Qianyu Awakens

Hokage Building, top-floor secret conference room.

The heavy soundproof doors were shut tight, and barriers had been placed over the windows as well. The Five Kage sat around the long table according to their positions. The atmosphere appeared calm, but undercurrents surged beneath the surface, making the air seem several degrees heavier than outside.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at the head of the table. Though he had changed into a clean Hokage robe, the fatigue between his brows and the traces of last night's severe injuries were still difficult to fully conceal. The guards stood silently in the shadows behind their respective Kage, their gazes lowered yet their vigilance unceasing.

After a brief exchange of ceremonial pleasantries, Ōnoki was the first to shatter the superficial peace. His floating cushion allowed him to meet everyone's eyes at level height. A seemingly concerned but probing smile appeared on his aged face.

"Hiruzen, I heard your village suffered a major disaster last night. Some foolhardy madmen actually dared to attack Konoha. That truly is shocking. I wonder... who exactly had the nerve to do such a thing?" He deliberately blurred the specifics of the attack's target, but his shrewd old eyes remained fixed on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe. Smoke curled upward, obscuring his expression. "They were merely some insignificant fools who coveted Konoha and overestimated themselves. Their exact origins are still under investigation. I appreciate the Tsuchikage's concern."

That was tantamount to saying nothing. Everyone present was sharp; after last night's commotion, every ninja village knew the target had been the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki. But Hiruzen insisted it had merely been an "attack on Konoha," clearly intending to shut them up and keep the sensitive subject of the "tailed beasts" off the table.

Mei Terumi parted her red lips. Her smile was seductive, her voice gentle yet sharp as a needle. "Anyone capable of causing such a disturbance, leaving even your village in a somewhat embarrassing state, and ultimately forcing such a heaven-shaking Wood Release rescue to appear could hardly have been an ordinary rabble, could they?

"Lord Hokage, could it be that your village has been concealing an heir to some secret Wood Release art all along? That is both reassuring and enviable." She deftly steered the topic toward the heart of everyone's concern—the user of that Wood Release!

The fingers holding Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe tightened almost imperceptibly, and a drop of cold sweat slid quietly down from his temple. He gave a dry cough and said gravely, "The Mizukage jokes. Wood Release was the unique Kekkei Genkai of the First Hokage, and it has long since been lost.

"The one who lent aid last night has a special identity. The source of their power and their allegiance are Konoha's highest secrets, not something that can be revealed here. Everyone, are you not prying a little too deeply?"

His tone sharpened on that final sentence, carrying an unmistakable warning and a clear implication that they should drop the matter.

A snorted coldly, seeming as though he wanted to say something, but he forcibly swallowed the words. His expression only darkened further.

Rasa toyed with a small pinch of gold dust, his face expressionless as though the matter had nothing to do with him. Yet calculation flickered deep within his eyes.

Ōnoki and Mei Terumi exchanged a glance. They knew further pressure would yield no results and might instead tear away all pretense of civility. Hiruzen Sarutobi had made it clear that he would guard this secret to the bitter end.

"Hehe, if Lord Hokage finds it inconvenient to say more, then so be it." Ōnoki gave a dry laugh, but his eyes grew even more sinister. "Still, the emergence of such tremendous power will inevitably stir people's imaginations and churn up the ninja world. I hope your village... can keep it properly under control. Do not let it bring disaster upon yourselves and drag the innocent down with you."

The threat and probing hidden within his words needed no explanation.

The meeting fell into a brief deadlock and even deeper mutual suspicion. As for the truth behind the mysterious Wood Release user, it became the largest stone weighing upon the hearts of the Five Kage.

Meanwhile, Qianyu's little wooden cabin.

Tsunade sent Shizune away and returned to the cabin alone. When she pushed open the door, she saw that the boy who had been lying on the bed was already sitting up, his back to her as he seemed to be staring down at his own palm.

"Kid, you're awake?" Tsunade closed the door, with little emotion audible in her voice.

Qianyu turned at the sound. The moment he did, Tsunade froze slightly.

Some of the childishness on the boy's face seemed to have faded, making his features more defined. More noticeably, he seemed to have grown quite a bit taller. He had previously been about the size of a thin, small seven-year-old, but now, seated on the edge of the bed, he looked nearly as tall as an average child just over ten. He was probably around one and a half meters tall.

Qianyu's gaze was initially somewhat dazed, as if he had just awakened from a great dream, but it quickly cleared. He instinctively examined himself inwardly, and his heart jolted.

The "Uchiha Yin Release chakra" and "Senju Yang Release chakra" that had previously existed distinctly within him, capable of being mobilized yet always separated by an intangible barrier, had vanished without a trace! Replacing them was a strange energy that was perfectly unified, incomparably pure, and faintly golden in color.

Like a warm spring, that energy naturally flowed through his limbs and bones, soaking into every inch of muscle and sinew, every organ. It gave him an unprecedented sense of fullness, harmony, and strength.

He tried to mobilize it. With a slight thought, the warm current flowed accordingly, as easy to command as his own arm.

"How do you feel?" Tsunade walked up to him and looked down at him. Her amber eyes sharply swept over his body. Her instincts as a medical ninja had detected the immense yet harmonious change in Qianyu's vitality.

