The Stirring of Sealing Power!

Outside Hidden Leaf Village.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the lush forest, sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, casting mottled shadows across the ground.

Two figures raced along the branches of towering trees at speeds beyond ordinary humans.

All along the way, Baiyue had maintained a rapid pace, paying no heed to whether Hyuga Setsuna behind her could keep up.

Yet behind her, Hyuga Setsuna followed closely with a relaxed expression, not falling behind her in the slightest.

Maintaining their high-speed pace, the two soon arrived at Qingquan Town.

Qingquan Town was the town closest to their mission target. Since it lay on the border of the Land of Fire, it was one of Leaf Village's key areas of observation.

For this reason, Hidden Leaf Village's Anbu had established a base here for rest, observation, and surveillance.

Following Baiyue, Hyuga Setsuna arrived at a secluded and hidden inn.

This was one of the bases established by the Anbu.

Because of its remote location, few people came here on ordinary days. Baiyue therefore decided to let Hyuga Setsuna rest here and set out again tomorrow.

After all, the two of them had already traveled for an entire day, and they still needed to depart for their mission tomorrow. They had to adjust their schedules properly and prepare for it.

After registering their information at the inn's front desk.

As Hyuga Setsuna walked up the inn's stairs, he looked at Baiyue ahead of him and quietly asked,

"Captain Baiyue, an Anbu squad should have a four-person roster and act together, right?"

"May I ask why they aren't traveling with us?"

Standing before her room, Baiyue's body stiffened slightly. She turned around, her dark eyes carrying a hint of sorrow and loneliness as she said,

"They've all died in battle."

After saying that, Baiyue opened the door and walked into the room with heavy steps.

Bang!

The wooden door slammed shut.

He entered the room.

Hyuga Setsuna wore a bitter smile. He now knew that he had asked something he should not have.

It seemed he had made Baiyue unhappy.

But her teammates were all dead.

Though life was short, they must have been unwilling when they were killed. After all, who wouldn't yearn to live?

Lying flat on the bed, Hyuga Setsuna's gaze gradually became firm.

He would not die. At the very least, he absolutely would not die before accomplishing his goal.

Outside, the moonlight streamed through the window and fell upon Hyuga Setsuna, though even more of it fell into his eyes.

In the room next door.

Baiyue removed her mask and tossed it onto the tatami. Feeling troubled, she stared blankly out at the nightscape with her crimson eyes.

Without her mask, she had a beautiful face and waist-length black hair. She looked like a traditional Yamato nadeshiko, the complete opposite of the cold person she was while wearing the mask. It was truly difficult to imagine.

Baiyue's real name was Gekko Baiyue. She came from the Gekko Clan and was the biological daughter of its current clan head. She could be considered the young lady of a major family.

Her codename, Baiyue, was simply her real name without the two characters Gekko.

Although the Gekko Clan could not be considered one of Leaf Village's great noble clans, nor could it compare with the Hyuga Clan and Uchiha Clan.

She had been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, and through her own talent, hard work, and the Bloodline Limit Tontton, she had gained strength comparable to a Jonin and even entered the Anbu as a squad leader.

Thus, she was actually quite proud, even arrogant.

But after encountering Hyuga Setsuna today, she realized that she had not been as outstanding as she once thought. She could not be called a genius.

Not to mention that another person, Hatake Kakashi, had also joined the Anbu. Although Kakashi had received some instruction from his father, the White Fang, who among those able to join the Anbu at such an age had not relied on their own efforts?

Lying facedown on the tatami, Gekko Baiyue removed her cumbersome Anbu uniform, revealing her slender waist. As drowsiness steadily washed over her, she gradually fell asleep.

Inside Hyuga Setsuna's room.

He painfully covered his Byakugan with both hands, forcing himself not to cry out so that no one would notice anything.

His Byakugan had begun to emit a brilliant blue radiance like the stars, accompanied by waves of pain and numbness.

Hyuga Setsuna had been ready to lie down and rest, but his Byakugan was stirred by the power within his body that sealed Otsutsuki Kaguya. It continuously surged outward and even accelerated the transformation of his Byakugan into the Tenseigan.

Hyuga Setsuna could feel that the golden Sealing Power was in a restless state, as though something it cared about had suddenly appeared outside.

"Setsuna, endure it a little longer. I will suppress the Sealing Power soon."

Within the Sealing Space, Otsutsuki Kaguya spoke anxiously, constantly comforting Hyuga Setsuna.

At this moment, she had restored herself to peak condition. The Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan on her brow was fully open, and all the power in her body poured endlessly into the seal in an attempt to suppress it.

Looking at the violently surging golden Sealing Power before her, Otsutsuki Kaguya could not understand why the Sealing Power, which had always been stable and even somewhat lazy, had suddenly become like this.

Outside.

Hyuga Setsuna was experiencing both pain and pleasure, because his Byakugan, which should have needed three years to evolve into the Tenseigan, was rapidly changing.

Just as the Sealing Power was about to emerge from Hyuga Setsuna's body, it suddenly stopped, as if the thing that had stirred it had vanished.

Afterward, as though unwilling to accept this, the Sealing Power slowly retreated into Hyuga Setsuna's body and returned to its lazy state, ignoring everyone.

"Whew, it's finally over."

Hyuga Setsuna cried out in pain and dropped to one knee on the tatami. Cold sweat covered his entire body, and his back was completely soaked.

"Setsuna, how are you?"

Otsutsuki Kaguya's anxious and concerned voice sounded beside Hyuga Setsuna's ear.

Hyuga Setsuna slowly lowered the hands covering his eyes and reassured her,

"Grandmother, I'm fine. This time, I actually turned disaster into a blessing."

Within the Sealing Space, Otsutsuki Kaguya sighed in relief after seeing that Hyuga Setsuna was unharmed.

If she lost this child, she did not even know what mad things she might do.

"Come into the Sealing Space and let me examine you!"

Then Hyuga Setsuna's vision went black, and when he could see again, he was already in the Sealing Space.

Otsutsuki Kaguya appeared beside Hyuga Setsuna with an anxious, worried expression. She pulled him into her arms with both hands and began examining him.

"Mmph, Grandmother, I'm fine. Please don't worry."

Hyuga Setsuna's muffled voice came from Otsutsuki Kaguya's embrace.

After examining him and confirming that nothing was wrong, Otsutsuki Kaguya finally released Hyuga Setsuna from her arms in relief.

"Eh? Setsuna, your eyes?"

Second update complete!

I looked up so much information tonight that my mind feels like a mess, and my thoughts are a little scattered.

Thank you to "Gensokyo Curator" for the 500-point reward, and thank you for supporting Qing Meng!