"Did you see that? This is my power!"
Toneri spread his arms. "Gravitational manipulation, summoning stone statues, and..."
He opened his eyes.
"Tenseigan!"
Toneri's lips curled up, forming an evil, seductive smile. He looked like someone who had been poor for half his life and suddenly had his salary raised to five thousand a month, a nouveau riche, showing off to the Hinata beside him, "Once I kill Ryosuke and destroy that terrible world, I'll become the god of the new world."
"But…"
Hinata lowered her head and said timidly, "If the world is destroyed, where will Naruto-kun live?"
Toneri's smile froze on his face. In his anger, his blood surged uncontrollably, pushing him straight into Tenseigan Chakra Mode, his entire head turning emerald green.
Toward a girl he liked, Toneri still maintained a degree of dignity. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I won't allow you to mention Uzumaki Naruto again!"
"Otherwise, for every time you mention him, I'll break one of your father's fingers!"
Hinata lowered her head again, not daring to speak.
Seeing her fall silent, Toneri nodded in satisfaction and turned his head toward the ninja world.
"It won't be long now."
Hyuga Hiashi's eyes were of very high purity. It wouldn't be long before Toneri could complete the fusion and fully grasp the power of the Tenseigan. By then…
"That will be the day the world is destroyed."
He would kill them one by one.
First, kill Ryosuke, to make the world fear him.
Then kill Uzumaki Naruto. Anyone who dared covet his woman was asking for death.
Last would be the ninja villages and the major cities.
Once most people were dead, once civilization was mostly destroyed, everything could be rebuilt upon the ruins.
Then, just as Toneri said, he would become the god of the new world.
As for hatred?
Such a luxurious emotion was nothing in the face of hunger, death, and never knowing whether one would live to see tomorrow.
After a few years, there would only be worship toward Toneri.
By then, under the gaze of countless people who respected and admired him, he would complete his wedding with Hinata.
Everything would be so perfect.
But the prerequisite for all of this was, "First, kill Ryosuke."
———
"The Otsutsuki on the moon…"
Obito turned his head and asked the White Snake Sage, "What exactly are they trying to do?"
Hearing Obito's question, the White Snake Sage raised a brow and said, "I'm doing the final stitching on Hidan. I can't get distracted. Even if you don't respect surgical rules, at least respect your comrade's health."
As it spoke, it picked up a smoking pipe and puffed twice.
Hidan, who was undergoing full-body reconstruction surgery with no anesthesia whatsoever, saw the White Snake Sage smoking and slowly killing itself during the procedure. He gave a thumbs up, expressing genuine approval.
Obito watched silently as several strands of ash fell into Hidan's open wounds while the White Snake Sage spoke, and were sewn in without even being taken out. He didn't even know where to begin complaining.
The White Snake Sage finished the final task, bit off a piece of thread with its sharp poisonous fangs, patted Hidan, and counted that as the end of the surgery, then continued, "Besides, how would I know what's happening on the moon?"
Kabuto, who had walked over to check Hidan's condition, asked in surprise, "Aren't you supposed to know everything under heaven?"
"Yes, under heaven."
The White Snake Sage pointed upward with its tail.
"The moon is in the sky."
Obito nodded slightly.
The sudden appearance of Otsutsuki Toneri, his unknown faction, unknown power, and unknown stance.
Judging by his invasion of Konoha and his wanton slaughter…
Most likely he would become Ryosuke's enemy.
For the Evil God's Great White Snake, this was good news, especially now that Obito had been exposed and lost his covert mobility.
This was also why the Evil God Great White Snake and its group had urgently used White Zetsu cells to restore Hidan.
According to the informants they'd planted inside the research institute, the Kaitian No.2 moon rocket would use only "Hidan pilots," with small Slugs inside controlling bodies without consciousness.
The Great White Snake's plan was to send the real Hidan inside and replace one pilot.
Once Hidan reached the moon, he would make contact with the Otsutsuki clan there and find a way to win them over, to deal with Ryosuke together.
"One Toneri alone could storm through Konoha like it was nothing."
"If the moon has a hundred or so strong people on Toneri's level, then…"
The more Obito thought, the happier he became.
Until he recalled the scene of Ryosuke suppressing the tailed beasts, shattering his fantasies. He licked his dry lips, "…If we take things steady, we should still be able to wrestle with Ryosuke, right?"
"Perfect."
Kabuto said this as he opened his arms, and Hidan mirrored him.
The two miserable brothers who had lived alongside each other for years were hugging for the first time. Even though Hidan was a tough, iron-boned man, his eyes slightly glistened.
If not for these companions, Hidan, having lost his body, might have long stopped thinking, becoming a mindless immortal corpse.
Kabuto slapped Hidan's back firmly.
"Welcome back."
Hidan took a deep breath.
After living for years as only a head, without even a mouth, he looked much steadier than before. Combined with his long hair, he even resembled the white-haired cult leader of the old Evil God sect.
"I'm… back!"
Hidan brushed his long hair behind his head and laughed loudly, "When are we leaving? I want to kill! I want to perform meritorious deeds!"
Everyone took back what they'd thought earlier.
Hidan hadn't changed at all.
"Right now."
Obito said, "Kaitian No.2 will launch within forty-eight hours. We must find a way to get you inside during this time."
Currently, most of Ryosuke's attention was on Kaitian No.2 and Otsutsuki Toneri. Now was the best time for them to infiltrate.
Hidan nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked Obito, "Why aren't you wearing your mask lately?"
"My identity was exposed. What would I wear it for?"
"You should still wear it. I wanted to say this before…"
Hidan moved his hand in a circle around his own face, "It's ugly."
———
The news that Konoha had been attacked by an alien spread rapidly.
Tsunade and Ryosuke didn't intentionally hide it. It wasn't like the past, where they had to guard against other ninja villages taking advantage.
All major ninja villages were now on their side. Informing them early so everyone could prepare was the best strategy.
After all, Toneri's goal was unknown. He might be after the Byakugan, or like Orochimaru, he might be after various kekkei genkai.
"…You're spreading news about aliens. Aren't you afraid of a 'Pro-Arrival Faction' emerging?" Mei Terumi asked.
This wasn't an exaggeration.
In just a few days, remnants of former conglomerates were already secretly contacting others, trying to pledge themselves to a new master.
Ryosuke refused to give them the chance to be his dogs.
So they might as well become the aliens' dogs.
Mei Terumi had finished her work early just so she could come over to be with Ryosuke. She'd worried he would be under too much pressure.
Only to discover once she arrived that Ryosuke was fully focused on his work and completely unaffected by the outside world.
Ryosuke took a sip of iced coffee and looked up at the towering rocket before him. "Because we only have one road to take."
If the Otsutsuki were friendly, and only Toneri was the enemy, then they would deal with Toneri and cooperate with the remaining Otsutsuki.
If they were all enemies, then they would deal with them all together.
It was that simple.
For humanity, surrender didn't exist as an option.
Especially not to an "alien race."
"Because there's only one road, and since we're going to go all the way into the dark anyway, your heart stays calm… That really does sound like something you'd say."
Mei Terumi smiled softly, raised her can of coffee, gently clinked it against Ryosuke's, tilted her head slightly, her crystal-clear eyes reflecting Ryosuke's face.
"Then I'll walk this dark road with you to the end."