"I'm okay... It's just that I seem to be a little different now." Qianyu scratched his head, unsure how to explain it.

Tsunade was silent for several seconds before suddenly speaking, her voice revealing neither joy nor anger. "Kid, you have the Sharingan, don't you?"

It was not a question. It was a statement.

Qianyu's body stiffened. He looked up and met Tsunade's calm gaze. His mouth opened, but in the end, he nodded, his voice lowering. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Master. I lied to you."

"Lied to me?" Tsunade snorted and crossed her arms. "You never said you were a descendant of the Senju Clan. I was the one who jumped to that conclusion when I saw your Wood Release. How is that deception?"

She paused, and her tone grew somewhat complicated. ...When she said "no blood relation," she let out a deep, almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

"I just didn't expect that the blood in your veins wasn't only Senju blood." Tsunade studied him, her gaze probing. "Uchiha and Senju... what an ironic combination."

Qianyu keenly caught that trace of relief in her, and his heart stirred. But this was not the time to delve into it. He decided not to hide anything further, and with a thought—

His eyes closed, then opened again, now a vivid crimson! Black tomoe slowly rotated within his pupils, stable and distinct.

"Huh?" Even Qianyu himself was stunned. His vision had become so clear! His dynamic vision and ability to perceive details were many times stronger than when he had only one tomoe! He instinctively looked toward the small mirror on the nearby table. Reflected within it was a pair of eerie yet beautiful Three-Tomoe Sharingan!

Three tomoe already?! Was that pill... really this effective?! It had not only fused his bloodlines, but directly evolved his Sharingan as well?

Amid his shock, Qianyu sensed that the warm current within him still had power to spare. It also seemed to share a strange resonance with another, deeper perception within his eyes. With another thought, he deactivated the crimson Sharingan and attempted to slowly gather that newly born, fused energy in his eyes, following a vague guidance that came from his bloodline instincts.

The next moment, Qianyu felt the veins around his eyes bulge slightly, bringing a faint soreness and swelling sensation. The world in his vision abruptly changed!

It was no longer ordinary sight, but a black-and-white world of sharply defined lines and penetrating vision! He could clearly "see" the complex and resilient chakra pathway system within Tsunade's body before him, like glowing rivers rushing through her; the outlines of her bones, the faint pulsations of her organs... Everything was perfectly visible. He could even vaguely "see" the vast life energy hidden deeper within her.

The Byakugan?! The Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan?!

Qianyu was completely dumbfounded.

Tsunade, standing opposite him, had noticed something wrong the instant Qianyu's eyes changed and the veins at his temples rose. When her gaze met Qianyu's eyes—eyes that had instantly turned pale bluish-white and gained a strange penetrating power—even with the composure of one of the Three Sannin, she could not help drawing in a sharp breath. Her pupils contracted violently, and her entire body froze as if struck by lightning!

The Sharingan... Wood Release... and now the Byakugan as well?!

Three completely different Kekkei Genkai standing at the pinnacle of the ninja world had actually appeared in a single eight-year-old child at the same time?! This simply overturned all common sense in the ninja world! Any one of them would be enough to forge a powerhouse who could dominate an entire region, yet now they had all been gathered within one body?!

Even Tsunade, with all her experience and knowledge, found her mind completely blank. Nothing remained but the roaring shock within her.

Qianyu himself was terrified, and he hurriedly stopped supplying chakra. The Byakugan's vision faded, his eyes returned to normal, and the aching sensation quickly disappeared. He touched his chest, where the warmth brought by the pill seemed to linger.

Bloodline completion... It had to be the pill refined from Otsutsuki Clan Urashiki! Not only had it fused his original Uchiha and Senju bloodlines, it seemed to have activated or completed some more fundamental origin from the Otsutsuki Clan? Through sheer coincidence, it had allowed him to gain the potential of the Byakugan as well?

What did this mean? It meant that his future growth potential might be terrifyingly high! Perhaps... he might no longer need the Mangekyō Sharingan of a close blood relative to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, or even the Rinnegan? Because his bloodline was already evolving toward something more complete?

There was too much information to process, and Qianyu was momentarily confused.

He took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. He felt the new, powerful strength within his body, then looked at his teacher, who stood before him despite her shock, her gaze complicated.

He slowly rose to his feet. His eight-year-old body already possessed the tall, upright build of a teenager. He looked at Tsunade, his eyes clear and resolute.

"Master, it's a little stuffy in here."

"Let's... go for a walk outside."

With that, he took the lead and headed toward the courtyard beyond the house, bathed in the lingering glow of the setting sun. His steps were steady, his shadow stretching long in the light. Faintly, he exuded a calm, powerful air utterly unfitting for his age.

Tsunade remained where she was, watching young Qianyu's back. For an instant, it seemed to overlap with that future young man from last night—the one who had descended from the sky, summoned a towering wooden Buddha with a wave of his hand, and gazed down upon all living things with indifferent purple Rinnegan...

Though their appearances still differed, and their temperaments were entirely unlike, that quality rooted deep within their bloodline, along with that attitude of seeing all things as insignificant... how similar they were!

Her complicated gaze flickered several times. In the end, she softly let out a breath and stepped forward to follow him.