The same routine again

Forming hand seals, Otsutsuki Tsukiya cast a secret technique at the Tenseigan.

In an instant, the Giant Tenseigan hummed and shuddered. Invisible waves of energy rippled outward, and the emerald-green chakra spilling from it surged straight into Otsutsuki Tsukiya.

The sight was exactly like the manifestation of Tenseigan Chakra Mode back then. Uchiha Yi caught sight of it from a distance, and his heart sank. His attacks immediately grew even faster.

"Kamui!"

At his low shout, the two elders' bodies were instantly shredded. Once the last elder was dealt with, Uchiha Yi could not help feeling surprised.

He could clearly see that Otsutsuki Tsukiya's current state looked practically identical to Otsutsuki Toneri's in the original story. Was this really Tenseigan Chakra Mode? No, not quite. He was merely borrowing the Tenseigan's power.

Uchiha Yi soon realized that this state was temporary. He glanced into the distance and discovered vast numbers of life signatures rapidly fading away.

So, just like before, he was sacrificing others to obtain power from the Tenseigan? Although the Giant Tenseigan's power was astonishing, using it came at a hefty price. Feeling the power swelling inside him, Tsukiya burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! So this is the Tenseigan's true power?"

He looked at Uchiha Yi and said arrogantly, "Intruder, I don't know who you are or why you have the Rinnegan, but even with those eyes, you're no match for me! I've truly reached the sage realm now!"

Uchiha Yi scoffed, without a trace of anxiety on his face. Before, he might have been a little wary, but now there was no need. "I thought this would take some effort, but it turns out you're nothing special."

Tsukiya frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly this."

As his words fell, Uchiha Yi's body shuddered slightly, and pale-blue chakra instantly enveloped him-his chakra mode.

The instant he finished off the three elders, a system notification had suddenly sounded: "Ding! Congratulations, Uchiha Yi. The Dragon Vein has been completely absorbed and refined, becoming part of you."

This gave Uchiha Yi senjutsu chakra outright. Combined with his own power, it finally allowed him to activate true Six Paths Sage Mode. Only a chakra mode enhanced by senjutsu was genuine Six Paths Sage Mode. He, Uchiha Yi, had finally stepped into the domain of the Six Paths level.

"How is that possible?" Tsukiya was utterly dumbfounded.

"With the Rinnegan, isn't it only natural that I could reach this stage?" Uchiha Yi spoke with matter-of-fact disdain.

"Damn you! You think that's enough to beat me? I'll show you the Tenseigan's power!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several emerald-green energy spheres formed in front of Tsukiya. A moment later, they burst apart, sending countless arrows whistling straight toward Uchiha Yi.

"Universal Pull!"

It was the same Universal Pull, but Uchiha Yi unleashed it with more than ten times its previous power. Boom! A tremendous repulsive force instantly spread outward, deflecting and dispersing every arrow.

"We're not done yet!"

Tsukiya shouted, and the green spheres before him spun sharply, forming a ring. "Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!" A terrifying, tornado-like attack swept furiously toward Uchiha Yi.

But a flicker of surprise crossed Uchiha Yi's eyes. This Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion was nowhere near as powerful as he had expected. A single Universal Pull shattered it completely. "Is that all you've got? That can't be right. This Tenseigan is pathetic."

Tsukiya nearly spat blood in fury. Clenching his fists tightly, he snarled, "You... fine! If you want to die, I'll grant your wish!"

"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!" A beam of golden light shot forth, carrying the power to tear through everything.

Three of the nine Truth-Seeking Orbs behind Uchiha Yi immediately flew forward, merging into a black barrier that firmly blocked the golden light. The shock waves from the explosion scattered outward. Uchiha Yi said nothing, but his eyes were filled with disappointment.

This was Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion? Wasn't it ridiculously weak? Where was the power that sliced the moon apart? Tsukiya's face was filled with disbelief, clearly shaken by the blow. "How is that possible? He actually blocked it? Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion was beaten that easily?"

"Oh, come on. You actually have the nerve to call that Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion?"

Those words nearly sent Tsukiya into a fit of rage. "Damn you! You're forcing my hand!"

Tsukiya's face twisted savagely, and the chakra connecting him to the Giant Tenseigan instantly swelled severalfold. At the same time, Uchiha Yi sensed the distant life signatures disappearing at a frenzied rate. In fact, at that moment, apart from himself and Tsukiya before him, he could no longer sense a single living creature in the area.

In other words, the furious Tsukiya had thrown away every restraint, sacrificing all his clansmen to the Tenseigan in exchange for greater power. "Summoning Technique: Puppet Reincarnation!" An enormous stone statue suddenly appeared. It looked exactly like the one Otsutsuki Toneri had summoned in the original story.

Uchiha Yi recognized it as a stone statue of Hamura Otsutsuki. "You damned intruder, you're finished now! This statue was created by Hamura, the ancestor of our Ōtsutsuki Clan. As long as I'm here, you'll never destroy it!"

Tsukiya had completely lost his mind. He had not even realized that the Tenseigan's power had already consumed him, and he could barely keep himself alive.

