The shockwave from the clash delayed Jie for only a moment. By the time the dust and broken stone swept past the Perfect Susanoo, Toneri had already rushed toward the space passage again.
"Still trying to run?"
Jie's gaze sharpened. Toneri was badly injured now, and as long as Jie kept chasing, he would catch him sooner or later. More importantly, Hanabi's Byakugan, Black Zetsu, and the Rinnegan were all with Toneri.
Letting him leave was not an option.
The wings behind the Perfect Susanoo flapped again, and the red-gold giant rushed forward.
This time, Toneri did not look back or try to use Almighty Push. It could not stop Jie, and with his current injuries, the recoil might break him before Jie even caught up.
Soon, a dark space passage appeared in front of Toneri. He did not hesitate and rushed straight into it.
Jie frowned when he saw the size of the entrance. The Perfect Susanoo was too large to pass through, so he dispersed it at once and landed on the moon's surface with Hinata.
He was not worried about an ambush. In Toneri's current state, escaping was already difficult enough. If Toneri stopped for even a few seconds, he would only be giving Jie the chance to kill him.
Jie put Hinata down and was about to follow him into the passage.
Then danger came.
A strong warning rose in Jie's heart, and his body moved before he could think. He grabbed Hinata and retreated at once.
As Jie retreated, the Perfect Susanoo formed around him again, appearing directly in its complete form.
His judgment had not been wrong. Toneri was in no condition to attack him, and the danger had not come from inside the passage.
It came from above.
More precisely, from the floating island over the moon.
A bright yellow beam fell from the sky and struck the space passage Jie had almost entered. The passage cracked apart at once, and dust and broken stone flew everywhere.
The shockwave slammed into the Perfect Susanoo, sending ripples across its red-gold armor. But with the armor and the crystal protecting them, Jie and Hinata only felt a slight tremor.
The Susanoo spread its wings and swept away the dust.
When the view cleared, the passage was gone.
In its place was a huge crater. It was several miles deep, and everything within its range had been erased.
There was not even a trace of the space passage left.
Jie frowned as he looked at the broken passage.
Black Zetsu was like a cockroach. It was not strong, but it always found a way to survive and annoy people at the worst time.
What surprised Jie most was how cruel it was. Black Zetsu destroyed the space passage while it and Toneri were still inside. If something went wrong, both of them could have been lost in space.
For Toneri, that would be almost the same as dying.
After thinking for a moment, Jie understood. To Black Zetsu, Toneri was just a body to hold the Rinnegan. As long as the eye was safe and Black Zetsu could return to the ninja world, Toneri's life did not matter.
Now the passage was gone, and Jie had no idea where Black Zetsu had taken Toneri.
Even if Toneri was still alive, he would be very weak. He had forced himself to use Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and then escaped through a breaking space passage. He was probably close to death.
But that also meant Black Zetsu would hide him.
From now on, finding them would be like searching for rats across the whole ninja world. Jie did not know how long it would take, but this time, he would not stop until he found Black Zetsu and Toneri.
After looking at the crater for a while, Jie slowly raised his head and looked at the floating island above the moon.
"So that was the giant Tenseigan."
On that floating island was the giant Tenseigan, an eye formed from the Byakugan of countless Otsutsuki clan members.
It was the core that maintained many things on the moon, including the floating island itself and the energy supply for the puppet army.
It was also the weapon the branch family had once used to defeat the stronger main family.
In other words, the giant Tenseigan was not only a source of energy. It was one of the strongest powers left in the ninja world.
The bright yellow beam that had destroyed the space passage had come from it.
This was Jie's mistake. In his memory, the giant Tenseigan had mostly been used to control the moon and power Toneri's puppets. Because of that, he had almost forgotten that the eye itself was a terrifying weapon.
What Jie had not expected was that Black Zetsu could control it.
As for why he was sure it was Black Zetsu and not Toneri, the answer was simple.
Toneri did not have that kind of ruthlessness. He was arrogant, but not to the point of risking his own life by throwing himself into the gap between spaces just to stop Jie.
Only Black Zetsu would do something like that.
Now Toneri had escaped to the ninja world, and Jie could not chase him right away. But since he was already on the moon, he would not leave empty-handed.
He looked at the floating island.
The giant Tenseigan would be his reward.
Toneri and Black Zetsu had escaped, and Hanabi's Byakugan was still missing, but the trip was not a total loss. If he could control the giant Tenseigan, then losing Black Zetsu for now would be acceptable.
Besides, Black Zetsu had already shown that it could use the giant Tenseigan's power.
Leaving such a weapon here would only create more trouble later.
Jie looked up at the floating island. His Perfect Susanoo slowly opened its wings again. Black Zetsu had used the giant Tenseigan to stop him, so he would take it for himself.
They could finish things next time they met.
For now, the giant Tenseigan belonged to him.
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