Jiraiya sat in the pilot's seat, a fine layer of sweat beads forming on his forehead.
He gripped the control sticks tightly, not daring to relax for even a second.
On the panoramic display in front of him, the massive hollow entrance leading to the moon's interior was right before his eyes.
However, a pale yellow light screen completely sealed off the entire entrance.
"It's no use, we can't get in."
Jiraiya lowered his voice and spoke into the communicator. "The density of this barrier is ridiculously high. If I use Unit Zero's firepower to blast it open, it will definitely cause violent chakra fluctuations and attract attention."
Static crackled from the communicator, followed by Minato Namikaze's calm voice.
"Teacher, maintain your current position and do not touch the barrier. Transmit the chakra flow pattern of the barrier back to us."
"Understood."
Jiraiya's fingers danced across the keyboard. The detectors on the mecha's head emitted an invisible scanning wave, continuously transmitting the structural data of the light screen back to Earth.
...
Konoha, Underground Command Center.
On the massive main screen, the complex structure of the barrier was being analyzed layer by layer.
Orochimaru stood before the screen, a hint of interest flashing in his golden slit pupils.
"A novel barrier construction."
Orochimaru extended a slender finger and traced a few lines in the air before the screen. "This barrier is directly connected to the massive energy source inside the moon—the Tenseigan. Any contact with external force will be instantly fed back to that energy source."
"Meaning, it can't be cracked secretly?"
Minato Namikaze stood to the side, his brow slightly furrowed.
He was already dressed in a special combat suit, with several custom Flying Thunder God kunai hanging at his waist.
"No, it is merely somewhat novel."
Orochimaru turned his head to look at the red-haired woman standing behind Minato. "For the Uzumaki clan, it can only be described as easy."
Kushina Uzumaki was crossing her arms, looking eager to give it a try.
She looked at the complex arrangement of runes on the screen, the corners of her mouth curling up to reveal a cute little canine tooth.
"This kind of arrangement... although it looks ancient, the core logic has a subtle commonality with our sealing arts. As long as I can get close enough to touch it, I'm confident I can tear a hole in it without triggering the alarm."
Minato nodded, signaling his approval of the idea.
While Kushina and the others were analyzing the barrier, Minato turned his gaze toward the purple toad on his shoulder.
"Mr. Gamakon."
Minato's voice suddenly turned low, carrying a rare hint of hesitation. "Is there... really no room for negotiation?"
The air in the command center seemed to freeze for a moment.
Orochimaru stopped his movements, and Kushina's smile faded as she looked at her husband.
Minato was not an indecisive man.
As the Hokage, he had never hesitated when reaping lives on the battlefield.
But this time, what they were doing was invading a 'neighbor' who had never actively provoked the shinobi world, to steal a treasure they had guarded for a thousand years.
From a moral standpoint, this behavior was indeed somewhat indefensible.
"Even though Toneri Otsutsuki is a descendant of Hamura, he hasn't shown any hostility yet." Minato looked at Gamakon, a thoughtful light flickering in his deep blue eyes. "If we communicate proactively and explain the crisis of the incoming Otsutsuki main family, perhaps..."
"Minato."
Gamakon lay on Minato's shoulder, his toad eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation, filled only with cold logic.
He interrupted Minato's words. Instead of answering directly, he asked a question.
"Suppose we are neighbors with the village next door."
Gamakon's voice echoed in the quiet command room.
"Now winter is coming, and a blizzard has blocked the mountains. We have plenty of weapons but no food. Meanwhile, the neighboring village has granaries filled with food, but they have no weapons."
Minato was stunned for a moment.
Gamakon continued, "Furthermore, you know that this neighbor has always looked down on us, considering us lowly creatures. Their ancestral teachings even include the notion of 'destroying us.' The only reason they haven't made a move yet is because they are either still asleep or haven't found a suitable weapon."
Gamakon turned his head to look directly into Minato's eyes.
"In a situation where the other party hates us and has the motive to destroy us, and we must obtain that food to survive... do you think it's still necessary to knock on the door and politely ask: 'Excuse me, could you share some food with us?'"
Minato fell silent.
This was a simplified version of the extremely cruel 'Dark Forest' law.
Konoha had the weapons but lacked the food.
Toneri Otsutsuki possessed the 'Tenseigan,' a super granary, but was in a period of weakness and harbored hostility toward Earth.
Communication?
In the face of survival, communication was either the charity of the strong or the plea of the weak.
And what Konoha needed right now was not charity, nor could they afford to plead.
We need to survive.
We need to resist the impending arrival of the Otsutsuki main family.
