Hiashi stared at Uchiha Chizumi with burning eyes—he truly believed what he was saying.
Even though Chizumi had never strayed from justice in anything he did, it was obvious that throughout the process of him carrying out justice, the Uchiha clan's voice in Konoha had grown louder and louder. Even the Ino–Shika–Chō trio had shifted over to his side.
Before Uchiha Chizumi appeared, the Uchiha clan's position in Konoha was something everyone knew perfectly well. Just like the Uchiha themselves used to say, Fugaku should've been called "Coward Eyes," not "Wicked Eyes."
As soon as Hiashi said all that, Hiruzen—who had been displeased with him just a moment ago—actually felt a little refreshed.
Simple reason: Hiashi had just said out loud exactly what Hiruzen had been thinking in his heart. For that alone, Hiruzen was on Hiashi's side today.
"So that's how you see me?"
Uchiha Chizumi didn't care about Hiashi's accusations. He only looked at him with disappointment.
"Is it because you gained the Tenseigan and now think your power has surpassed mine, so you've become blindly arrogant?"
"It seems all the Tenseigan you bought with the sacrifice of your clansmen has given you is conceit."
Uchiha Chizumi let out a quiet sigh. Of everyone in the Hyūga clan, Hiashi had once carried the least sin—but now the red name above his head was so red it had almost turned purple.
That meant he had most likely slaughtered quite a few Hyūga himself.
"You know about the Tenseigan too?"
Hearing Chizumi say that, Hiashi was momentarily stunned.
He knew a little about the two toads on Jiraiya's shoulders. He knew they came from Mount Myōboku, one of the Three Great Sacred Lands. A group of creatures that had lived that long knowing some ancient secrets wasn't strange.
But for Uchiha Chizumi to know about the Tenseigan—that truly left him confused.
"I only know a little."
Uchiha Chizumi shook his head and didn't explain how he knew the Tenseigan existed.
"Judging by the way you look now, you're planning to leave Konoha with the main family and escape punishment, aren't you?"
"And the reason you went to all this trouble to create a Tenseigan was to deal with me."
"Come on, then. Let me see how much control you actually have over the Tenseigan. If your mastery over it isn't high enough, people will die."
Uchiha Chizumi fixed his gaze on Hiashi. He could clearly feel the undisguised malice coming off him.
Even without something like the Nine-Tails' ability to sense hatred, Chizumi could still vaguely tell that Hiashi had likely placed all the blame for ending up like this on him.
"Go to the Valley of the End!"
"Konoha can't withstand the two of you tearing things up any further!"
"Hiashi, your daughter is still in Konoha. You lived through the Nine-Tails incident too—you shouldn't want Konoha to go through another disaster like that!"
The Third Hokage hurriedly cut in.
Even though he had already guessed by now that Koharu had likely died at Hiashi's hands, Hiruzen's old habits were acting up again.
He couldn't help wanting to spare Hiashi.
Not for any grand reason—simply because it was Hiashi himself.
Hiashi had clearly slaughtered the Hyūga living in the main compound. If Hiashi and the main family elders behind him died too, then Konoha's Byakugan clan would practically be wiped out.
And beyond that, Hiashi's strength clearly wasn't ordinary. Hiruzen didn't want to see him die either.
And as for why he chose the Valley of the End?
That place had a strange significance.
Ever since Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama fought there, and Madara faked his death and escaped, the Valley of the End seemed to carry a peculiar kind of magic.
Jiraiya once lost Orochimaru there.
In the future, Naruto would lose Sasuke there too.
For that reason alone, Hiruzen sincerely hoped Hiashi might somehow escape from Uchiha Chizumi's hands.
"Then the Valley of the End it is!"
"I want to see for myself just how far I still am from the God of Shinobi and the Demon of the Shinobi World—those two who once brought peace to an age of chaos—now that I possess the Tenseigan, and you possess the Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Hiashi's eyes were closed, but his face was overflowing with indescribable confidence.
The Tenseigan was a power capable of destroying the shinobi world. Even with only one, even with it not sitting inside his own eye sockets, Hiashi did not believe himself weaker than the current Uchiha Chizumi.
Once Hiashi said that, Uchiha Chizumi didn't bother replying. He simply turned and walked away.
Hiashi and the Hyūga main family beside him showed no fear either. They followed after him toward the Valley of the End.
As for Hiruzen, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, of course they had no reason to leave now.
RUMBLE—!!!
The moment Uchiha Chizumi and Hiashi reached the Valley of the End, there was no prelude at all—the air exploded with a terrifying roar.
It was the power of Lava Release.
Uchiha Chizumi had never once underestimated the Tenseigan. Even though Hiashi's Tenseigan Chakra Mode was imperfect, Chizumi still intended to first sever the connection between Hiashi and the Tenseigan with Lava Release.
Scalding magma burst up from beneath the Valley of the End. It carried a harsh sulfur stench, and combined with the terrifying heat—hot enough to melt gold and erode iron—and the suddenness of the attack, not even the Raikage would have dared take it head-on with his body.
"Chizumi's power has gotten even stronger!"
"Or rather… his mastery over Lava Release has already reached a completely absurd level…"
"Before, whenever Chizumi used Lava Release, there would be obvious signs of it appearing on his body. But this time, when he activated it, there wasn't the slightest visible clue."
Watching the Lava Release erupt out of nowhere, Hiruzen couldn't help taking a hard pull from his pipe.
He had watched Uchiha Chizumi's growth from beginning to end—from just possessing a rare Uchiha bloodline limit, to awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, to gaining the power of Wood Release.
To put it bluntly, even the earlier Uchiha Chizumi had already seemed no weaker than Uchiha Madara in Hiruzen's eyes. And now, seeing Chizumi unleash Lava Release with no warning at all, Hiruzen realized he was still growing stronger.
What Hiruzen didn't know, however, was that this latest growth came entirely from the power of Yin–Yang Release. Now that Uchiha Chizumi had begun to gain a preliminary grasp on Yin–Yang Release, his bloodline abilities had become far more natural and effortless.
If Senju Hashirama still had to clap his hands together for show before activating Wood Release, then Uchiha Chizumi had now reached the point where he didn't even need to pretend anymore.