Jie frowned when he heard Toneri mention "Grandmother's will."
That was not something Toneri should be saying. His words, his attitude, and even the puppet army behind him all felt different from what Jie remembered.
At first, Jie thought this might be another change caused by his presence. But as Toneri walked closer, Jie noticed his eyes, and part of the answer became clear.
Toneri's left eye was a Byakugan with a faint blue glow inside it. The moment Jie saw it, he knew Hanabi had really been taken to the moon. Her Byakugan had already been removed and transplanted into Toneri.
Then Jie looked at Toneri's right eye, and his expression turned cold.
That eye was a Rinnegan.
Now he understood why Toneri had changed so much.
There were only two Rinnegan in the ninja world. One was in Jie's hands and had been given to Orochimaru for research. The other had been taken by Black Zetsu two years ago and had vanished without a trace.
So Black Zetsu had not been hiding in the ninja world at all. He had hidden on the moon.
No wonder Konoha had searched for two years and still found nothing. No matter how carefully they searched the ninja world, they could not find someone who was no longer there.
As for the "Grandmother's will" Toneri spoke of, Jie could already guess the truth. It was most likely Black Zetsu using Kaguya's name to deceive him.
Looking at Toneri, Jie felt a little pity.
In the end, he was just another person Black Zetsu had fooled.
Toneri noticed the pity in Jie's eyes, and his expression darkened.
"As expected of an outsider," he said. "Because of you, the ninja world has become even more corrupt."
The Rinnegan in his right eye gave a faint pulse. Without saying anything more, Toneri raised his hand and pushed forward.
"Almighty Push!"
A powerful repulsive force burst out and rushed toward Jie and Hinata.
Jie's expression changed slightly when he felt it. Toneri was stronger than he had expected. Jie had faced Almighty Push before, and Nagato had used it more than once, but Toneri's version was clearly on another level.
Even with only one Rinnegan, the force of this attack was already close to the massive Almighty Push Nagato had once used to destroy a large part of Konoha.
Still, it was only Almighty Push.
The power was greater than expected, but it was not enough to make Jie step back.
Golden chakra surged from Jie's body, and Kurama Mode covered him in an instant. At the same time, natural energy flowed through him as his new Sage Mode activated.
This Sage Mode was different from before. It was formed by combining the strengths of Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave senjutsu, making it far more suitable for Jie himself.
A white light flashed, and a blade appeared in his hand.
"Iai Slash."
Over the years, Jie had fused the Hatake sword style and Uchiha swordsmanship into his own system. Iai Slash was the first technique he had created from that foundation.
A white sword light cut forward and met Toneri's Almighty Push head-on. For a moment, the air shook violently, but the clash did not last long.
The sword light tore through the repulsive force like paper.
The pressure split apart around Jie and Hinata, rushing past both sides without touching them. In the middle of Toneri's attack, Jie's slash had carved out a clean path.
Toneri's expression changed for the first time.
Jie lowered his blade and looked at him calmly. "Not bad. That was stronger than I expected."
After thinking for a moment, Jie roughly understood why Toneri's Almighty Push was so powerful. Toneri was probably the last person on the moon with Otsutsuki blood, and that bloodline made him much more suitable for the Rinnegan than an ordinary person.
Although Toneri had inherited Hamura's Byakugan instead of Hagoromo's eyes, he was still an Otsutsuki descendant. In terms of compatibility with the Rinnegan, he might even be better than Madara.
But compatibility was only compatibility.
This Rinnegan had evolved from Madara's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Its unique ability, Limbo: Border Jail, should still belong only to Madara.
Toneri could use the Rinnegan's common abilities, but he should not be able to use Limbo. That meant Jie did not need to worry about invisible clones appearing around him, and Toneri still could not put much pressure on him.
Jie's gaze moved from the Rinnegan to the Byakugan in Toneri's left eye.
Through that eye, he could still feel a faint trace of Hanabi's chakra.
She was still alive.
Toneri had taken her eyes, but if he wanted the Byakugan to become the Tenseigan, he still needed time. At the very least, the eye had not finished changing yet.
That meant Jie had not arrived too late.
Toneri looked at Jie, and the calm expression on his face finally disappeared.
"You really are the source of all disorder."
Jie said nothing.
There was no point arguing anymore. Toneri had Hanabi's Byakugan in one eye and Black Zetsu's Rinnegan in the other. It was clear that his thoughts were being influenced.
This was no longer only a rescue mission.
Hanabi needed to be saved, and Black Zetsu needed to be found. If that thing was really hiding somewhere on the moon, Jie had no reason to wait.
He had already let Black Zetsu escape once.
This time, he would not let it get away again.
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