Leaving the power of the Tenseigan in Toneri's hands was a danger to the shinobi world; only by holding it in their own hands could they feel at ease.
"If we want to survive, we cannot place our hopes on the mercy of our neighbors."
Gamakon patted Minato's shoulder. "Especially a neighbor that hates us."
After the detailed explanation, Minato understood the stakes.
"I understand."
Minato turned around, looked at Kushina, and reached out his hand.
"Are you ready, Kushina?"
Kushina stepped forward and firmly grasped her husband's hand, a brilliant smile blooming on her face.
"Ready whenever you are, my Lord Hokage."
"Orochimaru, maintain communications."
Minato issued the final order. "Once we succeed, immediately initiate the extraction procedure for Unit Zero."
"Go on then." Orochimaru licked his lips. "I am also quite curious to see what kind of beautiful creation the legendary Tenseigan is."
The next second.
Minato formed a one-handed seal, sensing the Flying Thunder God formula located inside the cockpit of Unit Zero, thirty-eight thousand kilometers away.
A golden light suddenly flared up in the command center.
Space distorted, and the two figures vanished instantly.
...
The Moon, Unit Zero's cockpit.
A golden light flashed in the cramped space, and Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki appeared out of thin air.
"Blegh..."
As soon as Kushina landed, she covered her mouth and gagged.
Although she had a powerful constitution, this was a long-distance teleportation across the space between the Earth and the Moon. The dizziness caused by spatial tearing was enough to make an ordinary ninja go into immediate shock.
"Are you okay?" Minato supported her, green medical chakra lighting up in his palm.
"I'm fine... just a bit dizzy." Kushina shook her head, her long red hair swaying. "So this is the moon?"
Through the panoramic screen, she looked at the desolate, grayish-white world outside and the massive entrance to the barrier emitting a pale yellow light.
"It's so grand... but it feels so lifeless."
"No time for sentiment."
Jiraiya had already brought the mecha to the very edge of the barrier. A massive mechanical arm extended, hovering one meter above the light screen.
"Minato, Kushina, you only have ten minutes."
Jiraiya looked at the energy readings on the dashboard. "Maintaining invisibility and hovering consumes the mecha's chakra rapidly. And although Toneri is asleep, he is the master here after all; he could wake up at any moment."
"Ten minutes is plenty."
Minato opened the top hatch of the cockpit.
The cold of the vacuum rushed in instantly, but both were covered in Nine-Tails chakra cloaks, insulating them from the harsh environment.
After meeting the Sage of Six Paths, Minato had specifically spoken with the Nine-Tails, and Kushina had also successfully become a perfect Jinchuriki.
Kushina jumped onto the mecha's arm and quickly formed hand seals.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Clang, clang—
Five golden chakra chains erupted from her back, moving like agile tentacles as they gently probed into the pale yellow light screen.
Kushina's chakra chains did not try to destroy the barrier. Instead, like flowing water, they followed the direction of the barrier's own chakra flow, silently infiltrating it.
"Found it... the frequency of the node."
Kushina closed her eyes, the veins on her forehead bulging slightly as she focused all her attention on sensing the barrier's structure.
In her perception, this barrier was like a precision combination lock, with every rune dancing according to a specific pattern.
...
Kushina suddenly snapped her eyes open and tore her hands outward.
"Open!"
The light screen, which had been a single unit, actually began to pull apart under the control of her Adamantine Sealing Chains, revealing a circular hole about two meters in diameter.
The edges of the hole were perfectly smooth, and the surrounding barrier light remained stable, showing no signs of triggering an alarm.
"Fantastic, Kushina!" Jiraiya couldn't help but cheer in the cockpit.
"Get in, quick!" Kushina maintained the opening. "If it stays open too long, we'll be discovered!"
Minato didn't hesitate for a second. He grabbed Kushina around the waist and turned into a flash of golden lightning, instantly passing through the hole and rushing into the tunnels of the moon's interior.
...
After passing through a long, dark tunnel, the scene before them suddenly opened up.
Even Minato, who was prepared, was shocked for a moment by the sight.
This was not a desolate underground cave, but a small world with a sky, sea, and land.
A massive artificial sun hung in the center of the dome, emitting a warm and bright light that illuminated the floating islands and ancient castles below.
"That is... the Tenseigan."
Minato's gaze was fixed on the artificial sun.
It was no ordinary ball of energy.
In Minato's perception, it was a mass of ocular power formed by the fusion of countless Byakugan, with a density so high it was hair-raising.