Uchiha Yi shook his head. He could tell that Otsutsuki Tsukiya had gone completely mad.

Heavy thuds rang out as a gigantic stone statue charged forward-it was the statue of Hamura Otsutsuki.

"Super Universal Pull!" Tsukiya roared as he launched his attack.

With a bang, more than half the statue was smashed away, but it restored itself in the blink of an eye.

"Haha! See that? You can't destroy this statue!" Tsukiya shouted arrogantly.

Uchiha Yi ignored the now-insane Tsukiya and launched attack after attack, even using Amaterasu's black flames. After several attempts, he finally confirmed that the statue was bizarrely resilient. He simply could not shatter it.

But he had no interest in wasting time on the statue. Dealing with it was actually very simple.

With a swift flicker, Uchiha Yi appeared in front of Tsukiya and threw a punch.

The punch sent Tsukiya flying backward through countless boulders. He went still on the spot.

Uchiha Yi was not surprised at all. He had already noticed that Tsukiya's chakra state depended entirely on the Giant Tenseigan rather than his own strength. And the gap in power was enormous. Tsukiya had not even formed any Truth-Seeking Orbs. Those emerald-green spheres from earlier were not Truth-Seeking Orbs at all. Even summoning Hamura's statue had required him to sacrifice every one of his clansmen.

At first, he had thought they were Truth-Seeking Orbs cloaked in chakra, like Toneri's, but they had actually been nothing more than chakra.

No wonder those Silver Wheel and Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosions had been so absurdly weak. They were knockoffs!

Uchiha Yi shook his head and turned his gaze toward the Giant Tenseigan.

Now that the trouble was dealt with, it was time to reap the rewards. From the look of things, the Ōtsutsuki Clan's civil war had not been going on for long. The Giant Tenseigan had not even been hidden away; it was sitting right here.

"System, how do I absorb this Tenseigan and evolve my Byakugan?" Uchiha Yi asked.

The system's reply was as brief as ever. "The same way as the Dragon Vein."

The same routine again? A trace of hesitation flashed in Uchiha Yi's eyes. He muttered, "System, nothing's going to go wrong this time, right?"

The system simply played mute this time-the accident last time had not been its fault!

Uchiha Yi shrugged. "Tch, can't you take a joke?" With that, he placed both hands on the Giant Tenseigan.

Ding—absorption of the Giant Tenseigan began. Nothing stirred during the process. No vast surge of Eye Power poured into him, nor did he feel his strength skyrocket. Just like absorbing the Dragon Vein last time, it was as bland as drinking plain water. This absorption went especially smoothly, without anything strange happening.

Under the system's influence, the Giant Tenseigan visibly shrank. Within a few minutes, it had vanished completely.

Immediately afterward, the system notification sounded. "Congratulations, host, on absorbing the Giant Tenseigan. Your Byakugan skill has improved."

Joy welled up in Uchiha Yi, but before he could react, a string of notifications erupted. "Congratulations, host! Your Byakugan skill has successfully evolved into the Tenseigan!" "Congratulations, host! Your limit Sharingan proficiency has increased by five million points!"

What? Five million proficiency points? "System, did I hear that right?" Uchiha Yi's eyes widened. His shock was understandable. Since obtaining the Rinnegan, he had accumulated only ten or twenty thousand proficiency points. How could he not be startled by suddenly receiving five million?

The system explained leisurely, "Don't be surprised. That proficiency gain is correct. Besides, this Giant Tenseigan was formed from countless Byakugan. It contains far more Eye Power than an ordinary Tenseigan, so naturally, absorbing it grants more proficiency."

Uchiha Yi froze. "An ordinary Tenseigan? You mean this giant one is stronger than a normal one?"

The system replied, "No. It merely contains more Eye Power; it isn't stronger. Make sure you remember that distinction."

Uchiha Yi sighed in relief. That made sense. More Eye Power did not mean greater strength. It was like Tsukuyomi and Infinite Tsukuyomi. No matter how much Eye Power one had, it could not make Tsukuyomi as powerful as Infinite Tsukuyomi.

But Uchiha Yi soon put that matter aside. After all, the system had already informed him that his Byakugan had evolved into the Tenseigan. "Then let's try out this Tenseigan's power!" He closed his eyes, and the Rinnegan's patterns faded away. When he opened them again, they were Tenseigan.

"Hmm, this feels pretty good!" He felt the changes in himself, especially his vision, which was far clearer and sharper than with the Rinnegan. Although the Rinnegan also had keen perception, it fell short of the Byakugan, let alone the Tenseigan, whose perceptive ability surpassed the Byakugan by a considerable margin.

Next came Tenseigan Chakra Mode. He activated the Tenseigan's power and instantly entered the mode. Unlike Otsutsuki Toneri's green form, however, his Tenseigan Chakra Mode was sky blue.

"Good, at least it's not green. Green always gives people the wrong idea." Uchiha Yi nodded in satisfaction.

With the appearance settled, it was time to test its power. He reached out and grasped at empty air, lifting an enormous rock.