The Puppet and The Fool

This reminded him of how Naruto and the others reached the moon through a space-time tunnel in the original timeline; that tunnel was likely constructed using the giant Tenseigan on the moon.

In other words, the giant Tenseigan possesses space-time attributes. Thinking about it, that makes sense; if it could transmit chakra across vast distances without regard for space-time, it would be strange if it lacked such capabilities.

Therefore, while Lan's golden Tenseigan might be slightly lacking in raw combat power, its functional attributes were superior to the blue Tenseigan of Toneri. They could be considered evenly matched, Lan comforted himself.

As he withdrew his chakra, the golden light in Lan's eyes faded, and the golden Tenseigan reverted to the Byakugan. He then poured chakra into his eyes again, and the golden Tenseigan reappeared.

After repeating this cycle several times, he found the switching between the Byakugan and the Tenseigan to be very fluid. Being able to toggle between the two states was another difference between Lan's eyes and those of Toneri.

When Lan's eyes were in the Byakugan state, the Caged Bird Seal pattern reappeared on his forehead, though the usual sense of restraint was gone.

It seemed the Caged Bird Seal had not been completely destroyed; its disappearance earlier was merely due to it being forcibly suppressed by the immense power of the Tenseigan.

When the power of the Tenseigan was hidden, the suppressed Caged Bird Seal would emerge once more, yet it could no longer exert its original effect.

In other words, the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead now served only as a superficial decoration and had lost its ability to control him.

However, the fact that it could slightly resist the domineering removal of the Tenseigan suggested that the secrets of this Caged Bird Seal were far deeper than he had anticipated.

In the original timeline, the reanimated Hizashi still bore the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead, which suggested that the seal might even involve the spiritual body.

That such a complex and powerful seal could be developed by the Hyuga Clan only went to show that the foundations of these clans, which had been passed down for thousands of years, were truly extraordinary.

Touching his forehead, Lan felt a sense of emotion.

But for him now, the Caged Bird Seal no longer posed a threat. On the contrary, its existence could actually help him better conceal his identity.

Although he now possessed the Tenseigan, the massive chakra consumption meant he could not use it for routine combat, so he still needed time to grow.

Since that was the case, there was still a need to stay in Konoha, and now he had to consider how to complete his mission.

Preventing the peace talks between the Mist Village and the Sand Village might be difficult for others, but for him, with a simple plan, he might even reap some unexpected rewards.

Land of Water.

This was a nation composed of numerous islands, standing amidst the vast ocean.

On a hill at the border of the Land of Water, a figure draped in a black robe stood silently.

Beside him lay over a dozen strange figures on the ground. These figures had no flesh or blood; their entire bodies were composed of wood and gear structures. They were, in fact, a group of puppets.

As the black-robed figure channeled chakra into these puppets, they suddenly stood up on their own and bowed to him as if they possessed sentience.

"Go. Find the target I am looking for. I will handle the rest."

Following the command, these sentient puppets scattered in all directions, searching for the traces of their target.

The lone black-robed figure's body began to heave.

"Ahahaha..."

"Ahahaha..."

It turned out the figure was clutching his eyes and laughing loudly in place.

"Is this the power of the Tenseigan? I am truly growing more and more fond of the abilities of these eyes..."

"Who are you people?"

Above a certain valley, a squad of Mist Village ninjas had been lying in ambush when a group of black-robed figures suddenly attacked them.

The leader of the ninjas looked at the aggressive figures and immediately ordered, "The target may arrive at any moment. We don't have much time; finish them off quickly."

Receiving the order, the Mist ninjas rushed toward the black-robed figures, drawing blades or pulling out kunai and other weapons.

Clearly, to avoid exposing their ambush site, these Mist ninjas decided to eliminate the intruders with as little commotion as possible.

Of course, this wasn't arrogance on their part; they had judged the speed of the black-robed figures and concluded that their strength was not high—likely only that of average chunin.

When the two sides were close enough, the black-robed figures raised their palms, from which golden spheres of light emerged. Then, beams of chakra energy fired from the spheres toward the Mist ninjas.

"Ninjustu without hand seals?"

The Mist ninjas were momentarily surprised by the attack method, but that was all.

They realized that the spheres were not particularly fast or powerful. Given their own strength, which averaged at the level of chunin or even near-jonin, these attacks were not dangerous.

Soon, after suffering three casualties, the Mist ninjas finished off the black-robed enemies.

"Hiss!"

"Puppets?"

"What... what is going on?"

The Mist ninjas had pulled back the black robes to identify the attackers.

When they saw that beneath the robes were only simple wooden structures, and realized the attackers were merely ordinary puppets, their faces were filled with disbelief.

"How could they be puppets? We didn't even see a puppeteer controlling them!"

"Could it be that we've fallen under a genjutsu?"

"Don't tell me those puppets just came to life and attacked us on their own?"

This bizarre scene left the Mist Village ninjas standing in place, completely at a loss, while the leader's expression shifted drastically as a thought crossed his mind.

The Sand Village was the most proficient in the ninja world when it came to puppets; could it be that they were the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes?

What if those guys from the Sand Village were trying to stir up trouble during the peace talks? If that were the case, wouldn't their position here be compromised?

Should they even continue waiting for the target to appear?

Just as the captain of the Mist Village squad was contemplating their next move, the abrupt sound of footsteps interrupted his train of thought.

Tap, tap, tap...

The newcomer was clad in a black robe that shrouded his entire body, walking slowly toward the Mist Village ninjas step by step.

Watching him approach and listening to the footsteps that seemed to resonate faintly with their own heartbeats, the oppressive atmosphere made the Mist Village ninjas swallow hard, unable to help themselves.

The leader of the Mist Village ninjas felt equally tense; his intuition told him that the man in black before him was terrifying, and he also guessed that the puppet attack from moments ago was, in all likelihood, the work of this person.

"Who... who exactly are you?"

"Were you the one controlling those puppets just now?"

Faced with the inquiries of the Mist Village ninjas, the newcomer finally stopped walking, then raised a hand to slowly pull back the hood of his black robe.

Seeing that the visitor was about to reveal his true face, the Mist Village ninjas craned their necks, eager to see what lay beneath the hood.

To their disappointment, as the hood was pulled back, they discovered that the man was wearing a milky-white, custom-made mask, and through that mask, they could see nothing of his features.

"Allow me to introduce myself.

You may call me... The Fool!"