Northern District of the Land of Iron, underground chamber beneath an abandoned clock tower.
Candlelight cast wavering shadows across the stone walls, and the air was thick with the mingled scent of herbs and old wood. Kurenai Yuhi lay on a makeshift blanket, breathing steadily, though faint silver starlight still lingered around her body. The glow was not blinding, yet it carried an ancient, detached quality, as if it had come from the depths of the stars.
Hyuga Xiao knelt on one knee beside her, his azure Tenseigan especially striking in the dim surroundings.
He raised his right hand, his palm hovering three inches above Hong's forehead. The Tenseigan's vision pierced through skin, bone, and blood vessels, delving into the tiniest nodes of her chakra pathways. This was not medical ninjutsu, but a higher-dimensional form of "observation"—he could see the energy flows that formed the essence of life, and the marks dormant deep within her bloodline.
"Just as I thought. This wasn't a natural awakening."
Xiao's voice was quiet, carrying his usual calm. In the Tenseigan's vision, the silver Astral Force within Hong was not evenly distributed through her bloodline. Instead, it coiled around the core pathways of her heart and brain like vines. At the roots of those "vines" was a silver crystal buried deep within the wall of her heart chamber—no larger than a grain of rice, its surface covered in spiral patterns.
The crystal was slowly dissolving, and the silver energy it released was merging with Hong's chakra, transforming her body.
But what concerned Xiao most was the crystal's structure.
"This isn't the method used by the Moon Ōtsutsuki lineage." He withdrew his hand, and the glow of his Tenseigan dimmed slightly. "The Moon Branch House's bloodline marks favor 'confinement' and 'harvesting,' crude and direct, like the