A flurry of thoughts raced through Seimei's mind, but he quickly reined them in.
He reached up and untied the Konoha headband from his forehead.
With a single thought, he activated his Byakugan.
In an instant, a pristine, jade-like eye appeared at the center of his forehead, radiating a subtle but commanding presence.
Compared to the Sharingan, the Byakugan placed far greater emphasis on bloodline.
For the Ōtsutsuki clan, the Sharingan and Rinnegan were more like tools—powerful, but secondary. The Byakugan, however, was their foundation.
Seimei had a gut feeling that with just this single eye at his brow, he could overwhelm any Hyūga clan ninja whose resolve wasn't strong enough, rendering them powerless.
And this wasn't even the Byakugan's true ability—it was more like bloodline suppression.
As for the eye's actual powers…
With a thought, Seimei focused on the Byakugan's unique vision.
In a split second, his field of view shifted hundreds of meters away. With another leap, it stretched to a kilometer.
In the past, no matter how much his Byakugan had evolved, how sharp his sight became, or how fast his vision could shift, it always stopped at this distance.
But this time, with just a flicker of thought, his vision surpassed the one-kilometer mark—not just by a little, but extending to a full two kilometers in every direction.
What did that mean?
Sitting still, his scouting range had doubled. In terms of coverage area, it had tripled.
Sure, he had other techniques to scout over even greater distances, but compared to the Byakugan's penetrating vision, they were nowhere near as effective.
So, from now on, his reconnaissance abilities had taken a massive leap forward.
And that was just the baseline improvement of his evolved Byakugan.
On top of that, he'd gained two special abilities.
The first: long-range chakra absorption.
Yes, just like the Tenseigan, he could now drain chakra from a target at a distance, without physical contact.
But his Byakugan wasn't fully evolved yet, so this ability was a step below the Tenseigan's. It had two main limitations: first, the absorption speed was too slow to instantly drain a target's chakra. Second, it didn't work if the target was too far away.
These restrictions made the ability somewhat useless to him.
After all, with his Chakra Absorption Technique, he could easily grab weaker enemies and drain their chakra directly.
As for stronger opponents, siphoning off a bit of chakra from a distance wouldn't make a dent.
The ability would only be useful against someone of similar strength, in a prolonged stalemate.
Otherwise, it was pretty much a dud.
Thankfully, it wasn't set in stone. As his Byakugan continued to evolve, this ability would grow stronger.
If he could evolve it to the level of the Tenseigan, it would be far from useless.
As for the second ability…
It, too, was a watered-down version of a Tenseigan power.
But compared to the chakra absorption, this one was actually useful.
The ability? Controlling gravity and repulsion.
That's right—he hadn't even unlocked the Rinnegan yet, but he'd already gained access to these powers. Well, technically, it was one ability, since gravity and repulsion were two sides of the same coin. It all depended on how the user wielded it.
Why was it a weaker version?
It came down to the scale of the force he could manipulate.
A fully evolved Tenseigan, with enough chakra, could move entire planets.
But his Byakugan…
Seimei glanced around, then raised a hand, aiming at a small rock in the distance.
The rock trembled.
In the next moment, it broke free from the ground, pulling up dirt and debris as it flew toward him.
But just as it got within two meters, Seimei shifted the force, halting the rock in midair.
Staring at the rock floating silently before him, Seimei's eyes flickered with focus.
His mind raced, calculating the strain he felt and the size of the rock to estimate the gravitational force he could control.
After a moment, he reached a conclusion: he could move objects up to about a hundred tons.
A hundred tons.
It sounded impressive, but in reality, it wasn't much. In terms of water, it was roughly a sphere less than six meters in diameter.
Clearly, this wasn't a massive amount of force.
But against people? It was more than enough.
After all, no one weighed anywhere close to a hundred tons.
With this ability, low- and mid-tier ninja wouldn't stand a chance. Even some less experienced jōnin would fall to him in a single move.
A push or pull of gravity, followed by a Body Flicker Technique, and Seimei could take out most opponents instantly. If that didn't do the trick, a Mangekyō-level Genjutsu: Sharingan would seal the deal.
Against him, most people wouldn't even be able to stand their ground.
Plus, he could use this ability on himself.
Like right now…
With a thought, Seimei tossed the floating rock back to its original spot, then applied the force to himself.
Instantly, he lifted off the ground.
The speed wasn't great, but he was definitely flying.
Combined with Wind Release: Wings of Wind, his Chakra Cloak, and Earth Release: Ultra-Lightweight Rock Technique to reduce his weight, his flight speed could reach unimaginable levels.
At that point, flying beyond the planet itself wouldn't be an issue.
The thought made Seimei itch to try it.
But he quickly cooled his head.
It was too flashy.
Not to mention the Ōtsutsuki clan descendants on the moon keeping watch, there was also the Sage of the Six Paths in the Pure Land to worry about.
The Sage had created the Pure Land to house the souls of exceptional ninja, and that wasn't exactly a selfless act.
Seimei hadn't forgotten.
In his memories of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Sage didn't hesitate to pull the souls of seventeen Kage from the Pure Land back to the living world.
Then, without any contract, he used a summoning technique to transport Naruto's Team 7, the nine tailed beasts, and a near-dead Uchiha Madara from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Beginning Ball Space back to the ninja world.
If he could use a summoning technique, he could likely use other ninjutsu too.
To Seimei, the Sage's creation of the Pure Land and preservation of those ninja souls didn't seem like charity. It felt more like he was stockpiling an army.
And who was that army for?
Simple: the Ōtsutsuki clan's main branch, their pursuers.
Hadn't Kaguya Ōtsutsuki done something similar?
What else were the White Zetsu created for?
The difference was that one focused on quantity, the other on quality.
Because of this, Seimei had always been wary of the Sage of the Six Paths.
If he could avoid drawing the Sage's attention, he would.
So, something as high-profile as flying off the planet? Better not.
That didn't mean he'd give up, though.
Leaving the planet was part of his long-term goal. Plus, the harsh environment of outer space would be the perfect crucible for his growth.
Once he'd adapted to the ninja world's toughest conditions, he'd head out there.
By then, his strength would likely rival even the Sage of the Six Paths.
At that point, he could leave the planet with confidence.
With the help of his proficiency panel, Seimei was certain that day wasn't too far off.