This was perfectly reasonable.
Hanabi had noticed this pattern as well.
The powerful kunoichi were all quite well-endowed.
So she absolutely could not become the exception.
"Mm… right now, I…"
Hanabi tried to control the newly emerged power.
There was no rampaging or reckless crashing due to a sudden surge of strength.
Instead, she floated up effortlessly.
This was also reasonable.
In the ninja world, there were almost no cases of someone being unable to control a sudden spike in power.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri went from having no eyes to activating Tenseigan Mode, which was a massive increase in strength.
Naruto and Sasuke also experienced explosive growth after receiving the Sage of Six Paths' gift.
The latter two had almost no time to adapt before heading straight into battle, yet neither showed any signs of being unable to control their power.
Because in the ninja world, there exists an attribute called "chakra control" or in Shiromo's terms, "precision."
If power surges while precision also increases proportionally, then there will be no loss of control.
"You can try an attack" Orochimaru said.
He pressed a button, and the laboratory ceiling opened up, revealing the starry sky.
"Huh?"
Hanabi blinked in confusion.
This lab had that feature and he did not open it earlier?
What if she had blasted the ceiling apart just now?
"An attack… huh?"
Hanabi attempted one, only to produce a small green sphere.
She set the little green orb aside and tried using the "Eight Trigrams Air Palm" she had previously developed, aiming into the sky.
A golden beam with a green tail shot from her fingertip, streaking away like a comet until it vanished beyond the horizon.
"The Tenseigan proves once again that the Byakugan is meant for long-range combat. Now do you understand why I had you practice long-distance attacks?"
Mm, something like Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, a forty-meter blade, could also count as long-range, right?
Shiromo stepped forward and touched Hanabi's sphere.
This was the Truth-Seeking Orb in Tenseigan Mode, also known as a glowing cyan orbs.
"That power didn't disappear. It remained until it passed beyond my sensory range."
Senju Tobirama suddenly spoke, his brows tightly furrowed.
"What power? Oof~"
Hanabi froze for a moment. Then the green glow around her abruptly dissipated, and she fell straight into Shiromo's waiting arms below.
"The power you released into the sky just now."
Tobirama lifted his head to look upward. "That power had little impact on its surroundings, but its intensity did not weaken at all."
As a sensory-type ninja, Tobirama's perception range was extremely vast.
Ultra-long-distance precise sensing was one of the essential prerequisites for Flying Thunder God.
That was why, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Tobirama could sense Madara near Konoha from the battlefield, and Minato could sense Naruto and the Nine-Tails.
Yet even with such an expansive sensory range, Tobirama had not detected the slightest attenuation in the power of Hanabi's attack.
If a Great Fireball Technique were released into the air, the fireball would gradually shrink and extinguish as it traveled.
But the power from just now, he could not sense any weakening.
Perhaps his sensing ability was insufficient. Or perhaps it truly did not diminish?
No.
Tobirama suddenly recalled that when Shiromo touched Hanabi's sphere earlier, he had mentioned the words "Truth-Seeking Orb."
Shiromo had spoken of it before in his stories.
A symbol of Six Paths level power. Absolute offense and absolute defense.
Could it be due to the nature of that object?
"Do you remember which direction you fired it in?" Shiromo asked after placing Hanabi onto a chair.
"…"
Hanabi innocently pointed at the moon. "It wasn't my fault. The moon stands out the most in the sky. It's like a live target. You just instinctively want to aim at it."
"?"
"Black Zetsu" suddenly looked up.
She attacked where?
"No need to worry. That power should have very strong penetrative properties. Since it's highly penetrative, it won't damage the moon's structure. And even if it explodes, it wouldn't be enough to cause structural harm to the moon."
Orochimaru spoke, offering reassurance.
However, by saying that, he implicitly acknowledged one thing: Hanabi's attack would definitely reach the moon.
"But isn't Mother Kaguya sealed inside the moon?"
Hanabi said softly.
"?!"
"Black Zetsu" stared at Hanabi in astonishment.
What did this little brat just call her?
And someone was actually concerned about her safety?
"Black Zetsu" began to doubt herself.
She had always believed that familial affection did not exist. Hagoromo and Hamura had defied her over a woman and a toad, disregarding her feelings entirely.
She had never expected…
"It's fine. Didn't Orochimaru say the penetrative force is strong and there won't be explosive damage? That means at most it's like being pricked by a needle for the sealed Kaguya."
"That level of harm, for the Progenitor of Chakra, even one sealed without her power, is nothing significant."
Shiromo patted Hanabi's head to comfort her.
The gesture was not merely consolation.
When Shiromo had just touched the Truth-Seeking Orb in Tenseigan Mode, he had obtained a new ability.
When he applied that power to Hanabi, the force of destiny shifted slightly.
On the moon.
All of Hamura's descendants were dead, leaving only Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
Toneri was the same age as Naruto, merely a blind little boy.
His blindness did not hinder his movements at all. Calmly, he walked to the restroom and loosened his trousers.
Whoosh!
A golden beam he could not see suddenly shot through, slicing away his front half and half his nose.
At the same time, the seal on the latrine was pierced. The accumulated filth of the Ōtsutsuki clan, built up over a thousand years beneath it, began to erupt outward.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri stood there in the rain, both hands covering his upper and lower halves, utterly bewildered.
What just happened?
(End of this chapter)