Hinata arrived first, carrying Hanabi on her back.
It wasn’t that Neji hadn’t offered.
Hinata simply refused to let anyone else carry her sister.
The delay hadn’t been because they were slow. The lunar palace was massive, and several Ōtsutsuki puppets had still been guarding the inner chambers. Worse, those puppets were strong enough to force real fights, dragging the search out far longer than expected.
But in the end, they destroyed them all and recovered Hanabi.
Now they had regrouped with Naruto and Sasuke.
Neji stared at the ruined battlefield.
"So... it’s already over."
The ground was cratered.
The palace ruins were half-lted.
Residual chakra still warped the air.
He glanced at Naruto and Sasuke again, a familiar tightness forming in his chest.
If they were already monsters like this...
Then what kind of being was Fujimoto Tōma now?
Probably sothing he couldn’t even conceptualize anymore.
For the first ti in years, Neji felt directionless.
At twenty, he was already an elite jōnin.
Before the Fourth War, that would have been exceptional.
Now it felt hollow.
In the Hyūga Clan, he had no equal left in straight combat.
And yet he couldn’t imagine changing the clan’s rigid rules with power like this.
Even if he trained nonstop, his ceiling was probably Kage level.
Super-Kage?
Six Paths tier?
That felt like a different species.
And yet...
His gaze drifted to Toneri’s broken body.
That man had fought Naruto and Sasuke head-on.
aning his power had surpassed Super-Kage.
"...The Tenseigan," Neji murmured inwardly.
So that was the difference.
So that was the road.
"The one who defeated Toneri wasn’t Naruto or ."
Neji blinked. "What?"
Sasuke pointed calmly.
"To her."
The moon sprite was sitting quietly on Hinata’s shoulder, nuzzling against her hair.
Neji froze.
...That thing?
"She’s stronger than Naruto and right now," Sasuke said flatly.
Neji went silent.
That harmless mascot?
"Her space-ti jutsu alone would trap completely," Sasuke continued.
"Even Anotejikara wouldn’t get out."
Neji exhaled slowly.
So even Fujimoto Tōma’s summon had already surpassed them.
Hinata had already laid Hanabi down gently on a folded cloak.
She knelt beside Toneri and perford a dical scan.
Not to heal him.
But to assess his condition before eye extraction.
"Internal injuries are mild," she said.
"But the facial damage is severe."
Naruto scratched his cheek and looked away.
"...That one might’ve been ."
"Can you keep him alive long enough for the transfer?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Hinata replied professionally.
"But he should be stabilized first. His body’s unstable."
Sasuke nodded.
He still needed Toneri alive.
"So... what now?" Naruto asked.
"Head back the way we ca?"
"Our mission’s done," Neji said.
"The moon’s orbit isn’t sothing we can fix anyway."
Then a calm voice echoed behind them.
"You’ve all done enough. Leave the rest to ."
Everyone stiffened.
Then lit up.
Space warped.
Fujimoto Tōma stepped out beside them.
The moon sprite instantly abandoned Hinata and hopped onto his shoulder, licking his cheek proudly.
Tōma chuckled and patted her head.
"Alright. I get it. You did great."
"Nii-san!!" Naruto shouted.
"Your Majesty," the others said automatically.
Tōma sighed.
He’d already given up correcting them.
"Let’s go ho," Tōma said calmly.
"Hanabi’s surgery goes to Sakura."
Hinata nodded.
"What about the moon’s orbit?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke deadpanned.
"...He already fixed it."
Naruto froze.
"...Huh?"
"When His Majesty arrived," Sasuke continued,
"he used Flying Thunder God to move the entire moon back into place."
Naruto stared blankly.
"...Oh."
Monts later, everyone vanished in a flash.
Only Tōma and the moon sprite remained.
"Why are we still here?" the sprite chirped softly.
"Looking for sothing."
Tōma wandered across the lunar ruins.
Eventually, he stopped before a massive stone slab carved with an enormous eye.
A dormant purple Tenseigan.
The sprite’s eyes lit up.
"...You want it?" Tōma asked.
She nodded furiously.
He smiled and tossed the slab toward her.
Space rippled.
The slab vanished into her storage dinsion.
"This one was built from the branch family’s Byakugan," Tōma said quietly.
"Pure offense-type Tenseigan.
They used it to wipe out the main family."
The sprite chirped happily.
Another power-up secured.
Tōma looked back at the empty moon.
"...There won’t be any life here anymore."
Toneri wasn’t going back.
And Orochimaru was about to be very happy.
"Let’s go," Tōma said softly.
The sprite nodded.
Space opened.
They stepped through.
Reviews
All reviews (0)