[The third outfit is the black wedding dress she wore in the wife-stealing battle, when Otsutsuki Toneri took a liking to Hinata and abducted her to the moon, preparing to forcibly marry her as his wife.]
[It looked very beautiful.]
As soon as the screen's voice faded, the scene shifted.
People everywhere in the Shinobi World were still immersed in the earlier mockery about the Will of Bullying when, the next second, their gazes were drawn to a piece of dim starlight.
It was a black wedding dress, its hem dragging along the ground, carrying an indescribable nobility and cold allure. The one wearing it was none other than Hyuga Hinata.
Her long hair was tied up and wrapped in a cloth, with only a single lock hanging down on each side of her cheeks. Her bangs were even across her forehead, revealing her smooth forehead and those iconic Byakugan. On her earlobes were a pair of exaggerated ear ornaments. Her whole being looked extremely cold and alluring.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Location of Team 7]
Naruto looked up at the Hinata on the screen wearing the black wedding dress, coldly beautiful and incomparably stunning, his head full of question marks.
"What's with this Otsutsuki Toneri? Why would he take Hinata away?"
He only knew that Toneri was from the Otsutsuki clan on the moon. The screen had mentioned him once before, saying he had the Tenseigan and could split the moon.
But why would he snatch Hinata? Hinata had not offended him.
Sakura suddenly understood. "No wonder you fight him in the future, Naruto. It's because Hinata was taken by him!"
Kakashi was also somewhat puzzled. According to earlier intelligence, this Otsutsuki guy seemed to have stolen Hanabi's eyes and then evolved them into the Tenseigan.
Then why… would he also abduct Hinata to marry her?
Could it be because Hinata was known as the princess of the Byakugan, and her bloodline was closer to the Otsutsuki clan, making it easier for any offspring to awaken the Tenseigan?
Then that made it even stranger!
Why didn't Toneri just directly find someone from the Otsutsuki clan? That clan seemed to have quite a few people!
It couldn't possibly be that he really liked Hinata, could it?
Just then, the scene on the screen changed abruptly, shifting to a dark place.
Inside a certain palace.
In the faint light, two figures stood in the center. When the camera moved closer, everyone in the Shinobi World discovered that it was none other than Toneri, who had previously split the moon with a single sword strike, and Hinata in the black wedding dress.
But Hinata's eyes were hollow, as if she had lost consciousness.
At that moment, a voice rang out in the quiet space: "Hinata!!"
Naruto, now with short hair, quickly ran in. "What did you do to her? Give Hinata back!"
Toneri, upon seeing Naruto, didn't take him seriously and waved his right hand lightly, "Fine. I shall give her back to you."
Beside him, Hinata unexpectedly stepped forward quickly and rushed toward Naruto! But she was not trying to return to Naruto's side. Instead, her body moved like a puppet, attacking him continuously.
Her palms formed blades, and her long legs swept across. Every move was clean and decisive, as if she was being pulled by an invisible thread, turning her into a doll that only knew how to fight.
Facing this sudden situation, Naruto could only keep dodging. And very quickly, he realized that Hinata was being controlled by Toneri.
Naruto grabbed Hinata with one hand, while his other hand directly plunged into her chest, and in moments he pulled out a green orb of light.
As the orb left her body, Hinata stopped moving, her whole body going limp as she fell to her knees.
"Don't you dare manipulate Hinata!" Naruto angrily crushed the orb in his hand.
Seeing this, Toneri was not angry. Instead, he raised his left hand, spread his five fingers, and aimed his palm at the kneeling Hinata. "Hinata belongs to me. I'm taking her back."
The next second, Hinata's body flew towards him uncontrollably, as if an invisible hand was dragging her.
Naruto reacted extremely quickly and also flew toward Toneri, but after Toneri caught Hinata, he raised his right hand, and a huge repulsive force emerged from his palm, directly blasting Naruto back more than ten meters until he hit a wall and stopped.
---
The people of the various Shinobi World timelines were instantly shocked when they saw this scene!
That Naruto's outfit… was almost identical to the image of the future Seventh Hokage, Naruto.
To put it plainly, at that time Naruto definitely had Six Paths-level strength and was the strongest person in the entire Shinobi World.
And yet he was so easily stopped by Toneri?
The Tenseigan… really was a good thing! With those eyes, Toneri probably wasn't even weak among Six Paths-level beings.
By comparison, the Rinnegan seemed pretty lackluster. With it, Nagato was only at Super Kage-level. And it wasn't that a Super Kage was weak, but that the difference in the boost the two pairs of eyes seem to give was too large!
Nagato had the Rinnegan, and even a Kage-level Naruto could fight him; Toneri's Tenseigan, however, could fight a Six Paths-level Naruto.
The gap was more than just a little bit.
---
[Amegakure, somewhere in a hidden base]
Nagato was extremely surprised. Laymen watched for entertainment, experts watched for the craft.
In just a few seconds of footage, Toneri had used gravity, repulsion, and the ability to control puppets.
Add to that the tornado that had blown away the moon's surface layer and the golden sword that had split the moon in one strike, both seen earlier, and the Tenseigan's abilities really were stronger than the Rinnegan's!
If it also had Chibaku Tensei and Rinne Tensei, then the Rinnegan would simply be outclassed. No wonder Tenseigan's evolution seemed even more troublesome than the Rinnegan's.
He also wondered how the Sage of Six Paths' strength compared to his younger brother's.
Why was it that a Six Paths-level figure with such powerful eyes was now unknown and unnamed?
---
[A certain underground base in the Shinobi World]
In the dim laboratory, glass tanks gave off a faint green glow, casting wavering shadows on the walls.
Orochimaru stared at the pair of pale blue Tenseigan on the screen, his eyes full of greed.
"Tsk tsk tsk, these eyes are even more advanced than the Rinnegan! And they even have a clear evolution path. What a good thing."
He had previously contacted Hiashi privately through a hidden line left in Konoha. Unfortunately, Hiashi, who had initially shown some interest, ultimately rejected Orochimaru's proposal.
Orochimaru wasn't too disappointed though. After all, he still had other research directions.
Just then, Kabuto spoke with a smile beside him.
"Orochimaru-sama, there's no need to rush the Tenseigan for now. Obito has sent over a White Zetsu body containing Hashirama cells. The priority right now is to complete the reincarnation."
Hearing that, Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction. "That's right. I want to see whether this kind of White Zetsu clone can, as the screen said, let me achieve immortality! As long as I can achieve immortality, whether it's the Tenseigan or the Rinnegan, there will be plenty of time to research them later."
His fingers lightly tapped the cultivation tank, producing a crisp sound.
He had waited many years for this day. After the screen told him that White Zetsu clones were perfect vessels that could let him escape the side effects of his reincarnation Jutsu, he had long since been unable to wait.
"However…" Orochimaru's tone suddenly changed, becoming more serious, "Kabuto, how is your improved Edo Tensei coming along? Soon we have to deliver goods to Obito. My original Edo Tensei bodies won't meet his requirements."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses, the lenses flashing with light. "Orochimaru-sama, please rest assured."
"The Asura of the Shinobi World, stronger than he was in his lifetime, will reappear in the world!"
"That would be great!" The corners of Orochimaru's mouth curled into a satisfied smile. "However, Nagato really did force Obito into a corner. For the sake of the so-called Eye of the Moon Plan, he even has to revive the mastermind behind his own tragedy."
Kabuto maintained his smile and did not answer. Orochimaru didn't care either; after letting out a few strange laughs, he continued to watch the screen.
And behind the two of them, in one glass tank after another, white monsters were soaking.
*****
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/ReduxMagister