The pulses it emitted maintained the ecosystem of this world, controlled the moon's gravity, and even... monitored the Earth.
"It's right above that castle."
Minato quickly locked onto the target.
He didn't choose to land on the ground but instead used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leap consecutively across the floating rocks, rapidly approaching the artificial sun.
The closer they got, the stronger the pressure of that ocular power became.
Finally, they reached the core area of the artificial sun.
It was a massive altar suspended in mid-air.
And in the center of the altar, the huge Tenseigan, emitting a brilliant golden light, floated quietly.
At close range, it was breathtakingly beautiful yet eerie enough to make one's skin crawl.
If one looked closely, within that golden radiance, countless white eyes—some closed, some open—could be seen slowly squirming and merging.
"This is... the masterpiece of the Otsutsuki clan."
Minato felt the terrifying gravity capable of moving stars and couldn't help but feel horrified.
This was the 'food' Gamakon had spoken of.
If this power were used to attack Konoha... the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Do it," Gamakon urged in a low voice through the communicator.
Minato snapped back to his senses and quickly pulled a massive scroll from his waist, snapping it open across the altar.
This was a 'Spatial Sealing Scroll' produced overnight by Orochimaru and Kushina, specifically designed to contain such high-density chakra aggregates.
"Four Symbols Seal: Modified: Sumeru Sealing Art!"
Kushina pressed her hands onto the scroll, and red chakra flooded into it frantically.
Minato stood on the other side, forming the seals for the Flying Thunder God Technique and pressing his hands onto the surface of the Tenseigan.
Buzz—!
Space let out an agonizing groan, as if unable to bear the load.
The massive Tenseigan began to vibrate violently. It seemed to perceive its impending fate of being taken away and erupted with a powerful repelling force, attempting to blow away the two intruders.
"Get... inside!"
The veins on Minato's forehead bulged as his entire chakra reserve exploded without reservation.
The golden light and the Tenseigan's yellow radiance collided violently in mid-air.
At this critical moment, Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains shot out, tightly coiling around the Tenseigan's main body, forcibly suppressing its resistance.
"Seal!"
As both shouted in unison.
The massive Tenseigan instantly distorted and shrank, finally turning into a streak of light that was forcefully sucked into the scroll on the ground.
Snap.
The scroll slammed shut, a puff of white smoke rising from its surface.
The artificial sun that had illuminated the entire interior of the moon vanished completely in an instant.
The entire world was plunged into endless darkness.
Only a few scattered lights in the distant castle appeared exceptionally piercing.
"We got it!"
Minato snatched up the scroll and slung it onto his back.
"Let's go!"
Without staying for a moment, Minato grabbed Kushina again and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
A flash of golden light, and the two figures vanished from the dark altar.
...
Deep within the lunar castle, in a bedroom that was luxuriously decorated but felt deathly still.
A silver-haired boy dressed in a white robe was sleeping quietly on the bed.
His eyes were tightly shut, and his eye sockets were slightly sunken—he had no eyes.
As a descendant of Hamura Otsutsuki and the last survivor of his line, Toneri Otsutsuki was currently in the Tenseigan's fetal movement period, waiting for the opportunity to seize the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan.
At the very moment the artificial sun vanished and the world was plunged into darkness.
Toneri sat bolt upright in bed.
He felt it.
That warm light that had always enveloped and nourished him, serving as the source of his power... was gone.
It was as if an infant had its umbilical cord crudely cut.
An unprecedented sense of emptiness and panic instantly swept through his entire body.
"What's happening..."
Toneri stumbled out of bed, his hands groping blindly in the dark.
"Puppets! Where are the puppets?!"
He shouted loudly, but there was only dead silence.
Without the energy supply from the Tenseigan, the army of puppets that relied on its chakra to function had all turned into scrap metal at this moment, collapsing in various corners of the castle.
Toneri staggered out onto the balcony.
He raised his head, using those empty eye sockets to face the sky where the artificial sun should have been hanging.
There was nothing.
Only endless darkness and the roar of floating islands that were beginning to lose control and collapse.
"My eye..."
Toneri reached out a trembling hand toward the void, his voice shifting from confusion to hysterical rage.
"Where is my Tenseigan?!"
"Who is it?! Who stole my eye?!"
The angry roar echoed through the dark castle, but there was no response.
Meanwhile, thirty-eight thousand kilometers away.
A red mecha was firing its thrusters, falling rapidly toward the shinobi world. At Jiraiya's strong insistence, he wanted to continue savoring the feeling of piloting.
Minato was helpless and could only let his teacher have his way, having already returned with Kushina via the Flying Thunder God.