That reminded him of how Naruto and the others had traveled directly to the moon through a space-time passage in the original timeline. That passage had likely been created using the Giant Tenseigan on the moon.
In other words, the Giant Tenseigan had space-time abilities. But that made sense. It could transmit chakra across any distance, ignoring the barriers of space and time. It would be strange if it didn't have space-time powers.
So Lan's Golden Tenseigan was somewhat lacking when it came to boosting combat strength, but its other abilities surpassed those of Toneri's Blue Tenseigan. He supposed they were evenly matched in the end, Lan consoled himself.
As he withdrew his chakra, the golden light faded from Lan's eyes, and his Golden Tenseigan reverted to the Byakugan. Then he poured chakra into his eyes again, and the Golden Tenseigan reappeared.
After repeating the process several times, he found that switching between the Byakugan and the Tenseigan was remarkably smooth. This was another difference between Lan's Tenseigan and Otsutsuki Toneri's.
When Lan's eyes returned to their Byakugan state, the Caged Bird Seal reappeared on his forehead, but the feeling of restraint he had always felt was gone.
It seemed the Caged Bird Seal hadn't been completely destroyed. Its disappearance earlier had merely been the result of the Tenseigan's immense power suppressing it.
When the Tenseigan's power was concealed, the suppressed Caged Bird Seal would reappear, but it could no longer function as it once had.
In other words, the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead was now merely decorative. It had lost its ability to control him.
Still, the fact that it could slightly resist the Tenseigan's domineering power showed that the seal's secrets ran even deeper than he'd expected.
In the original timeline, Hizashi still had the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead after being brought back with Impure World Reincarnation. That suggested the seal might even affect the spirit.
For the Hyuga Clan to have developed such a complex and powerful seal only proved that the ancient great ninja clans had astonishing reserves of knowledge and power.
Lan rubbed his forehead, feeling a little wistful.
But the Caged Bird Seal no longer posed a threat to him. On the contrary, its presence could help him conceal his identity.
Although he now possessed the Tenseigan, using it consumed so much chakra that he couldn't rely on it in ordinary combat. He still needed time to grow stronger.
That meant there was still reason to remain in Konoha, so he had to consider how to complete his mission.
Preventing Kirigakure from reaching a peace agreement with Sunagakure might have been difficult for others, but for him, a little planning could make it simple—and might even lead to unexpected gains.
Land of Water.
This was a country made up of numerous islands scattered across the sea.
On a hill near the border of the Land of Water, a figure in a black cloak stood motionless.
Beside him, more than a dozen strange figures lay on the ground. They had no flesh and blood; their bodies were made entirely of wood and gears. They were a group of puppets.
When the cloaked figure poured chakra into them, the puppets suddenly rose to their feet. As if they had minds of their own, they bowed to him.
"Go. Find the target I'm looking for. I'll handle the rest."
At his command, the sentient puppets scattered in every direction, searching for someone's tracks.
The black-cloaked figure stood alone, his body suddenly shaking.
"Ahahaha..."
"Ahahaha..."
It turned out that the figure was covering his eyes and laughing loudly where he stood.
"So this is the power of the Tenseigan?
I'm liking what these eyes can do more and more..."
"Who are you?"
Above a valley, a squad of ninja dressed as Mist Village shinobi had been lying in ambush when a group of black-cloaked figures suddenly charged at them.
The lead ninja saw the black-cloaked figures bearing down on them and immediately gave an order.
"The target could arrive at any moment. We don't have much time. Finish this quickly and take them out."
At his command, the Kirigakure Ninja rushed toward the black-cloaked figures, drawing swords or taking out Kunai and other weapons.
Clearly, to avoid exposing their ambush site, the Kirigakure Ninja had decided to deal with the intruders as quietly as possible.
They weren't being overconfident. Judging by the black-cloaked figures' speed, they had concluded that the attackers weren't very strong—probably no better than ordinary Chunin.
When the two sides drew close enough, the black-cloaked figures raised their hands. Golden spheres of light appeared in their palms, then fired chakra orbs at the Kirigakure Ninja.
"Hand-seal-free ninjutsu?"
The Kirigakure Ninja were surprised by the attackers' technique, but that was all.
They realized that the orbs weren't particularly fast or powerful. Against ninja whose strength averaged Chunin level and even approached that of Jonin, the attacks posed little danger.
Before long, after losing three of their own, the Kirigakure Ninja had dealt with the black-cloaked enemies.
"Gasp!"
"Puppets?"
"W-what's going on?"
The Kirigakure Ninja had lifted the black cloaks to identify their attackers.
But when they saw that there was nothing beneath the cloaks but simple wooden frames, and realized the attackers were merely ordinary puppets, their faces filled with disbelief.
"How could they be puppets? We never saw a puppeteer controlling them!"
"Could we be under a genjutsu?"
"Did those puppets come to life and attack us on their own?"
The bizarre scene left the Kirigakure Ninja at a loss. The leader, however, suddenly turned pale as he realized something.
Sunagakure was the most skilled at using puppets in the Ninja World. Could Sunagakure be behind this?
Could those guys from Sunagakure be planning to sabotage the peace talks? If so, wouldn't our position be exposed?
Should we keep waiting here for the target to show up?
Just as the squad leader was wondering what to do next, an unexpected set of footsteps interrupted his thoughts.
Tap, tap, tap...
A newcomer in a black cloak that covered his entire body slowly approached the Kirigakure Ninja.
As they watched him approach and heard his footsteps faintly echoing in rhythm with their heartbeats, the oppressive atmosphere made the Kirigakure Ninja swallow nervously.
The lead Kirigakure ninja was tense as well. His instincts told him that the black-cloaked man before him was terrifying. He also guessed that the man was almost certainly behind the puppet attack.
"W-who are you?"
"Were you controlling those puppets just now?"
At the Kirigakure Ninja's questions, the newcomer finally stopped. He raised a hand and slowly pulled back the hood covering his head.
The Kirigakure Ninja craned their necks, eager to see the newcomer's face as he revealed himself.
But to their disappointment, when the hood fell back, they saw that he was still wearing a custom-made, milky-white mask. They couldn't make out his face through it.
"Allow me to introduce myself.
You may call me... The Fool!"